Variety: Geena Davis Talks This Changes Everything Doc and Conscious Gender Bias in Behind-the-Scenes Hiring, Good Deed Entertainment: This Changes Everything (2019) Exclusive Interview with Geena Davis & Director Tom Donahue, PBS SoCal: Interview with Geena Davis and Tom Donahue on This Changes Everything, Deadline: This Changes Everything Review: Compelling Documentary Tackles Hollywood Gender Inequality Head-On, The New York Times: This Changes Everything Review: Hollywoods Men, Called to Action. Why dont things change? Directed by Avi Lewis Catalan You used to make a movie a year. Directed by Avi Lewis, and inspired by Naomi Kleins international non-fiction bestsellerThis Changes Everything, the film presents seven powerful portraits of communities on the front lines, from Montanas Powder River Basin to the Alberta Tar Sands, from the coast of South India to Beijing and beyond. MARTIN: In fact, there is a clip in the film where you talk about the fact that representation in actually entertainment can actually matter in the real world. GROSS: And you also are an archer - like bow and arrow archery. We'll be right back. . I felt its my duty as a feminist, male or otherwise. It's really fun and incredibly challenging. GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is nothing funny here. GROSS: Maria Giese, let me move on to you. DAVIS: Well, it did in a way. CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: Now, whether in politics or science or any other field, one thing is for sure, we need more women now. They could say, what was I doing? MARTIN: And they just cant believe that it is what it is. Most fascinating is an examination of the six women who in 1979 founded the Directors Guild of Americas Womens Steering Committee, which sought to investigate the hiring practices of studios. Klein argues that the changes to our relationship with nature and one another that are required to respond to the climate crisis humanely should not be viewed as grim penance, but rather as a kind of gifta catalyst to transform broken economic and cultural priorities and to heal long-festering historical wounds. The numbers have obviously not improved for decades. DONAHUE: And then Patricia Arquette got up at the Oscars and demanded equal pay. I always say go through the script and change it. French DAVIS: I think I noticed it because Ive been in like A League of Their Own and I became very aware of how few inspirational female characters there are in regular adult fare. It's about two women who grab ahold of their fate and refuse to relinquish control no matter how far it takes them, that they remain in charge of their destiny. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Its one of the best things thats ever happened in my professional career. AMANPOUR: Let me just give some of the statistics that you cite in the film. And you wouldnt know it because of how it turns out, four percent post his school. I - my daughter was a toddler, and I decided she was old enough to start watching preschool shows. Oh, we forgot. The film brings Naomi Klein's radical, inspiring thesis to life through a connective thread of stories from people living and working on the front . This is the 21st century. I'm Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR. So I learned through him about the equal rights amendment, about Gloria Steinem and Marlo Thomas and that girl and I became a fan of Mary Tyler Moore. Well, Tom, talk a little about what the problem is if you would. Melachrini, a housewife in Northern Greece where economic crisis is being used to justify mining and drilling projects that threaten the mountains, seas, and tourism economy. So Geena, I think some people might hear that and go, Oh, thats too bad but why? If she can see it, she can be it. Terms Privacy Policy For Our Members Access, All rights reserved. Greek So do you have any idea where things stand? . Climate change isnt just another issue to be neatly filed between taxes and health care. Tom, do you want to add to that? And this is a buddy movie that's a women's movie. It takes a bit of time for the documentary to find its groove. Why hasnt it changed before now? And I was really worried about coming off as if I didn't know anything, that people would be saying, she doesn't even know where to stand or what to do. An investigative look and analysis of gender disparity in Hollywood, featuring accounts from well-known actors, executives and artists in the Industry.An investigative look and analysis of gender disparity in Hollywood, featuring accounts from well-known actors, executives and artists in the Industry.An investigative look and analysis of gender disparity in Hollywood, featuring accounts from well-known actors, executives and artists in the Industry. From Thelma & Louise to A League of Their Own, the Oscar-winning actress Geena Davis made her name with her strong female characters. TAX ID# 86-1943473, Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, PO Box 9615, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91701. And we started to have meetings with them. And a buddy movies are always men's movies. So it was all very shocking and great because what it really - well, first of all, I'll tell you how it affected me. . Well, do they have any photos of her in a bathing suit? GIESE: You know, I did a lot of script