Genre fans, rejoice. A horror series written and directed entirely by women is in development at The CW, Deadline reports. Hailing from Drew Barrymore and Nancy Juvonen’s Flower Films, Jill Blotevogel (“Scream: The TV Series”), and CBS TV Studios, “Black Rose Anthology” will explore subject matter such as repression, insanity, and sexual obsession “from a woman’s unique perspective.” Blotevogel will pen the pilot and is among the project’s executive producers.
Women writers and directors are particularly underrepresented in genre works. According to the Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film, in 2016, “women were least likely to work in the action and horror genres, accounting for 11 percent and 12 percent of those working on these films respectively.”
Earlier this year women directors including Karyn Kusama (“The Invitation”) and Roxanne Benjamin (“Southbound”) banded together for “XX,” a feature horror anthology comprising segments directed by women and starring female leads. And Ryan Murphy’s Half, a foundation within his 20th Century Fox-based production company aiming to diversify Hollywood, is leading to more opportunities for women to direct genre titles on the small screen. Murphy has committed to having 50 percent of all director gigs on his shows, including “American Horror Story,” go to either women or minority candidates, which he defines as people of color or members of the LGBTQ community.
No word on who will be directing the eps, but hopefully Barrymore will step behind the camera again. She made her feature narrative debut back in 2009 with Ellen Page-starrer “Whip It,” a feel-good story about a roller derby league. She currently stars in Netflix’s zombie comedy “Santa Clarita Diet,” set to return for a second season next year.
Hulu’s first season of “Harlots” was written and directed entirely by women. Both seasons of OWN’s “Queen Sugar” were helmed exclusively by women, and every episode of Netflix’s next season of “Jessica Jones” will be women-directed.
