Greta Gerwig Grateful Even for Those Who Call Her “Completely Bananas” in Pioneer of the Year Speech

Greta Gerwig expressed her gratitude for being a “show person” while accepting the prize as the 2024 Pioneer of the Year.

Gerwig was the recipient of this year’s honor from the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation. The ceremony took place Wednesday at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills to celebrate Gerwig’s accomplishments that include writing and directing Lady Bird, Little Women and Barbie, all of which were nominated for the best picture Oscar.

“I’m mostly used to going to the Beverly Hilton to lose, so this is a nice change of pace,” Gerwig quipped at the start of her acceptance speech about the venue that has served for decades as home of the Golden Globe Awards.

She went on to thank the organization for supporting the moviegoing experience. “The work that you do for caring for this community that I’m part of, it’s just extraordinary,” Gerwig said. “It makes me so proud to be part of an industry where people spend their time and money and talents to figure out how to look out for each other and to lift each other up.”

Gerwig praised the real-life Rogers, who died in 1935, for his contributions to the entertainment industry, describing him as “the ultimate show person.” She explained that “a show person is the only person I’ve ever wanted to be” and shared her pride in seeing so many others at the event who remain dedicated to the same craft.

“Even when I’m in a meeting with someone in this business who is mostly likely to tell me that my idea is completely bananas — the people who are nuts-and-bolts, just-the-facts-ma’am kind of people, and they’re usually some combination of legal and finance — but beneath their business front, there’s a slightly unhinged person just underneath the suit,” Gerwig said to big laughs. “There are easier ways to make money, and there are less terrifying businesses, but there are none that are more exciting and filled with as much joy and wonder.”

Also speaking to the audience to laud Gerwig’s accomplishments were Warner Bros. film chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy. Additionally, a video package played during the event that included compliments from such previous Gerwig collaborators as Will Ferrell, Saoirse Ronan, Beanie Feldstein and Gerwig’s husband and writing partner, Noah Baumbach.

During his opening monologue, host Patton Oswalt poked fun at studio execs who have shelved movies for tax breaks. Although he didn’t mention names, Oswalt appeared to be targeting Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav, whose company has scrapped such completed films as Batgirl and Coyote vs. Acme amid cost-cutting measures. (Oswalt made similar barbs while hosting this year’s Golden Reel Awards ceremony.)

“Greta had the revolutionary idea where you make a movie, and instead of shelving it for a tax deduction, you show it in a movie theater,” Oswalt joked. “The theaters charge people money to watch it! It gets even better: With the profits the studio takes from the movie, they use it to make more movies! What a maverick, ice-skating on the razor’s edge.”

He continued, “I can only hope the film students at USC who dream of having their passion projects locked in a vault, instead follow your example.”

Previous honorees as Pioneer of the Year include Tom Cruise, Kathleen Kennedy, Sherry Lansing, Jack Warner, Donna Langley, Cecil B. DeMille and Cheryl Boone Isaacs.