Lively/Baldoni Lawsuit Part 2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know Jennifer Garner must be having a laugh. Blake was rumored to be part of the reason her marriage to Affleck broke down. It’s rather telling Lively was still reaching out to Ben years later as a married woman. I think she wanted Justin Baldoni and he didn’t have the hote for her

Without a doubt. The whole vibe is middle aged delusional washed up unreformed sorority girl mom. The suburbs and even corporate America are full of this sort of woman. They turn into vengeful old mean girls when they can no longer exploit men with seduction.

She was post partum when filming this movie. Apparently what set her off was Justin Baldoni apparently fat shaming her by claiming he could not carry her because he has a bad back. This is what ticked her off

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been on Team Wait for the Trial, and I’m not sure what to make of all these released texts and documents. It seems like the women all hated Baldoni. I’m still troubled on how much he was beloved my his castmates on Jane the Virgin and trying to figure out why this was so different.

The two things that stick out to me, though, is how mean Lively’s tone was in her texts and celebratory way she talks about getting the best of him in various interactions. Meanwhile Baldoni’s texts seem super sad and hurt and confused.

He may be insensitive and have low EQ. But the ladies seem petulant and kind of gleeful in their insults. Am I alone in this?

I mean, you are clearly not. But yes what struck me from this latest dump was that it seemed like from everything released last year that they had a very cordial friendly, joking, buddy relationship until production started so yeah I will say I was shocked to see as early as preproduction Blake calling him a doofus and a clown and really disparaging him.

She clearly had it out from him from the beginning and it’s odd that she even signed onto this movie. She seemed to hate him so much. I think she was mortally wounded when he did not immediately gush over her rooftop scene, which is kind of ironic because we later find out it was Ryan’s writing. She and Taylor seemed to go on this bandwagon that he doesn’t listen to women or thinks he’s better than women, but the scene was written by a man.

It also seemed he said something to tick Taylor off about pop music or the state of pop music or something that she took as disparaging. They might’ve been both surprised when he wasn’t just gushing over her and it might’ve offended them.

He seems like an odd duck for sure and maybe he doesn’t come off so great but I don’t think he was malicious, and I don’t think he was just walking around sexually harassing every woman on set.

It’s annoying that people are rewriting history saying none of the women liked him. Isabella did seem to have a fondness for him until after the shoot when she met Blake. Colleen also seemed to like him. They’ve been working together since 2019 and she wanted him to both direct and star in a project that meant a lot to her. There are three more Colleen Hoover books being adapted into movies either already out or coming out later this year so to act like it just fell into his lap is silly, they were corresponding for years about it prior to this movie.

Again, it turned in 2024 all of a sudden and in her deposition, she said she unfollowed him because Blake told her to.

She also seemed to lose her way and get caught up in the marketing… Do people remember she put out that it ends with those coloring book that was immediately taken from the market because of backlash? People thought she was downplay and romanticizing domestic violence? I really think a lot of people got caught up in the whole Barbie Deadpool, fun summer movie marketing and I think a lot of of them took it out on Justin when he wasn’t playing that game. it honestly seems like he’s the only one that had half a brain, but I realize the bar is really low with this group.

Liz plank seemed to get along with him fine doing a podcast with him for years until she got in with Ryan Reynolds, who now run reproduction company with her.

So I’m just not convinced all these women hated him immediately just though Jenny Slate certainly seemed too. Still not clear why though all her statements have been incredibly vague.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been on Team Wait for the Trial, and I’m not sure what to make of all these released texts and documents. It seems like the women all hated Baldoni. I’m still troubled on how much he was beloved my his castmates on Jane the Virgin and trying to figure out why this was so different.

The two things that stick out to me, though, is how mean Lively’s tone was in her texts and celebratory way she talks about getting the best of him in various interactions. Meanwhile Baldoni’s texts seem super sad and hurt and confused.

He may be insensitive and have low EQ. But the ladies seem petulant and kind of gleeful in their insults. Am I alone in this?

I mean, you are clearly not. But yes what struck me from this latest dump was that it seemed like from everything released last year that they had a very cordial friendly, joking, buddy relationship until production started so yeah I will say I was shocked to see as early as preproduction Blake calling him a doofus and a clown and really disparaging him.

