‘Pose’ director Janet Mock signs historic overall deal with Netflix for several new projects

The transgender rights activist and creative has inked a deal with Netflix optioning several new projects and films, which come along with her work on FX's 'Pose'

Blue Telusma

Jun 19, 2019

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Janet Mock has become the first transgender woman to land a deal giving creative control at a major streaming content organization.

According to Variety, the director, producer and writer has signed a three-year multimillion-dollar contract that gives Netflix the exclusive rights not only to her TV series but also a first-look option on feature film projects.

Following her success with Ryan Murphy on Pose, as part of this current deal Mock will also serve as an executive producer and director on his forthcoming Netflix series Hollywood.

Despite this lucrative new partnership with the streaming giant, Mock will still be keeping her current position as a writer-director on Murphy’s critically acclaimed LGBT-focused FX series, set in New York City’s colorful ballroom scene.

“As someone who grew up in front of the TV screen, whether that was watching talk shows or family sitcoms or VHS films, I never thought that I would be embraced,” says Mock. “And more than embraced. Given not just a seat at the table but a table of my own making.”

The landmark deal with undoubtedly empower Mock to create programs that highlight the communities that she represents as a trans woman of color, and the vocal advocate says it is her hope that this opportunity, “will be a huge signal boost, industrywide, to empower people and equip them to tell their own stories.”

I'm excited to announce that I am partnering with Netflix to tell stories on a global platform. So proud to join the ranks of digital content moguls as the first trans woman to call her own creative shots at a major content company. https://t.co/ZXBOlXv1fM #girlslikeus

— Janet Mock (@janetmock) June 19, 2019

Variety reports that so far the projects she has in the works include, “a college-set drama following a young trans woman, a series about New Orleans after the abolishment of slavery and a reboot of a classic sitcom.”

“As a best-selling author, producer and director, Janet Mock has demonstrated she knows how to bring her vision to thrilling, vivid life,” says Cindy Holland, Netflix VP of original content. “She’s a groundbreaker and creative force who we think will fit right in here at Netflix.”