Elizabeth Banks : Batting a Winning Game
by Paulette Reynolds
August 20, 2015
At a time when every other article bemoans the fate of women in Hollywood, one actress is stepping up to the plate and batting a perfect average. The sports metaphor is not accidental - in a field fueled by testosterone and hard cash, the successful players know that "suiting up and showing up" helps get you to where you want to be - in the game.
Elizabeth Bank’s 17-year career marks a steady climb into A-list films, such as Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Oliver Stone's W, The Univited, Invincible, the Spider-Man franchise and The Hunger Games. She even received an Emmy nomination for her role as Avery Jessup in NBC's 30 Rock. But her biggest challenge as producer and director may just knock the ball out of the park.
Not content to just participate at a round table about the treatment of actresses in GlitterLand, actress, director and producer Elizabeth Banks is definitely someone to watch and emulate. Her recent role as Gail in Pitch Perfect allowed her to add another producing credit to her trophy case and led to her next film venture, where she directed and produced Universal's Pitch Perfect 2. The film, coming in at a budget of $29M, raked in a sweet $284M, paving the way for another run with Pitch Perfect 3 (set for release in 2017).
As co-owner of Brownstone Productions, (together with her husband, Max Handelman), Elizabeth Banks is stepping up her game by entering into the Male-Only directorial enclave that permits only 3% women every year. Not only is her production portfolio expanding to seven credits (Surrogates, Pitch Perfect 1/2/3, Resident Advisors, The Greater Good, and Heist Society), but her resume as director is at five film credits and climbing. With her sharp eye on the youth market and audience’s demand for more female-driven projects, Banks is aware of what's driving today's demographics - all the way to the Cineplex.
A recent quote should be framed and serve as a rallying cry for Hollywood's vast female pool of talent:
[on the sexism in Hollywood] “Oh, I think it drove me to direct for sure,” she says. “I definitely was feeling that I was unfulfilled and a little bit bored by the things that were coming across my desk. I mean things like playing Effie (in The Hunger Games) really helped sustain me. She’s so iconic and I love her and people really get to see the movie but I think at a certain point, everything that’s coming across my desk, I’m like, ‘I’m vibrant and vital and interested. I still got my looks.’ I think it’s really just about my peer group. Just watching my peer group get to still have lead roles in movies and know that more and more, those are going to up-and-comers instead of people who are veterans in the industry. I mean I look at Gwyneth Paltrow who has her Oscar and played fifth banana to Iron Man. That to me is a great example of the fate of women in Hollywood. Like what more can you do? I didn’t even date Brad Pitt so what more can I do?” *
If there's still any doubt about Elizabeth Bank's future, visit her website, possibly the best example of pitch-perfect design and content I've seen: http://elizabethbanks.com
* Antonia Blyth, “Elizabeth Banks on Sexism in Hollywood” Aug 18, 2015. Dateline Hollywood (August 20, 2015)
http://deadline.com/2015/08/elizabeth-banks-pitch-perfect-modern-family-1201501124/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Banks
by Paulette Reynolds
August 20, 2015
At a time when every other article bemoans the fate of women in Hollywood, one actress is stepping up to the plate and batting a perfect average. The sports metaphor is not accidental - in a field fueled by testosterone and hard cash, the successful players know that "suiting up and showing up" helps get you to where you want to be - in the game.
Elizabeth Bank’s 17-year career marks a steady climb into A-list films, such as Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Oliver Stone's W, The Univited, Invincible, the Spider-Man franchise and The Hunger Games. She even received an Emmy nomination for her role as Avery Jessup in NBC's 30 Rock. But her biggest challenge as producer and director may just knock the ball out of the park.
Not content to just participate at a round table about the treatment of actresses in GlitterLand, actress, director and producer Elizabeth Banks is definitely someone to watch and emulate. Her recent role as Gail in Pitch Perfect allowed her to add another producing credit to her trophy case and led to her next film venture, where she directed and produced Universal's Pitch Perfect 2. The film, coming in at a budget of $29M, raked in a sweet $284M, paving the way for another run with Pitch Perfect 3 (set for release in 2017).
As co-owner of Brownstone Productions, (together with her husband, Max Handelman), Elizabeth Banks is stepping up her game by entering into the Male-Only directorial enclave that permits only 3% women every year. Not only is her production portfolio expanding to seven credits (Surrogates, Pitch Perfect 1/2/3, Resident Advisors, The Greater Good, and Heist Society), but her resume as director is at five film credits and climbing. With her sharp eye on the youth market and audience’s demand for more female-driven projects, Banks is aware of what's driving today's demographics - all the way to the Cineplex.
A recent quote should be framed and serve as a rallying cry for Hollywood's vast female pool of talent:
[on the sexism in Hollywood] “Oh, I think it drove me to direct for sure,” she says. “I definitely was feeling that I was unfulfilled and a little bit bored by the things that were coming across my desk. I mean things like playing Effie (in The Hunger Games) really helped sustain me. She’s so iconic and I love her and people really get to see the movie but I think at a certain point, everything that’s coming across my desk, I’m like, ‘I’m vibrant and vital and interested. I still got my looks.’ I think it’s really just about my peer group. Just watching my peer group get to still have lead roles in movies and know that more and more, those are going to up-and-comers instead of people who are veterans in the industry. I mean I look at Gwyneth Paltrow who has her Oscar and played fifth banana to Iron Man. That to me is a great example of the fate of women in Hollywood. Like what more can you do? I didn’t even date Brad Pitt so what more can I do?” *
If there's still any doubt about Elizabeth Bank's future, visit her website, possibly the best example of pitch-perfect design and content I've seen: http://elizabethbanks.com
* Antonia Blyth, “Elizabeth Banks on Sexism in Hollywood” Aug 18, 2015. Dateline Hollywood (August 20, 2015)
http://deadline.com/2015/08/elizabeth-banks-pitch-perfect-modern-family-1201501124/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Banks
COPYRIGHT 2012/2018. Paulette Reynolds. All CineMata Movie Madness blog articles, reviews, faux interviews, commentary, and the Cine Mata character are under the sole ownership of Paulette Reynolds. All intellectual and creative rights reserved.