She clearly had it out from him from the beginning and it’s odd that she even signed onto this movie. She seemed to hate him so much. I think she was mortally wounded when he did not immediately gush over her rooftop scene, which is kind of ironic because we later find out it was Ryan’s writing. She and Taylor seemed to go on this bandwagon that he doesn’t listen to women or thinks he’s better than women, but the scene was written by a man.

It also seemed he said something to tick Taylor off about pop music or the state of pop music or something that she took as disparaging. They might’ve been both surprised when he wasn’t just gushing over her and it might’ve offended them.

He seems like an odd duck for sure and maybe he doesn’t come off so great but I don’t think he was malicious, and I don’t think he was just walking around sexually harassing every woman on set.

It’s annoying that people are rewriting history saying none of the women liked him. Isabella did seem to have a fondness for him until after the shoot when she met Blake. Colleen also seemed to like him. They’ve been working together since 2019 and she wanted him to both direct and star in a project that meant a lot to her. There are three more Colleen Hoover books being adapted into movies either already out or coming out later this year so to act like it just fell into his lap is silly, they were corresponding for years about it prior to this movie.

Again, it turned in 2024 all of a sudden and in her deposition, she said she unfollowed him because Blake told her to.

She also seemed to lose her way and get caught up in the marketing… Do people remember she put out that it ends with those coloring book that was immediately taken from the market because of backlash? People thought she was downplay and romanticizing domestic violence? I really think a lot of people got caught up in the whole Barbie Deadpool, fun summer movie marketing and I think a lot of of them took it out on Justin when he wasn’t playing that game. it honestly seems like he’s the only one that had half a brain, but I realize the bar is really low with this group.

Liz plank seemed to get along with him fine doing a podcast with him for years until she got in with Ryan Reynolds, who now run reproduction company with her.

So I’m just not convinced all these women hated him immediately just though Jenny Slate certainly seemed too. Still not clear why though all her statements have been incredibly vague.

Colleen didn't want Justin to direct or star in the movie. She testified in her deposition that she was surprised when she learned he planned to direct, and that this announcement happened in a meeting where Christy Hall (the screenwriter) was also present and that the sentiment in the room was that this was not a good idea because of the subject matter of the film -- everyone thought it should be a woman. It was briefly floated that Justin could co-direct with Hall but that obviously didn't happen. At no point did Colleen advocate for Justin to direct.

She also had nothing to do with him being cast as Ryle and said she was told only after the decision was made. She doesn't know how the decision was made.

Justin has said in interviews that Colleen wanted him to star and direct, but that appears to have been a lie. I'm not going to fault him too much for that because it's clear that celebs lie about their projects in interviews all the time. It's very obvious that everyone involved with the movie understood that appealing to fans of Colleen Hoover was going to be a big element of the success of the film, so I get why everyone involved invoked her name often in interviews and wanted to assure fans that the movie reflected Colleen's wishes.

Still, in context, the lies about Colleen being the reason he starred and directed do seem manipulative, because in retrospect it was very arrogant for someone with as little experience as he had to try to do that with what was set to be a major film with a lot of buzz around it, due to the popularity of the book. It's not just that he'd only directed two (much, much smaller, and with tiny budgets) features at that point. He'd also never had a lead role in a major film. The only other movie he has starred in before IEWU was a straight-to-DVD/streaming clunker called Con Man that looks like a total PoS. He also didn't do a ton of TV work before Jane the Virgin -- just little bit parts in a few shows, some TV movies, and a handful of forgettable films. It's actually kind of insane that he wound up starring in and directing one of the highest grossing romantic dramas in the last decade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been on Team Wait for the Trial, and I’m not sure what to make of all these released texts and documents. It seems like the women all hated Baldoni. I’m still troubled on how much he was beloved my his castmates on Jane the Virgin and trying to figure out why this was so different.

The two things that stick out to me, though, is how mean Lively’s tone was in her texts and celebratory way she talks about getting the best of him in various interactions. Meanwhile Baldoni’s texts seem super sad and hurt and confused.

He may be insensitive and have low EQ. But the ladies seem petulant and kind of gleeful in their insults. Am I alone in this?

I mean, you are clearly not. But yes what struck me from this latest dump was that it seemed like from everything released last year that they had a very cordial friendly, joking, buddy relationship until production started so yeah I will say I was shocked to see as early as preproduction Blake calling him a doofus and a clown and really disparaging him.

