At Lifetime, it’s always been about the women.

Women who move history, women who are moved by history. Women who are victimized, women who survive, women who save themselves. Women who are pushed aside — and then learn to stand up.

It’s one of the strongest, most consistent network brands in the industry, telegraphing one simple message over a 37-year history: for women, about women.

And increasingly, by women.

Since Lifetime’s inception nearly four decades ago, the network has demonstrated that this concept is much more than a tagline; it has remained the network’s true North Star. This guiding philosophy has helped ensure the stories being told reflect the multifaceted experiences of women, and the obstacles they encounter, in tandem with deep societal and cultural changes.

As the ways in which women — both in the world and on television — are perceived by society have shifted over time, women have become an economic force. They’re rejecting stereotypes and pigeonholes, speaking out and taking charge. Lifetime has mirrored that evolution in a savvy and almost instinctual way, by always placing women at the center of its original programming and, later on, by hiring women in top roles behind the scenes. For nearly half of its existence, Lifetime has been led by women as CEO or president, and over 50% of the scripted programming department identifies as women.

While women may be leading the charge, this doesn’t mean the content is built on a foundation of a one-sided, fantastical kind of feminist empowerment. Alternatively, every possible speed bump or pothole experienced by women over the past 30-odd years in reality can be found nestled in the channel’s movies and series, where stories showcase the challenges women face — while simultaneously providing resolution or catharsis in their telling.

“We want to tell complex, emotional stories but give our audience that thrill and that escapist entertainment that they come for,” says director, Lifetime Original Movies, Mekita Faiye. “Every movie doesn’t have to be all things. Something like the Emmy-nominated story about Mahalia Jackson [this year’s “Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia”] was one untold story to bring to the universe. Then there are other movies that I’m just as proud of, which serve a different purpose. That’s what our audience comes to us for: that emotional roller-coaster ride.”

Increasingly, that roller coaster has been steered by women on set. In 2019, 78% of Lifetime’s original movies were directed by women, compared to 37% in premium and basic cable between 2019 and 2020. The network’s Broader Focus program — instituted as Broad Focus in 2014 — essentially codified what had been in play at the network for years: a commitment to not only have women directing, but to hire them for essential crew positions or train them up into those positions, and to field content ideas directly from women. Whether as a stand-alone original film or a movie series, Lifetime wants to hear stories about women, from women.

Angela Bassett directing the Lifetime Original Movie “Whitney.” The 2015 biopic, which chronicled the relationship of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, was Bassett’s directorial debut. Lifetime has provided many actors their first opportunities to branch out — and has catapulted them into successful new careers.

Eager to Take a Call

Want to make a movie at Lifetime? Give them a call. “It really is that easy,” says Sebastian Dungan, VP, movies, at A+E Networks. “That’s one of the great things about making dozens of movies a year.” (In the past 21 years, Lifetime has generated 400 movies and counting.)

“We’re making movies — but at a TV pace. Call us, and we will find a movie for you. Or bring us your passion project,” he adds.

That’s what Kyra Sedgwick did. “The Closer” star had been struggling to make “Story of a Girl” for 10 years but brought it to Lifetime and, says Dungan, “we were in production with it in months.” Sedgwick directed for the first time and included husband Kevin Bacon and daughter Sosie Bacon in the cast. Lifetime also permitted it to play at the Los Angeles Film Festival before its 2017 premiere, and Sedgwick was nominated for a DGA award.

“Our culture continues to struggle with the concept that women’s stories are additive and worthwhile,” says Sedgwick. “Lifetime knows they are essential.”

That struggle over the worth of Lifetime’s content has been at the heart of how its original programming has been perceived: Are movies like “Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?” (1996, remade in 2016 with James Franco writing the revised story) schlocky, or empowering, or just good entertainment? Was “Army Wives” — a series that outperformed “Mad Men” for viewership among women in its first season when it premiered in 2007 — soapy or something that redefined how military spouses were perceived?

Elisabeth Rohm made her directorial debut with the Lifetime Original Movie “Girl in the Basement,” inspired by the tragic true story of a man who imprisoned his daughter for more than two decades in the basement of their home.

