On March 19, the LGBTQ+ Committee’s meeting featured the panel discussion, Directing Your First Feature: Resilience Required. In a conversation moderated by Director A.V. Rockwell (A Thousand and One), Director Rachel Morrison discussed the process of making her directorial debut feature film, The Fire Inside.
During the conversation, Morrison shared her journey from becoming the first woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography, to directing her first episodes of television, to directing her first feature film. She revealed that after her work as cinematographer on features such as Dee Rees' Mudbound and Ryan Coogler's Black Panther, she was unsure what project to take on as a first-time feature Director. Then Barry Jenkins and Elishia Holmes came to her with the screenplay for The Fire Inside, the story of Claressa Shields, a high school junior from Flint, Michigan who became the first American woman to win Olympic boxing gold. Morrison strongly connected with the script and felt that Shield’s story deserved to be out in the world. But it was not an easy task as after two days of shooting, the project was shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic with uncertainty if the film would ever be completed. However, Morrison refused to let the project die, and despite all odds and obstacles, came back two years later to finish the film.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS:
 Rachel Morrison |
In addition to her debut feature, The Fire Inside, Morrison’s directorial credits include the pilot of the series Hightown; and episodes of The Morning Show, Impeachment: American Crime Story, and The Mandalorian. As a cinematographer, she became the the first woman ever to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography for her work on Dee Rees’ feature Mudbound, and the first woman to lens a Marvel superhero movie, Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther. Morrison has been a DGA member since 2014 and serves as a member of the LGBTQ+ Committee. |
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 A.V. Rockwell (moderator) Rockwell’s directorial credits include the film, A Thousand and One, which earned her a nomination for the DGA’s Michael Apted Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director; as well as an episode of the series Boomerang, the special Shape your future 2020 Census, and numerous short films and music videos. She became a DGA member in 2018. |
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About the Committee:
The LGBTQ+ Committee was founded in 2021 as a provisional committee to explore ways to educate, inform, address the concerns of and create opportunities for members who identify in these categories. At the DGA National Board meeting on January 8, 2022, the Board voted make the LGBTQ+ Committee an official standing committee.The Committee is dedicated to empowering and advancing the professional interests of LGBTQ+ and to promoting and working for employment equity throughout the entertainment industry.