Variety’s 2024 Comedy Impact Report: Ayo Edebiri, Julio Torres and Ramy Youssef Among Honorees

Sterling K. Brown – Actor
Cord Jefferson – Writer, director and producer
Tracee Ellis Ross – Actor
Jeffrey Wright – Actor

For Jefferson, Oscar-winning screenwriter of “American Fiction” as well as its director and producer, bravery is required to make any art — including comedy, where “you need to trust your instincts.” Making the satire, Jefferson drew upon the bravery of his creative and producing teams, as well as on strong performances from a cast led by Wright, Brown and Ross. Some of his performers came from dramatic backgrounds but “saw the way that this movie was going to be funny in the subtleties,” he says, finding the humanity within all of these people. Jefferson didn’t find much courage in potential backers (“The common refrain was, ‘I wish that I worked at a place where we could make this movie’”), but if anything comes from the success of “American Fiction,” Jefferson hopes there will be more willingness to find “the next person who is courageous with their own voice and writes a personal, unique piece of work.”