Underrepresented creators who are on the FREE THE WORK database directed work that is showcased in this list. All work is shown in alphabetical order by first name, so don't forget to scroll all the way down to the bottom!
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Must-See Theatrical Film Releases in March
Remember: Box office numbers on opening weekend matter and convince studios to greenlight more movies helmed by underrepped creators. Let's show up for each other and BREAK THE BOX OFFICE.
Please note that the following dates are specific to the United States.
March 6
Emily Ting's Go Back to China
Francis Annan's Escape From Pretoria
Diao Yinan's The Wild Goose Lake
March 13
Eliza Hittman's Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always
Sally Potter's The Roads Not Taken
March 20
Bridget Savage Cole & Danielle Krudy's Blow the Man Down
Midi Z's Nina Wu
March 25
Fernando Villena's Any One of Us
Nicole Newnham & James Lebrecht's Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution (Netflix)
March 27
Mark Amin's Emperor
Rose Glass' Saint Maud
Must-See Episodic Releases in March
The following TV series feature episodes directed and/or created by underrepresented creators! Please note that the following dates are specific to the United States.
Mar 1
Dispatches from Elsewhere (AMC)
Alethea Jones & Wendey Stanzler each directed one episode
Mar 4
Twenties (BET)
Two episodes were directed by Tiffany Johnson, two episodes were directed by Juel Taylor, and one episode was directed by Justin Tipping.
Mar 5
Co-created and directed by Pamela Adlon
Mar 6
Ugly Delicious: Season 2 (Netflix)
Upcoming episodes directed by Laura Gabbart
Mar 8
Sitara: Let Girls Dream (Netflix)
Directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
Mar 9
Temple (Spectrum Originals)
Episodes 4-6 directed by Shariff Korver
Episodes 7 and 8 directed by Lisa Siwe
Mar 11
Boomerang (BET)
Half the season was directed by Dime Davis.
Two episodes were directed by Tiffany Johnson and two episodes were directed by Katrelle N. Kindred.
March 15
Black Monday: Season 2 (Showtime)
Two upcoming episodes directed by Tiffany Johnson
Westworld: Season 3 (HBO)
Co-created and showrun by Lisa Joy
Upcoming episodes directed by Jennifer Getzinger, Anna Foerster, Amanda Marsalis, Helen Shaver
Mar 16
The Plot Against America (HBO)
Parts 1 to 3 directed by Minkie Spiro
My Brilliant Friend: Season 2 (HBO)
Created and directed by Saverio Costanzo
Roswell, New Mexico: Season 2 (The CW)
Created by Carina Adly MacKenzie
Upcoming episodes directed by Shiri Appleby, Barbara Brown, Joanna Kerns, Kimberly McCullough, Rachel Raimist, Marcus Stokes, Aisha Tyler
March 18
Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu)
Co-created and Showrun by Liz Tigelaar
All episodes directed by Lynn Shelton
Motherland: Fort Salem (Freeform)
Upcoming episodes directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour, Rebecca Johnson, Shannon Kohli, Amanda Tapping
March 19
Feel Good (Netflix)
All episodes directed by Ally Pankiw
March 24
One Day At a Time (Pop TV)
Created and Showrun by Gloria Calderón Kellett
Upcoming episodes directed by Pamela Fryman
March 27
Ozark: Season 3 (Netflix)
Upcoming episodes directed by Amanda Marsalis, Cherien Dabis
UPDATES FROM THE ATHENA FILM FESTIVAL (February 27 – March 1, 2020)
Actress Beanie Feldstein, CEO of Gamechanger Effie T. Brown, Writer-Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, and Director Unjoo Moon were awarded top honors at the festival for their contributions to TV and Film.
Writer-directors Tricia Lee and Cherien Dabis also received Athena List Awards for their screenplays (synopses below). The Athena List is an annual script competition that selects exceptional scripts with women leaders at the heart of the story. As the central program in the Athena Film Festival’s Parity Pipeline program, The Athena List’s goal is to raise the profile of the scripts and the writers within the industry with the purpose of getting these movies made and elevating their careers to the next level.
“Mother-Daughter,” by Tricia Lee
A churchgoing, undocumented Asian woman who has a strained relationship with her daughter forms an unlikely friendship with a transgender teenager who dials the wrong number.
“What the Eyes Don’t See,” by Cherien Dabis
The true story of Iraqi American pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, who blew the whistle on local and state government officials for exposing tens of thousands of Flint, Michigan, residents to disastrous levels of toxic lead in the water.