She clearly had it out from him from the beginning and it’s odd that she even signed onto this movie. She seemed to hate him so much. I think she was mortally wounded when he did not immediately gush over her rooftop scene, which is kind of ironic because we later find out it was Ryan’s writing. She and Taylor seemed to go on this bandwagon that he doesn’t listen to women or thinks he’s better than women, but the scene was written by a man.

It also seemed he said something to tick Taylor off about pop music or the state of pop music or something that she took as disparaging. They might’ve been both surprised when he wasn’t just gushing over her and it might’ve offended them.

He seems like an odd duck for sure and maybe he doesn’t come off so great but I don’t think he was malicious, and I don’t think he was just walking around sexually harassing every woman on set.

It’s annoying that people are rewriting history saying none of the women liked him. Isabella did seem to have a fondness for him until after the shoot when she met Blake. Colleen also seemed to like him. They’ve been working together since 2019 and she wanted him to both direct and star in a project that meant a lot to her. There are three more Colleen Hoover books being adapted into movies either already out or coming out later this year so to act like it just fell into his lap is silly, they were corresponding for years about it prior to this movie.

Again, it turned in 2024 all of a sudden and in her deposition, she said she unfollowed him because Blake told her to.

She also seemed to lose her way and get caught up in the marketing… Do people remember she put out that it ends with those coloring book that was immediately taken from the market because of backlash? People thought she was downplay and romanticizing domestic violence? I really think a lot of people got caught up in the whole Barbie Deadpool, fun summer movie marketing and I think a lot of of them took it out on Justin when he wasn’t playing that game. it honestly seems like he’s the only one that had half a brain, but I realize the bar is really low with this group.

Liz plank seemed to get along with him fine doing a podcast with him for years until she got in with Ryan Reynolds, who now run reproduction company with her.

So I’m just not convinced all these women hated him immediately just though Jenny Slate certainly seemed too. Still not clear why though all her statements have been incredibly vague.

Colleen didn't want Justin to direct or star in the movie. She testified in her deposition that she was surprised when she learned he planned to direct, and that this announcement happened in a meeting where Christy Hall (the screenwriter) was also present and that the sentiment in the room was that this was not a good idea because of the subject matter of the film -- everyone thought it should be a woman. It was briefly floated that Justin could co-direct with Hall but that obviously didn't happen. At no point did Colleen advocate for Justin to direct.

She also had nothing to do with him being cast as Ryle and said she was told only after the decision was made. She doesn't know how the decision was made.

Justin has said in interviews that Colleen wanted him to star and direct, but that appears to have been a lie. I'm not going to fault him too much for that because it's clear that celebs lie about their projects in interviews all the time. It's very obvious that everyone involved with the movie understood that appealing to fans of Colleen Hoover was going to be a big element of the success of the film, so I get why everyone involved invoked her name often in interviews and wanted to assure fans that the movie reflected Colleen's wishes.

Still, in context, the lies about Colleen being the reason he starred and directed do seem manipulative, because in retrospect it was very arrogant for someone with as little experience as he had to try to do that with what was set to be a major film with a lot of buzz around it, due to the popularity of the book. It's not just that he'd only directed two (much, much smaller, and with tiny budgets) features at that point. He'd also never had a lead role in a major film. The only other movie he has starred in before IEWU was a straight-to-DVD/streaming clunker called Con Man that looks like a total PoS. He also didn't do a ton of TV work before Jane the Virgin -- just little bit parts in a few shows, some TV movies, and a handful of forgettable films. It's actually kind of insane that he wound up starring in and directing one of the highest grossing romantic dramas in the last decade.

OK, I didn’t realize he was lying about that. Weird. But how did Colleen Hoover so drop the ball on this? It’s her project and she had the rights? How did she fumble so hard to get someone that she didn’t like to direct and star in the movie?

I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

[Anonymous]

It’s neat that Hoover wanted a female director but I just did a quick Google search and only 8-16 percent of films are directed by women in any given recent year. So it’s a tall order unfortunately.

Let’s not act as if everyone is lining up to do a Colleen Hoover movie either. They have proven successful, but a lot of people feel it is beneath them. Justin is hardly a household name and Blake has not had a lot of success at the box office previously though she does have a lot of star power.

