2017 — The Year That Could Change Everything or Nothing
On the one hand, I can’t wait for this fucking year to end. It’s been brutal and exhausting. It started with women marching together in protest, and it’s ending with women standing up and saying no more to sexual harassment and abuse.
And we celebrated our 10th anniversary of educating, advocating, and agitating for gender equality in Hollywood. Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate at our parties in New York, Los Angeles, and London.
A couple of other milestones this year:
We finally got a female-led superhero film directed by a woman. And it rocked. “Wonder Woman” made $820 million and made when Patty Jenkins signed on to helm the sequel she became the highest paid-female director in history.
And Lena Waithe became the first black woman to win an Emmy for comedy writing.
This year will be remembered for the rise of women’s voices to stamp out sexual harassment and abuse in Hollywood — for the sake of this post we will focus on Hollywood, but we don’t want to underplay the fact that this is happening all across the country and the world. From the day that the New York Times’ first story about Harvey Weinstein hit in early October, the industry has been shaken to its core. It’s hard to quantify where this could go, but suffice it to say the institutions that run Hollywood — from the studios to the Academy, to the guilds and unions — are freaking out.
The Commission that was announced last week that will be chaired by Anita Hill has great potential, as many of the highest profile leaders in the industry are involved, but let’s be real, the industry is a mess and there are a multitude of systemic issues that need to be addressed. We will be watching this really, really carefully as addressing these issues could transform the industry, and if these issues aren’t addressed, all this momentum could be lost. That would be so incredibly sad because many women — and men — have put themselves on the line to try and make sure that there is substantive change.
We offer deep appreciation to all the women who spoke out to their peril, to the reporters who keep pushing this issue, to the institutions addressing the problems, and to everyone who are finally listening and believing women.
This is truly a transformational opportunity that is much-needed and we will keep pushing for change.
Thank you for all your support over the last year.
See you in January.
