Ava DuVernay Celebrates the Women Who Inspired Her Breakthrough

Ava DuVernay, the award-winning director, writer and producer, received national acclaim for her groundbreaking films Selma and Middle of Nowhere. Now, she celebrates the African-American women who inspired her, and expresses her wish to be an inspiration to other women seeking to break into Hollywood. "So often, when you're looking at women who are doing it now, they're giving it to themselves," she says, referring to standouts like Shonda Rhimes, Oprah Winfrey and Nina Shaw. These wildly successful women created opportunities for themselves and transformed the way Ava viewed her own big break.