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Blumhouse’s Jason Blum Makes Headlines Over Remark Just Before Halloween Debuts

October 18, 2018

Written by Kelli Marchman McNeely

Kelli Marchman McNeely is the owner of HorrorFuel.com. She is an Executive Producer of "13 Slays Till Christmas" which is out on Digital and DVD and now streaming on Tubi. She has several other films in the works. Kelli is an animal lover and a true horror addict since the age of 9 when she saw Friday the 13th. Email: horrorfuelinfo@gmail.com

Only days before Halloween‘s arrival in theaters producer Jason Blum‘s name is making headlines and not in a good way.
During an interview with Matt Patches of Polygon asked the head of Blumhouse about one flaw in the genre powerhouse’s eleven years, why Blumhouse has never released a film with a female director.
Jason Blum’s response has left some critics and fans in shock and a bit ticked off.

We’re always trying to do that. We’re not trying to do it because of recent events. There are not a lot of female directors period and even less who are inclined to do horror. I’m a massive admirer of Jennifer Kent [director of The Babadook]. I’ve offered her every movie we’ve had available. She’s turned me down every time.”

Blum also stated that he had spoken with Honeymoon director Leigh Janiak but was unable to get her due to her involvement with the upcoming reboot of The Craft. Reportedly she was offered Truth or Dare, but she turned down the film because she would not be allowed to rewrite the existing script.
While I have a lot of respect for Jason Blum and Blumhouse, his explanation has left me scratching my head. Even if Blum really believes that there are no female directors in the genre all he had to do was go to IMDb or even google and he’d easily find one that would be thrilled to work with him.
The Soska Sisters, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Jill Gevargizian, Izzy Lee, Jenn Wexler, Roxanne Benjamin, Axelle Carolyn, Lou Simon, and Patricia Chica are just a few of the many talented women directing in horror. Or how about Chelsea Stardust who according to AVClub was Blum’s own assistant on multiple projects before directing her own upcoming film Satanic Panic? Yeah. There are a lot of women looking to make a name for themselves. It doesn’t appear that Blumhouse is looking very hard. I would hate to know that the biggest name in horror is an all-boys club.

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