Understanding today’s Lifetime means first understanding how it found its voice. Birthed from the merger of a small-scale women’s programming cable channel called Daytime and the health-oriented Lifetime Medical Network, the nascent channel got a boost when pioneers, including programming head Patricia Fili-Krushel, targeted women viewers through second-run acquisitions of shows like “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd.” By 1990, the network was planning for 15 original movies over the course of three years, with the first two being “Memories of Murder” (1990) and “Wildflower” (1991), the latter starring a young Reese Witherspoon.

Over the next 10 years, original movies proved clear ratings boosters, and the budget for them, as well as the number of them, expanded exponentially. A dalliance with courting viewers across demographics initially proved unprofitable, but by mid-decade, Lifetime had committed $100 million to its original slate. Out came a slew of high-drama films with lurid, often literal titles that defined what a “Lifetime movie” was for many years to come. These titles included: “Perfect Body” (1997); “Co-Ed Call Girl,” with Tori Spelling (1996); and one that set the stage for the next decade: “Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story” (1995), which boldly provided a woman-identifying antihero rarely seen in mainstream productions for years to come (star Sela Ward received an Emmy nomination).

As the network began to adapt its strategy and speak to more women, the content evolved. Women characters were no longer merely in dangerous situations they had to escape; they were showing solidarity with other women. Carole Black became the channel’s first woman president and CEO in 1999, and original scripted TV series such as “Strong Medicine” and “Any Day Now” took the stage, giving women room to be more than just objects who needed rescue.

Films like 1998’s “Fifteen and Pregnant,” which starred Kirsten Dunst, helped usher in a new era for the network. At the start of the millennium, the prestige of Lifetime’s original movies soared: 2001’s “What Makes a Family” was produced by Whoopi Goldberg and Barbra Streisand and starred Brooke Shields. Actors found meaty roles in Lifetime productions: Kristen Bell (“Gracie’s Choice,” 2004); Kaley Cuoco (“To Be Fat Like Me,” 2007; “Drew Peterson: Untouchable,” 2012); and Taraji P. Henson (“Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story,” 2011). Heather Locklear, who will appear in “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff: The Kristine Carlson Story,” also appeared in two earlier films: “Angels Fall” (2007) and “Flirting With Forty” (2008).

“Everybody watches [Lifetime movies],” says Locklear. “They’re warm and comforting.”

“Their movies have teachable moments,” adds Wendy Williams, who ultimately executive produced her own biopic, this year’s “Wendy Williams: The Movie.” “A Lifetime movie means I will always have something to watch.”

Continuing to thread that needle by producing ripped-from-the-headlines stories that straddle women’s empowerment and women’s endangerment might have been a comfortable place to rest for the channel, but executives and ambitious filmmakers continued to propel it forward. In the ensuing years, Lifetime continued making strides, garnering a multitude of notable milestones and achievements along the way. In 2006, “The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life Is Not a Fairy Tale” became Lifetime’s highest-rated original film of the decade. In 2012, an all-Black cast populated the remake of “Steel Magnolias” (star Alfre Woodard was nominated for an Emmy). And Angela Bassett directed 2015’s “Whitney,” about the late Whitney Houston (Bassett was nominated for a DGA Award).

Opening the Door to Pivot
The future for Lifetime wasn’t just with women — it was diverse, too. And that’s when Broad Focus (later renamed Broader Focus) first clarified, then amplified, the company’s next evolution: to put women in control of telling their own stories.

Heather Locklear had been sidelined for a few years, thanks to some personal issues that made big headlines. “I wasn’t sure if I was [going to return to acting] or not,” she admits. “‘Do I want to work again? Can I work again?’”

The answer was yes, once the right project came along, and that right project turned out to be her latest movie for Lifetime, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff: The Kristine Carlson Story.” Directed by Ellen S. Pressman and executive produced by Maura Dunbar, Mark Teitelbaum and Meghan McCain, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” (premiering Oct. 16) gave Locklear a safe space to pivot back into the public eye.

“I thought, that’s amazing to have all of these women [running things],” says Locklear. “This project being so good — and on Lifetime — made it easy. It’s always good to work with Lifetime.”

Opening doors and pivoting is part of Lifetime’s unique language: Between 1994 and 2016, women wrote or directed 73% of Lifetime’s original films.

