Former soap opera actress Crystal Chappell knows a thing or two about the digital entertainment world. Following her decades-long career that included roles like Guiding Light's Olivia Spencer, Days of our Lives' Carly Manning, One Life to Live's Maggie Carpenter, and Santa Barbara's Jane Kingsley, she created the online soap Venice: The Series -- in 2009, long before digital dramas were the hot thing in the entertainment sphere. Now, she's at it again. But this time, she didn't just launch a series -- she launched an entire online network.
Titled Reel Women's Network (RWN), the new subscription-based streaming service showcases films, shows, web series, documentaries, and digital content created by women and women-identified filmmakers and content creators.
"Women filmmakers have been woefully under-represented in all aspects of the industry. We hope to help change that," Chappell says in an RWN press release. "We're looking forward to bringing a fresh perspective to the world of streaming and to advance the unique voice of women filmmakers to viewers worldwide."
The platform will offer a home for women filmmakers to promote and stream their content and also to highlight their upcoming projects.
"Our goal is to support and promote independent projects by women and help grow their audiences," Chappell says.
Reel Women's Network is a joint venture between Chappell, President of Open Book Productions (the company behind Venice: The Series), and Jessica and Linda Hill of Bella Productions, the sister company of Bella Book and Distribution, a leading LGBTQ publisher and distributor. As digital drama fans may already know, the Hills are the creators, writers, and executive producers behind Beacon Hill, which just released its second season.
"I am so excited to be working with such AMAZING, TALENTED women," Chappell tweeted about RWN.
HERE IT IS!! I am SO excited to be working with such AMAZING TALENTED Women! Please check out our site! https://t.co/Phmhe3nC5i ❤️ https://t.co/jhVei4gfBz
- Crystal Chappell (@crystalchappell) April 8, 2020
For more information and to sign up for Reel Women's Network, visit the streaming service's official website.
What do you think about Crystal Chappell launching a new streaming service? What are your thoughts on having an online network dedicated to content created by women? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
