Gina Prince-Bythewood was born Gina Maria Prince on June 10, 1969. She is an American film director and screenwriter. She is known for directing and producing the films Disappearing Acts (2000), Love & Basketball (2000), The Secret Life of Bees (2008), and Beyond the Lights (2014). Prince-Bythewood was adopted by Bob Prince, a computer programmer, and Maria Prince, a nurse, when she was 3 weeks old. Her adoptive father is white and her adoptive mother is of El Salvadorian and German descent. She grew up in the white middle-class neighborhood of Pacific Grove, California. Her adoptive parents had four children before adopting her, so she has four siblings. She said she sought out her birth mother recently, but it was not a positive experience. Her birth mother, who is Caucasian, was a teenager when she gave her up for adoption, and because her family knew her child would be black, they wanted the young girl to have an abortion. In 1987, Prince-Bythewood graduated from Pacific Grove High School. She attended UCLA's film school, where she also ran competitive track. At UCLA, she received the Gene Reynolds Scholarship for Directing and the Ray Stark Memorial Scholarship for Outstanding Undergraduates. She graduated in 1991. “I am seeing a definite shift, but it doesn’t mean that the numbers are not still absolutely abysmal,” Gina Prince-Bythewood talks about the fight for gender parity and inclusivity behind the camera. That fight, she says, is far from over. The writer-director explains, “The hope is that we can have success when we get the opportunity, and that just opens doors for others to help us change the narrative. We have to change the narrative that women are unable to succeed at the big-budget level.” Few women have had the opportunity to try their hand at blockbusters but there are plenty examples of women-directed pics scoring big at the box office. And with the recent record-breaking successes of Anna Boden, who -co-directed “Captain Marvel” and Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman,” it seems like studios may finally be receiving the message that female filmmakers are far from box office poison. Things seem to at long last be changing. More women directors are being hired for big budget pics, Cathy Yan and Cate Shortland among them. Media is also starting to pay much closer attention to the issue. Prince-Bythewood attributes the evolving landscape in part to #TimesUp. As for how Hollywood’s most influential players can effect change, Prince-Bythewood emphasizes, “It’s absolutely on the studios to continue to step out of the comfort zone; it’s up to actors to use their power; it’s up to directors who are through the door to keep that door open, and pull others up. What you need is people in the fight, people to help you fight, and people to show you what the fight is. I really think it’s the only way it’s going to change.”

click here