The World Needs Women Storytellers

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[Pictured: Sundance Institute alumni Dee Rees]

By Stephanie Ornelas

There's a mass of talented women screenwriters who are making major contributions and leading the way in the future of filmmaking. This year's Academy Awards were proof of that with Jane Campion making history when she won Best Director for Power of the Dog, which she also wrote. When you think of Si n Heder who won Best Adapted Screenplay for CODA, Maggie Gyllenhaal, writer-director of Oscar nominee The Lost Daughter, and so many emerging women writers, it's a true celebration of progress and perfect timing as we near the end of Women's History Month.

Ilyse McKimmie, Deputy Director of Sundance Institute's Feature Film Program, oversees the Screenwriters Lab at Sundance Institute and offers a valuable perspective on how organizations have stepped up for women screenwriters. In a conversation via email, she recognizes the incredible work made by women writers from the Sundance community of alumni and advisors - work from artists like Lulu Wang, Chloe Zhao, Nia DaCosta, Lucy Alibar, Dee Rees and Dana Stevens.

Chlo Zhao with the stars of Songs My Brothers Taught Me, Jashaun St. John and John Reddy.

In addition to the high percentages of women included in all of our artist development programs and the Women at Sundance and Momentum Fellowship initiatives, there are several other organizations and programs doing strong work, she says.

Women in Film, with whom we are founding partners of the ReFrame Rise program, Women and Hollywood, the Lab at the Athena Film Festival (both spearheaded by Melissa Silverstein), and NYWIFT's Writers Lab for women screenwriters over the age of 40 - these are just a few.

As we continue to press for equal representation throughout the industry, esteemed actors like Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Kevin Hart, are also raising up women writers from all walks of life. While Streep and Kidman are focusing more on writers over 40, Hart is partnering with Sundance Institute to amplify Black women writers.

Nia DaCosta is the first Black woman - only the fourth woman overall - and the youngest person ever to direct a Marvel movie.

Through his digital comedy brand Laugh Out Loud (LOL), Hart's team selected fellows Wilandrea Blair, Danielle Nicolet, and Moni Oyedepo for their inaugural Women Write Now screenwriting fellowship program.

Last year, LOL and the Sundance Institute partnered up to launch Women Write Now - a program designed to champion the next generation of Black women in comedy. Through mentorship, advocacy, production, and exhibition, the immersive program offers a selection of writers the opportunity to receive mentorship and professional guidance from leading Black women in comedy. Projects from all three fellows will be directed by actors Gabrielle Dennis, Meagan Good, and Bresha Webb.

Black women have stories to tell, says Good, in an interview with Morgan Debaun, CEO of Blavity Inc. (Creators of Shadow & Act) during this year's Sundance Film Festival. We need to have opportunities, not just for acting, but in all areas. And writing is an area where we haven't gotten as much exposure or support.

Behind the Lens with Meagan Good. There's a trove of stories written by women screenwriters that have yet to be told. Finding the right platform and support has proved to be an obstacle in the past. But that's not stopping writers from charging ahead with their own stellar projects. Laugh Out Loud saw 672 completed submissions for its screenwriting fellowship program just this year alone, and they recently announced that Wilandrea Blair has signed a first-look deal with NBCUniversal's Peacock to develop projects for the streaming platform.

Women Write Now was created from a simple insight - the burning notion that there should be more Black Women in the writer's room, in the director's seat, and in control of the green light, said Laugh Out Loud President, Thai Randolph, following the fellowship announcement.

Still, across the industry writer-directors like Chloe Okuno can't ignore the glaring realities of not just being a woman in filmmaking, but a woman in a position of power. She recently spoke with Indie Film Hustle about her 2022 Sundance Film Festival hit The Watcher. During the podcast, she talks about the difficult obstacles she faces on set.

There was a little bit of drama. People will not give you a lot of grace when it comes to showing your emotions, says Okuno. You have to be very careful about it. In a way, that's what our film is about. She [the main character] is sort of modifying what she feels so that people won't write her off as lacking credibility.

Chloe Okuno (The Watcher) with Indie Film Hustle.

She continues, It's sort of ingrained in us to try and make everyone around us comfortable. But what really helped me was just telling myself, I'm not standing up for Chloe Okuno, I'm standing up for this movie I'm trying to make - this story I'm trying to tell.'

Having written five films, Okuno is barely scratching the surface of the horror genre. She's simply one of several women writers who are paving the way for more opportunities, as so many before her have done in the past.

Back in June 1996, Denise D. Bielby, Professor of Sociology and affiliated faculty in Film and Media Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara, wrote a sociological perspective on gender and career outcomes with William T. Bielby, University of Illinois Chicago. In the essay, they wrote:

The institutionalization of male dominance of the film industry in the 1930s and the typecasting of women writers has had a lasting impact on gender inequality, which shows little change through the early 1990s.

Today, nearly 30 years later, women are steppi

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