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Tracy Oliver

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Tracy Oliver
Born
Tracy Yvonne Oliver

1988 or 1989 (age 35–36)[1]
Alma materStanford University (BA)
University of Southern California (MFA)
Occupations
  • Screenwriter
  • producer
  • director
  • actress

Tracy Yvonne Oliver is a screenwriter, producer, director, and actress. Oliver originally starred in the web series The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl (2011–2012) before serving as a writer on two comedy television series: ABC's The Neighbors (2012–2014) and Starz's Survivor's Remorse (2014–2015).

Oliver has co-written three movies: Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016), Girls Trip (2017), and Little (2019), with Girls Trip making her the first African-American woman to write a film that grossed over US$100 million. Oliver also created and wrote the BET television series First Wives Club and wrote the screenplay to the 2019 film adaptation of The Sun Is Also a Star.

Career

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Oliver is originally from South Carolina. She attended Stanford University, where she double majored in American studies and drama with hopes of becoming an actress, before becoming disillusioned with the roles she was getting. There, she met Issa Rae in a drama class, where the two first collaborated. After graduating from Stanford, Oliver attended the USC School of Cinematic Arts and graduated in 2010 with a Master's of Fine Arts in producing for film, television and new media. After earning her master's, Oliver created the black theater company Black Stage.[2] She portrayed Nina, the antagonist in Rae's web series The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl, from 2011 to 2012. In addition to acting in Awkward Black Girl, Oliver also served as a writer and producer.[3] Oliver wrote and circulated a spec script for a movie called Marriage Is for White People based on the "aggressive erasure of people of color" she observed in the 2009 romantic comedy film He's Just Not That Into You. The script got the attention of Dan Fogelman, who had the same manager as Oliver at the time and soon hired her as a writer on ABC's comedy-science fiction series The Neighbors, which ran from 2012 to 2014. Oliver then became a staff writer and story editor on the Starz comedy-drama television series Survivor's Remorse.[4][2]

Oliver partnered with Black-ish creator Kenya Barris to write the 2016 comedy film Barbershop: The Next Cut, starring Ice Cube and Cedric the Entertainer. The movie received positive reviews and grossed $55 million on a budget of $20 million. Oliver and Barris then co-wrote Girls Trip (2017), starring Queen Latifah, Regina Hall, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Tiffany Haddish.[5] Girls Trip received positive reviews and grossed over $140 million worldwide, making Oliver the first African-American woman to write a film that grossed over $100 million.[5]

She re-teamed with Barris on the 2019 film Little, which he co-produced and she co-wrote; she also received a "story by" credit.[6] Her first solo feature film writing credit came with the 2019 film The Sun Is Also a Star, an adaptation of the 2016 Nicola Yoon novel of the same name, which she also executive produced. Oliver was the showrunner and executive producer for the BET+ television series First Wives Club, an adaptation of the 1996 film of the same name with an all-black lead cast consisting of Jill Scott, Ryan Michelle Bathe, and Michelle Buteau. Its first season, which ran in 2019 and whose episodes were each directed exclusively by women directors, received critical praise, and it was renewed for a second season.[2][7][8] She directed an episode of the show, making her directorial debut. Oliver serves as creator, writer, and executive producer of the Amazon Studios half-hour television series Harlem,[9] a single camera comedy starring Meagan Good, Grace Byers, Jerrie Johnson and Shoniqua Shandai.[10] Malcolm D. Lee, who directed Girl's Trip, directed the first two episodes.[10]

A follow-up to Girl's Trip is reportedly in the works, with Oliver having written a treatment for it.[11] Oliver has also been reported to be writing a reboot to the 1995 film Clueless.[12] Oliver was included on the 2020 Ebony Power 100 List.[13] In March 2021, she signed an overall deal with Apple through her production company, Tracy Yvonne Productions.[14]

Oliver also runs a production company, Tracy Yvonne Productions.[15]

Filmography

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Television

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Year(s) Series Functioned as Ref.
Writer Creator Executive producer Actress Director
2011–2012 The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl Yes No No Yes[a] No [2]
2012–2013 The Neighbors Yes No No No No [16]
2014–2015 Survivor's Remorse Yes[b] No No No No [17]
2019–2021 First Wives Club Yes Yes Yes No Yes [18]
2021 Harlem Yes Yes Yes No No [19]

Film

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Year Film Functioned as Notes Ref.
Writer Executive producer Director
2016 Barbershop: The Next Cut Yes No No [17]
2017 Girls Trip Yes No No [2]
Trip Yes No Yes Short film [20]
2019 Little Yes No No [21]
The Sun Is Also a Star Yes Yes No [22]
2022 The Blackening Yes No No [23]

Notes

  1. ^ Lead role as Nina, 13 episodes.
  2. ^ Credited as executive story editor.

