ALL POSTS
Kasi Lemmons Directing Black Nativity Starring Jennifer Hudson
Kasi Lemmons, director of Eve’s Bayou, has begun principal photography on Black Nativity. Shooting began this week in New York City, on the film which is based on Langston Hughes’ 1961...
Cross Post: Uppity Women: How Maya and Kathryn Bigelow Continue to Threaten the Status Quo
“A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it’s in hot water.” — Eleanor Roosevelt If you want to win an Oscar for Best Picture now, make an...
Rise of the Underdog: Kimberly Peirce and the Connection Between Carrie and Boys Don’t Cry
This month’s issue of The Advocate features an incredible interview, with Kimberly Peirce, talking at length about her upcoming remake of Carrie and its surprising linkage to Peirce’s...
The Sun Sets on 30 Rock
As we wrote last week two female written sitcoms were shut down last week, Ben and Kate and Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23. We also said goodbye to Private Practice which did not get...
Cross Post: A Common Problem I See In Plays By Women Playwrights. It’s Not What You Think.
My theatre company is in heavy season planning mode, so I’ve recently read dozens of new plays. I’m always reading new plays, but this time of year, I’m reading a lot of plays, all...
2013 Women-Created TV Pilots
It’s prime pilot season for the networks. After all the news that’s been coming out in the last six months or so about women-created shows, we wanted to see how that’s holding up...
Countdown to 2014: Amy Poehler is Writing a Book
Get your phone alerts ready, Amy Poehler is writing a book that will drop in 2014. This should also be known as your new favorite book of all time. Poehler signed with It Books, an imprint of Harper...
Sundance Interview: Lana Wilson and Martha Shane – Directors of After Tiller
One of the highlights of Sundance was seeing the documentary After Tiller directed by Martha Shana and Lana Wilson. Here's our conversation right after they won a $5,000 grant from Women in...
For the First Time Women are the Majority on Berlin Film Festival Competition Jury
The 2013 Berlin International Film Festival announced this year’s competition jury. In a first for the festival, women are the majority of the voting body—comprising 4 of the 7 jury...
Cross Post: Reel Girl’s Gallery of Girls Gone Missing From Children’s Movies in 2013
In 2012, I waited until the last possible minute. It wasn’t until December that I posted Reel Girl’s Gallery of Girls Gone Missing from Children’s Movies in 2012. Even though in the...
Michael Moore: Zero Dark Thirty is a Movie About ‘How We Don’t Listen to Women.’
Always controversial and rarely quiet political filmmaker and author, Michael Moore, has spoken out in defense of Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty. Moore took to Facebook (and Time.com),...
Jill Soloway and Lake Bell Take Home Major Awards at 2013 Sundance Feature Film Awards
Sundance wrapped up over the weekend and announced their 2013 Film Awards. Women filmmakers took away some of the bigger prizes of the festival including Jill Soloway winning the directing award for...
Noemie Lvosky Receives 13 Nominations for France’s Cesar Awards
The nominations for France’s César Awards were announced and women, specifically one in general, are dominant. Noémie Lvovsky received 13 nominations for her film, Camille...
Jimmy Olsen is now Jenny Olsen in Zach Snyder’s Man of Steel?
While it’s still unconfirmed, earlier this week, io9 reported that Zach Snyder made a huge change in his upcoming stab at the Superman franchise, Man of Steel. Reportedly (and according to...
Sundance News: Women In Film Awards Grants to Jordana Spiro, Martha Shane and Lana Wilson
During its 7th annual Sundance Filmmakers panel, Women In Film – Los Angeles awarded $30,000 in grants to women filmmakers. Jordana Spiro, director of Skin, received the Women In Film/CalmDown...
Amy Hobby and Anne Hubbell Launch Women-Focused Tangerine Entertainment
Industry veterans, Amy Hobby and Anne Hubbell are launching Tangerine Entertainment, a production company and community meant to support women directors and interesting and strong roles for...
