We're Celebrating These 21 Boundary-Pushing, Boss Black Women Behind the Scenes in Hollywood

Black women creatives may be undervalued and underrepresented in Hollywood, but their impact is without question. These herstory makers shape authentic narratives that are bold and unapologetic, yet compassionate and vulnerable, giving us layered plots, meaningful soundscapes, subtle yet stark camera shots and complex characters who look, love and live like us. Through their work, we see why representation matters.

To kick off Black History Month, Parade is saluting 21 Black, female-identifying, badass bosses who curate narratives and shift perspectives on TV and in film. They are directors, writers, producers, filmmakers and executives who break barriers and make waves in male-dominated industries. Get to know these Black, female-identifying filmmakers and we promise you'll be rewarded with stories you'll love, cherish and learn from, now and in the years to come.

Shonda Rhimes

Director, Producer, Writer

Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How To Get Away With Murder, Station 19, Bridgerton

Shonda Rhimes is redefining the meaning of “yes.” The TV mogul keeps audiences beguiled with profound dialogue, scintillating scenes, startling revelations and salacious sex. She is the first Black woman to create and executive produce a Top 10 network series and she is also the first woman to create three hit shows with more than 100 episodes each. Shondaland’s latest masterpiece, Bridgerton, was watched by more than 82 million people on Netflix in its first month.

As a champion of racial and gender parity, Rhimes joined several A-listers in 2021 calling out the Hollywood Foreign Press Association–the group that decides the Golden Globe Award winners–for not having one Black member out of 87.

Ava DuVernay

Director, Filmmaker, Producer, Writer

Selma, A Wrinkle In Time, Queen Sugar, 13th, When They See Us

Ava DuVernay is the first Black woman to direct a film with a budget over $100 million, and the first Black female director to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award. She also pays it forward: On the hit OWN drama she created, Queen Sugar, she's exclusively hired female directors.

Known to speak candidly about the inequities of the industry, she also tweeted about the lack of diversity within the HFPA.

Lena Waithe

Producer, Writer

The Chi, Queen & Slim, The Forty-Year-Old Version, Twenties

No pretense with no BS is the tone of Lena Waithe’s work. In 2017, she was the first Black woman to win an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, taking home the trophy for the Netflix series Master of None, in which she also starred.

Waithe spotlights the validity of LGBTQIA experiences and stories created by underrepresented filmmakers and storytellers. She has partnered with Indeed for Rising Voices, an initiative to invest in and share stories created by Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC). Her Hillman Grad Mentorship Lab recently announced its inaugural class of 25 individuals from marginalized communities who will receive networking opportunities and resources to remove barriers to access careers in film and TV.

Related: The Best Black Comedies

Issa Rae

Producer, Writer

Insecure, Little, The Photograph, A Black Lady Sketch Show

10+ years after the debut of her web series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, Issa Rae has become a hit writer and producer—and the first Black woman to create and star in a premium cable series. HBO’s Insecure—which she wrote, produced and starred in—ran for five acclaimed seasons, but Rae isn't going anywhere. She will executive produce The Vanishing Half, another HBO series in development that is based on Brit Bennett’s bestselling novel.

Regina King

Director, Producer

Scandal, Insecure, If Beale Street Could Talk, Watchmen, One Night in Miami

In 2021, for the first time in Golden Globes history, more than one woman was nominated in the best director category. One of those three women was Regina King for her feature directorial debut in One Night in Miami. The historical drama centers around a February 1964 meet-up between boxing legend Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammed Ali), former football star Jim Brown, civil rights leader Malcolm X and singer-songwriter Sam Cooke. King captured each man’s perspective with a sagacious aesthetic.

With One Night in Miami, King also made history at the 77th annual Venice Film Festival in Los Angeles by becoming the first Black female director to have a film screened at the conference. Next up, she is expected to star in and produce a biopic on the first Black Congresswoman, Shirley Chisholm.

Misha Green

Producer, Writer

Underground, Lovecraft Country

Misha Green wields insightful and provocative storytelling. Her riveting WGN drama, Underground, broke ratings records during its first season and was the first scripted U.S. television show focused on slavery and the Underground Railroad.

As the creator and showrunner on HBO’s Lovecraft Country, she juxtaposed sci-fi with past and present-day realities. More subscribers viewed the finale of Lovecraft Country in its first day of availability on HBO Max than any other new episode of an original series on the streaming platform to date. Green will make her feature directorial debut on the next installment of Tomb Raider.

Katori Hall

Producer, Writer

P-Valley

P-Valley, the enticing drama about the Pynk strip club, exploded onto Starz, It’s based on Katori Hall’s 2015 stage play Pussy Valley. The award-winning playwright told Parade.com that she knew it would capture an “underserved audience,” which is why she insisted that it be based in Mississippi instead of New York or LA.

“Oftentimes, these women are misunderstood; they’re complicated human beings, they’re hustlers, they’re mothers, they’re sisters, they’re businesswomen,” Hall explained.

Hall is featured as an interviewee in the HBO documentary about Tina Turner entitled TINA. She previously worked as the book writer on the Tina Turner Broadway musical.

Michaela Coel

Producer, Writer

Black Mirror, Chewing Gum, I May Destroy You

Ghanaian-British writer, producer and director Michaela Coel’s breakout role happened in the British comedy Chewing Gum. In I May Destroy You, Coel plays Arabella, a writer whose rhathymia makes you root for her despite her erratic choices. Based on Coel’s real-life sexual assault, it tackles the patriarchal doctrines of sexuality, racial disparities and biases.