Mindy Kaling just made a historic deal with Amazon—and this feels so right
In a move that proves women in Hollywood are finally starting to get their due, Mindy Kaling is in early negotiations with Amazon Studios to snag a $13 million rights deal for Late Night, which just premiered at Sundance. While movies that have premiered at this festival have technically sold for more, this is currently the highest amount for a domestic-only deal. And it’s a pretty freaking big deal—for Kaling, and for all women of color working in the industry.
Kaling stars in, produced, and wrote the comedy, and it’s directed by Nisha Ganatra, who worked on the The Mindy Project. The film follows an Indian-American comedy writer (Kaling) who’s hired by a seasoned late-night talk show host (Emma Thompson) to help modernize her white male writer’s room.
This weekend was crazy. I’m overwhelmed by all your support and excitement for #LateNightTheMovie. It’s taken years and years of working alone on it, uncertain it would ever be seen. So, yeah, my heart is about to explode. Thank you.
— Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling) January 28, 2019
In a statement to Cnet on January 27th, Kaling said, "It seems fitting that this film written by, directed by, and focused on women will be shared with the world by a studio that is anchored by another incredible female.
That other “incredible female” is Jennifer Salke, the new chief of Amazon Studios, and a veteran television executive who’s behind hits like NBC’s This Is Us. Salke told Deadline, “The moment the lights came up after the premiere, we knew Late Night is a film our viewers will love and talk about. It’s an incisive workplace comedy that reinvents all the tropes about women. We too rarely get to see female characters like this—complex, flawed, and unapologetically ambitious.”
Amazon Studios was one of four serious bidders for Kaling’s movie, and it’s Salke’s first major film festival agreement. It’s also a majorly empowering development for women of color everywhere.
