J.J. Abrams hires actress/director Victoria Mahoney as the second unit director for STAR WARS: EPISODE IX.

For a female, becoming a director for a major franchise is a big deal. For an African-American female, it’s definitely more so, and with good reason. It’s only been in recent years that we’ve had more females taking on the director role, with Ava DuVernay being one of them, having directed the Disney adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time.

It was a big step for black females, and we hope that more of those kinds of steps will be taken in the near future. Star Wars is adding to that step with the hiring of African-American actress Victoria Mahoney in the second unit director role for Star Wars: Episode IX.

https://twitter.com/ava/status/986378268742828032

Mahoney started as an actress, having minor roles in TV shows and movies like Seinfeld and Legally Blonde, before going behind the camera, directing episodes in TV shows like Queen Sugar, Grey’s Anatomy, Gypsy, and the upcoming American-version of Misfits.

(source)