Gina Prince-Bythewood
Skydance
Encino, CA USA
"When you get those ‘no, no, noes,’ you can sometimes start to believe them...but there will be somebody out there who will see what I see. It’s about fighting for that one ‘yes.’"
Career Roadmap
Gina's work combines: Film, Writing, and Communicating / Sharing Stories
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
Deal with it by allowing the voice in your head to be louder than the voices outside of it. In retrospect, it was great at setting the tone for my career because I had to overcome "no" and fight my way in.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Film/Cinema/Media Studies
University of California-Los Angeles
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
Grew up Pacific Grove, California.
2.
Was adopted at three weeks old.
3.
When she was seven years old, her family’s TV broke and her parents decided not to replace it—she began reading up to 20 books a week, which she says sparked her love of writing and stories.
4.
Attended UCLA, where she received her degree in film and television studies—was initially rejected from the film school, but she appealed the decision and was granted admission.
5.
Got the opportunity to intern and apprentice as a writer on the television show “A Different World.”
6.
After writing for television for over five years, she decided to take a year off and wrote the screenplay for “Love & Basketball.”
7.
After having the script get turned down by every major studio she pitched it to, Sundance ended up taking on the project and gave her the resources to direct and develop the film.
8.
She has also directed films such as “The Secret Life of Bees” and “Beyond the Lights” and recently directed the pilot episode of Marvel’s forthcoming superhero show, “Cloak & Dagger.”
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Teachers:
You are rejected from UCLA film school.
How I responded:
Deal with it by allowing the voice in your head to be louder than the voices outside of it. In retrospect, it was great at setting the tone for my career because I had to overcome "no" and fight my way in.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I've used writing and directing as a form of therapy by telling stories which touched upon my struggles. My hope is, in being honest about those struggles, they can inspire an audience who may be struggling with the same thing.
The film industry is notoriously not diverse or inclusive. However, my job working on "A Different World" exposed me to the normalcy of having women of color running things and made me believe that I could do it too.
There are not a lot of directors who are women. It is an incredibly hard industry to break into and thrive in as a woman. You have to have a lot of stamina.
I'm a naturally shy person. In the film industry, you constantly deal with rejections which are hard to deal with especially when it involves projects you've worked really hard to develop. I've bombed interviews and had numerous projects turned down.