Fundraising Underway for 1929 Women’s Air Derby Film

The Hemlock Films script follows the story of the 20 women who took part in the California-to-Ohio air race.

Thursday, April 04, 2024 at 09:08 AM ET

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Five out of 20 women finished the first Women's National Air Derby, flying from Santa Monica, CA to Cleveland in 1929. [Credit: National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution]

Key Takeaways:

Hemlock Films is developing a feature film about the 1929 Women's Air Derby, seeking over $10 million in funding to bring the story to theaters.
The film will focus on the 20 pioneering women pilots, including Amelia Earhart and Louise Thaden, who overcame elements, sabotage, and chauvinism during the first cross-country air race for females.
Inspired by Gene Nora Jessen's book *Sky Girls*, the script centers on Louise Thaden and aims to be a narrative film, similar in tone to *A League Of Their Own*.
The company is actively fundraising and searching for actors and period-correct aircraft to realize the project.

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Hemlock Films, the company that brought the aviation world the films Rise Above: WASP (2019), Space Chase USA (2019), The Restorers (2003), and Red Tail Reborn (2007), is looking for help to bring the story of the 1929 Women’s Air Derby to theaters as a feature.

The story follows the 20 women who took part in the “Powder Puff Derby,” which was humorist Will Rogers’ facetious name for the California-to-Ohio air race that was the first time females were allowed to compete. The participants included aviation notables such as Louise Thaden, Florence “Pancho” Barnes, Amelia Earhart, and Bobbi Trout. The women fought the elements, deliberate sabotage, and chauvinism to pursue aviation.