Sofia Coppola has spoken out against the budget disparities between male and female movie directors.
During an interview with BBC News, Coppola reflected on how she had to step outside the box with her new film Priscilla. According to Coppola, she had to get creative due to the film’s low budget of $20 million compared to the bigger budget her male counterparts usually get from studios.
“I just see all these men getting hundreds of millions of dollars, and then I’m fighting for a tiny fraction of that,” she said. “I think it’s just left over from the way the culture of that business is. It’s frustrating, but I’m always fighting to get it, and I’m just happy to get to make my movies independently and find people that believe in them.”
Despite the pressing issue, Coppola said she doesn’t have to deal with executives dipping their hands into her pot because of how much they’ve put into her work.
“There’s a challenge and a freedom in making things small because if you have a big budget, you have a lot of input from studio executives, and I would never be able to make a movie like that,” she said. “So, I have that freedom, and then you have to be really crafty, and it was really hard, but I had the best team.”
Coppola and her team recycled sets and made their own costumes with whatever they had in tow. They also faced issues with using Elvis Presley‘s music in the film, as Coppola wanted a trio of his songs included. However, due to the rights she was unable to get, Coppola used Dolly Parton‘s catalog.
“To me, it is really important to have Dolly Parton at the end, to have a woman’s voice at the end,” Coppola said about the legendary song “I Will Always Love You” closing out the film.
