LGBTQIA+ women, particularly those who are trans and/or of color, face insurmountable systemic and interpersonal barriers when they knock on Hollywood’s door. They also have impassioned and resilient communities behind them, waiting to cheer them on, watch their stories, and follow in their footsteps.
Among the list of LGBTQIA+ trailblazers we’re celebrating for Women’s History Month are: Josephine Baker, the first Black woman to appear in a major motion picture; Lea DeLaria, the first out gay comic to appear on television; and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, the first trans woman to win an Emmy or a Golden Globe (she won both). They are in brilliant company with the longest-running LGBTQIA+ character on television and groundbreaking performers who have used their platforms to amplify visibility and equity.
It’s also important to note that trans masculine and non-binary people have made – and continue to make – invaluable contributions to entertainment and face related barriers rooted in patriarchy and gender essentialism. While it would be inappropriate to misgender these folks by including them on a list for Women’s History month, we recognize that without people like Sara Ramírez and groundbreaking characters like Callie Torres, their stories would not exist.
From television and film to Broadway and activism, the following trans, lesbian, bisexual, and intersex women have played key roles in shaping what stories are told, and who gets to hold the mic. In doing so, they’re clearing paths for everyone who follows behind them.
(Photo by Courtesy Everett Collection)
Josephine Baker was an American-born French actress and vaudeville performer. She began performing at age 13 during the Harlem Renaissance and continued doing so for over fifty years. In 1927, with her role in Siren of the Tropics, Baker made history by becoming the first Black woman to appear in a major motion picture.
A civil rights advocate in addition to her career in entertainment, Baker had relationships with women and men throughout her life.
Freshest appearance: Paris was a Woman (1995, as herself)
(Photo by Courtesy Everett Collection)
Lorraine Hansberry was an author, activist, playwright, and the first Black woman to have a play performed on Broadway. A Raisin in the Sun debuted on Broadway in 1959, when Hansberry was just 29 years old. Two years later, it was adapted to a film starring Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee. The story centers on a Black family living on the South Side of Chicago – where Hansberry grew up, and where her parents were involved in racial justice movements.
After coming out as a lesbian, Hansberry connected with LGBTQ+ activists and continued her civil rights advocacy until her death in 1965.
Freshest film: A Raisin in the Sun (1961, adapted from Hansberry’s play)
(Photo by Lea DeLaria, 1993, © Comedy Central/courtesy Everett Collection)
Lea DeLaria is an actor, comedian, and jazz musician. In 1993, she became the first out gay comic to appear on American television when she performed stand-up on The Arsenio Hall Show, where she said: “It’s the 1990s! It’s hip to be queer! I’m a big dyke.”
Much of her work reflects pride in being a butch lesbian. She is known for her role as “Big Boo” on Orange is the New Black and has also appeared in Shameless, Broad City, and Will and Grace.
Freshest appearance: Support the Girls (2018)
(Photo by ALL-AMERICAN GIRL, from left: BD Wong, Margaret Cho, 1994-95. ph: Craig T. Mathew / ©Touchstone Televison / courtesy Everett Collection)
Margaret Cho is a comedian, actor, and activist. She launched her comedy career in San Francisco before developing a sit-com in 1994 called All-American Girl, based on her stand-up. All-American Girl was the first primetime sitcom to center on an East Asian-American family.
She has cameoed in shows like Hacks and Good Trouble and had brief roles in a Golden Girls spin-off as well as Sex in the City. In 2005, she published I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight, a book of essays about racism, misogyny, and homophobia.
Cho is bisexual, having said that she’s “been with people all across the spectrum of gender and who have all kinds of different expressions of gender.”
Freshest appearance: Fire Island (2022)
(Photo by NEVER HAVE I EVER, Alexandra Billings, ‘…opened a textbook', (Season 2, ep. 203, aired July 15, 2021). photo: ©Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection)
Alexandra Billings is a multiracial star on the stage and screen. Her career began in the early 2000s, with television appearances in Romy and Michele: In the Beginning, ER, and Grey’s Anatomy, among others – in many of which she played trans characters. In 2018, she appeared as Waxy Bush in The Nap and became the first out trans person to be cast in a trans role on Broadway.
In addition to her career as an entertainer, Billings is an advocate for LGBTQIA+ people and AIDS patients, for which she has been recognized by the HRC and GLAAD. In 2017, she and several other trans actors filmed an open letter to Hollywood, advocating for authentic trans stories: “Let us help you tell those stories. Or better yet, help us tell them ourselves, and then put us in them. And in everything else. In all kinds of parts.”
She has recently appeared in Never Have I Ever and The Peripheral.
Freshest appearance: Disclosure (2020)
(Photo by Photo By: Priscilla Grant/Everett Collection)
Ilene Chaiken is a Jewish American producer, director, and writer. She is the co-creator of The L Word, which began airing in 2004 and is largely inspired by her and the other writers’ lived experiences. It’s the first television series to feature an ensemble lesbian and bisexual characters, and the first to be creatively driven by queer women. Its sequel, The L Word: Generation Q, began airing in 2019 and bolstered the original’s goal of telling underrepresented queer stories with additional characters of color, as well as transmasculine, transfeminine, and nonbinary characters, all of which are also reflected in the show’s cast.
Prior to The L Word, Chaiken was a coordinating producer for The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and won a Golden Globe for the TV movie she wrote, Dirty Pictures, in 2000. She has recently executive produced The Handmaid’s Tale and Empire.
