Despite some incremental and largely cosmetic victories, Hollywood is a hostile place for women, particularly women of color. Here’s one recent example: According to the Hollywood Reporter, Crazy Rich Asians co-screenwriter Adele Lim left the forthcoming sequel when she found she was making nearly eight to 10 times less than her fellow co-writer, Peter Chiarelli, a white man.
“A source told THR that “Warner Bros.’ starting offers were $800,000 to $1 million for Chiarelli and $110,000-plus for Lim,” and added that those numbers were “industry-standard established ranges based on experience and that making an exception would set a troubling precedent in the business.” Naturally, Lim walked away, and a few months later Chiarelli offered her half of his salary to reach some semblance of parity. She still said no, and now she’s my fucking hero.
“Being evaluated that way can’t help but make you feel that is how they view my contributions,” Lim told the Hollywood Reporter, “Pete has been nothing but incredibly gracious, but what I make shouldn’t be dependent on the generosity of the white-guy writer. If I couldn’t get pay equity after CRA, I can’t imagine what it would be like for anyone else, given that the standard for how much you’re worth is having established quotes from previous movies, which women of color would never have been [hired for]. There’s no realistic way to achieve true equity that way.”
Read the full piece here
She was offered 100K after co-writing a movie that made 238.5 Million
“Crazy Rich Asians grossed $174.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $64 million elsewhere, for a worldwide gross of $238.5 million, against a production budget of $30 million. In October 2018, it became the highest-grossing romantic comedy of the last 10 years, and the 6th-highest-grossing ever.”