Janet Mock & Ryan Murphy Team On Netflix Film About Former Washington Post Journalist Janet Cooke

Nellie Andreeva
·2 min read

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EXCLUSIVE: Pose writer, director and producer Janet Mock has set her first major project under the landmark overall deal she signed at Netflix last year. Mock has partnered with producer Ryan Murphy on Janet, a film which chronicles the true and complicated story of Washington Post journalist Janet Cooke, for Netflix.It will mark Mock’s feature film debut.

Cooke famously won a Pulitzer Prize in 1981 for her investigative piece “Jimmy’s World” only to have it taken away when it was revealed she made the entire story up.

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Mock, a former journalist herself, is co-writing the screenplay with former Washington Post editor Ned Martel. She also is directing the film and will produce with Martel and Murphy. Janet falls under Murphy’s giant overall deal at Netflix.

The film is currently casting for the roles of Cooke, her editor Bob Woodward and his boss Katherine Graham. The movie will shoot later this summer in Washington, D.C.

“Helming Janet Cooke’s story is a full circle moment for me,” said Mock. “I began my career as a journalist, dreaming of telling stories that mattered for a living. I am thrilled to partner with Netflix for my feature debut, centered on a young black woman at the Washington Post and her ambitious and complicated quest to make the front page — no matter what.”

Mock made history as the first Black trans woman to establish an overall deal with a major studio in her pact with Netflix. Janet continues Mock’s working relationship with Murphy, who co-created and executive producers Pose with Steven Canals and Brad Falchuk. In addition to her work on Pose, Mock also directed an episode of Murphy’s Netflix series The Politician and wrote and directed two episodes of the upcoming Ryan Murphy limited series Hollywood, for which she is also an EP.

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