Leading US producer Stacy Sher provided an optimistic take on the outlook for the film industry at the Locarno Film Festival today (August 9), insisting that audiences still want to connect with original stories.
Sher, whose producer credits include Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight as well as Steven Soderbergh’s Out of Sight and Erin Brockovich, took part in an in conversation event the day after being presented with Locarno’s Raimondo Rezzonico Award.
“When I started in the late 80s, people said to me, ‘You missed it. It’s over. The best of the film industry is behind you,’” said Sher.
The same thing is happening today, she added. “People keep saying the pandemic finally killed cinema. But we’re going to catch up this year. They said it was only Barbenheimer but no, now we have many big hit movies this summer.”
Sher said: “People want to connect with original stories that want to reach a big audience.”
“At a certain point, all of our great and talented filmmakers with something new to say… figure out how to tell a bigger story that is personal. They want to reach a larger audience.”
“That’s not for every artist. Every artist has a different thing. But I grew up believing that popular film and popular culture could also be artistic.”
She cited Erin Brockovich, starring Julia Roberts. “You can do these things and reach a lot of people. Erin Brokovich is a very entertaining film, but it said, ‘We better watch out, because our water is getting poisoned.’”
Sher explained that Erin Brockovich was made for under $50 million. “$20 million of it - and I say this proudly - was going to Julia because she was the biggest movie star in the world. And that’s what her male counterparts were getting paid. So, we wanted to pay her the same as a movie star of her stature that was a man.”
Most recently, Sher produced the upcoming A24 thriller, Heretic, starring Hugh Grant, and Chris Pine’s directorial debut, Poolman.
“I feel so blessed right now to be working with A24 because their excitement and their hope and their energy means something to the people who go to see their movies the way that other brands meant something to people of my generation.”
Responding to a young member asking for advice on how to succeed in the industry, Sher stressed the importance of finding and building a community of peers.
“You have just got to keep going. And you need friends. You need friends for the down days and you need more than one project that you’re developing because, as my former partner, Michael Shamberg, used to say that, “It’s like a balloon. One day one is rising, and the next day the other one loses helium.”
“But you have to be hopeful. This is a job of psychotic optimism. It’s why I say, if you can imagine being happy doing something else, then do it.”
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