Powderkeg has launched its latest inclusive initiative. Paul Feig and Laura Fischer’s digital media production company is following up its incubator for women filmmakers with Break the Room (BTR), a development program that brings writers of color and community leaders of specific locales together for week-long writers’ rooms. The goal is for “diverse scribes to put marginalized voices in control of representing each projects’ community and ideas,” according to Deadline.
Powderkeg created BTR with writer-producer Sameer Gardezi. The initiative is supported by PopCulture Collab and MuslimArc.
Feig reportedly first tested out the BTR writing format with Powderkeg’s first original series, Gardezi’s “East of La Brea.” Set to premiere at SXSW next month, the show follows Aisha and Farha, two working-class Muslim women of color, and their lives in their ever-changing hometown, Los Angeles.
So far BTR has hosted two writers rooms, one in Los Angeles and one in Albuquerque. The “all queer” LA room worked on an untitled project inspired by the life of Sri Lankan trans comic D’Lo. The Albuquerque room, comprised of all Native American scribes, wrote for “The Great Manygoats,” a comedy about a Navajo family that navigates the red tape of government funding by giving up their trading post business and opening a vegan sex shop.
Another writers room will take place in Portland later in February and develop a comedy about the Libya-born Portland comedian Mohanad Elshieky, and his experience of living in a very “welcoming” lefty environment but still feeling like an outsider.
As Deadline details, BTR is also planning to partner with communities in Canada, India, and the Middle East for writers rooms.
“Real change requires breaking norms and paradigms,” Gardezi said. “What makes Break the Room impactful is that it’s not a diversity initiative, a shadowing program or a workshop. We are empowering writers by actually letting them do the work and be part of the process in a meaningful way.” He continued, “It’s less about backing a cause than it is investing in underrepresented voices.”
“We started Powderkeg to tell the stories of talented, emerging, and underrepresented voices in comedy,” stated Feig and Fischer. “Break the Room invites these writers across the country and globe to develop, control, and craft them, with our support, in a way that will resonate with viewers.”
A contest for “the next great teen movie,” designed with Issa Rae’s Color Creative, is among the other projects on Powderkeg’s slate.
Feig is currently filming “Last Christmas,” a holiday rom-com that counts Emma Thompson, Michelle Yeoh, and Emilia Clarke among its cast. It’s scheduled to hit theaters this November. The Athena Film Fest Leading Man Award winner has also directed “A Simple Favor,” “Bridesmaids,” “Spy,” and the gender-flipped “Ghostbusters,” among other films.
Feig is one of the original members of ReFrame, an initiative committed to boosting gender equality and inclusivity in the entertainment industry. He was also one of the first people to adopt the inclusion rider last year. The contract clause ensures projects have diverse casts and crews