Whether through programs like the network’s Broader Focus, which provides first-time directors and other aspiring crew a chance to shadow veterans while supplying them with room, board and a stipend as they learn; or through hiring names like Williams, Sedgwick, Salt-N-Pepa, Elizabeth Smart, Toni Braxton and Lorena

Bobbitt to tell their own stories as executive producers; or hiring veterans like Patty Jenkins and Dianne Houston to revive their careers with fresh directing jobs, Lifetime is at the forefront of giving women a supportive environment to do their own evolving.
“It’s about the women that we opened up a new door for,” says former agent Tanya Lopez, who joined the network in 2007 and is now executive VP, scripted content. “We think it’s really important to give someone a job. Enough of the internship. Direct deposit is much more empowering.”

Actor Elisabeth Rohm (“Law & Order”) has directed her first two films for the network over the past year — “Girl in the Basement” and “Switched Before Birth” — and she calls Lifetime a “cinema family.”

“I owe Lifetime a debt of gratitude for empowering me as an actress, and also as a director,” she says. “Tanya makes it abundantly clear when she chooses to mentor or groom you that she’s there for you. She called me on the first day before principal shooting and said … she wanted me to fly.”

Robin Roberts, who executive produced not just “Mahalia” but also 2020’s “Stolen by My Mother: The Kamiyah Mobley Story,” had a similar experience with Lopez, saying the exec asked her, “What else you got?” while they were making “Mobley” — and it was from those conversations that “Mahalia” was born.

In addition, she notes, “Mahalia” was able to dig deeper into the gospel singer-activist’s story than a straightforward biopic might have thanks to the network, which pushed for something people hadn’t heard already. “They want to not only entertain their audience but educate them,” says Roberts.

The ability to do that digging comes in part from a diverse backbench. Faiye is one of five people of color on the 10-person Lifetime Original Movies team, which means she’s not the only Black voice in any given conversation.

“Diversity can change the authenticity of a movie,” says Faiye. “Our team does a good job of leaning into it — and doesn’t think that just because you’re Black you have the definitive perspective on this or that. Every Black person in the world has a unique point of view — so this makes it easier. You’re not going out on a limb.”

“We have worked really hard to get to 50-50 representation,” adds movies VP Dungan. “If we’re not having equity in key roles, it’s almost like, who else will? We can’t ask anyone else to do it if we’re not doing it. There are a lot of female-skewing networks, but we are definitionally television for women.

“For a long time, people were aware of this disparity, but there wasn’t any urgency to do anything about it. When I came to Lifetime in 2015, it was made clear to me that this is part of my job.”

For Roberts, that stance is what makes her want to be in Lifetime’s corner. “There’s a difference between diversity and inclusion. Diversity is being on the team — inclusion is getting in the game. Lifetime isn’t just about getting on the team.”

All of this is a far cry from Hollywood’s standard operating procedure, in which the stereotype is of a (usually male) director,

somewhere between auteur and autocrat, who may or may not have time to give his cast all the emotions Lifetime offers on its sets. Is this kinder, gentler, more feminine approach to making movies heralding a wave of the future?

“Absolutely,” insists Rohm. “Your bosses are women who are creating bosses who are women, and you feel it from the actors who say how much they enjoy being directed by women. There’s a feminine perspective on how to get it done, and to elevate. To not necessarily be the loudest voice, but be the voice you need to lean in to hear.”

Clearly, Lifetime is far from finished evolving. Today, it’s a “self-generating” ideas machine, as scripted content senior VP Maggini puts it, constantly “cooking up our own ideas.”

“We spend a lot of time looking for true stories and biopics, and we also go out and get them.”

Some of those stories coming up later this fall include films like “Dying to Belong,” starring Shannen Doherty, and a film remake of 1980s series “Highway to Heaven,” starring Lifetime movie regular Jill Scott in the late Michael Landon’s role as the angel on earth. Scott, who’s executive producing on “Heaven,” has starred in four Lifetime films thus far and is a longtime fan.

“I’ve been watching Lifetime grow with their stories,” she says. “I’m a witness to it. I’ve seen a woman director and woman DP — and I’ve never seen that [before]. That was so thrilling, to see so many women on crew. I’m excited to be part of something that really feels progressive and genuine, in an industry that sometimes feels like it’s only trying to get to the finish line.”

“I’ve been in productions where there are wars between directors and production,” adds Scott. “Here, directors are heard, not tread upon.” In the end, as Scott notes, it really does come down to voice: Lifetime defining its own, then helping others to find theirs — and share those voices with the world.