Gerwig talks ‘Little Women’ for academy’s women initiative

With a new awards season underway, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences hosted a luncheon Wednesday supporting female filmmakers and celebrating the women behind Greta Gerwig’s upcoming “Little Women.“

The event, held at Rockefeller Center’s Rainbow Room, drew much of New York’s filmmaking elite and many of the faces likely to be seen throughout the coming season, including actors Constance Wu (“Hustlers”), Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet“) and Meg Ryan; producers Christine Vachon (“Dark Waters”) and Jane Rosenthal (“The Irishman“); documentarians Barbara Kopple and Laura Poitras; and “Honey Boy” director Alma Har’el.

Gerwig, actress Laura Dern and producer Amy Pascal — all collaborators on “Little Women“—discussed the hardships and joys of getting a femaleled production made in an industry that has made improvements in gender parity but still lags woefully behind in equality.

Pascal, the former Sony Pictures chief, noted that today there are just as many women running studios (one, Universal’s Donna Langley) as there were when she took over Sony two decades ago.

“Nothing’s ever any different,” said Pascal. “So how do you get a movie made like this? Everybody says no. You ask everyone else again and they say no. Then you just beg someone and make it impossible for them to say no because you have a script that is so spectacular and is so accessible and is so different and modern, and a director who just made the most amazing first film.“

Gerwig’s acclaimed first solo writingdirecting effort, 2017’s “Lady Bird,” ultimately led to her becoming just the fifth woman ever nominated for best director at the Academy Awards. But none of that had happened when Gerwig first met with Pascal on “Little Women.“

“Greta came to us and said ‘I’m the only one who can do this,” recalled Pascal. “She said, ‘It’s all about money and women and freedom.’ That’s it.’