Leading Lady : Jill Soloway

Within a few short years of becoming a television writer, Jill Soloway wrote for the critically acclaimed HBO series Six Feet Under. Jill had worked in television for over a decade when her career came to a crossroads. She began struggling to write someone else's vision; she needed to make something of her own. Her agent wrote a check to tide her over between jobs but instead of using the money for living expenses, Jill used it to create a short film to submit to Sundance.

Jill won the Dramatic Directing Award for her feature film Afternoon Delight at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, a year after her short film was accepted. She created Transparent, a television series that features a transgender protagonist who finally decides to come out to her family at 70 years old. Inspired by real events from Jill's life, Transparent offers an intimate view into the life of a loving but slightly dysfunctional family exploring boundaries, sexuality, and gender identity.

Jill Soloway wants to topple the patriarchy, which is made clear by the name of her production company, Topple Productions. She wants to change the narrative so that women, people of color, trans people, and queer people are at the center. She wants to make women the subject instead of the object. Jill wants to change the world, and through the stories that she writes, she will. - Kelly Longhurst

Photo Credit : Danielle Levitt/The Observer