Will Ferrell's Gary Sanchez Productions Introduces Gloria Sanchez

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Chris Henchy are creating a new division in their successful production company Gary Sanchez Productions to focus on female content. Lead by executive Jessica Elbaum, the new Gloria Sanchez Productions will focus on creating female led projects for film and television, driven with female content creators.

Will Ferrell Launches Female Focused Film and TV Production Company

Adam McKay, Jessica Elbaum,
and Will Ferrell. 

Jessica Elbaum has worked at Gary Sanchez Productions since the company's beginnings, and has helped bring female comedies to life, even though they could easily put Will Ferrell in every movie and make a lot of money.

Gary Sanchez Productions helped launch Bachelorette in 2012, a personal favorite of us Fempire ladies. In 2014 they will release the Melissa McCarthy movie Tammy, as well as the Kristen Wiig film Welcome to Me.

Lets be clear, this is extraordinary not because there is a female head running the division, or because this is a production company focused on female films, which are both great. It's because women are rarely given a shot in comedy, and this is a production company with a proven track record for success. Comedy is one of those areas where women are consistently undermined. When it comes to Hollywood, the economics and statistics of what people want to see in a movie has resulted in a skewed perception that women shouldn't lead comedy films.

Sandra Bullock and Melissa
McCarthy at The Heat premiere

In 2013 I could only find one female-driven comedy in the top 100 grossing films of the year. The Heat, starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, might seem like an obvious bet after the success of films like Bridesmaids, but the $40 million dollar box office opening was a surprise to many who assumed the big budget action film White House Down would dominate. Every other big budget comedy that summer had a male star in it's top billing, when The Heat proved you don't need men to make audiences laugh.

At the Fempire Movie Club, we support the decision to get more women involved in movie making, in all aspects of production, and we can't wait to see what Gloria Sanchez has in store for us.