writing and doctoring and - but no, no primetime TV shows, even though I observed for hundreds of hours on major TV shows like Dick Wolf's "Law & Order.". Maleeha Lodhi joins the program to explain tensions between Pakistan and India. German DAVIS: Oh, so - gosh. Korean GROSS: And so it's a kind of - I think at the time, people were comparing it to Butch Cassidy. And so I never asked any questions, and I didn't know that you didn't have to come every day. All rights reserved. I didn't want to try any sports because I was - I call it physically shy. I'm wondering what impact you think that might be having on the inclusion issue because we've seen how some men in Hollywood have misused their power to assault or harass women. Russian MARTIN: Why do you think that was the click moment for you? Michel Martin sits down with Oscar-winning actress Geena Davis and director Tom Donahue to discuss their new film "This Changes Everything," which tackles the need for more female . But when she got older and roles started to dry up, she realized how unempowered women were in Hollywood. GIESE: Yes, Title VII, which was written into law in 1964 by President Johnson. Spanish And I explained to them why I thought that this was so significant on a global level. As an asteroid hurtles towards Earth with nothing to stop it, one determined teacher fights to keep her former students safe no matter the cost. Also was named Observer Book of the Year and a New York Times Book Review 100 Notable Books of the Year and Margaret Atwood chose it for The Guardians Best Books of 2014 list. So theres something really deep and systemic going on. Thats the problem. And that's what I set my mind to do. Its always been that way. MARTIN: You know one of the things that really fascinated me about the film is that you point out it wasnt always this way. Drawing on an impressive volume of research, Ms. Klein savages the idea that we will be saved by new technologies or by an incremental shift away from fossil fuels: Both approaches, she argues, are forms of denial . MARTIN: But Geena, this has to have happened to you throughout your career? We have also been told that humanity is too greedy and selfish to rise to this challenge. This Changes Everything Official trailer Did we miss something on diversity? Watch This Changes Everything: Men Don't See Us Women Equal. Which is why none of them appeared in this film? (Laughter). Its not going to benefit you. And I think most people and certainly I did assume that kids entertainments are harmless, that they're - they might even be good for kids. Croatian He was the photographer for "Soul Train" and took photos for Jet, Ebony and the black-owned LA newspaper Soul. A group of disillusioned young women have disappeared. By Joel Horwood. Hosting a Screening (note that licensing and contact info in this document are out of date / no longer active) Faith screening guide. Portuguese Nobody was going into this thinking, oh, we're going to really make a statement with this, or this is going to be a powerful message for anybody. Naomi Kleins This Changes Everything is a ground-breaking work on how climate change changes everything. Documentary. A new documentary explores how women in Hollywood are pushing for more representation in front of and behind the camera. . DAVIS: Yes. Geena Davis and Maria Giese, welcome to FRESH AIR. Women are socialized to go along with the dominant patriarch. GROSS: Let down your hair, as you put it. And this is according to the Center for the Study of Women and Television and Film in San Diego State University. LANDGRAF: The minute we open our door and we say, come express it here, the work got better. In this part of the interview, I'm going to talk more with Davis about her own movie career. And that was an extraordinary triumph. Swedish DAVIS: Oh, no. And I went, and they said, wear a bathing suit under your clothes because if you do well at the reading, they'll ask to see you in your bathing suit. Now they were saying, oh, I have to tell you what I thought about this movie, and this is how many times I saw it. And her actions led to an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation into systemic discrimination against women directors. Reese Witherspoon: The basis of your thinking is determined by the first images you see; whose values are important and whose stories are important, and that's what we're teaching little girls and little boys. MARTIN: Have you felt your career jeopardized by your unspokeness about this? Now we will see so many more female buddy pictures, female road movies or whatever and movies about female friendship. And that action alone sent the numbers skyrocketing from 0.5% to 16% in just 10 years from 1985 to 1995. Actress Geena Davis rallies Meryl Streep, Shonda Rhimes, Reese Witherspoon and others in this . JOIN NOW. GROSS: Geena, I want to ask you about one of the recurring roles that you have now, and that's on this series "GLOW" - the Netflix series "GLOW," which is about women wrestlers in the 1980s. To have these conversations with men, youre saying like, well, I dont think you should depict it that way and I think you should depict it this way. MARTIN: And youre saying that entertainment really does matter. Being so tall, I just didn't want anybody to look at me, especially if I was going to be failing at a sport.