Hollywood Boys Club: George Called Out on New Tumblr Site

A new Tumblr site called Hollywood Boys Club is run by a group called Anonymiss, and is meant to document the studios, productions companies, and others who neglect to hire female directors. George is one of the few individuals singled out by name:

I call upon the people of the United States to celebrate the achievements of women and recommit ourselves to the goal of gender equality in this country," - Barack Obama

Producer George Clooney has hired MEN ONLY to direct feature films, but not ONE WOMAN DIRECTOR

Todd Holland, John Wells, Ben Affleck, Anton Corbijn, Grant Heslov, Steven Soderbergh, Tony Gilroy, Rob Reiner, Gregory Jacobs, Scott Z. Burns,
Richard Linklater, Todd Haynes, Stephen Gaghan, John Maybury, Joe & Anthony Russo, Chris Nolan, Stephen Herek, Stephen Frears

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In how many instances has George hired a director for a feature film?

Good question Fava but I don't know the answer to that - anyone?

As far as I know, he and/or Grant have directed their projects. Others that he's done weren't his projects. Sure, with Argo they picked Ben, but the other films he's done, he was hired to act and probably didn't have a say who would direct.

They may be discussing the films he produced but not acted in or directed himself. That's the only thing I could think of...

LornaDoone wrote:They may be discussing the films he produced but not acted in or directed himself.  That's the only thing I could think of...

I would think this is correct because they have produced many more that they acted in or directed. But in a lot of cases it might be the director's project or studio's where they have no say in the choice. I'm sure there are some that they might have been able to hire a director, but they tend to work with people they know.

With Argo George, Grant and Ben all were the producers. George didn't have the time to do it so the next choice would be Ben. There are times that George would not do a particular part because he felt someone else would be better for it. I think that also would go for a director you want to know how they work so you might go with people that you know; again. I'm sure there might be some merit to their claims but don't know how much would pertain to George and company.

Are there many first class female film directors around ?

I'd imagine that George and Grant would choose quality of work over gender every time.
Then again they could both be "first class male chauvinists" at heart....we don't really know them do we ?

Joanna wrote:Are there many first class female film directors around ?

I'd imagine that George and Grant would choose quality of work over gender every time.
Then again they could both be "first class male chauvinists" at heart....we don't really know them do we ?

Here are a couple of lists:

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Sadly, Nora Ephron has died.

And as to the comment of whether they would promote female directors - I don't think George is being chauvinistic, I think his focus is to be a good director himself not so much that he wants to deny a female director a job so I don't believe he thinks about that first.

Maybe to avoid the appearance of bias he could look at projects that are out there that are being written and directed by female artists. Of course, if the project is not in sync with the type of films he wants to make then that may also be a factor.

JMO

Thanks for the info Lorna

George did talk about how he hired alot women when he started up Section 8. It was quite long time ago though and I no longer have the magazine.  (I got rid of lot of old GC mags a few years ago) Anyway I believe it was from Us around 2000 and he promoting Fail Safe or Perfect Storm in it. Sadly I don't have quote anymore but he talks about how he hired alot women because he knew that he could get just as talented women but for cheaper.  Cause they were a start up company with not alot of cash. He went on to said that they now paid the as much as a man would get.

So far all the directors for Section 8 and SmokeHouse have been men except for one. That being the documentary Playgroud by Libby Spears. The only movies I know of that he's starred in with women directors are One Fine Day and The Peacemaker.  I would guess he workrd with lots of women directors during his TV days. Wiki list of the movies his productions  company made.

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Just found a pic of the mag I'm talking about, at least I'm pretty sure it's that one.

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Now if I can only find the quote.

Right, catching up with old news here.

While I don't think George intentionally means to omit women in this work, it's something that he does do a lot. I wonder if his involvement in Osage: Orange County is meant as a sop to these criticisms?

Here's a rant I posted a long time ago about a similar thing from here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Katiedot wrote:

watching wrote:Damn he wants that oscar doesn't he? Making himself all accessible like this - especially after the shared covers and the signing up to do the Prop 8 play. Mr Superstar is playing down the superstar and angling for Hollywood nice guy. Will that help him won votes though?

