First Woman Director Wins Oscar

Aside from the fact that I once briefly worked with Kathryn Bigelow, I'm not sure why I feel so ecstatic with her big win at the Oscars last night. Truth be told, I rarely watch award shows. I've never watched an Oscar telecast from beginning to end. I'd rather get root canal. Should my significant other (s.o.) be nominated next year, I dread the thought of having to sit captive at the Kodak Theater for the many hours. Even watching him win will not take away from the fact that I find the whole thing...silly.

So, it took me by surprise to find my eyes tearing with joy and pride as this beautiful woman took the shiny gold statuette into her trembling hands and made history as the first woman director to win in its 82-year history. Not that this changes the dismal percentage of working women in the DGA. I also know that since Hattie McDaniel's win in 1939 for best supporting actress, there wasn't another African-American woman to win until Whoopie Goldberg for "Ghost" in 1990. Yet, I can't deny that last night was a history making moment. I even admit that about three hours into the telecast, I started to channel surf between it and "The Simpsons", hoping to catch a moment of film history in the making. Was I sure she'd win? I had a good feeling, especially when upon my arrival in London, I saw the newspapers headlining Kathryn's BAFTA win as the first woman director (and an American, no less!).

So why does her win mean so much to me? In 2010, are we women still such second class citizens that we need small victories like this? For the same reason that I remembered the names and accomplishments of women like Amelia Earhart, Valentina Tereshkova, and Dr. Sally Ride, I wanted to see another woman breaking the gender barrier and besting the big boys. Classic David v. Goliath, except David is a girl. Not since Lili Zanuck became only the second woman in Oscar history to win for Best Picture in 1989 ("Driving Miss Daisy") have I actually cared who walked away with the little gold guy. Since Lili's win, only two other women producers have walked away with Best Picture Oscar. Call me a sexist. However, I prefer to think of myself as a champion of the underdogs.

Last week at the London premiere of my s.o.'s project, I had the lucky fortune to meet Terry Gilliam. Since he had forgotten to bring his invitation/ticket, I had the honor of getting him into the party! It was a delightful conversation (who knew he was a fan of my s.o.'s work?) and I discovered we shared many of the same opinions about the state of the film industry. He, too, feels that the obscene amount of money that gets pumped into studio projects prevents smaller, lower-budget films from seeing the light of day. For every "Avatar" (budget $700M), there are 20-30 projects like "Sideways" ($25M) that don't get made. Ironically, the studios will hedge their bet with one large "tentpole" rather than risk losing money on films that they can't turn into sequels, video games, fast food tie-ins and other ancillary products.

My best Terry Gilliam moment was when he reiterated his earlier quote to a London newspaper. When asked if he plans on jumping on the 3D bandwagon he replied, "I'm still trying to create 3D characters in a 2D movie, not 2D characters in a 3D movie!" I nearly did a spit take on the man! But I digress...

So, Kathryn Bigelow's win against her ex-hubby's gigantically bloated studio film, is an even bigger victory! Produced independently for $12M, the producer Nicolas Chartier, (the producer whom the Academy banned from the awards for his email incident) sold foreign distribution rights to raise production financing. They took it on the film festival circuit to find a distributor. As is the common story of many films nominated for Best Picture category in the past decades ("My Left Foot", "The Crying Game", "The Piano", "Little Miss Sunshine", "Crash", etc), this film was made outside of the Hollywood production factory. Without 3D, without star actors, without spending the equivalent of a developing nation's GDP, she directed an award-winning film with a storyline not derivative of every comic book and children's tale.

So, dear Kathryn Bigelow, not only have you made history, but you've done it with a project that deserves it! As a fellow filmmaker, I applaud you. As a fellow woman, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.