Pop Culture Pioneers

Celebrate the empowering and inspiring women who helped create, shape, and make pop culture great, from the creator of SYFY WIRE’s FANGRRLS and the podcast “Forgotten Women of Genre”! 

In every medium in popular culture—from books, films, and video games to comics, television, and animation—women have been instrumental in creating and shaping the worlds, characters, and genres that we know and love.  However, much of their hard work and innovation has gone largely unrecognized—until now. With a foreword by American Gods actress Yetide Badaki and essays exploring the history and transformation of pop culture’s genres and mediums, Pop Culture Pioneers explores and pays respect to the women who played a crucial role in creating and influencing of some of the most famous worlds and characters in pop culture including:

• Directors & Producers like Karyn Kusama (Aeon Flux, Jennifer’s Body), Denise Di Novi (co-producer of Batman Returns, The Nightmare Before Christmas), and Jean MacCurdy (producer of Batman: The Animated Series, Animaniacs)
• Writers & Editors like Jeanette Khan (editor and publisher of DC Comics), Alice Bradley Sheldon (writing as James Tiptree Jr.), and Alison Bechdel (Fun Home)
• Animators & Artists like Rebecca Sugar (Steven Universe), Noelle Stevenson (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) and Brenda Chapman (animator and director of Brave)
• As well as Marlene Clark (Blaxploitation actress), Roberta Williams (creator of the adventure game genre), Yvonne Blake (costume designer for Superman), Bonnie Erickson (co-creator of Miss Piggy), and many more.