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Tessa Thompson is challenging Hollywood to work with more women. Over the weekend at the Sundance Film Festival, the actress dared actors and producers to work with more female directors.
The “Creed II” star’s inspiration came from Dr. Stacy L. Smith from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. During the “Making the (In)visible: Radical Transparency in the Data-Driven Age” panel at Sundance, Smith announced the “4% Challenge,” which encourages entertainers to work with women directors, especially those of color over the next few months. According to the professor, from 2007-2018, only 4-percent of top-grossing films were led by women.
And the 35-year-old decided it was time for her to join: “Because only 4-percent of the top 100 studio films over the last decade have been directed by women, Times Up is initiating a challenge, the 4 percent challenge, and I intend to take it,” she said. “I commit to working with a female director in the next 18 months.”
And she was met with great support with by her peers like Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Jordan Peele, Reese Witherspoon, Rosie Perez, and so many others.
If you didn’t know, Time’s Up is the entertainment industry’s movement to increase pay equity, and stand against sexual harassment. Earlier this month, Regina King used her Golden Globe acceptance speech to make a stand similar to Tessa’s. During her speech, the “If Beale Street Could Talk” star said: “I just want to say that I’m going to use my platform right now to say in the next two years everything that I produce I am making a vow – and it’s going to be tough – to make sure that everything that I produce is 50 percent women.” Watch her speech below:
And last year, after launching his production company, Outlier Society, Michael B. Jordan made it his mission to adopt an inclusion rider as a part of the hiring practices for projects he produces. “I’ve been privileged to work with powerful [women] & persons of color throughout my career & it’s Outlier’s mission to continue to create for talented individuals going forward,” he said.
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Get ready because women are taking over, in front of, and behind the camera!
TELL US: Are you looking forward to seeing more female-directed films in the next few months or years?
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