Freshest work: The Handmaid’s Tale season 1.
(Photo by GREY'S ANATOMY, Jessica Capshaw, Sara Ramirez, 'These Arms of Mine', (Season 7, episode 6, aired October 28, 2010), 2005-, photo: Danny Feld / © ABC / courtesy Everett Collection)
Sara Ramírez began appearing as Callie Torres on Grey’s Anatomy during the show’s second season. At Ramírez’s suggestion, Callie discovered her bisexuality through several relationships with characters of various genders. After 11 seasons on Grey’s, Callie remains not just the longest-running bisexual character in TV history, but the longest-running LGBTQ+ character, period.
Callie paved the way for characters like Rosa Diaz from Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Ramírez paved the way for fellow queer actors of color like Stephanie Beatriz to have their experiences reflected in their characters. (Ramírez is nonbinary, queer, and bisexual, and they’ve continued trailblazing with queer roles like Che Diaz on the Sex and the City revival and Kat Sandoval on Madam Secretary.)
Watch Callie Torres on seasons 2 through 12 of Grey’s Anatomy.
(Photo by LOVING, Eden Atwood, 1983-95. Photo: Gina Uhlmann / ©Dramatic Creations Inc./courtesy Everett Collection)
Eden Atwood is a jazz musician and actor. She performed in over 50 episodes of the soap opera Loving and appeared in the sitcom The Good Life and the crime drama The Commish.
In 2012, Atwood co-founded The Interface Project, which spotlights the lived experiences of people born with intersex traits, like herself.
(Photo by DISCLOSURE, Laverne Cox, 2020. ph: Ava Benjamin Shorr / © Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection)
Laverne Cox rose to prominence for her role as Sophia Burset on Orange is the New Black in 2013, but she began working in entertainment more than a decade earlier. She has appeared in movies like Promising Young Woman, The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again, and most recently Jolt.
In 2013, her performance as Sophia made her the first out trans person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy in an acting category. She has since used her platform to advocate safety and visibility for the trans community. Cox continues to appear on daytime television, at activist events, and in documentaries such as Disclosure to speak to gender equity and elevate trans experiences.
Freshest appearance: Disclosure (2020)
(Photo by POSE, from left: Billy Porter, Mj Rodriguez, 'Something Old, Something New', (Season 3, ep. 306, aired May 30, 2021). photo: Eric Liebowitz / ©FX / Courtesy Everett Collection)
Best known as Blanca Evangelista in Pose, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez began her career in 2011 with a theater production of Rent. She was featured in several television series, films, and theater shows – including Luke Cage, Adam, and Runaways – for the next few years, before being cast as Blanca in 2017. Between seasons of Pose, she also performed as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors.
Pose itself made history for casting five trans actresses in leading roles. The series aired for three seasons and reflected New York ball culture in the 1980s and 1990s, centering queer and trans characters of color. As Blanca, mother of the House of Evangelista, Rodriguez showcased trans joy and queer family-making, as well as impressive vocal chops.
In 2021, Rodriguez became the first out trans woman to receive an Emmy. The following year, she became the first out trans actor of any gender to win a Golden Globe. She dedicated her win to “the LGBTQAI, Black, Latina, Asian, the many multi beautiful colors of the rainbow around the freaking world.”
Freshest appearance: Pose season 3
On an Apple device? Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Apple News.
(Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)
Pride Month Showrunner Spotlight: In June, Rotten Tomatoes will feature LGBTQ+ series creators and writers sharing their perspectives on representation on television and streaming, who inspired them, how the environment has improved, and where there’s still more work to be done.
After working as a coordinating producer for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and writing feature scripts in the ’90s, Ilene Chaiken created the landmark LGBTQ+ series The L Word, which also spawned a reality series The Real L Word. Ten years after The L Word ended, Chaiken helped new showrunner Marja-Lewis Ryan update it in The L Word: Generation Q. In between, Chaiken has worked on shows as diverse as Empire and Law & Order: Organized Crime.
For Pride Month, Chaiken spoke with Rotten Tomatoes while she’s developing new shows to discuss the importance of LGBTQ+ representation and some inspiring examples of it on television from the past and present.
(Photo by Anthony Behar/Showtime)
Fred Topel for Rotten Tomatoes: How important is LGBTQ+ representation in the entertainment industry in today’s political and social climate?
Ilene Chaiken: As important, if not more important than it’s ever been given today’s political and social climate. We’ve known this for quite some time — and I’m sure you have and I’m sure other people you’ve spoken to have — but I’m hearing it more and more from the political sector, which is [saying]: “God, we don’t know what to do. We are facing this enormous backlash. We’re losing ground, and really the only thing we can think of is that we’ve got to tell the story better, and you, the storytellers, have got to tell the story for us.”
Do you feel that pressure as a creator?
Chaiken: I don’t feel it as pressure. I certainly feel it as an important responsibility and obligation, a privilege, a wish. I don’t feel pressure.
Are you hopeful that, while states keep proposing anti-gay and anti-trans legislation, the work you and your colleagues are doing can get through to the right people and make a difference?
Chaiken: I hope so. These are tough, very divisive times, and I don’t know who we’re getting through to, but I have no doubt that we need to keep telling these stories. If we’re not changing hearts and minds right now, we’re reaching out to provide community to people that are having a particularly tough time in the face of these — I’ll just call them “backlashes.”
