DRAFTING W/ ALLY PANKIW

---

Ally Pankiw is on a mission to expand representation in the film industry — both on screens and behind the camera.

Since making her TV-directing debut in 2020 with Netflix’s Feel Good, the Canadian director and screenwriter has built an impressive slate of character-driven projects centering women and queer stories. Her credits include The Great, Black Mirror, Shrill and Schitt’s Creek. Last year, she wrote, directed and executive-produced her first feature film, Utopia’s I Used To Be Funny, starring Rachel Sennott. Most recently, she directed the Hulu documentary Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery.

Across all of her sets, Pankiw works to advance women and nonbinary directors of color through paid, behind-the-scenes mentorship. Under the Breadcrumbs Pledge, she’s now rallying a growing collective of top directors, showrunners and companies to join her in that effort.

For DRAFTING, the celebrated filmmaker lets us into her Notes app — where she admits she’s been “writing a lot of weird gay poetry.” She also shares photos from sets around the world, the album she has on repeat right now and a sneak peek at a brand-new film currently in development.

This is my most recent screenshot — I sent it to my girlfriend and, of course, asked, “This is me, right?” She agreed.

I make really elaborate lookbooks and treatments for all of my projects (I am Type A) — and this one is from a film I am developing, called The Hiding House. Let me know if anyone wants to buy it? ...It’s gay.

This is me on a set build in Mexico City, where I got to work with two of my fave HODs: Rina Yang and Emma Rose Mead (and a fan).

This is from my Notes app (AKA my brain). Since doing The Artist’s Way, I have been writing a lot of weird gay poetry and some potential titles for a collection of my poems are included in this specific “To Do” note. Please vote on them.

I have been listening to the new Lily Allen album incessantly — both because the lyricism is insanely good, but also because my dear friend Hayley Gene Penner co-wrote two tracks on it: “West End Girl” and “Ruminating.” And it makes me so happy when cool women make art together about loser men.

This is just me in merch from the LA Film Festival, which I think we desperately need to revive in this city. This is a pic I never posted, so it’s just rotting in my drafts folder.

I had to map out to the Integratron recently (never let anyone tell you it’s not hard to be the passenger princess). I went there for my birthday because I love being in the desert. I find it a very inspiring place to write and get older, and think about aliens and god.

I do a lot of mentorship and this is a pic of me and my most recent mentee, Hebah, in Melbourne like two weeks ago. We ended up twinning. Everyone should follow her for her impeccable taste in sweaters (and her filmmaking).