Austin Way Magazine - GreenGale Publishing - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/732984
You're known for creat- ing meaty roles for women. Why is that important to you? If you portray women as professionals and their problems are about trying to get ahead, trying to be legitimate, then that is a universal theme. Kristen Wiig's character in Bridesmaids once was a business owner, and the audience is rooting for her to become that person again. In Ghostbusters, they have dedicated their lives to this passion they have. These are the most compelling stories that we can tell to help men get past this image of women that has been perpetuated by Hollywood. My movies have hardly any romance in them. You once said at AFF that Freaks & Geeks was so loved because we're constantly re-living high school. Did it feel like that when dealing with all the Ghostbusters vitriol? When it gets down to name-calling and personal attacks about my cast and their physical attributes, you think, 'I am literally back in the locker room, trying not to get beaten up by guys that hate me.' I'm not going to get chased out of the neighborhood, but at the same time you've got to put up with [hateful] people, and I wish there was a way to shut them up because they're very harmful. How would you describe Austin? It has an energy that's unlike any city I've ever been in. I can't wait to get there because I'm so worn out from this movie; I get recharged when I go to Austin. And the festival is a giant melting pot of people united by the love of storytelling. It's a wholly unique experience. austinfilmfestival.com . 36 AUSTINWAY.com PhotograPhy by angela Weiss/getty images (sag-aFtra); ernesto ruscio/getty images (ghostbusters); abc Photo archives/abc via getty image (roseanne) A nod to the original: Paul Feig celebrates the release of his Ghostbusters remake this summer in the Ecto-1. He does everything: Feig, who started acting in the '80s, appeared in a 1993 episode of Roseanne. "[Austin] hAs An energy unlike Any city i've ever been in." —paul feig Panel veteran: Feig, an advocate for women in film, discusses Hollywood's gender issues in L.A. earlier this year with actress Maria Bello (right) and Dr. Stacy L. Smith. Scene hot test ticket