That’s true. Even if entertainment can’t directly influence politics, is one positive that you can show the targets of this backlash that they’re not alone?
Chaiken: Absolutely, those are two really important facets of what we do. Hopefully in addition to those social justice missions that we undertake, we also are providing some good entertainment and some joy.
How have you seen representation change in filmed entertainment since you began working?
Chaiken: Well, there’s certainly much more representation. We are certainly more present, more represented. Our stories are being told in the context of many other stories and genres. And also, we’re represented with more diversity and more complexity than we had been in the past.
(Photo by Showtime)
Did you see that grow in real time between the The L Word and The L Word: Generation Q?
Chaiken: I absolutely did. I would say that when The L Word first went off the air, I was expecting — not because of The L Word, but just because of the culture — that there would be a great many more shows that told LGBTQ+ stories, and I was at first disappointed and disheartened that we weren’t seeing it. Then that changed, not all at once, but in the aggregates of year after year after year. I felt like there were more stories and more projects and shows that represented us and being told from lots of different points of view.
What TV series do you look to for inspiration? Which ones do a good job representing the LGBTQ+ community?
Chaiken: One of my favorite shows of the last couple years was Killing Eve. I wouldn’t say that represents the community, but it was a delicious diversion for us. Pose was a breakthrough.
(Photo by BBC America)
Which artists or creators from the LGBTQ+ community who inspire you?
Chaiken: My references might be considered old school, but Ryan Murphy certainly inspires me. I love what he does, but both Ryan Murphy and Shonda Rhimes have been representing for such a long time and never failed to. I know there are some new young filmmakers I really respect and admire. They’re out there.
Has the ability to shepherd a new showrunner like Marja-Lewis Ryan to tell new stories invigorated you to find new ways to tell stories?
Chaiken: Absolutely. It’s really important to me. I love mentoring and shepherding new talent and extending a hand or whatever metaphor you want to use for more people to step up and tell more stories.
(Photo by Eric Liebowitz/FX)
When did you start seeing trans and nonbinary stories being included in the LGBTQ+ stories being told?
Chaiken: Obviously Transparent and Pose were both milestones. We tried to tell trans stories before we understood trans identity and made some missteps, but I would say that Transparent was a very important show for representation of trans lives and experience. And also the beginning of an understanding and this is an evolving understanding, that in large part trans stories should be told by and with the close collaboration of trans writers and filmmakers…I don’t mean to exclude anyone or say you can’t tell these stories if you’re not this or that, but I do think we’ve learned how important it is to have people represent their own lives and experiences in film and television.
When you say we made some missteps, do you mean on The L Word?
Chaiken: Yes, I do.
What would you have done differently looking back?
Chaiken: I wouldn’t have done anything differently, but I recognize that our representation of Max lacked some understanding. I think it was of its time and it was from research that we did. We didn’t do it glibly or halfheartedly. We represented what we understood and what was conveyed to us, but I didn’t have any writers on that staff who identified as trans. They might have done a better job or a different job of representing Max.
(Photo by Anthony Behar/Showtime)
And now you have Leo Sheng as Micah on Generation Q.
Chaiken: Absolutely. And Marja also has among her writing colleagues at least one, and I think probably more, trans and nonbinary writers.
Do your upcoming projects also include LGBTQ+ themes and representation?
Chaiken: Absolutely. Everything that I do has queer characters. Even when we’re doing Law & Order, there are queer characters. But my next couple of projects — I’m right now working on my own stories and those stories are overwhelmingly queer. They haven’t been announced yet. I’m just writing at the moment, and I tend to not announce projects until they’re going.
Opportunities, pay parity, and awards recognition haven’t always reflected it, but it’s a fact: female showrunners have long been responsible for much of the best TV has to offer. Now, finally, as our round-up of superstar showrunners exemplifies, the women running TV are getting the deals, and accolades, they’ve long deserved.
(Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
How You Know Waller-Bridge: After creating and starring in the U.K. dramedy Crashing, she broke out by creating and starring in the Emmy, Golden Globe, BAFTA, and SAG-winning dramedy Fleabag, for which she was also showrunner, and she was the executive producer and showrunner for the first season of the thriller series Killing Eve.
Upcoming Projects: She’s the creator and executive producer of (and an actor in) HBO’s romantic comedy–adventure series Run, starring Merritt Wever and Domhnall Gleeson. It premieres on April 12.
(Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival)
How You Know Khan: She created and was the executive producer and showrunner for the short-lived, but memorable Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23, and then created and was the executive producer and showrunner for ABC’s recently concluded sitcom Fresh Off the Boat.
Upcoming Projects: She will write and serve as showrunner for Young Rock, NBC’s comedy about and starring Dwayne Johnson, and inspired by the action star’s formative years. She is also developing a dark comedy about a female serial killer, which reunites her with Don’t Trust the B—- star Krysten Ritter, and she’s executive producer on ABC comedy pilot Valley Trash, starring Jason Lee.
(Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for AMC)
How You Know Noxon: She’s been developing strong female characters on TV for decades while being a showrunner on everything from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Private Practice to Dietland and Sharp Objects.
Upcoming Projects: Nixon is developing new series projects as part of an overall deal with Netflix.
(Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
How You Know Chaiken: She created and was showrunner for the autobiographical series The L Word (and is an executive producer on the reboot series The L Word: Generation Q), and helped develop the TV adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale (on which she is an executive producer), but left the project to become the showrunner on Fox’s Empire. She’s a consulting producer on ABC’s Stumptown.
