Lizz Winstead

HOLLYWOOD DOES ABORTION reveals how, from the 1970s to the present, film and television have too often relied on dangerously misleading distortions about abortions and the people who seek them. This provocative and lively feature length documentary explores the ways in which abortion narratives onscreen and public policy both mimic and influence one another. Extensive archival imagery spans five decades of television and film, ranging from Maude and Dirty Dancing to Jane the Virgin and Juno, and creates a historical timeline to support the “story” of the film. In Hollywood Does Abortion, leading directors, writers, showrunners, and cultural critics share their personal and political reactions to these seminal depictions through the lens of today’s post-Roe world. Today, we see how a wide range of diverse Hollywood creators are racing to tell stories that push back against the seismic shift in access to abortion.

From the immediate aftermath of 9/11 to today stand-up comedians, talk-show hosts, sketch performers, television animators and other entertainers have used often-controversial jokes to unite and heal in the face of tragedy.

A downtown Manahattan gin mill plays host to a series of comic vignettes.

Comedian and disrupter extraordinaire Lizz Winstead (co-creator of The Daily Show) and her team of activists crisscross the U.S. to support abortion clinic staff and bust stigma. Pop culture icons and next-gen comics fuel this six-year road film activating small-town folks to rebuild vandalized clinics, exposing wrongdoer politicians, domestic terrorists, and media neglect as the race to the bottom ensues.

HBO stand-up comedy special starring Ellen DeGeneres, Paula Poundstone, Rita Rudner, Judy Tenuta and Lizz Winstead.