“What the count shows is that Hollywood directors are pretty much what they have always been: a small brotherhood of highly skilled craftsmen — more than 90 percent this year are men — who could hit or miss with any given film, but who tend to have solid experience. This year’s directors appear to have made 6.1 movies, on average — and probably have more in common with one another than with the increasingly diverse population around them.”
Mr. Cieply weighs in the plus and minus of this homogeneous character of Hollywood film directors. On one hand, it helps studio films continue to pull in crowds worldwide because “they look, sound and feel like what has gone before.” On the other, it limits the opportunity “to tap all of the cinematic potential in a rich and roiling humanity.”
Of the minority in the club is Japanese American Karyn Kusama. Her recent work is the sexy comic chiller “Jennifer’s Body”, following previous independent films like “The L Word”, “Æon Flux”, and “Girflight” which have earned her a reputation. Miss Kusama acknowledges that while the face of the industry may be changing, there may be something to gain from a singular of vision. She asks, “What do we stand to lose by accepting that homogeneity of vision?”
Karyn Kusama talks about “Jennifer’s Body” in this IGN interview taken from the SDCC event last month.
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