Upcoming Projects: Along with The L Word star Jennifer Beals, Chaiken is developing for Freeform an adaptation of Taylor Jenkin Reid’s novel The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, a drama about a young journalist chosen by a Golden Age of Hollywood star to write her final tell-all book.
(Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images for A&E)
How You Know Ehrin: She was an Emmy nominee for her producing work on The Wonder Years and Friday Night Lights, before co-creating and being showrunner on stellar A&E Psycho prequel series Bates Motel.
Upcoming Projects: She will continue as showrunner of Apple TV+ drama series The Morning Show, and will develop new series for the streaming service as part of a multi-year deal with Apple.
(Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
How You Know Fey: After her stint as head writer and Weekend Update co-host on Saturday Night Live and roles as creator, executive producer, and star of 30 Rock, the Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, WGA, and Peabody Award winner was co-creator and co-showrunner of the Netflix series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Upcoming Projects: She is co-creator and executive producer on NBC’s still-untitled Ted Danson comedy, about a wealthy businessman (Danson) who runs for mayor of Los Angeles, but has no idea how to actually do the job after he wins. She’s also an EP on Girls5Eva, a Peacock comedy about a one-hit-wonder girl group from the 1990s who reunite to give pop stardom another shot.
(Photo by Rachel Luna/WireImage)
How You Know Sherman-Palladino: She was a writer on Roseanne before creating, executive producing, and serving as showrunner on the beloved dramedy Gilmore Girls. She was also creator, EP, and showrunner of Bunheads and the Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life miniseries for Netflix and the multiple Emmy winner The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon.
Upcoming Projects: She is working on a fourth season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
(Photo by Michael Kovac/WireImage)
How You Know Bowser: She is the first African-American woman to create her own primetime series with the classic comedy Living Single, and she’s the showrunner for the Netflix drama Dear White People.
Upcoming Projects: She is showrunner for the fourth and final season of Dear White People, and she created the Starz series Run the World, about “four vibrant, fiercely loyal best friends who work, live, and play in Harlem as they strive for world domination,” according to THR.com.
(Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)
How You Know Rhimes: As the creator, head writer, executive producer, and original showrunner of Grey’s Anatomy, which is currently in its 16th season on ABC. She also created and has executive produced Scandal, Private Practice, How to Get Away with Murder, The Catch, Station 19, and more.
Upcoming Projects: Under her development deal with Netflix – estimated to be worth between $100 million–$150 million – Rhimes created and is executive producer of the Netflix drama Inventing Anna, based on the New York Magazine article about a woman (played by Julia Garner) who tricked a group of New Yorkers into funding her extravagant life.
(Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)
How You Know Kellett: In addition being an actress on How I Met Your Mother, Jane the Virgin, Dead to Me, and Trophy Wife, she was also a writer and producer on HIMYM, Rules of Engagement, Devious Maids, and iZombie, and is co-creator and showrunner of the bicultural remake of Norman Lear’s family comedy One Day at a Time.
Upcoming Projects: The fourth season of One Day at a Time, which premieres on Pop TV on March 24. She also became the first Hispanic female to sign an eight-figure development deal, which begins in June 2020 at Amazon Studios.
(Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)
How You Know Soloway: After stints as a writer on The Steve Harvey Show, Nikki, and The Oblongs, Soloway became a writer and co-producer on Six Feet Under. Also an author, Soloway wrote episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and Dirty Sexy Money and was the showrunner of Showtime’s United States of Tara before creating, writing, executive producing, and showrunning the groundbreaking, Emmy-winning Amazon family drama Transparent.
Upcoming Projects: Soloway is focusing on big-screen projects right now, including writing and directing Red Sonja and Mothertrucker, and directing a biopic about astronaut Sally Ride.
(Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images for Tribeca TV Festival))
How You Know Kauffman: She’s the co-creator and co-showrunner of Friends. She also co-created the HBO comedy Dream On, as well as Veronica’s Closet, and co-created and has been the showrunner of the Netflix comedy Grace and Frankie.
Upcoming Projects: The seventh, and final, season of Grace and Frankie and HBO Max’s Friends reunion special.
(Photo by Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)
How You Know Kohan: She wrote episodes of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Mad About You, Gilmore Girls, Sex and the City, and Will & Grace, before she created, executive produced, and was showrunner of the dramedies Weeds and Orange Is the New Black, and is an executive producer on the Netflix dramedy GLOW. She also shared an Emmy as a supervising producer for the Tracey Ullman comedy Tracey Takes On….
Upcoming Projects: As part of an overall deal with Netflix, she is an executive producer on the comedy Slutty Teenage Bounty Hunters, about a set of teenage twins who juggle working with a bounty hunter with their usual high school student lives.
(Photo by Karwai Tang/Getty Images)
How You Know DuVernay: In addition to her big-screen work, she created, directed, executive produced, and co-wrote the Emmy-winning Netflix miniseries When They See Us, the true story of the “Central Park Five,” young minority men who were falsely accused of the rape of a jogger in NYC’s Central Park. She is also the creator, executive producer, and sometime writer and director of the OWN drama Queen Sugar, and created and executive produced the OWN romantic drama anthology series Cherish the Day.
Upcoming Projects: She will executive produce an Amazon adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s 1987 novel Dawn, about an African-American woman who is tasked by aliens with bringing back the human race 250 years after a nuclear war destroys Earth. The Oscar nominee is also directing the pilot for the HBO Max drama DMZ, about a second American Civil War.
