Too Old for Hollywood? Try Film Directing
By Zorianna Kit
March 2, 2010
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Want to be an actor, but you are beyond your 20s. Perhaps a career as a screenwriter, but you heard about age discrimination. Try directing, filmmakers are having all the luck these days -- at any age.
"Shutter Island" from 67-year-old director Martin Scorsese, reigned atop U.S. box offices for the second straight week this past weekend. It dethroned former champ "Valentine's Day" from 75-year-old Garry Marshall, and 76-year-old Roman Polanski's "Ghost Whisperer" is performing well in art houses.
Some quick math on directors nominated for this week's Oscars shows an average age of 48, lowered significantly by the youngish Jason Reitman ("Up In the Air") at age 32.
It seems that if a director makes shrewd casting choices, works in a proven genre, stakes out a sure-fire release date or simply stays in the game long enough, they, like fine wine, get better with age.
"If you're making works that are relevant to today's audience, there is no ageism" in Hollywood, said Paul Dergarabedian, who tracks ticket sales for Hollywood.com.
Ageism has become a dirty word in entertainment in recent years because it seems today's big stars are teens and young adults like Miley Cyrus, 17, Zac Efron, 22 and the "Twilight" actors. Brad Pitt, 46 and Tom Cruise, 47 are just old men.
Late last month, TV writers, talent agents, studios and broadcasters announced a settlement in an age discrimination suit that called for businesses to pay $70 million to writers who believed they were denied jobs and promotions because they were telling stories too old to reach today's audiences.
Yet in a town seemingly always focused on new talent or the next young visionary, filmmakers old enough to be grandfathers are the ones tapping into what today's moviegoers want to see.
Thriller "Shutter Island," which teamed Leonardo DiCaprio and Scorsese, has earned $75 million in two weeks and "Valentine's Day" is at $100 million in three weeks.
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I really like this article. It is very nice to read something positive that is happening to older people, (and especially surprising that it is in Hollywood). I am trying not to focus on the fact that they are only men mentioned in this article and that they are BEHIND the camera and not in front of it, but every little step helps. Most of our progress has not come all in one day. Thank you for the different perspective on this issue and some good news about it!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this article and I believe that it delivered a different perspective of ageism in today's society. It seems as though Hollywood is supposed to be all about "young and beautiful," but I believe that experience is more important than eye candy.
ReplyDeleteI think that Hollywood is all about how old or young you look. It has been weird for me to watch stars that are younger than me grow up and start to transition into "adult" roles, or also I think it's strange when 20 somethings play high schoolers... I'm thinking Mean Girls.... haha one of my favorite movies... but anyway as I said its all about how you look in Hollywood and that is the nature of that industry...
ReplyDeleteThe article is refreshing to read because it is something that is more positive about ageism rather than all negativism. I do agree with what Caitlin said about how well someone is experienced should be the aspect of someone's success, but in Hollywood it seems to be more about the age that provides success. Ageism is finally looking up, but there is still a lot of work that has to be done. Age is nothing but a number and if someone is good at what they do then that's all that should matter not how old or young they are.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised about the writer’s court settlement over ageism. I never considered other Hollywood professions as experiencing ageism like actors and actresses. It seems as though the age of writers, like directors, should have no impact on their careers. However, it seems natural that younger writers are able to write more youthful and current material because their childhood experiences are more recent. Though older writers may have to do more research than their younger colleagues concerning current youth culture, they usually have more experience in the industry and should not be treated as outdated in the entertainment business.
ReplyDeleteHi Carolyn. I really like your post. I don't necessarily think that older colleagues need to do more research than their conterparts. Although I'm not that much older, I am older. I think that they just have to stay a part of life and the culture in which they live. In addition, I watched a show on how they made AVATAR, (one of my favorite movies), the director is in his late 50's and he was describing that the movie came to him when he was six years old and that we just now had the technology to make it. I think creativity is very important in that field, and that creativity is ageless.
ReplyDeleteThats a good point Cindy and for the most part I think you are correct.
ReplyDeleteCreativity sticks around for a long time but I have always thought that it peaks when you are young. It always seemed to me that my imagination was much more open and vibrant while i was younger. Maybe thats just my ageism talking...
I found this an interesting atricle regarding ageism. I found myself thinking of ageism in the opposite manner. Being with my grandmother out on several occasions i have seen how she has been ignored and not listened to as she spoke to advocate for herself, even in just a store such as Hannaford. It seems the more I observe my surroundings the more i see we do not "respect our elders" any longer but ignore them. Reading the article regarding Hollywood and ageism, it was interesting to see the opposite happening.The older the indaviduale is the better they are doing. Very interesting and refreshing to hear.
ReplyDeleteRob, I think your point is a good one too. I think that for most of us creativity may peak when we are young because we are free from the responsibilities that we assume as we get older. Maybe having children helps us to renew creativity - I don't know.
ReplyDeleteI thought this post was very refreshing! It was nice to see some positive focus on people getting older and being productive.
ReplyDeleteRob and Cindy, I think your conversation on age and creativity is interesting. I think creativity continues as long as you practice it the same way doing crosswords keeps your mind sharp.
Does this put ageism in a positive light? Or can there only negativity around isms?
ReplyDelete