This winter Abigail Disney and Killer Content launched Level Forward, a startup studio boosting projects from women and people of color. Five months after that announcement comes word that Disney and her partner at Level Forward, Killer Content CEO Adrienne Becker, are helping fund Rotten Apples. The database, which originally rolled out in December, informs users if individuals accused of sexual misconduct work on a given film or TV show.
In order to use Rotten Apples (whose name is a take on Rotten Tomatoes), currently in the beta phase, users will enter in a title. The results will tell them which cast and crew members have had allegations made against them. The Hollywood Reporter uses “Shakespeare in Love” as an example: “The names Ben Affleck, Harvey Weinstein, and Bob Weinstein pop up. In the case of Affleck, his name is linked to an article detailing the actor’s apology for groping someone. Harvey Weinstein’s name, of course, is linked to articles about the multitude of allegations brought against him.”
If the film or series isn’t connected to any accused predators, this message will appear: “This movie has no known affiliation to anyone with allegations of sexual misconduct against them.”
According to Becker, Rotten Apples’ functionality will be expanding as development continues. One of the potential ideas for the website is to “begin including links to organizations helping victims of sexual misconduct or abuse.”
Alongside news about Rotten Apples, Disney and Becker also revealed Level Forward’s first entertainment projects. The studio is backing Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick’s upcoming Hollywood sexual harassment doc, “MeToo,” and Alanis Morissette musical “Jagged Little Pill.”
Level Forward recently hired former MTV prez Christina Norma as a creative advisor. Producers Stephanie Allain (“Dear White People”), Stephanie Laing (“Veep”), and Eva Price (Broadway’s “Dear Evan Hansen”) will lead producing groups, or “pods.”
“We [at Level Forward] are committed to making business sense out of turning this stupid equation upside down, and taking raping and pillaging out of business plans once and for all,” Disney said, per Deadline, referencing Hollywood’s mistreatment of women and other marginalized groups.
Disney directed the 2015 doc “Armor of Light,” an exploration of the overlap of Evangelical Christianity and gun culture. She has produced dozens of films including Kirsten Johnson’s “Cameraperson” and Karyn Kusama’s “The Invitation.”
Less than two months after the Harvey Weinstein stories broke, Disney and a coalition of filmmakers, activists, philanthropists, and investors — known as Project Level Forward — made an unsuccessful bid to buy off the failing Weinstein Company’s assets. “I thought maybe, just maybe we could get a group of women together to buy The Weinstein Company and deploy the resources to benefit the women who were victims of sexual violence,” Disney explained. “I fell in love with the beautiful symmetry and social justice of the idea.”
