Sofia Coppola is one of the most influential female film directors currently working in Hollywood. The daughter of legendary Francis Ford Coppola has carved a name for herself with her unique voice and directing style that primarily focuses on showcasing the female perspective. As a result, it is understandable that the Academy Award-winning director is frustrated with the lack of gender parity among directors in Hollywood.
In a recent interview, Sofia Coppola spoke about the difference in the money some of her contemporary male directors receive to make movies when compared to female directors. Coppola used the example of her recent film to highlight how female directors receive smaller budgets than directors such as Steven Spielberg. Here is what Coppola said about how the gender difference affects a film’s budget in Hollywood.
Sofia Coppola Expresses Frustration With the Gender Gap In Hollywood
After a brief acting career, Sofia Coppola turned to directing with the 1999 psychological romantic drama movie The Virgin Suicides. Coppola gained acclaim as a director with her second film, Lost in Translation, for which she won an Academy Award. Despite earning steady praise and critical acclaim over the years, Coppola revealed she does not get as much money to make her films as some of the male directors currently working in the industry.
Coppola recently chatted with BBC about her biographical drama film Priscilla, which is based on the life of Priscilla Presley. In the interview, Coppola spoke about the challenges of working in a male-dominated industry. She highlighted that female directors receive a lesser budget to make their movies than male directors.
“I just see all these men getting hundreds of millions of dollars, and then I’m fighting for a tiny fraction of that.”
Sofia Coppola made the above statement referencing the culture of the modern filmmaking business. Although Coppola voiced her frustration with the lack of funds for female directors, she admitted to relishing the challenge of working on a smaller budget. Coppola explained that a smaller budget allows her to make her films with more freedom and less studio interference.
Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla Was Made On a Smaller Budget
Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla comes only a year after Elvis, directed by Baz Luhrmann, took the world by storm. The biographical film starring Austin Butler grossed $288.7 million at the box office and also received eight Academy Award nominations. Luhrmann’s Elvis was made on a budget of $85 million. In comparison, Coppola’s Priscilla was made on a measly budget of only $20 million.
Given that Coppola’s film received a budget nearly one-fourth of Luhrmann’s biographical effort, the former’s statement and frustration over female directors receiving smaller budgets is justified. In recent years, several female directors, such as Patty Jenkins, Chloé Zhao, and Niki Caro, have helmed projects with budgets of over $200 million for major studios. However, most of those projects were based on existing IPs with a dedicated fan following.
In comparison, Steven Spielberg, arguably one of the most successful directors of all time, had a budget of roughly $40 million for making the semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans. The Spielberg project still had a budget twice that of Coppola’s Priscilla despite being billed as a relatively smaller project than Spielberg’s other ventures. However, despite the marginally lower budgets allotted to female directors, the narrative will likely change in the future, especially with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie becoming 2023’s highest-grossing film.
