Hindustan Times (Gurugram) - Hindustan Times (Gurugram) - City
BLUM REGRETS DUMB COMMENT
Producer Jason Blum on Thursday apologised for his comments that there are not many female filmmakers who are willing to direct a horror movie.
Blum posted an apology on Twitter, saying that he regretted his “dumb comments” and he spoke “too quickly”.
“Thank you everyone for calling me out on my dumb comments in that interview. I made a stupid mistake. I spoke too quickly about a serious issue — an issue that I am passionate about,” wrote Blum, who is known for producing films such as Insidious (2010), Sinister (2012), The Purge (2013) and Get Out (2017), among others.
Earlier, in an interview with Polygon, the 49-yearold producer had said that his production house has not funded a film directed by a woman because “there are not a lot of female directors, period, and even less who are inclined to do horror”.
He was severely criticised on social media for his comments with many users noting that The Babadook director Jennifer Kent and Honeymoon (2014) helmer Leigh Janiak are among women filmmakers who have done well with the horror genre.
In his post,
Blum said that
50% of his studio’s staff are women, who also form a large part of the audience.
He also said that many franchises are fronted by women actors, including Halloween, whose latest instalment is due to hit the theatres. “But we have not done a good enough job working with female directors, and it’s not because they don’t exist. I heard from many today. The way my passion came out was dumb. And for that I am sorry. I will do better,” Blum said.