[photographers shouting]
MINNIE DRIVER: I remember when I took my high heels off
on the red carpet one year,
and I mean, the poor assistant publicist
who was there, she was like, "Oh, God, Minnie, please!
Please, put your shoes back on. Please, put 'em back on."
I was like, "It's really fine."
"Oh my God, just please tell me you had a pedicure."
"Yeah, no, we're all good.
"I don't have Hobbit feet today, love.
"But these fucking shoes are killing me,
"and I can't do it anymore.
Don't worry, your job is safe."
But the level of panic attached to any woman breaking rank
and not looking the prescribed way,
I mean, it just makes you wish everyone was Bjork
wearing a swan.
[photographers shouting]
- Absolutely gorgeous! - Thank you, so do you.
- I mean, that stunning dress. - Thank you so much.
And in it, girl, you look hot throughout.
Award season is a big deal in Hollywood,
and sex appeal is a big part of the PR push,
especially for actresses walking the red carpet.
[photographers shouting "Freida!"]
FREIDA PINTO: When I was promoting "Slumdog,"
Dev would always get asked questions
about his past project, "Skins,"
or how-- how was it working with Danny Boyle?
And-- and I would always get asked what I was wearing.
MAN: What are you wearing? - I'm joking.
John Galliano.
And so, pretty early on, I was programmed
to think that that's how it goes, so I would smile and like, you know,
do the, like, little head tilt, and tell them what I was wearing.
- Tell me about your dress. - Who are you wearing?
I'm loving this Prada dress.
MAN: Just wanna know the dress for "InStyle" real quick.
Oh, it's Elie Saab.
Sometimes a journalist on the red carpet
has just one question to ask,
and you wanna talk about your movie,
and you wanna talk about your character.
And that question is always about clothes.
Do-- I'm just wondering, do you do that to the guys?
MAN: Yes, yes we do. - It's a thing that's just--
it just happens.
What do you think's gonna happen down there
that is so fascinating?
It's just, I guess, the culture that we live in.
Do you wanna do the Mani-Cam so we can see your jewels,
- or your mani, or no? - No, no Mani-Cam.
No? Okay, well, we won't do that.
MINNIE: I knew the jig was up with the Mani-Cam.
It was literally, like, you'd put your hand
inside a thing that would do a close-up of your manicure.
Oh, I don't-- no, I'm not doing that.
I'm here on this carpet to talk about the film that I made
that I've been nominated for this award,
and you want me to talk about nail polish.
No.
I mean, what, the revolution starts here?
Saying no to the Mani-Cam? Jesus Christ.
REPORTER: It's culminated in a social media campaign
called Ask Her More.
We wanna know about the ladies in the dress.
We wanna know about their passions,
and what they're excited about, and what books they're reading.
She suffered from depression.
How did you find the balance in this role?
I was watching or listening to something
where they actually-- they compared you
and your work to Meryl Streep.
What's your reaction to something like that?
Have you heard from families who are saying, "Hey, thank you"?
It just requires education.
You know, it requires having thoughtful conversations with press
about the things they should ask.
And it's empowering to clients on those red carpets
to not feel obligated to do the twirl
or the over-the-shoulder.
REPORTER: One of Hollywood's most famous parties
turned into a protest Sunday night.
Time's up!
REPORTER: Time's Up, which began as a meeting
of Hollywood women last fall
to address sexual harassment in the workplace,
has become a movement for victims everywhere.
MAHA DAKHIL JACKSON: Time's Up was an awakening.
It was a gut reaction to collective trauma
from true survivors,
and then just being a woman in the world.
REBECCA: Right at that Golden Globes,
I started getting talking points from publicists saying,
"Please ask my client about pay equity, sexual harassment,"
which are the very things I've been trying to ask them about
for a decade, and being told,
"She doesn't wanna talk about that on the record."
LORRIE BARTLETT: Time's Up became an advocate
and a little bit of a watchdog. It's like, these are the things.
We're gonna keep pointing out the bullshit
that goes on, both conscious and unconscious,
but it's bullshit.
Two years after the start of the Me Too movement,
a record number of women
brought big films to life in 2019.
Yet, none is being recognized.
MATTHEW BELLONI: Awards in general, and the Oscars in particular,
are extremely important.
It is an objective marker of quality and success
that everybody in the industry can hang their hat on.
But the fact of the matter is,
the people who are deciding on these awards
are overwhelmingly white, overwhelmingly male.
It's baked into the system that the male sensibility
is what is determining quality,
and those awards then determine opportunity.
REPORTER: In response to Oscars So White,
the Academy set a goal of doubling the number of women
and minority members by 2020.
It has already partially succeeded.
16% of members are now people of color, up from 8%.
But female membership only rose
from 25% to 32%.
In the last few years, the Academy has made
a very dramatic effort to diversify.
But the challenge for the Academy is they're drawing from an industry
that has the same inclusion issues.
If the studios and the independents
don't give women and people of color a chance,
the Academy can't say, "Oh, well, if you made a film,
we'd be happy to," you know.
Because the Academy only is looking
at the best material that's out there.
CATHERINE HARDWICKE: A lot of the men that win these awards
have done these amazing movies, and a lot of them
come from fantastic source material, which is great.
It costs a million dollars to option that book, or whatever.
And then they had a wonderful producer,
producing team, and a studio backing them-- great.
That takes a lot of support to get to the level of a movie
that would be considered for Best Picture.
The distributor plays such a crucial role,
because an awards campaign is very expensive.
DEE POKU: All of the ads, all of the press,
all of the screenings then drive
Academy voters,
and the Hollywood Foreign Press,
and all of the other sort of voting organizations
to want to see your movie.
It's a huge amount of money, and a huge machine.
CATHERINE: It is hard to get that level of support
so they can get into that tier
of top ten best films that year.
We have to break out of the old definition of "best,"
and we have to say best might be a fresh voice,
a different voice, a diverse voice.
MATTHEW: The Academy released a new set of guidelines
that says in order to be nominated for Best Picture,
you have to adhere to these guidelines for diversity.
There's a lot of different ways you can satisfy the requirements.
But it is, by far, the most aggressive thing
that Hollywood has seen to promote inclusive casting
and inclusive people behind the scenes on movies.
REBECCA: The Academy derives most of its revenue
from the Academy Awards, their telecast.
If that is perceived as out of touch,
if people don't see themselves on that stage,
that's bad for the Academy's business.
KELLY: Awards can mean the difference between a project
getting seen widely, globally.
It creates opportunity for everyone involved,
from behind the scenes to in front of the camera.
There are very few opportunities for women in the business,
and that nomination, or that win,
will definitely get your phone ringing.
REBECCA: Hollywood is at a turning point right now.
There is a reckoning going on at every level.
What kind of stories does Hollywood want to tell,
and how does it navigate the new rules
about workplace behavior between the genders?
That's what we all wanna find out.