Catherine Hardwicke, director of the young adult vampire film Twilight (2008), has said the film industry isn't “going to hire more women directors”.
The 69-year-old made her directorial debut in 2003 with the psychological drama Thirteen, starring Nikki Reed, who co-wrote the film and would later star in the Twilight franchise.
In 2008, the writer-director worked with Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson for the first of five Twilight movies, which are based on Stephenie Meyer’s novels.
While Hardwicke’s film grossed $408.5m (£300m) at the global box office, the director was replaced by Chris Weitz, David Slade and Bill Condon for the four sequels, respectively.
In a recent interview with The Guardian, Hardwicke discussed how she has maintained her career in a male-dominated industry.
“People aren’t going to hire more women directors. They’re not going to give you the next job and let you do something great,” she said, before describing this as an “earth-shattering reality”.
When working alongside Summit Entertainment, Twilight’s producers, Hardwicke said there was an understanding that successful male directors might be given “a car, or a three-picture deal, or [getting] to do basically whatever you want”.
But following Twilight’s success at the box office, Hardwicke did not receive the same rewards.
“I walked into a room with all these gifts, and everybody was congratulating the studio, and they gave me a box,” she said. “I opened it up, and it was a mini cupcake.”
Instead, Hardwicke built a name for herself as a director who has launched the careers of some of Hollywood’s biggest names, including Robert Pattinson and Oscar Isaac.
Her upcoming movie, Street Smart, which is currently in post-production, follows a group of homeless teenagers in Los Angeles.
Hardwicke described the movie as “a kind of homeless The Breakfast Club, which addresses US president Donald Trump’s cuts to welfare budgets and rollback in diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
“Even though we wrote it before he got elected, Street Smart is directly addressing some of [these] issues,” she told The Guardian. “It’s telling a compelling story that shows people who do not look like Donald Trump, or think like him.”
