Sitting across an all female panel, there is no doubt Hollywood is a change in motion. Two leading ladies, who also co-produced and executive produced the film, were joined by director Anne Fletcher to talk about their new culture-clash comedy, ‘Hot Pursuit’. A film they assert is about two individuals, not about girls chasing boys or the other way around.

“This movie, you know, it’s very special in the sense of that this is not like the normal movie where girls usually are going trying to trick some guy or trying to get some guy or getting married or something like that. This is a movie where these two women that are different and [have] different personalities and they’re trying to achieve something, the same thing and trying to survive,” expresses Sofia Vergara. She brings her comedic timing and curvaceous Latin flare to her character Daniella Riva, a drug boss widow who is the target of corrupt cops and murderous gunmen.

Meanwhile, Officer Cooper a finicky by-the-book cop, played by award winning actress and film veteran Reese Witherspoon, is left with the task of bringing Mrs. Riva safe to testify against a drug lord. But before they reach their destination, the two come across a few bumps and surprises along their journey. Something Witherspoon affirms wasn’t about the romantic involvement, but rather about these two female characters. She says, “As soon as you strip that [romantic] element away, you actually get to dig deeper into the female characters.”

Adding to the female force is Director Anne Fletcher, who while complimenting the stars tells us why she was interested in joining the team. “One of the things that I always fight against is that men don’t save women. Cooper learns a lot of stuff from Danielle and to free herself and open herself and take chances and don’t maybe follow the rules all the time and she meets this boy and out of all these great lessons in this journey with Daniella, she’s like ‘well I’m gonna take matters into my own hands.’”

Cooper is not the only one receiving pointers from Mrs. Riva. This duo represents two different individuals from different backgrounds who manage to understand each other. “I think a lot of girls can look at this and learn many things from this relationship. You don’t have to be the same, you don’t have to look the same to, you know, to understand another human being and support each other,” comments Sofia.

Different backgrounds don’t seem to be an obstacle in front or behind the camera. Reese remembers, “I was looking around about two or three years ago and I was reading all these articles in the LA Times and The Hollywood Reporter about Latin audiences showing up. There are 35 to 55 percent of the audience and looking then at movies and going, ‘but where are the Latin actors?’ And also, movies that are reflective of our culture where some people speak Spanish but some people speak English. That’s the kind of life everybody is living every day, but we’re not seeing it reflected on screen so I think it’s great and hopefully -with the cross of our fingers- the success of a film like this, they’ll be more thought of that kind of opportunity to showcase what real life looks like.”

For female artists, writers, filmmakers and working women in general, Fletcher agrees that while there is still a lot of work to be done, things are shifting and we’re already seeing the difference. “We’re in it and it’s hard to fight against it but do your best to not fall prey to it because it is a real thing, but stay powerful and push through and stay confident and strong within who yourself. Surround yourself with really smart individuals and we’ll keep breaking through. Its’ moving, it’s definitely shifting. We need men. It’s a very important aspect to have both, but as women who are still slightly held back we need to keep pushing forward.”

This film is another production from Witherspoon’s company Pacific Standard. A production company she started with producer Bruna Papandrea with one goal in mind, ‘to develop and produce movies with female characters.’ As both Hispanic and female artists continue to make progress in Hollywood, Reese raises valuable points. While these women have worked and joined forces to bring a film for women by women, it’s also on the female community to help keep these films getting made. “I think one of the most important things too is women out there need to know is that you have to show up and buy tickets ‘cause if you want to see something different, you have to support the women who are writing and who are directing.” Agreeing with Reese, Sofia concludes that by doing this, “the more opportunities that are going to be for women to do stuff.”

Hot Pursuit premieres in theaters Friday, May 8^th.