Everything Female Creatives Did For Showbiz In 2019
Spoiler Alert! It’s been a great year for women behind the camera
Haifaa al-Mansour’s The Perfect Candidate bags Oscar nomination, Awkwafina’s The Farewell soars, and Russian Doll: co-written by Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler, and Leslye Headland gains 13 Emmy nominations. 2019 sure has been the year of women in showbiz. While Time’s Up highlighted the adversities faced by actresses, the ongoing disparity and lack of empowerment of women offscreen isn’t as frequently discussed.
As this decade comes to an end, it’s also noteworthy that some of the biggest awards have been bagged by female creators. Last year, Nadine Labaki’s Capernaum won the Jury Prize for the highest award at Cannes: the prestigious Palme d’Or. Women proved they can bring studios box-office success too, with Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman becoming the highest-grossing superhero origin movie of all time in 2017. Hear that? That’s the sound of the glass ceiling shattering.
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This year alone, we saw numerous female-led shows shine and conclude with a bang. The star studded Big Little Lies, executively produced by Hollywood heavyweights Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman was one among many women-led to enjoy massive ratings. Jenji Kohan’s Orange is the New Black and Jennie Urman’s Jane the Virgin both achieved cult status in pop culture in their seven and five year run respectively, and even won their share of Emmys and Golden Globes.
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2019 has been a great year for women in debuting shows too. Networks, producers, and streaming sites are investing in female-led show now more than ever. Hulu released Television royalty Mindy Kaling’s London-based show Four Weddings and a Funeral this year. Lena Waithe made history in 2017 becoming the first black woman to win an Emmy in the category of Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. In 2019, the icon scored a (reportedly eight-figure) deal with Amazon Studios through which she’ll be creating, executively producing, and writing numerous shows.
Elizabeth Banks, director of the wildly successful Pitch Perfect 2, also has a new release dropping this year and it’s none other than the highly anticipated Charlie’s Angels reboot.
The era of successful female creators isn’t upcoming – it is here, and we couldn’t be more pleased.