Rachel Goldberg is an American film and television director, writer, and professor of film and media arts. She is known for her independent short films and her more recent work directing genre television.
Goldberg graduated as a member of the University of Pennsylvania class of 1996 with a BA in Theatre and Psychology.[1] Following graduation Goldberg pursued theatre, collaborating with fellow graduates to independently produce a four-part theatrical summer series with each person directing one play while serving as the cast and crew for the other productions.[2] Goldberg then attended the California Institute of the Arts where she earned an interdisciplinary MFA in Directing for Film, Theatre and Television.[3] It was here where Goldberg found her affinity for film and decided to pursue film and television directing in addition to theatre, which she calls her first love.[4]
Goldberg began her career writing and directing experimental theatre, and continues that work along with her work in film and television. Goldberg's short films centred marginalized voices, dealing with themes of social justice, racial bias and societal inequality, abuse, and the transformative power of unlikely friendships. Since transitioning to directing episodic television in 2017, Goldberg has worked on over a dozen productions encompassing a range of genres including comic book, horror, true crime, mystery, and fantasy. Due to her work on Raising Dion and American Horror Story, Goldberg was recognized as one of 20 emerging female directors primed for studio projects by the Alice Initiative in 2020.[5]
Goldberg made her film directorial debut with Man, Where's My Shoe? In 2004. The 22 minute short was co-directed with at-risk teenage girls involved with a Los Angeles-based non-profit, Goldberg acted as their directing mentor and producer.[6]
As one of eight women selected for 2010–2011 class of the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women, Goldberg directed and cowrote her third short film Neighbors.[7] Jonathan Pope Evans wrote the initial screenplay, based on a reclusive mutual friend, before collaborating with Goldberg on subsequent drafts specifically for the program.[8] The following year, Goldberg was selected for Film Independent’s Project Involve where she wrote and directed Rosita Lopez for President.[9] [10] Her next project, MUTED, began as a Kickstarter campaign created by scriptwriter Brandi Nicole.[11] The film premiered at the 18th annual American Black Film Festival in June 2014 to critical acclaim, receiving the HBO Short Film Award and $10,000 grand prize.[12] The film aired on HBO in February 2015 to honour of Black History Month.[13] Also in 2014, Goldberg was selected for the 16th annual Film Independent Screenwriting Lab for her feature-length screenplay Transformation Awaits based on her 2012 short film, Neighbors.[14] Again, Goldberg collaborated with Jonathan Pope Evans to write the script that would become an academy's Nicholl Fellowship quarterfinalist and win the Grand Prize for LGBTQ screenplay at the 2014 Rhode Island International Film Festival.[15] [16]
In 2016, Ryan Murphy launched his Half initiative with the goal of achieving directorial gender and racial parity in his television productions.[17] The next year, Goldberg made her television debut directing episode seven of .[18] Prior to this, Goldberg, along with other Half directors, struggled to break into the world of episodic television and feature films with productions companies and networks unwilling to give female directors their first major project.[19] In a 2017 panel hosted by FX Networks, the women credited Murphy for initiating them into the world of high budget productions, noting that with a major project under their belt, opportunities began to materialize like never before.[20]
Following her experience directing under Half, Goldberg continued her genre television career directing episodes of Veronica Mars, Raising Dion, and Cloak & Dagger in 2019.[21] In 2021, Goldberg directed the first two episodes of Grendel, a Netflix series based on Matt Wagner's comic book series of the same name, written and produced by Andrew Dabb.[22] Goldberg and Dabb worked together previously on Netflix's Resident Evil.[23] The series was cancelled while completing its filming in 2022, leaving the partially complete eight-episode season in post production limbo with the option to shop the series to other distributors.[24]
