Bryce Dallas Howard says Hollywood support for female filmmakers falls short without sponsorship

At the Variety Power of Women event, Bryce Dallas Howard zeroed in on the slide in women directing features and TV, arguing the industry’s well-meaning mentorship programs aren’t moving the needle. Her pitch: shift time and money toward true sponsorship — the kind that pays filmmakers between gigs and backs them while they’re developing what comes next.

“The numbers are an indication of something real, so whatever is currently being done is not enough. I think that there’s been a lot of focus on mentorship. Focusing on sponsorship is crucial,” she said.

Howard also laid out the economic pinch many directors feel once the cameras stop rolling — especially those without a financial cushion to survive the long wait to the next job.

“It ’s really difficult to get paid to do the thing that you want to do in this business and so that the amount of time between jobs is so significant that unless you come from privilege or you have another job that somehow allows you to be flexible in some way shape or form,” she explained to Variety.

She pushed for support that extends past a single greenlit credit and into the unglamorous, day-to-day grind of building a career.

“There must be more. It’s got to continue on to sponsorship it has to,” Howard stated, pointing toward research, development, workshops and exploratory work as areas where emerging filmmakers need backing.

New project on deck

Howard has also lined up a new role, joining Aaron Paul in Anything But Ghosts, the mystery feature from writer-director Curry Barker and writer-star Cooper Tomlinson that wrapped production earlier this month. Plot details are still under wraps.

• Bryce Dallas Howard — cast (role not disclosed)
• Aaron Paul — cast
• Cooper Tomlinson — writer and star
• Curry Barker — writer, director, and appearing in the film

The filmmakers say Anything But Ghosts is set in the Obsession universe — the breakout phenomenon that was the talk of the Toronto International Film Festival and scored the fest’s biggest sale. Obsession has since reached $300 million worldwide off a tiny budget.

Behind the camera

Howard’s call for sponsorship comes with her own track record in the director’s chair on Disney ’s Star Wars slate:

• The Mandalorian — director, multiple episodes
• The Book of Boba Fett — director, episode
• Ahsoka — director, episode
• Skeleton Crew — director, episode

On the acting side, she’s kept one foot in big-screen genre fare:

• Jurassic World trilogy
• Rocketman
• The Village
• Argylle