Last year’s broadcast pilot season was dismal for female directors — out of the 41 drama pilots ordered, only one, ABC’s Las Reinas, was directed by woman. A total of four women were hired to direct 10 of 70 broadcast pilots in 2017. It was a low point, and a turning point. This year, out of 41 broadcast drama pilots…

Emmy-winning TV director Gail Mancuso has been tapped to direct Besties, a big, female-driven ensemble comedy in the works at DreamWorks Pictures that was written by Cassie Daniels and Mark Bartosic. DreamWorks/Amblin Partners along with Montecito Pictures beat out two other studios and slapped down low- to mid-six…

It’s been a big weekend for female comedy directors. Sitcom veteran Pam Fryman is filming her 500th episode of television, a milestone that just a few helmers have ever achieved. And tonight, Transparent creator Jill Soloway won her second consecutive Emmy Award for directing in a comedy series. Before her, the…

Emmy-winning director Gail Mancuso has booked a second comedy pilot this season. The Emmy-winning helmer, who is directing and executive producing Fox’s single-camera female buddy comedy pilot The Enforcers, starring Niecy Nash and Christine Woods, also has been tapped to direct ABC’s hybrid comedy pilot Toast,…

It has been a noticeable trend at Fox this pilot season — many of the network’s pilot orders came with a director already on board, leapfrogging the first stage in pilot production which involves locking in a helmer. All of Fox’s comedy pilots except for the very first to get ordered — Phil Lord, Chris Miller and Juliu…

EXCLUSIVE: Modern Family star Sofia Vergara is fielding another single-camera comedy project at ABC, this time inspired by her own parenting experience. The network has put in development Raising Mom, from Vergara and Luis Balaguer’s Latin World Entertainment, Electus and ABC Studios. Gail Mancuso, hot off her Emmy dir…

It was comedy ladies’ night at the Primetime Emmys as women swept both the comedy writing and directing categories for the first time in history. 30 Rock creator/executive producer Tina Fey and writer Tracey Wigfield won the writing Emmy for the series finale, while Gail Mancuso was recognized for the “Arrested&#8221…