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"The pandemic forced studios to change”: Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall at 21st FICM

Gustavo R. Gallardo

Producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall gave a Master Class at the 21st Morelia International Film Festival (FICM). The pair agreed that the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way studios make films, in the sense that the issue of whether a film is released first on digital platforms rather than in theaters has been downplayed.

The discussion was moderated by the festival's President, Alejandro Ramirez, who acknowledged their work with extraordinary filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, and David Fincher.

The producers are married and run The Kennedy/Marshall Company.

Alejandro Ramírez, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall

"No matter what you read, films are not going anywhere. There are too many people who love movies, love film storytelling, and what drives me, my passion, are the people we've worked with over the years," Kennedy said.

Marshall maintains that producing is a job you can love, because it's not like being in an office with a specific schedule, plus he shares several projects with his wife. "I never thought I would find someone who loved making movies as much as I do until I met Kathleen," he said. Marshall then added that it is more difficult for him to direct than produce because it means dedicating as much time as possible to being on location, whereas when producing "you're sort of an umbrella that covers all aspects of a shoot."

Kathleen Kennedy said that during the pandemic, streaming companies realized that the business model was about to change in their favor: "They realized that it went against something that excited a lot of people, which was watching movies."

"I think seeing new business models in terms of how things are going to be distributed is going to take over in the next three to five years. We’re going to see this ongoing process of experimentation (...) on an international level this is more confusing," added the producer.

Frank Marshall agreed that the pandemic forced the studios to change, "They had been fighting this [streaming] for a long time, but they learned a lesson".

 "We've always thought that movies should be released in theaters, on the big screen," the producer said, but the lockdown in 2020 changed that.

For Kennedy, the situation has to do with the value of films, because a film gains value when it is released in theaters."

"Films have value and once a film hits theaters and attracts an incredibly large audience, you have some value and you can move on to other levels like streaming, for example (...) but if you don't show it first in theaters, on the big screen, I think it's not as clear if the film has value or not," she emphasized.

"Well, you also have to make good films and we realized that... There are a lot of films and the garbage goes to streaming,” Marshall added.

Kathleen Kennedy's Unveils Commemorative Armchair

After answering questions from the audience, the producer was recognized by FICM with a personalized armchair, as is the festival's tradition.

Kathleen Kennedy

"I'll make sure the two seats are placed together... It just occurred to me... We hadn't thought of it before. I don't know how, but we're going to make it happen," said Alejandro Ramirez, since Frank Marshall has an armchair since 2022.

Kathleen Kennedy is the President of Lucasfilm, LTD. She was a producer on Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), as well as Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) and Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker (2019). 

She has produced or served as executive producer on more than 70 feature films, which collectively have amassed 120 Academy Award nominations and 25 wins. Her credits include Jurassic Park, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, The Sixth Sense, the Back to the Future trilogy, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Gremlins, The Goonies, Poltergeist, Empire of the Sun, Lincoln, War Horse, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Schindler's List, The Color Purple, and The Adventures of Tintin. Kennedy has produced films by directors like Steven Spielberg, David Fincher, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Robert Zemeckis, JJ Abrams, Julian Schnabel, Marjane Satrapi, M. Night Shyamalan, Frank Oz, Peter Bogdanovich and Richard Donner. 

She is a recent recepient of the Fellowship Award, the Academy's highest honor. In addition to her executive and producing roles, she was a founding member of the Hollywood Commission to Eliminate Sexual Harassment and Advance Equality and currently serves on the board of the LA Promise Fund, Library of America and the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Before joining Lucasfilm in 2012, Kennedy ran The Kennedy/Marshall Company, which she co-founded with Marshall in 1992. In 1981, she co-founded the successful Amblin Entertainment with Marshall and Steven Spielberg.

Kathleen Kennedy

Frank Marshall is one of the most prominent film producers in the entertainment industry. His career includes such classics as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future, The Color Purple, and the Jason Bourne and Jurassic World series. Titles like The Sixth Sense and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button have earned him five Academy Award nominations. In November 2018, he and his wife Kathleen Kennedy were presented with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.

In addition to his prolific career as a producer, Marshall is also the acclaimed director of hit films such as Arachnophobia and the award-winning HBO documentary, The Bee Gees: How to Mend a Broken Heart, among others. Most recently, he directed magician Hélder Guimarães in his performances The Present and The Future at the Geffen Playhouse, as well as CNN's Carole King & James Taylor: Just Call Out My Name. He produced this summer's blockbuster, Jurassic World: Dominion, and is working in post-production on a fifth instalment of the Indiana Jones series.

Frank Marshall