“Better Call Saul” writer Gennifer Hutchison offered some advice to Jason Blum after the Blumhouse Productions chief said in an interview that he’s “trying” to hire a woman to direct a horror film at his studio, but there aren’t enough willing to take a stab at the genre.
“Producers and studios, if they are really serious about hiring women directors, need to work on fostering talent that has been overlooked rather than simply chasing the overbooked few female directors,” Hutchison said in a tweet. “You have to take chances on new voices to achieve parity.”
Blum’s comments came in response to a Polygon interview question that pointed out his Blumhouse has never produced a theatrically released horror movie directed by a woman.
“We’re always trying to [do] that…We’re not trying to do it because of recent events. We’ve always been trying,” Blum told Polygon on Wednesday. “There are not a lot of female directors period, and even less who are inclined to do horror.”
Blumhouse did not immediately respond for comment.
Also in the interview, Blum said that he’s offered numerous projects to both Jennifer Kent, the director of “The Babadook,” and Leigh Janiak, who directed “Honeymoon” in 2014, but nothing came of it.
“I’m a massive admirer of Jennifer Kent. I’ve offered her every movie we’ve had available. She’s turned me down every time,” Blum said.
Blumhouse has produced numerous films directed by women, including Catherine Hardwick’s “Plush,” Karen Moncrieff’s “The Keeping Hours,” and the HBO series “Sharp Objects” among others. But the Polygon article contends that none of these projects are traditional horror films in the vein of their reboot of “Halloween,” which opens this weekend. Jamie Lee Curtis is an executive producer on that film.
See Hutchison’s tweets below, and read the interview with Blum here.
https://twitter.com/GennHutchison/status/1052620070839410688
https://twitter.com/GennHutchison/status/1052636283145580544