Eva Longoria is an actress who lives in Los Angeles. She lamented that while white men are able to direct a major failure film, they can still get a second movie, but women like her cannot.
The announcement was made during the Kering Women in Motion presentation, which will be held at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023. She was reflecting upon her experience as the director of Flamin’ Hot. It is an American Dream Story of a Frito-Lay Janitor who invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
Elizabeth Wagmeister, Variety’s chief reporter and a fan of Longoria’s work, said: “We get few bites at the apple.” “My film wasn’t low-budget – it was not 100 million dollars but it was not $2 million.
If the film fails, people will say “Oh, Latino storylines don’t work…female directors really don’t succeed’.” There are not many opportunities to succeed. A white male director can direct a $200 million film and fail, then get another. Work twice as fast and twice as hard. ” “You bring your generational traumas to the making of the film. This was a huge source of motivation for myself. ”
Longoria had been joined by USC Annenberg professor and researcher Dr. Stacy L. Smith, who praised the actress-turned-director for pushing diversity in entertainment and “walking the walk. ”
Smith said that this was part of an effort to recognize those who excel in representation, whether it be gender, race, ethnicity, LGBTQ+ or people over 65. “Who is behind the lens?
Longoria responded, “How you define success is important.” She also added that studios will make small gestures, such as adding women to the cameras.
The number of women has increased from one to two. The way you define success is important.
Longoria concluded her speech by calling on Hollywood to place more emphasis on the Latino audience.
She stated that 28% are Latino. You know how many Latinos attended Crazy Rich Asians, or bought tickets to “Fast and Furious”.
Longoria added, “We’re still underrepresented in front of and behind the cameras.” We don’t reach out to Latino women. ” “We were at 7% before, but we’re now at 5%. When you look at the data, it is clear that Hollywood’s progressive image was a myth. ”
Longoria’s complaint that only white men are allowed to direct blockbusters following a flop, is similar to what was said when A Wrinkle in Time directed by Ava DuVernay bombed in the box office.
“The system was rigged,” wrote Inkoo Kang of The Hollywood Reporter.
