Barbie director Greta Gerwig honored risk-takers in the 'terrifying' entertainment industry as she received a prestigious award for her groundbreaking filmmaking at a Hollywood gala on Wednesday.
Gerwig, 41, made history as the first female director to helm a $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion) movie. All three of her solo directorial efforts—Lady Bird, Little Women, and Barbie—have been nominated for best picture at the Oscars.
At the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation gala in Beverly Hills, Gerwig was named Pioneer of the Year. 'A showperson is the only person I've ever wanted to be,' she said. 'I wanted to be one of those people who are a little bit wild, a little bit on the edge and filled with a kind of joyful madness. I think pioneer is the right word.'
Gerwig's latest artistic venture, the $1.4 billion-grossing feminist satire Barbie, became the top-grossing movie of 2023. Based on the popular doll franchise but given unusual creative freedom, the film's success was a timely boost for an industry increasingly averse to risk due to the pandemic, strikes, and significant job cuts.
Alongside Christopher Nolan's Oscar-sweeping Oppenheimer, Barbie was widely credited with keeping the movie theatre industry afloat last year. Gerwig is reportedly set to write and direct two Netflix adaptations of C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia.
'There are easier ways to make money, and there are less terrifying businesses, but there are none that are more exciting and filled with as much joy and wonder,' she said.
The Pioneer of the Year gala raises funds to support movie industry workers facing injury or illness.
