Female Filmmaker Friday: Andrea Berloff Makes Her Directorial Debut with "The Kitchen"

Andrea Berloff is an American writer, actress, director, and producer.

Mostly known for her writing, Berloff is an Academy Award nominated screenwriter for Straight Outta Compton. She has also penned the scripts for World Trade Center in 2006, Blood Father in 2016, and Sleepless in 2017.

Now, she is making her feature film debut in the director’s chair with The Kitchen, starring Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, and Elizabeth Moss. The film is set in 1970s Hell’s Kitchen, where three wives of gangsters take over their husbands’ rackets while they’re in prison. The film comes at a great time in the film industry where people are finally giving women and people of color their stories to tell.

"Some years ago they would not have given a woman the opportunity to make this movie. They would not have even made this movie!"

It’s true that most, if not all, mob, gangster, and crime films go to male directors, and are told from the male perspective. But Berloff has fought many battles to show this particular story about the women involved. And she’ll continue to fight more as reviews and comparisons to other female-led films come in. Berloff has done her homework, reading all the comics on which the film is based, reworking characters to make sure the experiences of African American women were involved. And while she pays tribute to others who have come before, The Kitchen has unique touches only a woman would know.

These women can handle things themselves. And so can Andrea Berloff.

The Kitchen is in theaters now.