Frankly, Colleen was lucky anyone was willing to make it, and it was not a big budget film. But if she wanted more control, she could’ve taken more control. She owned the rights to the story and I feel like she just probably sold it to the highest bidder.

As noted above, this is the same person who was willing to do a coloring book off a domestic violence film so I think money is important to her and it’s pretty rich to act like she had these high standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been on Team Wait for the Trial, and I’m not sure what to make of all these released texts and documents. It seems like the women all hated Baldoni. I’m still troubled on how much he was beloved my his castmates on Jane the Virgin and trying to figure out why this was so different.

The two things that stick out to me, though, is how mean Lively’s tone was in her texts and celebratory way she talks about getting the best of him in various interactions. Meanwhile Baldoni’s texts seem super sad and hurt and confused.

He may be insensitive and have low EQ. But the ladies seem petulant and kind of gleeful in their insults. Am I alone in this?

I mean, you are clearly not. But yes what struck me from this latest dump was that it seemed like from everything released last year that they had a very cordial friendly, joking, buddy relationship until production started so yeah I will say I was shocked to see as early as preproduction Blake calling him a doofus and a clown and really disparaging him.

She clearly had it out from him from the beginning and it’s odd that she even signed onto this movie. She seemed to hate him so much. I think she was mortally wounded when he did not immediately gush over her rooftop scene, which is kind of ironic because we later find out it was Ryan’s writing. She and Taylor seemed to go on this bandwagon that he doesn’t listen to women or thinks he’s better than women, but the scene was written by a man.

It also seemed he said something to tick Taylor off about pop music or the state of pop music or something that she took as disparaging. They might’ve been both surprised when he wasn’t just gushing over her and it might’ve offended them.

He seems like an odd duck for sure and maybe he doesn’t come off so great but I don’t think he was malicious, and I don’t think he was just walking around sexually harassing every woman on set.

It’s annoying that people are rewriting history saying none of the women liked him. Isabella did seem to have a fondness for him until after the shoot when she met Blake. Colleen also seemed to like him. They’ve been working together since 2019 and she wanted him to both direct and star in a project that meant a lot to her. There are three more Colleen Hoover books being adapted into movies either already out or coming out later this year so to act like it just fell into his lap is silly, they were corresponding for years about it prior to this movie.

Again, it turned in 2024 all of a sudden and in her deposition, she said she unfollowed him because Blake told her to.

She also seemed to lose her way and get caught up in the marketing… Do people remember she put out that it ends with those coloring book that was immediately taken from the market because of backlash? People thought she was downplay and romanticizing domestic violence? I really think a lot of people got caught up in the whole Barbie Deadpool, fun summer movie marketing and I think a lot of of them took it out on Justin when he wasn’t playing that game. it honestly seems like he’s the only one that had half a brain, but I realize the bar is really low with this group.

Liz plank seemed to get along with him fine doing a podcast with him for years until she got in with Ryan Reynolds, who now run reproduction company with her.

So I’m just not convinced all these women hated him immediately just though Jenny Slate certainly seemed too. Still not clear why though all her statements have been incredibly vague.

Colleen didn't want Justin to direct or star in the movie. She testified in her deposition that she was surprised when she learned he planned to direct, and that this announcement happened in a meeting where Christy Hall (the screenwriter) was also present and that the sentiment in the room was that this was not a good idea because of the subject matter of the film -- everyone thought it should be a woman. It was briefly floated that Justin could co-direct with Hall but that obviously didn't happen. At no point did Colleen advocate for Justin to direct.

She also had nothing to do with him being cast as Ryle and said she was told only after the decision was made. She doesn't know how the decision was made.

Justin has said in interviews that Colleen wanted him to star and direct, but that appears to have been a lie. I'm not going to fault him too much for that because it's clear that celebs lie about their projects in interviews all the time. It's very obvious that everyone involved with the movie understood that appealing to fans of Colleen Hoover was going to be a big element of the success of the film, so I get why everyone involved invoked her name often in interviews and wanted to assure fans that the movie reflected Colleen's wishes.