Just replying to a post made on another thread because it seems relevant here.  George makes this big hue and cry about how he doesn't want to run an Oscar's campaign and yet that seems to be exactly what he's doing now.

I mean, covers for Esquire, Vanity Fair, Entertainment Weekly, complete with in depth interviews.   Personal appearances at just about every film festival on the planet.  Did we even know half of these fests even existed before George suddenly went to them this year?!

The one that really turned my stomach though was the Entertainment Weekly thing.  He goes on about how surprised and saddened he is over how difficult things are for women in the film industry.  I understand he's campaigning so hard for his precious oscar that he has to cover every demographic but this one was too much for me.

He can make statements about most issues and I'm happy to listen to him, but feminism?  That's one area he falls seriously short on.  

If he feels so strongly about the plight of women in Hollywood, where are all those good meaty roles for women in the three films he's made to date?  Oh yeah, there aren't any; they're all boy's club stuff.  What about behind the scenes?  Is he engaging and encouraging female writers? camera operators? assistant directors?  I don't think so.

In his personal life he shows that he considers women largely disposable and unimportant.  Ten years of dating nothing but pole dancers, strippers, lingerie models, porn actresses and cocktail waitresses - most of them young enough to be his daughter - doesn't exactly speak about a man who gives a shit about women, other than they be pliant, compliant and powerless.

He may think he believes he cares, but in reality his actions bely his words.  

A couple of thoughts. 'August:Osage County' has the 'big parts' for women centre stage, (directed by John Wells!) and Streep and Roberts obviously chose to accept these parts (wonder if they ever audition!?) so whether Smokehouse deliberately chose this film as part of their 'equality agenda' I doubt. I think they go for what they think is good from all angles.

But I believe there are quite a few women in the industry you don't necessarily hear of much without whom the film wouldn't get very far, and the likes of Amy Pascal and Sue Kroll are just a couple of them - and executive producers are the ones who 'greenlight' any film. They are mostly invisible, and in the 'people' jobs rather than the 'techie' ones overall.

Can't name too many Kathryn Bigelows off the top of my head. It will be interesting to see if Lucy Prebble gets the credits alone for the 'Enron' script.

There are a few strong women who have directed and have continuing careers.  Here's a list of the top ten female directors:
Top Ten Female Directors

Here's another article on the subject:
Women Directors Infographic: Why Are There So Few Female Directors In Hollywood?

Here's the link to a site that has all the fun facts about women making films:
Women Make Movies

I don't think anyone would dispute that Hollywood lacks parity and opportunity for women in positions of power but the glass ceiling has been broken, or at least cracked substantially and until our attitudes as a society change towards women in general, I don't hold out much hope for Hollywood changing any faster than the greater population.  Hollywood does reflect the world so to speak.  One need look no further than what is happening in our States individually, in the way that women's rights have been attacked and challenged over the past 5 years in particular, here in the US.

ME

not like I'm at any of their caliber but....

One other name crosses my mind, and she was very likely to have been heavily involved in any 'Enron' production with Our Hero, and that was a lady called Laura Ziskin, who sadly died a couple of years ago, I think

I think the larger point is that there would be more "household name" female directors if the up and comers got the same level of support as their male counterparts.  The fact that we can only really name one (Kathryn Bigelow) off the tops of our heads (and we're as a group fairly plugged in to entertainment culture) is itself a sad commentary on the state of the industry.  The question is why do so many fewer female directors get the shots that men get to increase their profile, and could or would George, as both a producer and an actor who can get projects greenlit, play a role in opening more pathways for them?

BTW, Sarah Polley is another female director who makes absolutely wonderful films.  If you haven't seen Away From Her, a film she made a few years ago about an older couple dealing with an Alzheimer's diagnosis, it's really lovely.

Hollywood has been taken over to some extent by large business conglomerates, who want a "guaranteed" return on their investments and they also have a culture of "the old boys club" in the business world as well, so there isn't much that people like George can do individually, except to advocate for more women and we don't know what he does behind the scenes in that regard.  

