Women Rocking Hollywood at WonderCon – Leslie Combemale reports

AWFJ had the opportunity to amplify female filmmakers at the latest WonderCon convention, which took place in Anaheim, California the last weekend in March with the 11th annual Women Rocking Hollywood panel. This year’s focus was on surviving and thriving in a changing landscape, and featured executive producers, writers, a director and an advocate for parity in the screen industries. As always, the panel was on Saturday, the most attended day of the convention, and for the first time, it was presented in the largest venue at the Anaheim Convention Center, with over a thousands seats.

The description in the online catalogue explained the focus and announced the panelists:

“The last few years have been difficult for artists working in the screen industries. This has been especially true for women. And yet, they persevere. This year’s panel celebrates the show runners, directors and advocates creating great work despite the challenges. From fan favorites to genre films and compelling stories on the small screen, female filmmakers are reflecting diverse voices onscreen. Join us as this panel of powerful women changing the landscape of film & tv from the inside discuss their projects and how they navigate the worlds inside and outside Hollywood. Scheduled to appear are writer/executive producer Aeysha Carr (Woke, the upcoming Government Cheese), director Rosemary Rodriguez (Peacemaker, The Walking Dead franchise), producer/executive producer Dara Resnik (Daredevil, Home Before Dark), writer/executive producer Carla Ching (Fear the Walking Dead, Mr. & Mrs. Smith), writer/executive producer Danielle Sanchez-Witzel (Up Here, Survival of the Thickest), and advocate Chandra Jackson (director of marketing and communications for Women in Film). Moderated by Leslie Combemale (senior contributor, Alliance of Women Film Journalists).”

Women Rocking Hollywood began with an introduction by the moderator, who is also the producer and creator of the panel, which started out at San Diego Comic-Con over 10 years ago, before the #MeToo movement or the proliferation of panels and seminars celebrating women in film. It built a following over the years, with panelists that included Catherine Hardwicke, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Regina King, Nisha Ganatra, Sian Heder, Cheryl Dunye, and many others. Diversity, inclusion, and intersectionality have always been an important element of selecting the voices to amplify.

This year, the discussion began with Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, after playing the trailer to Season 2 of Survival of the Thickest, a comedy she created with Michelle Buteau and executive produces with co-showrunner Amy Aniobi. Late in 2024, the show received the Women in Film Award for Advocacy in Television for Season 1. She mentioned that although 70% of the department heads are women, they weren’t aware of that until the folks at Women in Film: LA gave them the statistics. Rather, they hired the best professionals for the job, most of whom happened to be women. Not only did the creators hire all female directors for Season 1, on Season 2, all directors were women of color. Another important aspect of the show is that it intentionally reflects a diversity of characters, including, obviously, women of all sizes, but also a trans woman and a straight man who is going to therapy. It is also filmed in and portrays Brooklyn, the one that Michelle Buteau knows and loves and, by extension, her character Mavis knows and loves. When asked how fans can support writers, whether while they work creating films and episodic tv, or are on strike working for better conditions and pay, Sanchez-Witzel finished by saying she and many of her writer friends were buoyed by the fact that fans stood by them, vocally, during the strikes. She thanked the audience for being part of that fandom (because it was clear there were many fans of the show in the audience) and said it is important for fans to be as vocal as possible, especially to the studios and streamers releasing the shows and movies they love.

Next to chat was Dara Resnik, who has worked in the industry for decades on shows like Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Pushing Daisies, and Daredevil, Home Before Dark, and The Horror of Dolores Roach. That last was black comedy, a modern twist on Sweeney Todd on Prime Video about a woman who went to prison on an unjust sentence, only to get out and find that getting a job was nearly impossible. She began working as a massage therapist, and when a client got way too handsy, she found herself killing him in a rage. Resnik discussed the fact that her writing often focuses on female rage, but also on women’s empowerment, and the challenges of living in a world dominated by the patriarchy. She also talked about the frequency with which the industry underestimates female creatives. Upcoming for her is a true crime series about the victims of Robert Durst. When she was pitched the project, she told them she didn’t want to see another show centering a violent man, and flipped the script by suggesting the focus should be on the women involved as not only his victims, but also as investigators.

Rosemary Rodriguez broke into Hollywood with two award-winning indie films. Now a well-known episodic director with credits that include The Good Wife, Jessica Jones, The Walking Dead, and Home Before Dark, she brought images from the look book for Gated, the new film she has written and hopes to produce and direct. Shown onscreen were images of how she planned to use visual language to forward the storytelling. Gated is a genre film in the vein of Get Out and Paradise, about what happens when a wealthy community takes their latino workers for granted, and the gates designed to keep them safe keep them trapped inside instead. She also thanked the audience, saying during strikes and challenges the fans keep her and all the creatives going.

Carla Ching, a writer/producer known for her work on Fear the Walking Dead, I Love Dick, and Mr and Mrs Smith, was next to speak. She talked about the fact that living and working in New York as a teacher gave her insight as a writer. It taught her to meet people where they are, and see them as multi-dimensional. She also talked about her experience on the show I Love Dick, in which one of her bosses did something called “box.” They would take an apple box, and assembling the whole crew at the beginning of the day, and would have everyone talk about what was going on for them, what was in their “box”. “It helped us to know how to hold each other up and care for each other and discover the support the other people needed, which made us a very strong crew”. A showrunner on one of her projects said it is essential to always say “Yes”, as in “Yes, and…”. “Yes and” created an environment of warmth and teamwork, that a spirit that the cast and crew were all in it together and can get it done as a team.

The last writer/producer to speak was Aeysha Carr, and the discussion opened with playing the trailer to her new project as showrunner, Government Cheese, a quirky dramedy starring David Oyelowo that releases on April 16th on Apple TV+. She show is based on creator Paul Hunter’s experience growing up in the San Fernando Valley. Described as Wes Anderson meets the Cohen Brothers, Carr started by saying Government Cheese is intentionally weird. Each of the 10 episodes was treated as a separate indie film, and approached in a unique fashion, while still staying consistent in its overall arc. The matriarch of the story is based on Paul Hunter’s mother, and played by Simone Messick. Carr described the costumes and production design were all meant to lean into character, but also to capture the style and aesthetic of the valley in 1961. They used specific locations around the valley that were as they had been in the 60s, but, Carr said, were grateful that David Oyelowo required it be filmed in LA, because his star power meant that they’d be able to do that, and truly capture the era and environment unique to the San Fernando valley.

As always, the final panelist was a representative of Women in Film; LA and their joint initiative with Sundance, ReFrame. This year, director of marketing and communications for WIF, Chandra Jackson spoke about the Report on Gender and Hiring in Film, which was released on March 26th. The study showed that in the top 100 films released in 2024, gender balanced productions earned more than double their counterparts. “Those findings show it’s not just the right thing to do, it’s good for business.” The more negative news was that the number of female directors had slipped significantly from the past 5 years, in part because of Covid and the strikes. “We haven’t clawed our way back yet.” She also discussed the value and importance of the ReFrame Stamp, which is a mark of distinction awarded to films and small screen releases that demonstrate gender-balanced hiring across a production. It was noted that every single panelist had worked on a project that had been awarded the ReFrame Stamp. The way forward, she said, was in working with women at the executive level, because they have the green light power, and can hire more diverse casts and crew.

Before the end of the hour, each panelist spoke one more time about how to connect with them on social media and other things fans can do to help support women above and below the line. Across the panel, everyone affirmed calling on the studios and streamers, and including them in social media posts, is essential to moving forward. Several also mentioned that given the current political atmosphere, it is particularly important for fans to speak up and demand content that allows them to see themselves onscreen.