How You Know Brown: You probably don’t, but you should. After being hired to write episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Partridge Family, and The Bob Newhart Show, Brown was hired to write an episode of the MTM Show spin-off Rhoda, and eventually became an executive producer, and the first female showrunner of a primetime sitcom.
Upcoming Projects: Brown retired from Hollywood work after executive producing the 1995 Kirk Cameron sitcom Kirk on The WB.
(Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Women In Film)
How You Know Rae: In addition to starring in (and receiving Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for her performance on) HBO’s Insecure, Rae also created the autobiographical show and has served as its showrunner.
Upcoming Projects: Season 4 of Insecure, which premieres in April, and a second season of A Black Lady Sketch Show, the comedy she executive produces for HBO. The entrepreneurial star also started her own record label, opened a coffee shop in Los Angeles, and is co-owner of a streaming analytics business.
(Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)
How You Know Urman: After working on Hope & Faith, Gilmore Girls, and 90210, she became the executive producer and showrunner of Jane the Virgin.
Upcoming Projects: As part of her five-year deal with CBS Television Studios, Urman will be an executive producer on Broke, the CBS sitcom about a man (Jane the Virgin alum Jaime Cahill) and his wife who decide to move in with his sister-in-law (Pauley Perrette) after his father cuts him off financially.
(Photo by Jon Kopaloff/WireImage)
How You Know McKenna: After writing the screenplay for The Devil Wears Prada, McKenna teamed with Rachel Bloom to create Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, originally for Showtime, before the clever, critically-acclaimed musical series landed at The CW, with McKenna as the showrunner.
Upcoming Projects: McKenna recently signed a three-year deal with ABC Studios, which includes the musical comedy series Hit, about a pop star whose record label sends her to a songwriting boot camp.
(Photo by Lane Savage/Comedy Central)
How You Know Jacobson and Glazer: As the creators, stars, and showrunners of the late, great Comedy Central series Broad City.
Upcoming Projects: Comedy Central is rife with projects from Broad City alums, who cite Jacobson and Glazer as supportive inspirations. The longtime friends, who will continue to produce projects together, also have solo efforts in the works. Jacobson will executive produce and star in Amazon’s series adaptation of A League of Their Own, while Glazer recently released a comedy special, Ilana Glazer: The Planet Is Burning, on Amazon.
(Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
How You Know Plec: As showrunner of The Vampire Diaries and its spin-off, The Originals, and now that spin-off’s spin-off, Legacies. Plec is also an executive producer on The CW’s Roswell, New Mexico.
Upcoming Projects: Plec co-created and will executive produce the Netflix drama The Girls on the Bus, about female political reporters. The series is based on a chapter in the Hillary Clinton campaign memoir Chasing Hillary, by Amy Chozick.
(Photo by Laura Cavanaugh/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
How You Know Meriwether: She created and served as showrunner of New Girl, and is co-creator and co-showrunner on a pair of ABC comedies, Bless This Mess and Single Parents.
Upcoming Projects: Developing additional series under her four-year, reportedly eight-figure deal with 20th Century Fox TV.
(Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images for STARZ)
How You Know Kemp: After writing for series like The Good Wife and The Bernie Mac Show, she created Starz’ Power universe.
Upcoming Projects: Power ended its six-season run as one of Starz’ highest-rated shows in February, but Kemp is creating four spin-off series, including a prequel and three sequel series.
(Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)
How You Know King: As creator and showrunner, with writing partner and husband Robert King, of The Good Wife and its spin-off The Good Fight, and creator of the CBS horror-thriller Evil.
Upcoming Projects: She is an executive producer on Showtime’s Bryan Cranston drama Your Honor, about a judge (Cranston) who tries to protect his son from the mafia.
(Photo by Steven Ferdman/Getty Images)
How You Know Akil: As the creator of Girlfriends and its spin-off series, The Game, as a producer on writer on Cougar Town, and as the creator of the BET drama Being Mary Jane. She is currently an executive producer on The CW superhero drama Black Lightning.
Upcoming Projects: She recently signed a deal with Fox Entertainment to create and write a scripted series for the Fox network.
(Photo by Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images)
How You Know Kang: She’s been a story editor, producer, and co-executive producer on The Walking Dead, and, since season 9, the AMC zombie series’ showrunner.
Upcoming Projects: More TWD. Despite recently losing three of the drama’s lead cast members – Andy Lincoln, Lauren Cohan, and, soon. Danai Gurira – Kang’s current season as showrunner is drawing rave reviews from fans and critics.
(Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
How You Know English: She created – and won three Emmys for – the groundbreaking CBS comedy Murphy Brown, about the smart, opinionated, controversial titular TV newswoman played by Candice Bergen.
Upcoming Projects: English was an executive producer on the short-lived Murphy reboot on CBS in 2018.
(Photo by Angela Weiss/WireImage)
How You Know Bloodworth-Thomason: She created another of the most classic sitcoms of the 1980s, the CBS comedy Designing Women, which also revolved around a group of strong, opinionated female characters who operate an interior design firm. Women and Murphy Brown aired back-to-back on CBS’ Monday nights for two seasons.
Upcoming Projects: As of 2018, Thomason was writing and executive producing a Designing Women sequel for ABC.
(Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
How You Know Hissrich: She followed work as an executive producer and writer on Private Practice, Parenthood, Power, and The Umbrella Academy with creating and showrunning the Netflix fantasy series The Witcher, based on the book series by Andrzej Sapkowski.
