AMPAS ADDS WOMEN DIRECTORS: With our commitment to reviewing all new releases written and/or directed by women, FF2 Media now plays an important role in breaking down barriers. AMPAS invited 683 new members this year, 49 of whom are female directors. Who are they? What are their stories? We already know them, and we are here to tell you!
Gillian Robespierre is an American director and writer, known for her 2014 film, Obvious Child. Born and raised in New York City, she graduated from the School of Visual Arts and majored in Film and Video.
Robespierre began as a production assistant on American Gangster and also worked for the Directors Guild of America. In 2009, Robespierre co-wrote (with Anna Bean and Karen Maine) and directed the short film Obvious Child, about a young woman who is impregnated after a one-night stand and decides to have an abortion. The film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival where it was acquired by A24 Films.
Robespierre is developing a comedy pilot for FX with Elisabeth Holm, who co-wrote Obvious Child, starring Jenny Slate and Ari Graynor.
Excerpt of FF2 Media review of Obvious Child from June 6, 2014:
As “Donna,” Jenny Slate is a cookbook version of a New-York-Jewish-Girl: by day she works in an Indie bookstore while at night she performs in a rundown comedy club.
Donna may have lousy luck with men, but her indulgent friends think she is brilliant, and her supportive parents offer her the illusion of independence (no doubt hoping she will soon sort her life out).
Ironically, the one scene that genuinely moved me came late in the film, after I had already lost my patience. Donna goes to visit her mother — played by the luminous Polly Draper — and their chemistry is so strong and so unexpected that I actually began to doubt myself.
Read full review: https://ff2media.azurewebsites.net/thehotpinkpen/2014/06/06/obvious-child/
Read more about Gillian Robespierre: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gillian_Robespierre
Photo Credit: Jeff Vespa, Getty Images
