Stacy Smith: Last News

A new study has found that people with mental health conditions rarely are depicted in Hollywood’s most popular films and that their depiction “remains one of predominantly white, male, straight and able-bodied characters.”

Brent Lang Executive Editor When Cate Blanchett starts shooting a new movie or show, it’s always the same story. “It’s like Groundhog Day,” Blanchett said at the Kering Women in Motion Talks at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday. “I do the head count, and I’m back in the same place, working with men who I love working with and respect, [but] I’m walking on set and there’s 50 people on set and there’s three women.

In the realm of popular music, statistics can reveal the truth behind the glitz and glamour. USC Annenberg’s Inclusion in the Recording Studio study, provides an insightful examination into the lack of women present in the music industry across various sections including engineering, songwriting, producers, spanning from 2012 to 2019. Across 800 popular songs, the study shines a spotlight on an industry that has been predominantly white and male.

William Earl Variety will host a “New Gen Voices in Filmmaking” panel, presented by Adobe, at the American Pavilion during Cannes Film Festival on May 20 at 3 p.m. Panelists include Amy White, global head of corporate social responsibility at Adobe and the executive director of the Adobe Foundation, and Dr. Stacy Smith, founder of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. They will be joined by filmmakers Yupeng He (“A Bright Sunny Day”), Katie Blair (“Imogene”), Shafagh Abosaba (“Daroone Poust”) and Maryam Mahdye (“Daroone Poust”). The conversation will be moderated by Variety’s senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The panel will explore how young, diverse filmmakers are putting a new creative stamp on the Cannes Film Festival. Speakers will discuss how their heritage has informed their projects, the latest technologies crucial to cutting-edge film production, obstacles they have overcome as artists from underrepresented communities and how people from disadvantaged communities can break into the filmmaking world.

Female actors of color had a banner year in 2022, according to the latest report from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, which found a “significant increase” in the number of top-grossing films with girls and women of color in leading and co-leading roles last year.

Angelique Jackson On Tuesday, “The Power of the Dog” director Jane Campion made Oscars history as the first woman to receive two best director nominations. Campion is nominated in the 2022 Oscars directing category opposite Steven Spielberg for “West Side Story,” Kenneth Branagh for “Belfast,” Paul Thomas Anderson for “Licorice Pizza” and Ryusuke Hamaguchi for “Drive My Car.” Her first Oscar nod for directing came in 1994 when she was nominated for “The Piano” at the 66th Academy Awards.