The Women’s Steering Committee (WSC) hosted their fourth annual celebration of talented women members of the Guild on October 26 in the DGA’s Los Angeles theater complex. Under the title, Women’s Day at the DGA: The Power of Genre Blending, the event featured a peer-to-peer round table panel discussion with Directors Lucia Aniello (Hacks), Thembi Banks (Unprisoned), Zoe Lister-Jones (How It Ends) and Jennifer Phang (The Flight Attendant), women Directors with unique cinematic voices whose work is changing the conversation around the craft. During a conversation moderated by Director/WSC Activities & Events Subcommittee Coordinator Amy Aniobi (Survival of the Thickest), the panelists explored how they as auteurs are leading the way in storytelling that encapsulates multiple genres both visually and on the page.
The evening began with a welcome from DGA President Lesli Linka Glatter who said, “Being in the company of such an incredible group of fellow female Directors and members of the directorial team fills me with such joy, especially when I think about how far we have come since this Committee was formed in more than 40 years ago. When I started directing back in the dark ages, I was very well mentored and I’m forever grateful, but there were so few women Directors and I hate to say it, women didn’t really help other women….it was the mind set of, ‘there’s only room at the table for one of us and it better be me.’ I made a decision not to buy into that notion and I can say opening the door for other women has never hurt my career and has only made my life richer. Thank goodness our world has changed dramatically. Just look around this room and see the incredible support women have for other women. So, I say, if the table is too small, build a bigger table.”
WSC Co-Chairs Shaz Bennett, Valerie Weiss and Shawn Pipkin-West and alternate Co-Chair Rachel Raimist spoke about the history and work of the Committee. After thanking WSC Activities & Events Subcommittee Coordinators Evelyn Belasco, Eva Vives and Aniobi and reminding Guild members that all are invited to attend WSC meetings, the Co-Chairs turned things over to the panel.
During the lively and informative conversation, the panelists discussed what it takes to pitch a movie that blends genres, how a Director balances presenting two genres to a studio — and to their actors — how to always lean towards emotional truth (no matter the genre), how genre blending can actually broaden your audience, and what the future of theatrical moviegoing looks like, keeping these new “genre rules for the box office” in mind.
Moderator Aniobi kicked things off by framing the conversation around what the topic of genre blending meant to the panelists and how they were creating a new hybrid type of work.
Phang discussed how her experience with genre blending in her film Advantageous. “I see genre blending as you are allowing an honest reflection of the human experience. Advantageous was a sci-fi family drama about a mom who was struggling to keep her daughter in prep school. It was very honest and very dramatic, but the world she was living in was far into the future and it allowed us to make a science fiction movie feel like something that all of us can relate to. It is an exciting time to come off from this idea that comedy and drama have to fit into their own categories, otherwise it is wrong. It is not like that at all anymore.”
Aniello noted how her work blends comedy and drama. “Hacks is a dramedy – a comedy and a drama. I wouldn’t say in equal parts. We believe we are a comedy first because it’s about the world of comedy writing and it really enables us to use the characters to be the vehicle for jokes. We’re constantly thinking about the levels of comedy versus drama. You never want it to be too broad and you want to make sure it feels real and find something that is equally communicative.”
Lister-Jones shared how she blends sci-fi and drama. “In terms of genre blending, and setting up those rules, as long as they [characters] have their motivations in emotional arcs, then they check out. In my experience with filming Slip, I was like, ‘Are we tracking where this character starts and where they are ending in every episode and what is keeping the propulsion of her journey going?’”
To Banks, genre blending is simply rooted in human behavior. “No one walks around being only dramatic and having dramatic things happen in their life. We all know most comedians pull from pain and sorrow in their lives and they turn that into laughter. It only makes sense that when you bring that into the table cinematically, you are pulling and bringing all of those elements in. When I am developing my projects, I always think, I know this will be an hour-long drama, but we are going to laugh too.”
Following the panel discussion, the Co-Chairs invited all attendees to join the Committee members and panelists for a reception where the conversations and celebrations could continue.
See video from this event in the gallery below.
About the Panelists:
 Lucia Aniello
Aniello’s directorial credits include the feature Rough Night; episodes of the mini-series Time Traveling Bong; and episodes of Other Space, Funny or Die Presents..., The Last Man on Earth, Broad City, Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens and The Baby-Sitters Club. She won the 2021 DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series and the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for her episode of Hacks, “There Is No Line.” Aniello has been a DGA member since 2012. |
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 Thembi Banks
Banks’ directorial credits include the feature Young. Wild. Free.; the movie for television 88 (proof of concept); and episodes of Unprisoned, The Sex Lives of College Girls, Love Life, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Work in Progress and Insecure. Banks joined the DGA in 2019. |
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 Zoe Lister-Jones
Lister-Jones’ directorial credits include the features Band Aid, The Craft: Legacy and How It Ends; the pilot Woman Up; and episodes of Slip. Lister-Jones joined the DGA in 2019. |
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 Jennifer Phang
Phang’s directorial credits include the features Half-Life and the Sundance Dramatic Jury Prize-winner Advantageous; the movie for television Descendants: The Rise of Red; the pilot for The Secret of Sulphur Springs; and episodes of The Flight Attendant, Foundation, Resident Alien, The Boys, The Expanse, Stargirl and Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Phang has been a DGA member since 2016. |
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 Amy Aniobi (moderator)
Aniobi’s directorial credits include the mini-series Between Busts; episodes of Insecure, Survival of the Thickest, A Black Lady Sketch Show, Lisa and Amy Are Black and Rap Sh!t; and the podcast series Looking for LaToya. Aniobi joined the DGA in 2019 and serves as a coordinator for the WSC’s Activities & Events Subcommittee. |
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ABOUT THE COMMITTEE:
The Women's Steering Committee (WSC) was created to advance the professional interests of its members, and to heighten their visibility and career opportunities in the entertainment industry. The WSC currently promotes diversity through sponsoring networking events, screenings and seminars, and fosters relationships between the members to provide support, mentoring and networking opportunities. The WSC’s current Co-Chairs are Shaz Bennett, Valerie Weiss and Shawn Pipkin-West and the alternate Co-Chair is Rachel Raimist. The WSC Activities & Events Committee Co-Coordinators are Amy Aniobi, Evelyn Belasco and Eva Vives.