She blazed the trail for inclusive storytelling and made history as the first writer in the genre to be awarded the MacArthur Fellowship (aka the Genius Grant). In addition to riveting dramas like When They See Us and Selma, DuVernay directed the adaptation of the classic novel A Wrinkle In Time and is currently working on a big-screen version of DC Comics’ New Gods.īutler was known to use sci-fi to address issues of race, gender and hierarchy. She also worked on the CBS drama The Red Line which DuVernay produced alongside Greg Berlanti.ĭawn also adds another notch on DuVernay belt when it comes to sci-fi and fantasy projects.

In addition to serving as second unit director of the blockbuster franchise, she has directed numerous TV series including Veena Sud’s Netflix series Seven Seconds, Patty Jenkins’ TNT limited series I Am the Night, Netflix’s You, TNT’s Claws and HBO’s forthcoming horror series Lovecraft Country from J.J. The sci-fi genre is a good fit for Mahoney as she made history as the first woman (and woman of color for that matter) to direct a Star Wars film. Amazon Studios and JuVee Productions (Viola Davis and Julius Tennon’s production company) are developing a drama series from Butler’s PATTERNIST series, beginning with WILD SEED, and the series is being co-written by Nnedi Okorafor and Wanuri Kahiu, who will also direct.Ava DuVernay-Directed Nipsey Hussle Documentary Picked Up By Netflix After Bidding War An opera by Toshi Reagon based on Butler’s novel PARABLE OF THE SOWER was part of The Public Theatre “Under the Radar” festival and toured worldwide in 2018. In media, her novel DAWN is being developed for television by Ava DuVernay (“Selma” “A Wrinkle In Time”). The #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novel adaptation of her book KINDRED, created by Damian Duffy and John Jennings, received the Eisner Award for best adaptation.

Her work is now taught in over 200 colleges and universities nationwide. At the time of her death, interest in her books was beginning to rise, and in recent years, sales of her books have increased enormously as the issues she addressed in her Afro-Futuristic, feminist novels and short fiction have only become more relevant. every day to write, and then went to work as a telemarketer, potato chip inspector, and dishwasher, among other things. Though the MacArthur Grant made life easier in later years, she struggled for decades when her dystopian novels exploring themes of Black injustice, global warming, women’s rights and political disparity were, to say the least, not in commercial demand.ĭuring these years of obscurity Butler, always an early riser, woke at 2 a.m.

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