Chelsea Pictures has added director Gandja Monteiro to its U.S. and U.K. roster for branded representation. Raised between New York’s Lower East Side and Rio de Janeiro, Monteiro was exposed early on to a vast cultural array which instilled a curiosity that has helped to uniquely inform and inspire her work as a director and creator.
Monteiro started making films at 17 years old. She graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women. Monteiro’s directing prowess has brought her to more than a dozen different countries creating work spanning four continents and eight languages.
“In Gandja we see a singular filmmaker who has become one of the hottest directors on the rise,” said Chelsea president Lisa Mehling who added, “She is a killer performance director equally regarded for the worlds she creates, be it collaborating with Tim Burton on the spectacle of Wednesday, the realm of The Witcher or the reality of growing up in Chicago for The Chi. Gandja is a paramount addition to Chelsea and we can’t wait to see all the amazing worlds she creates with us.”
Monteiro was meticulously tapped by Burton to direct the two episodes following his first four of the much anticipated Addams Family series Wednesday for Netflix which premieres next month (11/23). She directed two episodes of Netflix’s Top 10 Most-watched Shows of All Time, The Witcher starring Henry Cavill. Monteiro is set to direct The Walking Dead's next chapter, Isle of the Dead, and the feature film SABU for Warner Bros. starring Anthony Ramos. Her
additional credits include directing episodes of the Netflix series Brand New Cherry Flavor and Showtime’s acclaimed series The Chi as the producing director of which she directed four episodes of the series’ most-watched fourth season.
Monteiro said, “I’m thrilled to be joining a prolific roster at Chelsea and for the opportunity to work with their amazing team. I admire so many of Chelsea’s filmmakers and their diverse, innovative body of work in the commercial and short form space!”
Monteiro comes aboard a Chelsea directorial roster which includes Amir Bar-Lev, Anna & Ewan, Jack Cole, Glenn F. Clements, Alex Gibney, David Gordon Green, Dumas Haddad, Adi Halfin, Nadia Hallgren, Bruce Hunt, Gregory Jacobs, Nadav Kander, Johan Kramer, Stacy Peralta, Alan Poul, Caroline Suh and Kevin Wilson, Jr.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More