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    dothedewIquo B. Essien
    12/27/14 3:13pm

    As far as I can tell, the Academy exists mostly to give awards. I am not aware of any field outside the arts where awards are given such importance. The Academy is made up of old, white, fussy people? Then ignore it. Make your art and use alternative distributions systems to get it in front of the public, ignoring the "tastemakers." It's a brave new world out there.

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      Anatayadothedew
      12/27/14 3:23pm

      Nobel?

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      ww1383dothedew
      12/27/14 3:26pm

      Depending on institutions like the Academy or the Grammys to validate your art seems like a lot of time wasted and a lost cause. I know it might not be that simple but the status quo must be painful for artist with "other" viewpoints to tell.

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    Official Witch of Los AngelesIquo B. Essien
    12/27/14 10:55pm

    I earned my BFA in Screenwriting from USC — the so-called "best" and most competitive film school in the world. I was one of 26 students admitted out of an applicant pool of several thousand. The school loves to remind you of this fact, as if the statistic will automatically guarantee real-world success.

    It took me a month or so to realize that, despite my obvious talent and the credentials a USC film degree brings, that there was no place in Hollywood for me — a female born to a lower middle class mother and a Cuban immigrant father. In fact, I realized that the school was setting up all the minority and female students for this sad reality. Our teachers were all White Men, we watched movies made only by White Men (save for one Japanese film, still made by a man). If we wrote anything that challenged the White Man paradigm — movies about minorities, movies with strong female characters, movies that wouldn't automatically be hits with the Male Aged 18-34 — our teachers would fight us and ask us to change key elements of the films. I don't think I need to mention that, out of my graduating class, the only ones with agents are...White Dudes. (We graduated in 2010.)

    This isn't so much a comment as it is a parallel story of support or understanding or whatever. Hollywood fears change. It fears new voices and challenges to its status quo. It's a shame the system made me so disillusioned and so defeated, because I was pretty good at the whole "writing" thing. It's just intensely difficult to change a culture that's still controlled by rich men. Hopefully the failure of dude centric big budgets, and the dying off of baby boomers will bring Hollywood the diversity it so sorely needs. Maybe then I'd consider throwing my hat back into the ring. Now? I'd rather keep plodding away in an industry where I'm not marginalized or overlooked because of my race and gender. I didn't have the backbone to give Hollywood the middle finger like this writer has.

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      sydneybristow47Official Witch of Los Angeles
      12/28/14 8:20am

      Indeed, I was Film Studies in a decidedly non-prestigious program, and it was a pretty stifling environment for women and minorities. Also, if you didn't particularly like massive amounts of violence in your movies.

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      allensmitheeOfficial Witch of Los Angeles
      12/28/14 2:47pm

      Moral of the story: don't bother getting a degree in screenwriting.

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    bigfatweirdoIquo B. Essien
    12/27/14 3:18pm

    Interesting read. It's great that Gawker is giving you a platform to share your experience.

    It's too bad the post is "Promoted by Gawker" because a large swath of the site's audience (everyone who uses AdBlock) will never see it.

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      chattygalbigfatweirdo
      12/27/14 3:31pm

      The AdBlock glitch seems to only happen when the article is first posted. I have AdBlock+ and saw it flash and then disappear. I just refreshed with my hand on the mouse, ready to click when it reappeared.

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      ad infinitumbigfatweirdo
      12/27/14 3:34pm

      I did not realize that was the common denominator among stories that immediately disappear when I load Gawker. Good to know!

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    snugbugIquo B. Essien
    12/27/14 6:07pm

    Enjoyed the essay, and wish the author best of luck with her future endeavors in film.

    ..To paraphrase an old Daily Show joke, the hallowed Academy never bestowed any Oscars for directing on Kubrick, Kurosawa, Kieślowski, David Lynch, Lars von Trier, Claire Denis, Andrei Tarkovsky, etc., etc., but Three 6 Mafia got one on their first nomination. It's hard out there for a pimp!

