Nina Jacobson, who was the producer on the “Hunger Games” movies and whose next project includes “Crazy Rich Asians,” slammed Hollywood’s diversity problem as “bulls— prejudice which is disguised as conventional wisdom when it’s just bias.”
“For me, [projects are] especially meaningful if it feels like it would inspire other people,” Jacobson said at TheWrap’s annual media and technology conference, TheGrill, on Tuesday. “Something like ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ about the young person who has never seen a person that looks like them on a big poster like that or on the big screen.
“Or with ‘Hunger Games,’ for girls to see somebody they really admire, but who guys admire just as much, and to break through some of the really … honestly just bulls— prejudice which is disguised as conventional wisdom when it’s just bias,” Jacobson said, like false opinion such as “‘oh don’t you know, black movies don’t travel’ and ‘don’t you know, girls will identify with a male protagonist but boys won’t identify with a female protagonist.’ These things were all taught to me as though they were truths and they are all just biases. Bias, and it’s bulls—.”
The producer, whose credits also includes “American Crime Story,” also talked about the “relentless” pursuit of the young white male audience.
“The relentless sort of chasing of the young white male as like the holy grail, when by the way, you will never find a more distracted group of people who have more options for entertainment than the young male,” she said. “What with sports, video games, porn — they’re busy! They’ve got a lot to do.”
Jacobson, who spoke on the panel with president and CEO of eOne, Darren Throop, then talked about a movie she made with Wes Anderson titled “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou,” a project she was very passionate about, which caused them to spend way more money than they should have.
“You’re going to make mistakes, so at least they should matter,” she said.
Watch the video above.