Still, in context, the lies about Colleen being the reason he starred and directed do seem manipulative, because in retrospect it was very arrogant for someone with as little experience as he had to try to do that with what was set to be a major film with a lot of buzz around it, due to the popularity of the book. It's not just that he'd only directed two (much, much smaller, and with tiny budgets) features at that point. He'd also never had a lead role in a major film. The only other movie he has starred in before IEWU was a straight-to-DVD/streaming clunker called Con Man that looks like a total PoS. He also didn't do a ton of TV work before Jane the Virgin -- just little bit parts in a few shows, some TV movies, and a handful of forgettable films. It's actually kind of insane that he wound up starring in and directing one of the highest grossing romantic dramas in the last decade.

OK, I didn’t realize he was lying about that. Weird. But how did Colleen Hoover so drop the ball on this? It’s her project and she had the rights? How did she fumble so hard to get someone that she didn’t like to direct and star in the movie?

I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

That's not how it works. Colleen Hoover is a novelist. She doesn't make movies for a living. She sold the rights to make a movie based on this book and its sequel to Baldoni and Wayfarer. It wasn't up to her to find the director or cast the movie, and in fact Wayfarer would not have allowed her to do that if she'd tried. Book authors often have ZERO input into how their book is adapted for film or television. It sounds like Wayfarer understood the benefit of having Hoover on board and endorsing the movie since her fan base was so important, and they included her more than is common in these situations. But Wayfarer made all the decisions about who would direct and act in the movie. She didn't "drop the ball."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s neat that Hoover wanted a female director but I just did a quick Google search and only 8-16 percent of films are directed by women in any given recent year. So it’s a tall order unfortunately.

Let’s not act as if everyone is lining up to do a Colleen Hoover movie either. They have proven successful, but a lot of people feel it is beneath them. Justin is hardly a household name and Blake has not had a lot of success at the box office previously though she does have a lot of star power.

Frankly, Colleen was lucky anyone was willing to make it, and it was not a big budget film. But if she wanted more control, she could’ve taken more control. She owned the rights to the story and I feel like she just probably sold it to the highest bidder.

As noted above, this is the same person who was willing to do a coloring book off a domestic violence film so I think money is important to her and it’s pretty rich to act like she had these high standards.

Christy Hall wanted to direct the movie. She wrote the script for IEWU and had literally just filmed a movie starring Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn (Daddio) when IEWU went into pre-production. In fact I think a vague promise of letting her direct the movie was part of how they got her to do the script.

Baldoni had also said in at least one interview after acquiring the rights to the books that Wayfarer wanted a female director. I will try to find the interview -- he was asked if he planned to direct it (he may have been doing promo for Clouds in the interview) and he immediately tosses it off that of course not, they wanted a woman because of the subject matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s neat that Hoover wanted a female director but I just did a quick Google search and only 8-16 percent of films are directed by women in any given recent year. So it’s a tall order unfortunately.

Let’s not act as if everyone is lining up to do a Colleen Hoover movie either. They have proven successful, but a lot of people feel it is beneath them. Justin is hardly a household name and Blake has not had a lot of success at the box office previously though she does have a lot of star power.

Frankly, Colleen was lucky anyone was willing to make it, and it was not a big budget film. But if she wanted more control, she could’ve taken more control. She owned the rights to the story and I feel like she just probably sold it to the highest bidder.

As noted above, this is the same person who was willing to do a coloring book off a domestic violence film so I think money is important to her and it’s pretty rich to act like she had these high standards.

Christy Hall wanted to direct the movie. She wrote the script for IEWU and had literally just filmed a movie starring Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn (Daddio) when IEWU went into pre-production. In fact I think a vague promise of letting her direct the movie was part of how they got her to do the script.

Baldoni had also said in at least one interview after acquiring the rights to the books that Wayfarer wanted a female director. I will try to find the interview -- he was asked if he planned to direct it (he may have been doing promo for Clouds in the interview) and he immediately tosses it off that of course not, they wanted a woman because of the subject matter.

So why didn’t she do it? Male politics of Hollywood and men taking over?

Hall is known as a writer has she ever directed anything before?

It’s great the people want female directors, but not every studio is willing to gamble on them. Look at Scarlett Johansson one of the most successful people in the entertainment industry and she just made her debut with an independent film with a small budget aimed at a niche audience.

