Women Behind the Scenes Spotlight: Moira Buffini

Today’s Women Behind the Scenes spotlight is shone on playwright, writer, executive producer and series creator Moira Buffini.

Moira was born in Cheshire, England and started writing when she was 14 years old, penning a play called “The Fantasy Life of Gilbert Cunliffe.”

Before starting her writing career, Moira was a struggling actress, but since she “couldn’t cope with being unemployed” she started writing because while the “rewards (were) slower to come, ultimately (the rewards were) much greater.”

She starting in British theatre around 1992, spending the next two decades writing, producing and directing plays. Her big breakthrough came in 2002 with her fifth play called “Dinner,” which opened at the National Theatre. In fact, she is one of only two living female playwrights to have had a full-length play produced in London’s Olivier Theatre.

She had a very successful year in 2010, working on three films and four plays.

Among the films she worked on include:

• The screenplay for the 2010 film Tamara Drewe, which starred Gemma Arterton and Dominic Cooper;
• The screenplay for the 2011 film Jane Eyre that starred Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender;
• The screenplay for the 2012 film Byzantium, which starred Saoirse Ronan and Gemma Arterton; and
• The script for the 2017 film Viceroy’s House that stars Hugh Bonneville, Gillian Anderson and Michael Gambon.

The 8-episode series Harlots, which finished its run on Hulu two weeks ago, is her latest project for which she collaborated on with actress Alison Newman (known for her work on the British soap opera EastEnders). This is a project they had actually been talking about for years

Harlots was set in 18th century Georgian London, starring Samantha Morton (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), Lesley Manville (Maleficent), and Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey). The project was inspired by the stories of real women and was directed only by women. In fact, the entire project boasted an all-female writing and producing team as well.

Harlots can be viewed at Hulu here.