The Founders

Directed By Carrie Schrader and Charlene Fisk

They were not supposed to be athletes. They were not supposed to get paid to play. They were not supposed call the shots. But, they did.

  • ABOUT
  • BIO
They were not supposed to be athletes. They were not supposed to get paid to play. They were not supposed to call the shots. But in 1950, 13 amateur women golfers battled society, finances and sometimes even each other to stake their claim to become professional sportswomen by creating the Ladies Professional Golf Association (The LPGA). With humour, grit and raw talent, these underdogs not only changed the course of women’s sport but created a timeless story of redemption and endurance. Through rare, archival footage, historical re-enactments and current-day interviews with surviving founders and leading players, we tell that story – a special legacy – in this feature-length documentary. While their male counterparts drew adoring crowds and handsome purses for their athletic achievements, The Founders used money from their own pockets to stage tournaments in small, far-flung towns that questioned whether female golfers were even worth watching. Together, they logged thousands of miles a week just for the opportunity to tee off on courses they also had to groom! Long overdue, this film is about finally recognizing those unseen efforts and identifying The Founders as true icons of sport and equality. The film isn’t just for those who frequent the golf course. This film is for anyone who believes in the transformative power of defying the odds.

Carrie Schrader is an award-winning writer-director of short films, commercials, and feature-length films. She co-directed the short film “Don’t Mess With Texas” with Tricia Cooke and Ethen Coen (Coen brothers) and directed the Netflix commercial “Batdad: Battle For Bedtime” (Peacock, Amazon). She currently earns her living from multiple write-for-hire contracts specializing in adapting real-life stories into film and television. Her latest is with A Really Good Home Pictures, which just debuted “Unstoppable,” produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Her films have won film festival awards internationally, and she’s honed both leadership and collaborative spirit in the Orchard Project Episodic Lab, the Outfest Screenwriting Lab, IFP, and the Austin Film Festival. She is the creator of #nicewhitemom videos, which critically explore with comedy how white women perpetuate racism. Carrie has a ridiculously expensive but surprisingly useful MFA in directing from Columbia University and will be forever proud of her early days as a theater nerd.