    (Don't misunderstand—I love the song, and even loved the movie it was featured in, but there is something a bit comical about this idea that the "Academy" exists to recognize and promote film as art.

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      chattygalsnugbug
      12/27/14 7:15pm

      Hitchcock. Not only did Hitchcock never win an Oscar, he was only nominated five times (Rebecca, Lifeboat, Spellbound, Rear Window, Psycho). Sure, they gave him the Thalberg Award but it's not the same as winning a competitive one from your peers.

      And don't get me started on people whining about the Academy "hating" Leonardo DiCaprio. He's forty. Get back to me when he's Glenn Close's age and still without one (0-6 in nominations) or Albert Finney (0-5). Peter O'Toole died 0-8-1, after they finally caved an awarded him an honorary Oscar.

      /Oscar rant over

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      KingBaboonchattygal
      12/28/14 11:43am

      I used to work with a guy who was a total cinephile and had done some critiquing work and taught college film studies classes. He would deride the Academy for many things, but if you pointed out specific people who didn't win he would always respond with "look at who they lost to." It wasn't always the case, but many times the people who won were equally deserving.

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    chattygalIquo B. Essien
    12/27/14 3:17pm

    This was a wonderful piece, both as a film and American history nerd. Thanks for sharing and best wishes with your screen-writing endeavors.

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      j4x_Iquo B. Essien
      12/28/14 9:03am

      /CSB

      I saw a trailer for Selma in a movie theater in GA and the packed theater became noticeably tense.

      The movie looks fantastic.

      /CSB

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        nyc1986Iquo B. Essien
        12/27/14 6:45pm

        I go to NYU Grad Film and most of the students in the program don't have a film background prior to entering the program - and I also don't come from money or privilege and use student loans to get by. Spoiled rich people are a reality of the film industry as a whole, not just NYU Grad Film - since so much of the industry relies on connections and money. There's plenty of spoiled and fancy people in the school, but not everybody. There's plenty of students that work very hard, just like you, and I don't think you were marginalized or anyone ever looked down on you either.

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          pinkpopmashnyc1986
          12/28/14 12:42am

          should I assume that you're a white male? Just because you didn't have the same experience she did doesn't mean that it didn't happen.

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        mtswIquo B. Essien
        12/27/14 3:35pm

        I know "everybody knows" the Academy is composed of fussy old white voters who think anything more daring than Driving Miss Daisy is upsetting and confusing, but maybe we should reexamine that notion when 12 Years a Slave (a film by a black art-house director mostly famous for the shocking imagery in his films) won literally last year.

        The "old white guys" in the Academy are Martin Scorsese's generation. The kind of people who want old-Hollywood prestige pieces all died. That's why 12 Years a Slave won and the calculated-to-appeal-to-older-voters Saving Mr. Banks was completely passed over despite a huge awards push from Disney last year.

        There are serious issues in Hollywood with the diversity of feature film directors, but to say that this really has anything to do with Awards-granting bodies at this point is ridiculous.

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          CaligirlIquo B. Essien
          12/28/14 12:04am

          I enjoyed this essay! I'm a black female breaking into tv writing. Usually when i meet other writers, especially females they assume i'm an actress as well. I take it as a compliment, and not a slap in the face. Most writer are fat white guys, so people will note someone not fitting the mold.

          I'm involved in a lot of writing workshops, and looking into more technical video making classes. I don't feel comfortable going 100k in the hole for a film degree.

          You may need a little more positivity and confidence to make it in this industry. I'm a child of immigrants as well, and have to pay my own way. I have dealt with parental death at a young age, life threating health operations and other setbacks most people don't experience in their 20's. My life experience is what makes me a interesting writing. As the philosopher Diddy says 'Can't Nobody Hold Me Down!'

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            Judgmental Chickens is Voting for HillaryIquo B. Essien
            12/27/14 3:09pm

            This was such a beautifully written piece. Thank you so much for sharing your story. Is your short film available to view anywhere?

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