The filmmakers behind The Hunting Ground, a documentary about the epidemic of sexual assault on college campuses, will tackle the same issue in Hollywood following the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
Co-directors Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering announced plans for their new documentary Monday, with the film set to examine how the entertainment industry covered up or ignored sexual assaults in the cases of powerful people like Weinstein, the Hollywood Reporter writes.
Documentaries, more than any other medium, bring an intensely moving investigative lens to controversial subject matter, Dick told THR. What our film will capture, especially at this pivotal turning point in Hollywood history, is the underlying current of abuse and manipulation at the hands of power. Our film will also underscore the courage it takes to come forward and be a catalyst for change.
The documentary had actually been in the works since before the Weinstein scandal, but due to the subject matter, the filmmakers had difficulty acquiring funding for the project. Then the Weinstein stories broke, and its like an invisible dam collapsed, Ziering added.
In the aftermath of the Weinstein accusations, Dick and Ziering penned an op-ed for the Hollywood Reporter condemning Weinstein and demanding that the producer be thrown out of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; The Weinstein Company offshoot Radius distributed the Hunting Ground, which featured Lady Gagas Oscar-nominated original song Til It Happens to You.
Sexual assault is a traumatic crime that often has devastating lifelong consequences. Its committed by a small percentage of men who, more often than not, are, like Weinstein, repeat offenders, the duo wrote. They are able to commit these crimes with impunity thanks to a culture which historically has given them cover. It is time for that cover to end.