Colin Trevorrow - H 2015
AP Images/InvisionColin Trevorrow addressed gender imbalance in Hollywood by responding to a query from one of his Twitter followers.
“Do you think that if you were a female director in Hollywood you would have gotten the chance to direct Jurassic World?” Stephan Jansen (@AutisticWeirdo) asked the Jurassic World director late Friday afternoon.
Trevorrow responded with a three paragraph reply, addressing the connection between gender and desire. “I want to believe that a filmmaker with both the desire and ability to make a studio blockbuster will be given the opportunity to make their case. I stress desire because I honestly think that’s a part of the issue.”
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He replied that “many of the top female directors in our industry are not interested in doing a piece of studio business for its own sake,” adding “These filmmakers have clear voices and stories to tell that don’t necessarily involve superheroes or spaceships and dinosaurs.”
The director wrote it “is not a simple case of exclusion within an impenetrable corporate system,” but believes it includes a subject that is “rarely discussed”: “very high levels of artistic and creative integrity among female directors.”
Jurassic World, which has grossed $638 million in the domestic box office, is only Trevorrow’s second directorial feature. He was hired after only directing one feature, 2012 Sundance indie Safety Not Guaranteed. Disney announced at D23 last weekend that the director is signed on to helm Star Wars: Episode IX.
Read the director’s full statement below.
I want to believe that a filmmaker with both the desire and ability to make a studio blockbuster will be given the opportunity to make their case. I stress desire because I honestly think that’s a part of the issue. Many of the top female directors in our industry are not interested in doing a piece of studio business for its own sake. These filmmakers have clear voices and stories to tell that don’t necessarily involve superheroes or spaceships and dinosaurs.
To me, this is not a simple case of exclusion within an impenetrable corporate system. It’s complex, and it involves a component that I think is rarely discussed — very high levels of artistic and creative integrity among female directors.
Maybe this opinion makes me naïve, but as an employee of two companies run by brilliant women, I don’t think I am. There is a sincere desire correct this imbalance at the highest levels of our industry right now. And yes it does make me feel terrible to be held up as a symptom of a social injustice. I’m a person. Nobody wants to be part of the problem.
@AutisticWeirdo pic.twitter.com/Nt17F2ohMn
— Colin Trevorrow (@colintrevorrow) August 21, 2015
Late Friday evening, actress Jaime King shared her disappointment at Trevorrow’s post on Twitter: “As the next director of @starwars & the rad Jurassic World @colintrevorrow- it’s unfortunate that you believe this.”
The director followed her response with a tweet: “I believe that there is an imbalance in our industry that needs to change, and it will. If I’m muddling my point, I apologize.”
King then responded, “I appreciate that on behalf of all female filmmakers. We love your work – don’t underestimate the power of your voice. Xo,” to which Trevorrow replied, “Is it cool if I use nepotism to help create change? My daughter has cinema greatness in her, I just know it.”
@Jaime_King I believe that there is an imbalance in our industry that needs to change, and it will. If I’m muddling my point, I apologize.
— Colin Trevorrow (@colintrevorrow) August 21, 2015
@Jaime_King Is it cool if I use nepotism to help create change? My daughter has cinema greatness in her, I just know it.
— Colin Trevorrow (@colintrevorrow) August 21, 2015
2:29 p.m., Aug. 22: Updated with Jaime King and Trevorrow’s Twitter exchange.
