Jill Soloway leads ladies night at the Emmys
Jill Soloway won the Emmy for directing in a comedy series for “Transparent.”
Jill Soloway became the third woman to take home an Emmy for directing for a comedy series for her work on “Transparent,” joining Betty Thomas for “Dream On” and Gail Mancuso for “Modern Family.”
The accomplishment is not one that Soloway takes lightly, as evidenced by both her acceptance speech and comments made in the press room after receiving her award. Soloway, who created the series centered on the late-in-life transition of Maura Pfefferman, as well as writing and directing much of it, spoke during her acceptance speech about the world having a trans civil rights problem and exhorting viewers to support the Equality Act, which would give “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” legal protections from discrimination. Soloway would elaborate on her comments in the press room, saying, “People who have access to the camera need to be able to share that with women, with people of color, with queer people, especially trans people — people who really need to see work from their point of view.”
PHOTOS: Emmys 2015 Top nominees and winners | Red carpet | Show highlights
Soloway’s thoughts are particularly resonant on a night that saw many important victories for women, particularly women of color. With Viola Davis, Regina King and Uzo Aduba all winning, the most acting victories by African American women since 1991, progress may be en route, though slowly. Davis’ win for lead actress in a drama series is the first for an African American woman, a shocking statistic for 2015.
But women in general seemed to have an ascendent year at the Emmys, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus continuing her lead actress in a comedy series dominance as well as significant wins for the writing and directing of limited series “Olive Kitteridge” for Jane Anderson and Lisa Cholodenko and the team at “Inside Amy Schumer” for variety sketch series.
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With any luck, this year’s inclusive trend at the Emmys will translate to the new normal for both the awards show and the industry it celebrates.
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