It's the studio heads and CEO's like the ones at Sony (whom George and Grant deal with) who make the decisions about who gets the money and now you have people like Spike Lee and others trying to raise their own venture capital by selling dinner dates and special previews in exchange for capital investment in their Indie film making.  There was a write up in the HuffPost recently about Steven Soderbergh investing $10K in Spike Lee's next project.

Just came across this article about Arianna Huffington.  It's a bit off topic in the sense that it doesn't directly relate to women in the film industry but it gives a great perspective about how far we women have come (1st revolution was to get the vote, 2nd revolution was entering the business world/greater society and fighting for equality there) and how there needs to be a 3rd revolution to undo the male design of success by driving yourself into the ground to attain it (sound like anyone we know? LOL) and replace it with a model that is sustainable.

Arianna Huffington: 'The third revolution is to change the world that men have designed'

In my opinion right now in the United States there is a war against women, children and minorities. From all the newsletters that I receive and twitter I read it everyday.

I wonder if "they" are trying to knock women down a peg or two in people's mind before the 2016 elections. Where it seems that Hilary might just run or two other strong contenders Elizabeth Warren and Wendy Davis.

"They" didn't think a black man could get elected president not once but twice. Now they are getting nervous about the fact that we may have a woman for president.

I'm by far, not a political expert but our rights as women are being threatened everyday. That is going to make it even more difficult for women in other areas like directing which typically was thought as a male career. We are going to go backwards if we don't pay attention to what the law makers are doing. What mind set is in one area goes to all the rest of the occupations.

Mind you this is just my uneducated observation.

Elizabeth Warren or Wendy Davis do not have the experience to run for President just yet, although I campaigned by phone for Elizabeth and I do believe she would make a stellar candidate.   I do agree that Hilary will be the next nominee for the Democatic ticket in 2016.  The war on women has been raging and forging ahead here in the States because of the 2010 election cycle and the throng of Republican governors and State Representatives that were elected in a tea party wave, which rose against our having elected the first African American President.  The tea party can deny it all they want but "We want to take back our country" belies their intent.  The "they" that they wanted to take their country back from was the newly elected African American President, all other people of color, the LGBT community and those Caucasians with a progressive agenda who want equality for all, whether or not they will admit it.

Never has it been more apparent that we MUST be vigilant in elections at the state and local level. This wouldn't be happening right now if the Democrats had bothered to turn out in a non-presidential election year. The Republicans ALWAYS vote, every election they turn out their base...the Dems not so much!

wonder how many women directors have actually approached George with a project they want him to fund? He directs most of his own projects and he does not control who the director is when he signs on to someone elses movie. If you told me that 100 female directors had come to him with projects and all of them had been turned down then you would have a solid argument. but without knowing the true details its all assumption. so far we have only identified Argo as a project he wanted to do but didnt have the time and he gave it to men. What other projects has he produced that have been directed by men? are there a couple or are there thousands.

He could produce my movie LOL

Lighterside wrote:Elizabeth Warren or Wendy Davis do not have the experience to run for President just yet, although I campaigned by phone for Elizabeth and I do believe she would make a stellar candidate.   I do agree that Hilary will be the next nominee for the Democatic ticket in 2016.  The war on women has been raging and forging ahead here in the States because of the 2010 election cycle and the throng of Republican governors and State Representatives that were elected in a tea party wave, which rose against our having elected the first African American President.  The tea party can deny it all they want but "We want to take back our country" belies their intent.  The "they" that they wanted to take their country back from was the newly elected African American President, all other people of color, the LGBT community and those Caucasians with a progressive agenda who want equality for all, whether or not they will admit it.

Never has it been more apparent that we MUST be vigilant in elections at the state and local level.  This wouldn't be happening right now if the Democrats had bothered to turn out in a non-presidential election year.  The Republicans ALWAYS vote, every election they turn out their base...the Dems not so much!

I agree
GOP are already working on suppressing the minority vote when the SCOTUS dismantled the voter's act, the five judges were GOP. I have seen rhetoric pertaining to Warren and Davis about 2016. You are right about their experience it could be because they are both in the news a bit more at this time. If women lose anymore rights even if it's backhanded it is going to get difficult to say the least.