Upcoming Projects: She returns as showrunner for season 2 of The Witcher – one of Netflix’s most popular series – planned for 2021, and is also developing a spin-off anime film, The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.
(Photo by Amanda Edwards/WireImage)
How You Know Averill: She was a writer and producer on The Good Wife, created The CW sci-fi teen drama Star-Crossed, and was a producer on Jane the Virgin before serving as executive producer and co-showrunner on The Haunting of Hill House for Netflix. Currently, she’s an EP and co-showrunner for Netflix’s adaptation of the graphic novel Locke & Key.
Upcoming Projects: While awaiting a decision on another season of the recently completed Locke & Key premiere run, Averill told io9 she’d like to pitch a modern series adaptation of Nightmare on Elm Street, one that would employ her trademark tone of mixing supernatural, horror themes with a more grounded, emotional story.
(Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)
How You Know Berger: She’s a co-showrunner on This Is Us, TV’s top drama.
Upcoming Projects: She’s co-creator and an executive producer on Love, Victor, the Hulu series that’s set in the same world as the movie Love, Simon, which she co-wrote, and her production company is behind 90s Popstar, an ABC movie about a Florida teen whose life changes overnight when she becomes a famous pop star.
(Photo by David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
How You Know Kaling: While she was playing Kelly Kapoor on The Office, she was also a writer, director, and executive producer on the NBC comedy. She followed that up by creating, starring in, and executive producing The Mindy Project, and last year co-created and executive produced the Four Weddings and a Funeral miniseries for Hulu.
Upcoming Projects: Kaling co-created and is an executive producer on the autobiographical Netflix coming-of-age dramedy Never Have I Ever, about a first-generation Indian American teenage girl. The series will premiere later this year.
(Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
How You Know Vernoff: After writing and producing for Law & Order, Charmed, Private Practice, and Shameless, she became the Grey’s Anatomy showrunner in 2007. Grey’s creator Shonda Rhimes has credited Vernoff as the person responsible for injecting all those “Seriously?!”s into the drama.
Upcoming Projects: Vernoff took over as showrunner for the third season of Grey’s spin-off Station 19, which premiered in January. She’s also writing and executive producing the ABC drama pilot Rebel, starring Katey Sagal as a character inspired by Erin Brockovich.
(Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Netflix)
How You Know Flahive and Mensch: Their joint resumes included producing and writing on Homeland, Nurse Jackie, Orange Is the New Black, and Weeds before they began giving us heart, humor, complex characters, and, of course, female wrestling, while steering the ship on the Netflix dramedy they created, GLOW.
Upcoming Projects: The fourth, and final, season of GLOW is expected to hit Netflix later this year, and Flahive and Mensch are teaming with producer Nicole Kidman to adapt Cecilia Ahern’s short story collection Roar as a series.
(Photo by Erik Voake/Getty Images for Hulu)
How You Know Tigelaar: She’s been a producer and writer on Once Upon a Time, Revenge, Nashville, and Bates Motel, and became the showrunner and an executive producer on the Hulu comedy Casual.
Upcoming Projects: She is the showrunner for Hulu’s upcoming drama series Little Fires Everywhere, starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington, and will also adapt July Blume’s 1998 adult novel Summer Sisters as a limited series for Hulu.
How You Know Gamble: She was a showrunner for two seasons on Supernatural, and is the co-creator, EP, and showrunner for the Syfy adaptation of Lev Grossman’s bestselling novel The Magicians. Gamble also co-created and serves as showrunner of the Lifetime-to-Netflix adaptation of Caroline Kepnes’ bestselling novel You.
Upcoming Projects: She’s an EP on the upcoming Apple TV+ dramedy Physical, starring Rose Byrne as a 1980s housewife who finds happiness via aerobics, and will develop series for NBCUniversal networks like USA, Syfy, and streaming service Peacock, as well as Netflix, as part of her new overall deal with Universal Content Productions.
Liked this? See our list of the 150 best female-directed movies of the 21st century.
TV producer extraordinaire Greg Berlanti will have 14 series airing in the 2018-19 TV season, blowing past the last record of 10 (which he had previously tied with Aaron Spelling and Jerry Bruckheimer).
The creator of The CW’s Arrowverse superhero series — and many, many more, including the upcoming God Friended Me on CBS, Netflix’s dark Sabrina the Teenage Witch series, and Lifetime’s creepy stalker drama You — is the latest creator to sign a high-profile, big-money deal: $300 million deal to work with Warner Bros. Television through 2024. He joins the ranks of Ryan Murphy and Shonda Rhimes, who each signed deals with Netflix worth an estimated $300 million and $100 million respectively. But while the trio are making headlines for their TV empires, there are plenty of other people working hard to make their names in the peak TV era.
There are dozens of TV producers, directors, and stars who are bringing quality television to your TVs and computer screens. They might not all be marquee names, but they are all bringing unparalleled creative contributions to television. These peak TV creators are making waves in the industry, potentially setting themselves up for the next big “Berlanti money”–sized deal.
Rotten Tomatoes has rounded up a list of these tours-de-force — 10 among many multi-hyphenate writers, producers, directors, and more who are shaping peak TV as we know it.
