There are finally a handful of films by and about women in the superhero pipeline, and a team of writers are working to ensure that more are on the way. Lindsey Beer (“Chaos Walking”), Geneva Robertson-Dworet (“Tomb Raider”) and Nicole Perlman (“Guardians of the Galaxy”) have launched Known Universe, a production company that aims to “open doors to genre work,” The Hollywood Reporter confirms.
Beer and Robertson-Dworet first met when they were up for the same studio writing gig. “We found out it was down to the two of us, so we said, ‘Why don’t we just write it together?'” Robertson-Dworet recalls. The studio agreed. “People may think that we have a standing competition with each other but the reality is that, no, we have always been very collaborative,” she emphasizes. To encourage more collaboration, the pair, along with Perlman, decided to go into business together.
“As three of only a handful female genre writers consistently working in the industry, the trio has been thrown into every features writers room in town, tasked with group-thinking the tentpole movies that keep Hollywood in the black,” THR notes. “Their combined credits span studios, streamers and cinematic universes, and include titles like ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ ‘Tomb Raider,’ ‘Captain Marvel,’ and ‘Chaos Walking.'” It wasn’t long before they noticed that the majority of writer-producers they were working with were men. “We thought it is crazy that there are no genre-specific production companies led entirely by women,” Perlman explains.
Focused on genre features such as sci-fi and superhero, the shingle will tell stories from a female perspective. Beer, Robertson-Dworet, and Perlman will pen Known Universe’s first few projects, but have plans to develop features from other writers with the goal of “expanding the idea of who a genre writer is,” Beer notes. “Beyond the female empowerment aspect, we are hoping that our model is going to help what we see as huge development ills in Hollywood,” she emphasizes. Perlman adds, “When I was first starting out, people thought it was really odd that a woman was writing science-themed stories for Hollywood. If we can continue to open doors to genre work, that’s one of the best things that can come about as a result of this company.”
The trio found the prospect of avoiding the “clusterfuck” process of re-writing “long-gestating, prospective tentpole[s]” appealing. As producers, they’ll have the power to ensure that there aren’t “too many cooks in the tentpole kitchen.” “The more names on the front of the script, the worse the script is,” according to Robertson-Dworet.
Robertson-Dworet co-wrote the screenplay for “Captain Marvel” and Perlman has a story credit on the pic. The Brie Larson-starrer hits theaters March 8.
