Playwright and “She’s Gotta Have It” writer-producer Radha Blank is making her first film. According to Variety, she is writing, directing, and toplining “The 40-Year-Old Version,” a feature about a struggling playwright who decides to embark on a rap career at age 40. Lena Waithe is also producing.
“The 40-Year-Old Version” was one of the projects featured at Sundance’s 2017 Screenwriters and Directors labs. The film “follows its protagonist as she vacillates between the worlds of New York’s theater and hip hop scenes, places where a black woman’s voice is still often marginalized,” the source details. It will be mostly shot on 35mm black and white film. Production has already kicked off in New York City.
Jordan Fudge’s New Slate Ventures is financing. Fudge is also producing alongside Inuka Bacote and Jennifer Semler.
“Radha Blank is a rare talent,” Waithe said. “She’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met — and I wanted to do everything in my power to help get this movie made.”
“As a native New Yorker raised on cinema, I’ve been waiting my entire life to see someone who looks like me in the center of a classic New York film,” Blank commented. “And now thanks to the amazing support of Jordan, Lena, and the rest of the talented team of producers, I get to make my dream come true, adding ‘The 40-Year-Old Version,’ a love letter to my great hometown, to the canon of New York films.”
“SEED,” “HappyFlowerNail,” “Casket Sharp,” and “nannyland,” are among Blank’s plays. She’s previously written for “Empire” and “The Backyardigans” and penned the short film “Maya the Indian Princess.” She portrayed Bessie Smith in NBC sci-fi drama “Timeless.”
Waithe became the first black woman to win a comedy writing Emmy in 2017. She nabbed the prize for penning “Master of None’s” “Thanksgiving” episode. She created Showtime drama “The Chi” and has a BET comedy on the way. Waithe also wrote the script for “Queen & Slim,” a drama about a black couple that goes on the run after killing a white cop in self-defense. It hits theaters November 27. You can see her next in Season 3 of “Westworld,” expected in 2020.
