--- description: Ava DuVernay will be the first black woman to head a film with a budget over $100 million with her upcoming feature "A Wrinkle in Time." title: Ava DuVernay First Black Woman to Direct A $100 Million Film image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ad190004f7e94e8/6988a10ecf40a88a0bc44550/gettyimages-566007175.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [motto](/tag/motto/) ## motto Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Ava DuVernay is the First African-American Woman to Direct a $100 Million Film by [Casey Quackenbush](/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 4, 2016 2:41 AM CUT  Ava DuVernay is photographed in Los Angeles at the Downtown Independent Theater Ava DuVernay is photographed in Los Angeles at the Downtown Independent TheaterLiz O. Baylen—LA Times/Getty Images by [Casey Quackenbush](/author/casey-quackenbush/) ## Casey Quackenbush Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 4, 2016 2:41 AM CUT Award-winning director [Ava DuVernay](http://time.com/tag/ava-duvernay/ "undefined") will be the first African-American woman to head a live-action [feature film ](https://blog.womenandhollywood.com/ava-duvernay-will-be-first-african-american-woman-to-helm-100-million-film-4001572bacb4#.bkyagrkh5 "undefined")with a budget over $100 million with her forthcoming _A Wrinkle in Time._ DuVernay will share the feat with only two other women: Kathryn Bigelow, who was the first to direct a film with such a budget in her 2002 _K-19: The Widowmaker_, and Patty Jenkins with _Wonder Woman,_ which comes out next year, reports Women and Hollywood. In 2014, DuVernay was nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe for her most recent film [_Selma_](http://time.com/3659198/making-selma-history/?iid=sr-link6 "undefined"), which had a budget of $20 million. Her new TV series, _Queen Sugar —_ which she co-created with Oprah Winfrey — has just been [renewed ](http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/queen-sugar-renewed-season-2-ava-duvernay-1201828038/ "undefined")for a second season, and will premiere in September on OWN. Winfrey, who also stars in _A Wrinkle in Time,_ took to Twitter to congratulate DuVernay. > [](https://twitter.com/Oprah/status/760870759979970560) > [](https://twitter.com/AVAETC/status/760973354991951872) \[[_Women and Hollywood_](https://blog.womenandhollywood.com/ava-duvernay-will-be-first-african-american-woman-to-helm-100-million-film-4001572bacb4#.bkyagrkh5 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4438223/ava-duvernay-100-million-film/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4438223/ava-duvernay-100-million-film/"},"headline":"Ava DuVernay is the First African-American Woman to Direct a $100 Million Film","datePublished":"2016-08-04T02:41:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:03:04.428Z","description":"Only two other women share the feat","url":"https://time.com/4438223/ava-duvernay-100-million-film/","keywords":["motto","movies","Hollywood","Budget","ava duvernay"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ad190004f7e94e8/6988a10ecf40a88a0bc44550/gettyimages-566007175.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Casey Quackenbush","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/casey-quackenbush/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ad190004f7e94e8/6988a10ecf40a88a0bc44550/gettyimages-566007175.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ava DuVernay is photographed in Los Angeles at the Downtown Independent Theater.","caption":"Ava DuVernay is photographed in Los Angeles at the Downtown Independent Theater.","creditText":"Liz O. Baylen—LA Times/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4438223/ava-duvernay-100-million-film/","name":"Ava DuVernay is the First African-American Woman to Direct a $100 Million Film"}}]}] ```