Sofia Coppola says she is “fighting for a tiny fraction” of what male directors get
Hollywood director Sofia Coppola has discussed the industry’s gender pay gap in a new interview, stating that she is “fighting for a tiny fraction” of what her male counterparts earn.
Coppola, who is known for focussing on the complexities of womanhood in her movies, explained the challenges she faced in a male-dominated industry, along with the frustrations of keeping up in a culture still benefiting from archaic structures.
“It’s really important to me to be able to show a female perspective. I’m happy there are more and more women directors, but it’s still such a small percentage,” she told the BBC.
She continued: “I just see all these men getting hundreds of millions of dollars and then I’m fighting for a tiny fraction of that.”
Adding: “I think it’s just left over from the way the culture of that business is. It’s frustrating but I’m always fighting to get it and I’m just happy to get to make my movies independently and find people that believe in them.”
However, despite experiencing frustration, she acknowledges there’s a positive aspect to having fewer funds. “There’s a challenge and a freedom in making things small because if you have a big budget,” she explained, “you have a lot of input from studio executives, and I would never be able to make a movie like that.”
“So I have that freedom,” she continued. “And then you have to be really crafty and it was really hard but I had the best team… we were able to re-use sets and I don’t know how we made so many costumes! It was all hands on deck and just having really creative department heads.”
Coppola’s latest film, Priscilla, is inspired by the 1985 memoir Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley, offering an intimate glimpse into the duo’s tumultuous relationship and the challenges of fame.
“I was really surprised with how much I related to it and how vivid her story was,” Coppola said. “So then I called Priscilla up and she was open to it. I loved that it [the book] was so focused on her and their relationship and how intimate the story was.”
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.