An actor/star of George's caliber can absolutely influence the choice of a director on a picture. He can tell the studio his choice of the people he would work with. Or, if he comes on board a project on which the director has already been attached, he can say 'yay' or 'nay' to the part. If they want George, the director is gone. (I've never heard that he did this; just giving a hypothetical of how things work.) Conversely, if he requests a certain director, I'm sure he'd get him/her -- if they're a known quantity to the money people.

And there's the rub: getting to be a "known quantity" as a female director. Either the money guys have to widen their nets, or women will have to fund their own projects and make them successful.

There are more non-movie people coming into the industry, who have money but not the ties to the old boys' network. The daughter of the Oracle billionaire (Ellison?) comes to mind. She's funded some good projects, and she loves to work with women. There's a brother-sister team of producers/financiers who are doing the same. But they can't be the only ones hiring women in order for there to be a notable change.

As for the films George produces, if he has equity investors, it's likely that they 'prefer' the director have a track record making major movies. Unfortunately, in the industry, the track record doesn't have to be all that stellar to keep the work coming, and that means men get the lion's share, to understate it. So you see people (read: men) getting projects over and over, while most women are struggling for footing to just get that track record started. So George and other producers may have limited options there. It's what happens when you use OPM (Other People's Money).

Personally, I think George gravitates to stories that rely heavily on men and their relationships. It's his wheelhouse. The choices in his private life aside, I think he's shown he has no reservations with working with or hiring women. Smoke House is George's and Grant's outfit, but it's pretty much run by women on a day-to-day basis. I think if George found a good story, and a woman who has shown that she could handle the job either came with it or was recommended/found, he'd have no problem with it. But he's not going to go looking for a female director to prove a point.

JMHO, of course.

Exactly. George has produced 29 titles according to IMDb and is massively influential. If he wanted more women working with him - and that doesn't have to be limited to just directors, either: it could be lighting technicians, camera operators, AD, etc etc etc - then he could do it.

Way2Old4Dis wrote:Personally, I think George gravitates to stories that rely heavily on men and their relationships. It's his wheelhouse. The choices in his private life aside, I think he's shown he has no reservations with working with or hiring women. [ . . . ] I think if George found a good story, and a woman who has shown that she could handle the job either came with it or was recommended/found, he'd have no problem with it. But he's not going to go looking for a female director to prove a point.

Totally agree with you. I don't think he's deliberately ignoring women, it's just not been an active part of his agenda. Maybe it will be in the future?

I second both Way2 and Katie's thoughts. In his position, George could have an all female crew if he wanted to; I just don't think it occurs to him. You know, until Oscar season, when he's suddenly clutching his pearls about the lack of opportunities for women in Hollywood.  I just don't think it will happen organically. People in George's position have to make it an active part of their agenda, because no else is going to. For example, a few years ago Beyonce decided that she would only hire female musicians to be in her touring band. It's pretty cool to see an all female band backing up arguably the most famous entertainer in the world.

I agree with those who see that he had simply accepted the ones chosen, or went with the most talented he could get. He def wants the best that he can find, and I don't think because one was female he would say, wait a min...

He looks too, to their level of confidence in themself and their abilities too, besides what they have already done. He will go with the talent. Good judgements and decisions in film making will show in their results. And not necessarily how big it hit the box office. Many very good films do not always appeal to the masses, but can have a smaller drawing. And its also why those films are not too deeply invested in.

George sometimes is drawn toward certain types of films that would not necessarily hit it big. But have ideas that he may wish to share. And if a woman is the director of one, I would say, it will not be rejected by him, if its something he likes and wants to share in the production of.

I DO think hes very much into equality. And that does mean that things should not be biased and gender based. Our society is very slow to open up to true good will toward all. US is being politically controlled at the moment, but I think they who are behind that know their time is running out as more bias is being heavily reflected upon and it will become the new thing which will be more voted against.

The more they push at women voters, the more they will encourage them to FIGHT back. We can be a very stubborn lot too. hehehe