Penthouse Makes Pitch to Mainstream Female Directors

CHATSWORTH, Calif. — Penthouse Global Media today made a pitch to top mainstream female filmmakers who were snubbed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after not scoring any Academy Awards nominations this year.

The pitch? Penthouse is offering them the chance to work on future major adult releases. 

Penthouse CEO Kelly Holland said that the adult company broadcasts content on more than 10 channels in more than 100 countries around the globe, reaching an audience “significantly larger than many Hollywood studios will ever capture.”

“To all of you talented women out there,” Holland said, “not only do we have work for you, but we also offer equal pay.”

The fact that 40 percent of the adult films nominated for industry awards last year were directed by women says a lot about the disparity between what the porn biz does and what mainstream does, Holland said.

“There is no longer an argument about whether or not adult entertainment is more balanced than Hollywood,” she said. “It’s statistically proven.”  

Holland cited a recent report by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University that said the percentage of female directors working on the 250 highest-grossing new releases from Hollywood actually declined from 9 percent in 2015 to 7 percent in 2016.

And it gets worse from there, Holland said. The number of female producers working on the top 250 films is down 2 percent, while the number of editors declined 5 percent as well. And only 4 percent of the year’s top films employed a female cinematographer.  

“The mainstream film industry prides itself on telling the truth about the human condition,” Holland said. “But when it comes to sex — the most fundamental human condition — they pull down their petticoat and scamper away like a shamed Victorian debutante.”

“It’s disappointing that the largest demographic on Earth is professionally overlooked by movie studios and awards ceremonies.”

Holland noted that Penthouse has a long history of disrupting the mainstream entertainment space. In 1979, she said, Penthouse founder Bob Guccione   produced “Caligula,” the classic XXX film written by Gore Vidal starring mainstream actors Helen Mirren, Sir John Gielgud, Peter O’Toole and Sir Malcolm McDowell.

“At Penthouse, we like to think everyone has XXX chromosomes, which explains why equality is so deeply embedded in our brand DNA,” Holland said.