THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT: CONVERSATION WITH SHOWRUNNERS
Based on the novel by Walter Tevis, the Netflix limited series drama THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT is a coming-of-age story that explores the true cost of genius. Abandoned and entrusted to a Kentucky orphanage in the late 1950s, a young Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) discovers an astonishing talent for chess while developing an addiction to tranquilizers provided by the state as a sedative for the children. Haunted by her personal demons and fueled by a cocktail of narcotics and obsession, Beth transforms into an impressively skilled and glamorous outcast while determined to conquer the traditional boundaries established in the male-dominated world of competitive chess. The series is directed and written by two-time Academy Award nominee Scott Frank and executive produced by Frank, William Horberg and Allan Scott, who also co-created the series. THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Marielle Heller, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Moses Ingram, Harry Melling, and Bill Camp.
MODERATOR:
Kasi Lemmons, as an actor, director, writer, producer, librettist, mentor, and educator, is one of the most powerful voices of our time. Her first feature, Eve’s Bayou, is considered one of the essential works of the 1990s and was recently selected for preservation in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry. Her second film, ‘The Caveman's Valentine’, opened the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, her third film, ‘Talk to Me’, earned the 2008 NAACP Image Award for outstanding directing, and Fox Searchlight released her fourth film, ‘Black Nativity,’ released nationwide on Thanksgiving 2013. Last year, Lemmons premiered her fifth film, ‘Harriet’, starring Cynthia Ervio as the iconic freedom fighter. Her first libretto also premiered in 2019, in the opera ‘Fire Shut Up in My Bones.” She is an Arts Professor in the Graduate Film Department at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and is currently in development for the ‘The Shadow King’, a feature film based on the critically acclaimed novel by Maaza Mengiste.
PANELISTS:
William Horberg is the founder of Wonderful Films, an independent film and television production company. He recently produced the Mick Jagger-starring noir thriller THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY in Italy for Hanway Films. He is currently producing FLAG DAY adapted by Jez Butterworth from the memoir by Jennifer Vogel and starring and directed by Sean Penn, as well as THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT, a seven-part series for Netflix written and directed by Scott Frank and starring Anya Taylor-Joy. Previously, Horberg was the President of Production at Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, where he was an executive producer on Focus Features' MILK, starring Academy Award winner Sean Penn and directed by Gus Van Sant, and the producer of Marc Forster's THE KITE RUNNER based on the international best-selling novel by Khaled Hosseini, for Dreamworks and Paramount Vantage. Prior to forming Wonderful, he was partnered for 12 years with Academy Award-winning filmmakers Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella in their film and television production company, Mirage Enterprises, producing Minghella’s THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY and COLD MOUNTAIN among many other films. Horberg was formerly a Senior Vice President of Production at Paramount Pictures. He is the Chair Emeritus of the Producers Guild of America, East.
Scott Frank’s screenplays include LITTLE MAN TATE, DEAD AGAIN, MALICE, HEAVEN’S PRISONERS, GET SHORTY, OUT OF SIGHT, MINORITY REPORT, THE INTERPRETER, THE LOOKOUT (also directed), MARLEY & ME, THE WOLVERINE, WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES, (also directed), LOGAN, the Netflix limited series, GODLESS (also directed) and THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT (also directed).
OUT OF SIGHT and LOGAN were both nominated for Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay. OUT OF SIGHT won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America as well as Best Screenplay awards from the National Society of Film Critics and the Boston Society of Film Critics. LOGAN was also nominated for a Writers Guild Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. GET SHORTY was nominated for both a Golden Globe and a Writers Guild Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. His directorial debut, THE LOOKOUT won the Independent Spirit award for “Best First Feature.” GODLESS was nominated for 12 Emmy awards, including nominations for writing and directing, as well as a nominations from the Directors and Writers Guilds.
THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT: CONVERSATION WITH SHOWRUNNERS
Based on the novel by Walter Tevis, the Netflix limited series drama THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT is a coming-of-age story that explores the true cost of genius. Abandoned and entrusted to a Kentucky orphanage in the late 1950s, a young Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) discovers an astonishing talent for chess while developing an addiction to tranquilizers provided by the state as a sedative for the children. Haunted by her personal demons and fueled by a cocktail of narcotics and obsession, Beth transforms into an impressively skilled and glamorous outcast while determined to conquer the traditional boundaries established in the male-dominated world of competitive chess. The series is directed and written by two-time Academy Award nominee Scott Frank and executive produced by Frank, William Horberg and Allan Scott, who also co-created the series. THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Marielle Heller, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Moses Ingram, Harry Melling, and Bill Camp.
MODERATOR:
Kasi Lemmons, as an actor, director, writer, producer, librettist, mentor, and educator, is one of the most powerful voices of our time. Her first feature, Eve’s Bayou, is considered one of the essential works of the 1990s and was recently selected for preservation in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry. Her second film, ‘The Caveman's Valentine’, opened the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, her third film, ‘Talk to Me’, earned the 2008 NAACP Image Award for outstanding directing, and Fox Searchlight released her fourth film, ‘Black Nativity,’ released nationwide on Thanksgiving 2013. Last year, Lemmons premiered her fifth film, ‘Harriet’, starring Cynthia Ervio as the iconic freedom fighter. Her first libretto also premiered in 2019, in the opera ‘Fire Shut Up in My Bones.” She is an Arts Professor in the Graduate Film Department at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and is currently in development for the ‘The Shadow King’, a feature film based on the critically acclaimed novel by Maaza Mengiste.
PANELISTS:
William Horberg is the founder of Wonderful Films, an independent film and television production company. He recently produced the Mick Jagger-starring noir thriller THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY in Italy for Hanway Films. He is currently producing FLAG DAY adapted by Jez Butterworth from the memoir by Jennifer Vogel and starring and directed by Sean Penn, as well as THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT, a seven-part series for Netflix written and directed by Scott Frank and starring Anya Taylor-Joy. Previously, Horberg was the President of Production at Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, where he was an executive producer on Focus Features' MILK, starring Academy Award winner Sean Penn and directed by Gus Van Sant, and the producer of Marc Forster's THE KITE RUNNER based on the international best-selling novel by Khaled Hosseini, for Dreamworks and Paramount Vantage. Prior to forming Wonderful, he was partnered for 12 years with Academy Award-winning filmmakers Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella in their film and television production company, Mirage Enterprises, producing Minghella’s THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY and COLD MOUNTAIN among many other films. Horberg was formerly a Senior Vice President of Production at Paramount Pictures. He is the Chair Emeritus of the Producers Guild of America, East.
Scott Frank’s screenplays include LITTLE MAN TATE, DEAD AGAIN, MALICE, HEAVEN’S PRISONERS, GET SHORTY, OUT OF SIGHT, MINORITY REPORT, THE INTERPRETER, THE LOOKOUT (also directed), MARLEY & ME, THE WOLVERINE, WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES, (also directed), LOGAN, the Netflix limited series, GODLESS (also directed) and THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT (also directed).
OUT OF SIGHT and LOGAN were both nominated for Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay. OUT OF SIGHT won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America as well as Best Screenplay awards from the National Society of Film Critics and the Boston Society of Film Critics. LOGAN was also nominated for a Writers Guild Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. GET SHORTY was nominated for both a Golden Globe and a Writers Guild Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. His directorial debut, THE LOOKOUT won the Independent Spirit award for “Best First Feature.” GODLESS was nominated for 12 Emmy awards, including nominations for writing and directing, as well as a nominations from the Directors and Writers Guilds.
