Ava DuVernay, who is up for an Oscar for her directing skills in the documentary 13th, recently had some strong advice for women about getting their stories told in Hollywood. The Queen Sugar, director, said, “If you want to tell your stories… Go tell them’
“If you walk in ready for it, to fight for your stories, to recognize that the traditional walls are collapsing, that the old system is on its last legs, that there are new ways to create material, to distribute material, to amplify your material, there’s no one stopping you. What you really have to interrogate is what do you want: Do you want to tell your story or do you want to be famous and win an Academy Award? ‘Cause those are two different things. There’s nothing stopping you anymore from telling your story.”
She continued,
“So if you want to tell your stories, what I would say to someone is, “Go tell them.” And I believe that that is not a frivolous statement: It can be done; there are people doing it and go for it.”
