- For me, it all began with a little lady named Beyonce.
(laughter)
I was straight outta film school and she took a chance on me
She taught me how to work hard.
- My mother was really the first woman in Hollywood
who championed me.
I was about 19 and I lost a movie part to somebody else.
And I started to feel like,
"Oh, the girl who got it isn't even that good."
And my mother was like,
"Stop right there.
"Don't ever, ever disparage another woman."
- This director Janicza Bravo.
She would always say to me,
"You have it.
"We're just waiting for the rest of the world to catch up."
(techno music)
- Hi I'm Zendaya.
- I'm Scarlett Johansson.
- Gwyneth Paltrow.
- Mindy Kaling.
- Natalie Portman.
- Nicole Kidman.
- Melina Matsoukas.
- Lena Waithe.
- Jodie Turner-Smith.
- And we are
- Women in Hollywood.
- Never accept less than you deserve.
- Never accept abuse in any form.
- Never accept "no".
If I had accepted "no", I would've stopped when I was 14.
I was told auditioning for Annie and they were like,
"No, you're too tall."
And I said,
"Oh but."
And I talked my way in, so, if I'd just accepted "no",
I would never have gotten anywhere.
- I think intersectionality is something
that everyone is learning about
and struggling to be better about.
- I don't think Hollywood necessarily champions
anything that's different until it's successful.
It's an industry that can turn anything into a commodity.
That's what I try to be mindful of is that
I want us to be in rooms
but I don't want us to be tokenized.
- [Natalie] We've been hearing one particular cross-section
of society's stories, over and over again.
And, so, there's a lot of room to grow,
to have a different richness of experience
and story-telling.
- What is so nice about having people who look
a little bit different than the traditional story-tellers,
is then we start getting to see stories we haven't seen.
Things like queen and slim or the farewell movies
that I would not have seen even five years ago,
are now commonplace which is wonderful.
- Because it's our story.
I mean there's nobody else that can tell this story like us.
Making sure our narrative is shaped by us and not rewritten.
- [Scarlett] With all these firsts that are happening
for women in Hollywood, it feels like a huge win.
It really shows you that if we allow people to
reach their fullest creative potential,
it's amazing what can be achieved.
- There've been people in the past who deserved either
the opportunity or the recognition and were not afforded it.
It just is a different perspective on the world
because you have different points of view
based on different people's experiences.
- Am I happy to be opening up the door?
Sure.
But I also know that I am in no way possible
the first black woman to ever write
an episode of television, particularly comedy,
that's worthy of winning an Emmy.
It's just not the case.
There's still a lotta work to do.
- Continuing to be proud of each other and uplift each other
and support each other is such a huge part of that
but I also can't wait for the day
when we don't have to hear that anymore.
It should be just what it is.
- Never accept less than your best.
- Never accept lesser pay.
- Never accept dimming your light to make
somebody else comfortable.
- Never accept what's given to you.
The greatest and most creative people, I think sometimes,
just had to, like, make their own opportunities.
- I am very excited about Florence Pugh.
She is my co-star in the Black Widow stand-alone franchise
And I'm, y'know like, learning from her.
- I think Melina Matsoukas is like,
I'm really, really excited to see her.
- Everybody sitting right here.
(laughter)
- Cathy Kisakye.
She's a phenomenal writer and I can't wait for the world
to hear her just unrelenting yet funny and sweet
and caring voice.
- It takes so much time to change things.
But we have to keep working together to do so.
As a woman working solo, I had far less power
than when I work with other women and that's, y'know,
subsequently, things like "Big Little Lies",
we were able to make happen because Reese and I were able to
join our forces to get that made.
- You know, we've opened the door and now,
we've stuck our foot in it.
They welcomed us and we're over staying.
(Laughs)
(techno music)