References

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  1. ^ Kwateng-Clark, Danielle (October 26, 2020). "Writer Tracy Oliver Opens Up About Issa Rae, 'First Wives Club' And Her Real 'Girls Trip'". Essence. Retrieved September 9, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e Obenson, Tambay (2019-05-16). "'Girls Trip' Screenwriter Tracy Oliver Has a Winning Strategy: Show Nerve". IndieWire. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  3. ^ "Writer Tracy Oliver Opens Up About Issa Rae, 'First Wives Club' And Her Real 'Girls Trip'". Essence.com. Retrieved 2018-02-07.
  4. ^ "Tracy Oliver Rewrites the Script for Her Career". Retrieved 2018-02-07.
  5. ^ a b "'Girls Trip' screenwriter Tracy Oliver talks making movie history". NBC News. 26 October 2017. Retrieved 2018-02-07.
  6. ^ Harriot, Michael (January 9, 2019). "#BlackGirlMagic: Black-ish Star Marsai Martin Set to Become Youngest Executive Producer in Hollywood History". The Grapevine. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  7. ^ Lopez, Kristen. "Tracy Oliver Brings The Past Back With 'First Wives Club' And More". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  8. ^ Vineyard, Jennifer (December 27, 2019). "Tracy Oliver on 'First Wives Club,' Empowerment and Booze". The New York Times. Retrieved September 9, 2024.
  9. ^ Jacobs, Meredith (14 January 2020). "Amazon Studios Announces Cast for Untitled Tracy Oliver Project". TV Insider. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  10. ^ a b "Tracy Oliver Sets Main Cast for Amazon Comedy Series, Reunites With 'Girls Trip' Director Malcolm D Lee". TheWrap. 2020-01-14. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  11. ^ Lattanzio, Ryan (2020-03-29). "Tiffany Haddish Says She and Her 'Girls Trip' Co-Stars Are Blazing Ahead on a Sequel". IndieWire. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  12. ^ Harris, Hunter (2019-06-19). "Little's Tracy Oliver Is Rewriting All Your Favorite Movies. Clueless Is Next". Vulture. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  13. ^ #teamEBONY (2020-02-26). "2020 EBONY POWER 100 LIST". EBONY. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  14. ^ "Tracy Oliver Inks Eight-Figure Overall Deal at Apple". The Hollywood Reporter. 2021-03-25. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  15. ^ "BET Networks Partners With Tracy Oliver's Production Company, Tracy Yvonne Productions, on the Return of "PROJECT CRE8"". www.businesswire.com. 2020-01-27. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  16. ^ White, Peter (March 25, 2021). "Tracy Oliver Lands Eight-Figure Overall Deal With Apple". Deadline. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  17. ^ a b Penrice, Ronda Racha (April 15, 2016). "Meet Tracy Oliver, Who Will Make You Laugh at Barbershop: The Next Cut". The Root. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  18. ^ Turchiano, Danielle (June 23, 2020). "Tracy Oliver on Finding the Humor, Heart and Heist of 'First Wives Club'". Variety. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  19. ^ Jones, Marcus (3 November 2021). "Harlem trailer touts guest stars Whoopi Goldberg, Jasmine Guy, and a Cousin Skeeter reunion". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  20. ^ Williams, Aaron (September 20, 2017). "Jhene Aiko Searches For Love And Closure In Her Short Film 'Trip'". Uproxx. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  21. ^ Sharf, Zack (April 22, 2019). "'Little' Screenwriter Speaks Out Against Film's 'Insensitive' Transphobic Joke: 'I Did Not Write It'". IndieWire. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  22. ^ Galuppo, Mia; Sun, Rebecca (May 31, 2018). "'Riverdale' Star Charles Melton Joins Yara Shahidi in 'The Sun Is Also a Star' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  23. ^ Radheyan Simonpillai, "TIFF 2022: The Blackening is horror comedy, not trauma porn" Archived 2022-09-25 at the Wayback Machine. Now, September 9, 2022.
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