Algorithms and straight men are to blame for fewer diverse films – Sofia Coppola
She also said that getting a movie project off the ground is ‘always a challenge’.
Sofia Coppola has said that “more and more companies are relying on their algorithms” instead of opting to make a greater amount of unique films.
The Oscar-winning writer and director, 52, is releasing her latest critically acclaimed flick Priscilla, which focuses on the life of Elvis Presley’s former wife, in UK cinemas on Monday.
Coppola told GQ magazine that getting a movie project off the ground is “always a challenge” and she was helped by her producer Lorenzo Mieli in securing financing for her latest film.
“More and more companies are relying on their algorithms, so if they haven’t seen it before, they’re not as open to it, because they want to see something that’s already proven.
“And women still make up such a small percentage of filmmakers too. It’s gotten better, but not by much.”
Coppola also said that the biographical movie had to cut a scene where Priscilla Presley (Cailee Spaeny) is using a motorcycle while in her last pregnancy trimester.
She said: “I thought it was so touching that she’s trying so hard to keep up with Elvis (Jacob Elordi), even in that condition.
“But I feel like 99% of the people giving money in film are straight men, so they don’t always relate to what I’m talking about, and they’re not that interested in it.”
The daughter of director Francis Ford Coppola and documentarian Eleanor Coppola won the best original screenplay Academy Award for the 2003 romantic comedy Lost In Translation.
About a fading movie star, played by Bill Murray, who meets Scarlett Johansson’s recent college graduate at a Tokyo hotel, the film also earned Coppola directing and best picture Oscar nods.
She is also known for historical drama Marie Antoinette, psychological drama The Virgin Suicides and period drama The Beguiled.
Priscilla is in cinemas on Monday January 1.