Female directors are still pretty rare. Steve Sarowitz is ultimately the backer and maybe he didn’t want to gamble on one. Which sucks but not really Justin‘s fault.

And I disagree that Colleen could not have gotten a better deal. There’s tons of novelists who have had movies made who have much more control. They can come on as a producer if they want. what you said makes no sense. I think Colleen’s busy and just wanted to sell to the highest offer and that’s what she did.

She had the rights of course she could’ve had more control. Taking all agency away from Colleen makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Why isn't the fact this was a crappy book in the first place part of the story?

[Anonymous]

Colleen clearly got caught up in Blake and Ryan’s lure. The Sony execs said it themselves, she has the cast “tightly wrapped around her finger.” Colleen included. Colleen showed the snake that she was when she was texting her friend trashing Justin’s engagement video that was going around from a full deck before he saying he’s a narcissist and Blake we use that to fuel the sequel lol.

Blake and Ryan used all their celebrity power with some of the most famous people on the planet over this dumb movie of course Colleen got caught up.

Justin’s dump last year - he shared emails between him and Colleen that were very cordial going back from 2019. I’m not saying they were best friends but there’s a lot of revisionist history going on here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why isn't the fact this was a crappy book in the first place part of the story?

This is such a good point that is being overlooked. All these women saying how they want to stand up for other women and they all were a part of this misogynist drivel.

The plot of IEWU: Lilly grew up watching her mom get abused by her dad. Her childhood friend, who was once homeless, somehow overcame that to run the hottest restaurant in Boston in his early 30s.

He’s one of the best looking men on the planet, clearly rich and successful, but doesn’t date because he’s pining for his childhood girlfriend - fortunately, just when she needs them he’s there, not dating. Even though he’s incredibly good looking rich successful and young.

This goes on over a two year period. Where he’s just seemingly waiting for her.

Makes all the sense in the world and luckily if you’re a victim of a domestic violence, you too could have a handsome rich exboyfriend to save you.

Look, I watched the movie and enjoyed it. It’s trash, but I thought Justin and Blake both did a good job. But to make all this nonsense out of this trash is absolutely ridiculous and they all should be embarrassed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Taylor Swift etc etc are malignant narcissists and bullies. As are those who defend these sick, privileged, power hungry, entitled pieces of $&&$

+1. Sunshine is the best disinfectant! What’s especially hilarious is how DUMB and uneducated they all are. They are really high on their own supply, oblivious to the fact they’re just dime a dozen low watt industry plants created from thin air to make money off of.

[Anonymous]

The deposition from the Sony executive about the meeting where Ryan berated Justin is chilling. Highly recommend that people find it and read it.

The Sony executive, Ange, confirmed that Todd Black the other executive said it was the worst meeting he had ever been to. Keep in mind Todd Black is 65 and I believe now retired so that is saying something.

The meeting was a total ambush. They were told they were going to talk about script. No one said that Ryan was going to be there and they were surprised. There were line producers there and they were dismissed. Blake then took out her list and started reading, and Ange said she was shocked as she had not heard any of those complaints before.

She was asked if Ryan acted aggressively or yelled at Justin and confirmed. Yes, his voice was raised.

She described Justin as “frozen.”

She said the meeting went on for five hours with no breaks.

I’m sorry, but that is completely unhinged.

I’m sure Blake defenders will be like he was standing up for his wife or whatever but in no universe is a five hour meeting where you blindside somebody acceptable or an adult way to handle. Justin should’ve had a lawyer or an HR rep available as well if they were bringing up HR issues it’s just not appropriate or professional and sounds insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s neat that Hoover wanted a female director but I just did a quick Google search and only 8-16 percent of films are directed by women in any given recent year. So it’s a tall order unfortunately.

Let’s not act as if everyone is lining up to do a Colleen Hoover movie either. They have proven successful, but a lot of people feel it is beneath them. Justin is hardly a household name and Blake has not had a lot of success at the box office previously though she does have a lot of star power.

Frankly, Colleen was lucky anyone was willing to make it, and it was not a big budget film. But if she wanted more control, she could’ve taken more control. She owned the rights to the story and I feel like she just probably sold it to the highest bidder.

As noted above, this is the same person who was willing to do a coloring book off a domestic violence film so I think money is important to her and it’s pretty rich to act like she had these high standards.