In early 2023, it was announced that Goldberg was tapped by Marvel to direct the Wandavision spin-off, Agatha All Along alongside head writer and executive producer Jac Schaeffer and Wednesday director Gandja Monteiro.[25] The show completed filming prior to the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strike but had its released pushed back to the lead-up to Halloween 2024.[26]
In July 2023, The Hollywood Reporter announced Goldberg's feature directorial debut with action comedy, The BM, written by Family Guy alum Shawn Ries and Artie Johann.[27]
In 2015, Goldberg joined the faculty of Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts where she taught courses on story telling through film.[28] In 2019, Goldberg and a fellow film and media arts professor established The Female Gaze Film Festival to celebrate and share media with a female perspective.[29]
| Year | Title | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Man, Where's My Shoe? | Director, producer | |
| 2007 | Bottle Rockets | Director | |
| 2012 | Neighbors | Director, writer | |
| 2012 | Rosita Lopez for President | Director, writer | |
| 2014 | Muted | Director | |
| 2015 | Francisco y David | Associate producer | |
| 2017 | Bettas | Executive producer | |
| 2017 | Alpha | Executive producer |
| Year | Title | Role | Episode(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Director | "" | ||
| 2019 | Cloak & Dagger | Director | "Alignment Chart" | |
| 2019 | Veronica Mars | Director | "Heads You Lose" | |
| 2019 | Raising Dion | Director | "Issue #103: Watch Man" "Issue #104: Welcome to BIONA. Hope You Survive the Experience" | |
| 2020 | The Sinner | Director | "Part VII" | |
| 2021 | American Gods | Director | "Fire and Ice" | |
| 2018–2021 | Mayans M.C. | Director | "Cucaracha/K'uruch" "Xquic" "Overreaching Don't Pay" | |
| 2022 | Resident Evil | Director | "Home Movies" "Revelations" | |
| 2022 | Friend of the Family | Director | "The Mission" "Articles of Faith" | |
| 2022 | Grendel | Director | "Devil by the Dead" "Baptism for the Devil" | |
| 2023 | Gen V | Director | "Jumanji" | |
| 2024 | Agatha All Along | Director |
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Awarding body | Result | Shared with | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Bottle Rockets | Jury prize | Las Vegas International Film Festival | Scott Sullivan · Jamon Scot | ||
| 2012 | Neighbors | Best Short Films by Women | Burbank International Film Festival | |||
| 2012 | Neighbors | Alternative Spirit Award | Rhode Island International Film Festival | |||
| 2014 | Neighbors | Best Narrative Short | Translations: The Seattle Transgender Film Festival | |||
| 2014 | Rosita Lopez for President | HB0 Jury Award | Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival | Danni Conner | ||
| 2014 | Rosita Lopez for President | Best Live Action Short | NewFilmmakers Los Angeles | |||
| 2014 | Rosita Lopez for President | Overall Best Short | River Bend Film Festival, US | |||
| 2014 | Transformation Awaits | Best Screenplay | Rhode Island International Film Festival | Jonathan Evans | ||
| 2014 | Muted | Director's Choice Award | Rhode Island International Film Festival | Brandi Nicole · Tara Tomicevic | ||
| 2014 | Muted | Short Film Award | American Black Film Festival | Brandi Nicole | ||
| 2015 | Welcome to Camelot | Best Screenplay | Rhode Island International Film Festival | |||
| 2015 | Muted | Outstanding Independent Short | Black Reel Award | Brandi Nicole | ||
| 2015 | Muted | Special Jury Award | SoHo International Film Festival | Brandi Nicole · Tara Tomicevic | ||
| 2015 | Muted | Grand Jury Award | SoHo International Film Festival | |||
| 2015 | Muted | Best Short Film | Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival | Brandi Nicole | ||
| 2015 | Muted | Best Dramatic Short Film | Downtown Film Festival Los Angeles | Brandi Nicole · Tara Tomicevic | ||
| 2015 | Neighbors | The Director List Award | Connect Film Festival, AUS | |||
| 2015 | Neighbors | Bechdel Award for Storytelling | Connect Film Festival, AUS | |||
| 2015 | Neighbors | Best Picture (Best Director, Best Writer & Best Producer) | Connect Film Festival, AUS | Jonathan Evans · Bela Goldberg | ||
| 2016 | Welcome to Camelot | Donna Rothstein Excellence in Screenwriting Award | Garden State Film Festival |