Photo of Lilly Ledbetter from thefilmcollaborative.org
The 2016 NYWIFT Ravenal Foundation Feature Film Grant was presented to Rachel Feldman for her biopic Lilly (previously called Fair Fight).
Lilly based on the remarkable life of Lilly Ledbetter, the woman about whom President Obama named his first piece of legislation – The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act. Lilly was an Alabama Goodyear tire factory worker who discovered that the company paid her half of what her male counterparts earned – after twenty years.
With political thriller elements and a heart-breaking family drama at its center, Lilly tells the story of sexual harassments that morph into David & Goliath legal and moral battles and the uneducated woman who transforms into a warrior for justice, single-handedly changing an American law. Lilly captures the zeitgeist of today as women all over the world challenge patriarchal systems of oppressions and inequity.
Academy Award nominee Meryl Streep recently committed to support the film.
Rachel Feldman (right, pictured here with Lilly Ledbetter) is an accomplished director and writer in film and television. She is currently in active development to direct Lilly, a feature film based on the remarkable life of Fair Pay icon Lilly Ledbetter. The project has been selected for the 2020 Breaking Through The Lens Initiative, was awarded the NYWIFT Ravenal Foundation Feature Film Grant, and is an Athena List winner. Feldman’s drama pilot Kinks won the 2020 Best Drama Pilot Award in the ScreenCraft pilot competition, was selected for 2019 MIP Cannes In Development, and won the WGA Drama Queens Best Pilot Award. Feldman has been directing dramatic television for three decades.
In 2020, she directed the pilot and first season of The Baxters for MGM, multiple episodes of Blue Bloods, Criminal Minds, and The Rookie for ABC. She has written and directed movies for Lifetime, Freeform, The SyFy Channel, as well as several award-winning short films broadcast on PBS and HBO. Also known as a vocal activist for gender parity in Hollywood, Feldman is featured in the Geena Davis produced documentary, This Changes Everything, Amy Adrion’s Half the Picture, and Bloomberg Television’s Celluloid Ceilings. Feldman was chair of the DGA Women’s Steering Committee and has taught directing in the MFA program at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. She holds an MFA from NYU in directing and a BA from Sarah Lawrence College. You can find her full bio and credits at www.rachelfeldman.com and follow her on Twitter @WomenCallAction
Learn more about the NYWIFT Ravenal Grant