(Photo by Amazon Prime Video)
In addition to appearing in a Star Wars movie (no big deal!), the woman also known as Solo‘s sarcastic droid L3-37 is a playwright who created two recent peak TV sensations: BBC America’s spy thriller Killing Eve and Amazon’s dark dramedy Fleabag (in which she also starred). Season 2 of Fleabag is on deck (it films in London this summer), and Killing Eve scored an early renewal (and is a serious contender for award consideration). She’s also got a pilot in the works at HBO.
(Photo by )
The Oscar winner already has a wide-ranging background: He went from one half of a respected sketch-comedy duo (Key & Peele) to writer and director of one of 2017’s most talked-about movies: his Oscar hit Get Out. It makes sense, then, that the projects Peele is working on next adhere to no specific genre — or even medium. He’s got scripted Nazi drama The Hunt and documentary series Lorena (about the life of Lorena Bobbitt) in the works at Amazon, along with a new deal at Amazon Studios that will see him produce more eclectic content for the streaming service. YouTube also announced that it has given a straight-to-series order for Weird City, a sci-fi and comedy anthology series that will debut on the streamer’s Premium service in 2019.
(Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival)
The woman behind the beloved, short-lived dark comedy Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 (featuring Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek as a d-bag version of Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek) and the beloved (and blessedly not-at-all-short-lived) family sitcom Fresh Off the Boat has had a busy past few development seasons. In 2018, she developed a new take on the classic series The Greatest American Hero (starring a woman of color, New Girl star Hannah Simone) that ABC ultimately didn’t pick up. The year before, it was a comedy about former NBA star Jalen Rose, which also ultimately didn’t move forward. Up next: directing FOTB star Randall Park and writer Ali Wong in 2019 Netflix rom-com Always Be My Maybe.
(Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
In Donald Glover’s acceptance speech for his 2017 directing Emmy, he credited frequent collaborator Hiro Murai for helping shape the look of his FX series Atlanta and for helping teach him how to direct. The Japan-born director-producer came to TV after a successful career directing music videos (including, most recently, Childish Gambino’s provocative “This Is America“), and has helmed episodes of Legion, Snowfall, Barry, and more. Now, Murai has his own deal with FX Productions to develop and produce new projects.
(Photo by Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Bros. Pictures)
So far, 2018 has been a culmination of sorts for comedy writer and actress Lena Waithe. In January, she won an Emmy for writing the one of the most memorable episodes of Netflix’s relationship comedy Master of None, “Thanksgiving,” in which her character came out to her mother. Showtime premiered her series set on the South side of Chicago, The Chi. If that weren’t enough, she even had enough time for a guest role on This Is Us. In March, she co-starred in Stephen Spielberg’s Ready Player One, and in April she appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine (the first queer black woman ever) shot by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz and made Time’s list of the 100 Most Influential People with a tribute written by California Senator Kamala Harris. Put simply, she’s busy — and shows no signs of slowing down. She’s writing and producing a TBS comedy called Twenties about three black women in Hollywood and has a development deal that will, in part, help champion underserved, emerging voices.
(Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for AMC)
With a number of TV’s most iconic series under her belt — Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Grey’s Anatomy, Mad Men, Glee, and many more — Marti Noxon has spent the past few years helping create a new wave of feminist series, including Lifetime’s UnREAL, AMC’s Dietland, HBO’s upcoming Sharp Objects. Author Gillian Flynn, who wrote the Sharp Objects and Gone Girl novels, noted in The Atlantic that the shows Noxon is making now allow women to be angry — or violent, or sad, or whatever emotion they want to be. “The TV world has been packed with antiheroes forever,” she said. “Look at Sopranos, look at Breaking Bad. No one ever questions, ‘Are those men likable?’ Finally, in TV now, we’re getting to the same place for women. It doesn’t matter if they’re likable. Are they interesting?”
(Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
The creator of Showtime’s The L Word is currently an executive producer on two of television’s biggest shows: hip-hop soap Empire and dystopian drama The Handmaid’s Tale, which also took home Emmy awards for Outstanding Drama Series, for lead actress Elisabeth Moss, and in five more categories. She stepped back as showrunner of Empire to develop two series for Fox (which were ultimately not picked up), and there’s an L Word reboot in the works at Showtime.
(Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
The indie film darlings-turned-TV and film powerhouses have created multiple series for HBO (Togetherness, anthology series Room 104), produced two of 2018’s most-talked-about documentary series for Netflix (Wild Wild Country and Evil Genius), and also find time to act (most recently: together in Togetherness and The Mindy Project, Jay in Transparent and Search Party, Mark in Goliath and Discovery’s Manhunt: Unabomber). The duo just inked a new Netflix movie deal, the first of which is a movie starring Mark and Ray Romano that they filmed under the radar.
(Photo by 20th Century Fox)
In addition to her Oscar-winning acting career, Witherspoon also has her own clothing line (Draper James), a book club, and a production company, Hello Sunshine, that champions female-centric content (Oscar nominees Wild and Gone Girl, HBO limited series sensation Big Little Lies — all based on books written by women and featuring complicated female characters). Big Little Lies season 2 is on its way at HBO, she’s producing a limited series based on her book club pick Little Fires Everywhere (with Kerry Washington) at Hulu, and she has multiple projects in the works at Apple: She’ll produce and star alongside Jennifer Aniston in a show about the behind-the-scenes drama of morning television, and she’s producing both a true-crime drama starring Octavia Spencer and a comedy series that was set to star Kristen Wiig (until the SNL vet had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict with the Wonder Woman sequel).
