Category: Film

The media company Hello Sunshine, founded by Reese Witherspoon, has an interest in telling stories that are focused on women. Not only for women but that have women at the center of every story. Her purpose to tell, and share, female-driven stories.

You may not consider the need for someone pushing for telling women’s stories, but according to USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative report, published in late last year:

This year’s study also went beyond the top 100 to look at film slates distributed by major companies over the last 5 years, with results revealing the overall percentage of female directors was 9.8 percent, with 2019 the year in which the highest percentage of female directors worked (15 percent). Still, of the 40 slates studied, 26 of them did not feature a single woman of color as a director.

When stories are told, there is obviously a slant to what message is coming across. So when you omit the stories of women, or of people of color, you’re missing out on voluminous perspectives.

HBO Max had a lackluster beginning when only about 90,000 people downloaded the new streaming service’s mobile app. By comparison, 4 million users opted for Disney’s Disney+ service when it debuted back in November.

Three HBO streaming options are available: Now, Go, and Max. I can at least differentiate Max from the other two, but differences between Go and Now are beyond my understanding.

When the streaming wars become such that all content is only available through a number of individual services, each with a $7 price tag or above, there will be push back. That market can’t handle that kind of saturation.

Not to mention the changing face of television and film production…

I like movies. And, additionally, I like movie theaters. Seeing movies in the theater is a different experience than at home. For one, in a full theater, it’s a communal experience.

There are times I’ve talked about the transitory experience of live theatre, and that the performance that night will never be given again. Because, even if the lines and movements happen to be identical (being human, that seems incredibly unlikely), the audience changes. And each audience comes into a performance with something different than previous audiences.

Films, therefore, are subject to similar constraints. Audiences view films with many preconceived notions, and one’s perception of a movie can be drastically different from another seeing the same movie.

Under our current climate, it’s hard to envision what will happen to the movie theater, and to the film industry as a whole. But, as we’ve been programmed to be recipients for story since we first huddled in caves, I’m hopeful that we’ll resume theater-going once we’ve settled down again.

I know, at least, I’ll have a ticket in hand.