Gabourey Sidibe is directing her first film. According to a press release, the Oscar-nominated actress is set to helm thriller “Pale Horse,” with Gamechanger Films’ Effie T. Brown producing.
Set in the Pacific Northwest, “Pale Horse” centers on Naia, a “reclusive and celebrated African American YA book author who is living with MS,” per the source. “Naia finds herself ensnared in a diabolical mystery when she shelters the man who escaped captivity with her long-missing brother.”
Asabi Lee and Paul Hart-Wilden wrote the screenplay. Production is planned to kick off this fall.
“I’m super excited to work with Gamechanger on my first feature!” said Sidibe. “This project is a true stand-out and the character of Naia is a Bad Ass! Effie and [producer Wellington Love] are powerhouse visionaries and I’m so excited to be able to work with them to create this gripping thriller with complex characters.”
“Stories like ‘Pale Horse’ are long overdue in the entertainment industry and Gamechanger is dedicated to financing and producing them: entertaining films that offer diversity in story-telling, characters, and filmmakers. In addition to our development and producing commitments, we plan to demystify the process of production through our social and partnership channels, pulling back the curtain on what it really takes to create a film. We want people of all communities to feel included in and empowered by this process,” Brown added. “I have known Gabourey for some time and am always impressed with her skills as a storyteller, both as an actor or author. She will be an incredible force behind ‘Pale Horse.'”
Brown counts “Dear White People,” “Real Women Have Curves,” and “Star” among her credits. She is the CEO of Gamechanger, which is dedicated to creating projects by and about women, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, and people with disabilities.
Sidibe previously directed the short “The Tale of Four,” inspired by Nina Simone’s song “Four Women,” and two episodes of “Empire.” She also starred in the latter, which ended its six-season run on Fox last year. Sidibe received an Academy Award nomination for her breakout role, the title character in “Precious.” Her other screen credits include “Antebellum,” “American Horror Story,” and “Difficult People.” She published her memoir, “This Is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare,” in 2017.
“The Hollywood seas didn’t part for me in the same way that it might have for maybe Anna Kendrick [who was nominated for an Oscar the same year as Sidibe], who then went on to star in films and television and the whole thing. The seas did not part that same way for me and I assume that there are a few factors that made that so, but I am still working 10 years later. I’m still working 12 years after having filmed [‘Precious’],” Sidibe told Collider last year. “I have agency. I am comfortable with who I am. I know my voice. I know what I want to say to the world. I know what I want to give to the world and what I want to give to myself. I know my artistry. And so, you know, starring in things or being on the covers of magazines, all of these things that say that I’ve ‘made it,’ everything that solidifies my position on the A-list, whatever that means, doesn’t actually mean anything to my self-worth and my sense of artistry.”