Some of film and television’s finest female talent descended on the Arclight on Thursday, November 10, for the 2016 Women in Entertainment Summit. Facing an audience of women of all ages and races, the experienced professionals tackled panel topics including “Inclusivity,” “Building Your Toolkit for Success,” “Gender & Sexuality,” “Engineering Your Own Path,” and (of course) “Solving Hollywood’s Diversity Problem” among others.
Here are just a few of the tips and words of wisdom and encouragement from some luminaries in the industry:
“Don’t wait for the ‘yes’ — just go out and do it.”
– former director for the LA Film Festival and film producer Stephanie Allain (Hustle & Flow, Dear White People) described one of the first lessons she learned while championing John Singleton’s film Boyz n the Hood as an executive at Columbia Pictures.
Gender & Sexuality with @RESEWON @DaisyRockGuitar @lindaong100 @Outfest @WDITogether @EVOXTelevision #ArcLightWomen #WIE2016 pic.twitter.com/hO8QtyjueJ
— ArcLight Cinemas (@ArcLightCinemas) November 10, 2016
“Everybody has their own path.”
– Karen Bailey, senior vice president of Original Programming at Starz, reminded women in the entertainment industry, but also exhorted them to come prepared, be open, be flexible, and be tireless and “don’t make excuses.”
“We’re still looking at: 17 percent of people directing TV are female, 26 percent of people writing television are women/female, and 22 percent of showrunners. It’s a time where we have all these great shows happening and yet the numbers not really moving. One reason for that is that the pie has generally gotten bigger — there’s a lot more shows on the air in general. And that means that even though the numbers of women directing, writing, and creating have increased, the percentages aren’t going up overall.”
– Kirsten Schaffer, executive director, Women in Film, noted that though now is — like the title of the panel she moderated — “The Golden Age of Women and Television” with opportunities on shows delivered via broadcast, cable, over the top, and streaming, representation still barely rises half a percentage point a year.
“I had the gift of getting to learn from masters.”
– Jessica Sharzer, co-executive producer of upcoming Fox TV movie Star, said of her first staff position, which was on American Horror Story and for which she is writer and co-executive producer.
Producer Bruna Papandrea on #diversity #ageism @ArcLightCinemas @WIEntertainment #ifshecanseeitshecanbeit pic.twitter.com/Vp9yoHrfOT
— Geena Davis Institute (@GeenaDavisOrg) November 10, 2016
“One of the greatest gifts we’ve had is streaming content.”
– GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis expressed concern about how traditional broadcast and cable outlets lag behind streamers like Netflix and Amazon in telling diverse stories, noting the 25 deaths of lesbian or queer female characters in 2016 — a TV trope called “Bury Your Gays,” which is “a decades-long trend of killing LGBTQ characters – often solely to further a straight, cisgender character’s plotline,” according to GLAAD’s annual “Where Are We on TV” report.
“One of our initiatives today — or for Women in Entertainment period — is how do we take steps, even if they are tiny, tiny things. With the movie industry — one way we focus on that is vote with your dollars: If you support women films, and you’re going to see films that are made by women, have a woman protagonist, it matters.”
– Gretchen McCourt, ArcLight executive vice president and co-founder of Women in Entertainment.
❤️ "Do you want to get fired for the movie u want to make or get fired for the movie they want to make?" Dir Jennifer Yuh Nelson #WIE2016
— Ania Woj (@Ania_Woj11) November 10, 2016
“I started out as a high school journalism teacher, so I was a yearbook advisor, so I spent, you know, thousands of hours after school. And you become invisible to teenage girls, and they just start talking, and they don’t know you’re there anymore.”
– Rob Thomas, Veronica Mars creator and iZombie executive producer, described how he learned to write young women so well, as well as noting some of the advancements in diversity he’s witnessed over the years — including growing encouragement from networks to hire female writers and directors.
The day continues @WIEntertainment @BeersBetsy @ilenechaiken @RobThomas @WIF_LosAngeles pic.twitter.com/wUeTXoY5VW
— Gretchen McCourt (@gdmccourt) November 10, 2016
“It’s not a fucking year, you guys.”
– Betsy Beers, producer and executive producer for Shondaland, bemoaned the “Year of” cliché (for instance, the so-called “Year of the Woman” or “Year of Diversity” or “Year of Being Kind to Your Fellow Human Beings”).
“Storytelling in television is very powerful and has the potential to have a huge impact on culture. Some years ago, I used to say that writing in television and creating television was stealth activism, because I’ve always had an agenda. I don’t pretend that I don’t. My stories aren’t neutral. I have a point of view. I want to advocate them. It doesn’t mean I can’t represent characters that have a different point of view to me. And it doesn’t mean that I don’t want to speak to people that don’t share my politics. But I definitely have an agenda. And the thing that’s changed over the last couple of years, in my view, is that we no longer have to be quite so stealthy about it. I readily admit to you — and all of you and anybody that I talk to — that I have an agenda, and I want to promote it, and I want the shows I work on to be about something and that I want them to change the world and to change the culture in one way or another. And I’m not really interested in doing shows or working on shows that don’t move the culture in some way or change the game in some way.”
– Ilene Chaiken, executive producer and showrunner of Empire.
I was really proud of @RoyalPains_USA because the creative team was so inclusive. @ReshmaShetty #WIE2016 #arclightwomen pic.twitter.com/tTlQu1pZth
— Women In Entertainment (@WIEntertainment) November 11, 2016
