Angelina Jolie & Dir Jennifer Yuh Nelson on female directors
Directorial novice Angelina Jolie (In the Land of Blood and Honey) and her Kung Fu Panda 2 director Jennifer Yuh Nelson, the highest-grossing female director of all time, were shot by Peggy Sirota for the cover of the current Hollywood Reporter. Recently, they sat down with THR senior film writer Pamela McClintock for a frank discussion on the lack of female directors in Hollywood, their own directorial mentors, feelings on awards nominations (Panda 2 leads the Annie noms with 12 and Blood and Honey could get a Golden Globe nomination for best foreign language film) and the status of a Kung Fu Panda 3.
Their interview ran as a part of THR’s larger female directors package, highlighting Vera Farmiga (Higher Ground), Dee Rees (Pariah), Phyllida Lloyd (The Iron Lady), Lorene Scafaria (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World) and Patty Jenkins (Monster).
WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT HOLLYWOOD’S DEARTH OF FEMALE DIRECTORS
Although neither would label herself an activist for female causes per se, the duo are mystified as to why there aren’t more women directors — only 13.4 percent of the DGA’s director members are female. To boot, Kung Fu Panda 2 is only the second animated studio pic solely directed by a woman, after The Tigger Movie.
Angelina Jolie: “Isn’t that crazy? Animated films are so family-oriented, you’d think that there would be women.”
Jennifer Yuh Nelson: I don’t think about the gender thing very much. But when I speak at schools, I’ve had female students say to me afterwards, “I never envisioned myself being a director, since I’ve never seen women do it.” But after seeing me, they can picture themselves directing, so maybe we’ll see more female directors. And half of these kids in art and animation schools are girls.
FEMALE DIRECTORS AT THE WORLD BOX OFFICE
1. Kung Fu Panda 2: $663 million
DAW/Paramount (2011)
Jennifer Yuh Nelson’s sequel narrowly bested the $631.7 million earned by the original Kung Fu Panda.