Janet Mock is making history again. In 2018, the trailblazer co-wrote and directed an episode of “Pose,” making her the first trans woman of color to write and direct a TV ep. Now she’s signed an overall deal with Netflix, cementing her place in record books as “the first out transgender woman empowered to call the creative shots at a major content company.” Variety broke the news.
The three-year multimillion-dollar pact sees the streamer getting exclusive rights to Mock’s TV series and a first-look option on feature film projects. The agreement specifies that she’ll serve as an EP and director on “Pose” collaborator Ryan Murphy’s upcoming Netflix series, “Hollywood.” And she’s sticking around as a writer-director on “Pose” despite the fact that the drama about New York City’s ball scene is an FX series.
“The Netflix deal will enable Mock to create programs that employ and highlight communities that have historically been ignored by Hollywood — including the intersectional space Mock herself occupies, as a woman of color and a highly visible trans person,” the source notes.
“As someone who grew up in front of the TV screen, whether that was watching talk shows or family sitcoms or VHS films, I never thought that I would be embraced,” said Mock. “And more than embraced. Given not just a seat at the table but a table of my own making.” The activist hopes the deal “will be a huge signal boost, industrywide, to empower people and equip them to tell their own stories.”
“As a best-selling author, producer, and director, Janet Mock has demonstrated she knows how to bring her vision to thrilling, vivid life,” said Cindy Holland, Netflix VP of original content. “She’s a groundbreaker and creative force who we think will fit right in here at Netflix.”
As for what to expect from the deal, projects in development include “a college-set drama following a young trans woman, a series about New Orleans after the abolishment of slavery, and a reboot of a classic sitcom,” according to Variety.
Mock previously observed that the job of director “seemed to be reserved for white men, a position in the industry that rarely invited women and/or people of color to sit in the director’s chair. I doubted whether I had the skills and experience to be a director,” she admitted. She credited “Pose” co-creator Murphy with helping to give her confidence to take on the gig.
“Upon my first meeting with Janet, I knew she was a star and had the stuff moguls are made of,” Murphy emphasized. “Being able to watch her grow, first as a writer, then a producer, and now an acclaimed director who’s helmed four episodes for my productions, has been a gift. I am honored to be her mentor and friend, am grateful she’ll be joining me to write and direct on ‘Hollywood,’ and am so excited to see what she creates at Netflix. Janet is a cultural force, and the world needs her stories.”
