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Entertainment

The Ava Effect:

How 8 Female Directors Scored from Ava DuVernay’s Game-Changing Move to Create Greater Opportunities for Women in TV & Film

by Erin Rachel Anderson April 2021

Ava DuVernay is an award-winning director, writer, and producer of television and film who is dedicated to supporting the work and amplifying the voices of storytellers from underrepresented communities. She has used her power and platform, at every turn, to advance this cause. With such disparate gender representation among Hollywood directors, perhaps the most monumental effort DuVernay has made to create opportunities is to appoint a woman to direct each episode of every season of the OWN drama, Queen Sugar. Now, five seasons in, there have been 37 women directors of this series. Here’s a look at eight of those directors and the many projects and prospects that would soon follow.

1. VICTORIA MAHONEY

After directing Queen Sugar episode “By Any Chance” (2016), Victoria Mahoney was handpicked by J.J. Abrams to direct second unit on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which made her the first woman to direct on a Star Wars film in the franchise's forty-year history. Mahoney was also hired to direct episodes of HBO's Lovecraft Country, created by Misha Green and executive produced by Jordan Peele and J.J. Abrams. Currently, Mahoney is adapting Octavia Butler's Hugo Award-winning sci-fi novel Dawn into a series which she will also direct and executive produce alongside Ava DuVernay and Charles D. King.

2. SHAZ BENNETT

Shaz Bennett directed QS episode “A Little Lower Than Angels” (2018). She is a co-writer of upcoming NBC series Sovereign, network television’s first Native American family drama, of which she will also serve as executive producer along with Ava DuVernay.

3. CHRISTINA CHOE

After Christina Choe directed the 2018 QS episode “Delicate and Strangely Made”, she went on to direct two episodes of the CBS All Access reboot of The Twilight Zone.

4. CIERRA GLAUDE

Cierra Glaude got her start as a production assistant on DuVernay’s Academy Award-winning Selma. She would go on to hold various production roles on Queen Sugar. After directing two shorts, Glaude made her TV directorial debut when she was tapped by DuVernay to direct three episodes of QS’s season five and one episode (and counting) of season six, currently in production.

5. MARYAM KESHAVARZ

In 2017, Maryam Keshavarz got her first taste of television directing with QS episode “My Soul’s High Song”. The following year, she co-wrote and directed Viper Club, starring Susan Sarandon. Keshavarz’s The Persian Version, an epic dramedy examining migration, family, and the secrets we keep, which spans decades and reflects life between the United States and Iran, is in pre-production.

6. NUMA PERRIER

Numa Perrier was a co-creator, producer, and director of Black & Sexy TV (2013), which started as a YouTube channel featuring a slate of web series catering to young, Black Millennials. While enjoying critical acclaim for Jezebel, her independently produced film which she also wrote, directed and starred in, the opportunity came knocking to direct her first episode of television, QS’s “Skin Transparent” (2019). Her latest project, The Perfect Find, which she co-wrote and will be directing, is in pre-production. Gabriel Union and Niecy Nash will star.

7. TCHAIKO OMAWALE

After holding various crew positions, a couple turns as director’s assistant, and writing, producing and directing a short, Tchaiko Omawale got her first shot at TV directing with QS episode “Of Several Centuries” (2019). We’re excited to see what Omawale will do next!

8. GARRETT BRADLEY

Garrett Bradley had directed documentaries and shorts before taking her first turn at episodic television directing with QS’s “Live in the All Along” (2017). Her critically acclaimed Time was recently nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.