Genre
Synopsis
Movies like The Right Stuff, Apollo 13, and the miniseries From The Earth To The Moon have made John Glenn and the original Mercury 7 astronauts part of our collective consciousness. Alongside these men was another group of American Heroes -- the Mercury 13. Inspired by the true history of the thirteen women tested to be astronauts in the early '60s, THE MERCURY 13 is a drama about being extraordinary before your time. Jerrie Cobb and Jackie Cochran, two of the fastest pilots in America, are recruited for testing by Randy Lovelace, the scientist who tests the male Mercury astronauts, and are found to excel – but while these women have the Right Stuff, it's the wrong time. Told through the the counterpoint of the journeys of two heroic women, this is a complex and fascinating story about American culture, politics, and the space race that resonates today.
Bio
Named by Variety as "talent to watch," Maria has directed 6 successful independent feature films, the latest of which are currently available on Netflix and Amazon: A Sort of Homecoming, with Laura Marano and Katherine McNamara, and For the Love of George, with Rosanna Arquette, Tate Donovan, Rex Lee & Kristen Johnston.
Burton's earlier films are Just Friends, Temps, Manna from Heaven (MGM/SONY) and Sign My Snarling Movie – a doc about The Bobs. Burton helms her production company, Five Sisters Productions, with her real-life siblings, through which she directed Old Guy, starring Peri Gilpin (Frasier), produced The Happiest Day of His Life (MTV/Logo), Kings, Queens & In-Betweens, and Julia Sweeney's Letting Go of God (Showtime). She's Co-Chair of the DGA's WSC and a member of Alliance of Women Directors and Film Fatales.
Burton was selected for the 2017-18 CBS Directing Initiative, ProjectHER, for which she wrote and directed Good Eggs, the Ryan Murphy HALF Initiative, and has been named a director in the SONY Diversity Program and the Disney/ABC 2018-20 Directing Program.
Burton is developing MidLife; Searching for Tamsen Donner, based on her mother's award winning books; and Mercury 13, a drama inspired by the women tested for the original astronaut program, which has been named to the Athena List, the BitchList/Bechdel List, won a CineStory Fellowship, and is a Nicholl Quarterfinalist.
Awards History
Nicholl Fellowship 2016 - Quarterfinalist
Athena List 2016 - Winner
Writers Lab 2021 - Semifinalist