SIGNINGS
Amber Jade | Caviar | LINK
Camille Summers-Valli | Somesuch
Cloé Bailly | AKKURAT Studios | LINK
Elle Ginter | Familia | LINK
Giraffe Studios | Agile Films | LINK
Ivana Bobic | AKKURAT Studios | LINK
Jennifer Sheridan | Park Village | LINK
Sonia Malfa | Familia
Stephanie Wang-Breal | Familia
COMMERCIALS
Agostina Galvez | Adidas Originals – "Lead the Change" | Annex 88 | Radical Media | LINK
A.V. Rockwell | US Census Bureau – "Shape Your Future Education" | Little Minx | LINK
Amir Farhang | Facebook Groups | Wieden & Kennedy / Portland | Hungry Man | LINK 1 | LINK 2 | LINK 3 | LINK 4 | LINK 5
Celeste Geer | VicHealth – "This Girl Can Victoria" | The Shannon Company/Melbourne | The Shannon Company | LINK
Chrissy Rabe (part of directing duo, "Odeum) | Nike – Nicole Cardoza | Bam Productions | LINK
Christine Yuan (colored by Kaitlyn Battistelli) | Tiffany & Co. – "Love Stories" | LINK
Cloudy Rhodes | Levi's – "Your Voice" | Monster Children Creative | Monster Children Films | LINK
Elena Petitti di Roreto | Harley-Davidson – "Magic Hour" | Droga5 | Epoch Films | LINK
Freshteh Piltan | Adidas x Zalando – `Move to Reconnect’ | Park Village | LINK
Gracie Otto | David Jones Store – "Autumn JONES Coverstar: Barbara Palvin" | LINK
Juliet May | Aldi UK – "You Might Like" | McCann/London | Merman | LINK
Justine Puren Calverley | STANDARD BANK – "HeForShe" | VML | First Pencil | LINK
Katy Wang | Macmillan Cancer Support: Diagnosis | MRM | Blinkink | LINK
Krista Liney | ABC's The Bachelor – "Ghost" | Canyon Road Films | LINK
Lisa Rubisch | Pampers (P&G) – "Share the Love" | Park Pictures | LINK
Liz Unna | SAP x KODE with Klossy – "SuperHERoes" | BBDO NY | Girl Culture | LINK
Melanie Bridge | Ryman Healthcare | VMLY&R | The Sweetshop | LINK
Michelle Coomber | Cadbury UK – "Donate Your Words" | VCCP | VCCP Kin | LINK 1 | LINK 2 | LINK 3
Nathalie Canguilhem | Saint Laurent – WINTER 20 | Division | LINK
Nadira Amrani | Nike x Azeema Magazine – "Move Without Limits" | AZEEMA Agency | LINK
Rafa Carvalho | Ford Escape – "Let's Make a Difference" | Zubi | Quantico Films | LINK
Rashida Jones | PepsiCo Pure Leaf Tea | DDB | LINK
Renee Mao | Love Wellness – "Don't Just Deal" | Mekanism | Sister Studios | LINK
Rohar Blair-Mangat | US Open – "E Pluribus Unum, Baby" | Zambezi LA | Imperial Woodpecker | LINK
Stef Smith | Osmocote, The Core Agency – "Pour+Feed" | Playtime | LINK
Tash Tung | Zalando – "Zereotypes" | Mother | Blink | LINK 1 | LINK 2 | LINK 3 | LINK 4 | LINK 5
Tiny Bullet | Cheez-It – "Snap'd – So good we may run out of cheese" | Thomas Thomas Films | LINK
BRANDED CONTENT
Amber Grace Johnson | Dior – "THE SCENT OF MY MAN" | Fondamentale | Boogie Nights | LINK 1 | LINK 2
Amber Grace Johnson | Puma – "The DREAMER" | Dreamville | Object & Animal | LINK
Emma Westenberg | Vogue x Stuart Weitzman – "Kendall's Day Off" | Partizan | LINK
Femke Huurdeman | Sudan Archives – Limitless/Honey | LINK
Katy Wang | AFAR Magazine – "AFAR Travel Tales" | Blinkink | LINK 1 | LINK 2 | LINK 3
Lesly Lynch | The Guardian x Google | Rising Voices: Pages Matam | Blink | LINK
Lisa Boostani | Mad x Gucci | Sauvage TV | LINK
Molly Schiot | Toyota & Uninterrupted – "Simone Manuel is pushing barriers and breaking records | MILESTONES" | LINK 1 | LINK 2 | LINK 3
Nina Meredith | Bese, Smartwater: "Roller Skating: The Legacy Rides On" | Bese Productions | LINK
Nina Meredith | The Synchronized Sport of Escaramuza – (Web series by Bese Productions) | LINK
Tamar Levine | Amazon Music – "Moses Sumney's 'græ: Part 1'" | LINK
MUSIC VIDEOS
Caitlin Stasey | Aliek – "What You Like" | LINK
Cloé Bailly | Coldplay – "Champion of the World" | Caviar | LINK
Coco Morier (composer) and Jeaneen Lund (director) | Daughters of Noise – "2023" | LINK
Courtney Brookes | Salt Cathedral – Paris (Ultra Music) | Blonde + Co | LINK
Eliza Brownlie | Big Gigantic – Burning Love (Feat. Kidepo) | LINK
Hannah Lux Davis | Doja Cat – "Say So" | London Alley | LINK
Lisa Boostani | I Love You Today – "Imagine" | LINK
Margot Bowman | Syv de Blare – WAKE Portal | LINK
Regina Sepp | Balcony – "Girls" | Park Village | LINK
Sarah McColgan | Leslie Odom Jr. – "Go Crazy" | Puritan | LINK
Sarah McColgan | Stephanie Poetri – "Touch" | Hound | LINK
Sophia + Robert | Biffy Clyro – "Instant History" | PRETTYBIRD | LINK
SHORT FILMS
Bianca Poletti | "Fab Muscles" | LINK
Nikyatu Jusu | "Suicide by Sunlight" | LINK