Christy Hall wanted to direct the movie. She wrote the script for IEWU and had literally just filmed a movie starring Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn (Daddio) when IEWU went into pre-production. In fact I think a vague promise of letting her direct the movie was part of how they got her to do the script.

Baldoni had also said in at least one interview after acquiring the rights to the books that Wayfarer wanted a female director. I will try to find the interview -- he was asked if he planned to direct it (he may have been doing promo for Clouds in the interview) and he immediately tosses it off that of course not, they wanted a woman because of the subject matter.

So why didn’t she do it? Male politics of Hollywood and men taking over?

Hall is known as a writer has she ever directed anything before?

It’s great the people want female directors, but not every studio is willing to gamble on them. Look at Scarlett Johansson one of the most successful people in the entertainment industry and she just made her debut with an independent film with a small budget aimed at a niche audience.

Female directors are still pretty rare. Steve Sarowitz is ultimately the backer and maybe he didn’t want to gamble on one. Which sucks but not really Justin‘s fault.

And I disagree that Colleen could not have gotten a better deal. There’s tons of novelists who have had movies made who have much more control. They can come on as a producer if they want. what you said makes no sense. I think Colleen’s busy and just wanted to sell to the highest offer and that’s what she did.

She had the rights of course she could’ve had more control. Taking all agency away from Colleen makes no sense.

Colleen was an executive producer in the movie, and yes, many authors get that title in adaptations. It's a vanity title though.

You are incorrect that many writers have more control, unless by "many writers" you actually just mean J.K. Rowling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s neat that Hoover wanted a female director but I just did a quick Google search and only 8-16 percent of films are directed by women in any given recent year. So it’s a tall order unfortunately.

Let’s not act as if everyone is lining up to do a Colleen Hoover movie either. They have proven successful, but a lot of people feel it is beneath them. Justin is hardly a household name and Blake has not had a lot of success at the box office previously though she does have a lot of star power.

Frankly, Colleen was lucky anyone was willing to make it, and it was not a big budget film. But if she wanted more control, she could’ve taken more control. She owned the rights to the story and I feel like she just probably sold it to the highest bidder.

As noted above, this is the same person who was willing to do a coloring book off a domestic violence film so I think money is important to her and it’s pretty rich to act like she had these high standards.

Christy Hall wanted to direct the movie. She wrote the script for IEWU and had literally just filmed a movie starring Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn (Daddio) when IEWU went into pre-production. In fact I think a vague promise of letting her direct the movie was part of how they got her to do the script.

Baldoni had also said in at least one interview after acquiring the rights to the books that Wayfarer wanted a female director. I will try to find the interview -- he was asked if he planned to direct it (he may have been doing promo for Clouds in the interview) and he immediately tosses it off that of course not, they wanted a woman because of the subject matter.

So why didn’t she do it? Male politics of Hollywood and men taking over?

Hall is known as a writer has she ever directed anything before?

It’s great the people want female directors, but not every studio is willing to gamble on them. Look at Scarlett Johansson one of the most successful people in the entertainment industry and she just made her debut with an independent film with a small budget aimed at a niche audience.

Female directors are still pretty rare. Steve Sarowitz is ultimately the backer and maybe he didn’t want to gamble on one. Which sucks but not really Justin‘s fault.

And I disagree that Colleen could not have gotten a better deal. There’s tons of novelists who have had movies made who have much more control. They can come on as a producer if they want. what you said makes no sense. I think Colleen’s busy and just wanted to sell to the highest offer and that’s what she did.

She had the rights of course she could’ve had more control. Taking all agency away from Colleen makes no sense.

Christy Hall didn't direct the movie because Baldoni, who owned the rights, wanted to do it himself. She could only direct if he hired her to do so, which he didn't

And no, Colleen did not have the rights. She sold them to Wayfarer. That's how it works. Colleen Hoover is not a film studio. When you sell the rights, you relinquish control.

Wayfarer also learned this when they sold the distribution rights to Sony. Wayfarer got money for the film and a huge marketing and distribution budget and apparatus that they, a tiny studio, did not have. But they gave up certain control (choice of final cut, some casting decisions, and obviously a chunk of Amy profits).

Hollywood is a capitalist machine, not a student project. These are basic facts about the industry.