Sundance Watch: Austenland – Directed by Jerusha Hess
Austenland, directed by Jerusha Hess, centers around Jane (Keri Russell) who goes to a Jane Austen themed resort to find her own Austen-esque leading man. The film was acquired by Sony Pictures...
Sundance Review – Salma: Tamil Poet’s Struggle Against Patriarchy
Salma, a film premiering at the Sundance Film Festival this year, focuses on the life of the prolific Tamil poet, by British documentary filmmaker Kim Longinotto. It highlights the struggles of a...
Sexist Movie Poster of the Day: Movie 43
Another day, another objectification of women's bodies, this time in the form of Movie 43's poster, showing a barely clad woman for some ridiculous reason. Marketing? It's a pretty...
2012 Celluloid Ceiling Study Results Are In. Spoiler Alert: They Aren’t Great
Following the Sundance Institute & Women in Film’s unveiling of their new groundbreaking study of women directors during the Sundance Film Festival, comes Dr. Martha Lauzen's annual...
Women-Created, Sitcom Voices Silenced: Apartment 23 and Ben and Kate Pulled From Line Up
This was a sad week in television for me. Two of my favorite sitcoms, Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23 and Ben and Kate were pulled from ABC and Fox’s schedules effective immediately. As...
Sundance Watch: Blackfish – Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Blackfish, a documentary directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, has been getting a lot of buzz at Sundance since its premiere. The doc follows the history of killer whales in captivity leading up to...
Five Minutes with Jane Campion
This week at Sundance I got to sit down for a brief couple of minutes to check in with Jane Campion who was in town promoting her six hour mini series Top of the Lake which will premiere on the...
Kathryn Bigelow Covers Time and Appears on The Colbert Report
Kathryn Bigelow went on The Colbert Report for one of her most candid interviews yet. She was set to appear on the show weeks ago but admitted she had been "spooked" by the Senate...
Sundance Watch: Afternoon Delight – Directed and Written by Jill Soloway
Jill Soloway's Afternoon Delight, premiered the other day at Sundance. The film centers around a thirtysomething couple (the hilarious Kathryn Hahn and Josh Radnor) living in the Los Angeles...
Sundance Deals: Women Directed and Women Centric Round Up
Here are some of the deals coming out of Sundance in the past couple days that are women directed or women focused films. Sundance 2013: 'Pussy Riot' Doc to Air on HBO...
Kathryn Bigelow Wants You to Support Women Working in National Security
Some criticism against Kathryn Bigelow during The Hurt Locker era was lobbed against Bigelow’s statements that filmmaking for her isn’t about breaking gender roles. However, as Jessica...
Sundance Watch: The East – Co-Written and Starring Brit Marling
The East, co-written by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij (who directed and previously collaborated with Marling on Sound of My Voice) centers around an ex-FBI agent (Marling) who goes undercover to...
Toni Collette and Geena Davis to Headline Two TV Pilots
Toni Collette and Geena Davis are coming back to your television screens in two new bad-ass women focused television shows. It’ll be great to have these two extremely talented actresses back on...
NBC’s Revolution Elects Woman President
NBC drama, Revolution, has elected a new president, and unlike most TV shows and films, this one is a woman. Former 24 actress, Leslie Hope, has been cast as President Foster, the tough and...
Jane Campion and Stacie Passon’s Films Announced in Berlin Line Up
Last week, the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival announced more films to their lineup. Among the women directed films include Stacie Passon’s Concussion, which premiered at Sundance (and...
Sundance Deals: Jerusha Hess and Stacie Passon Get Distribution Deals
Jerusha Hess’s directorial debut, Austenland, was picked up by Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions for around $4 million. The film, which stars Keri Russell and Jennifer Coolidge, follows a...
Sundance Watch This: Gideon’s Army – Directed by Dawn Porter
Gideon's Army, directed by Dawn Porter, is a documentary that follows a group of public defenders in the south and the man who mentored them. The film premiered at Sundance. Judging from the...
Jessica Chastain Rules the Box Office with Top Two Films
In an awesome development over the weekend, one of Women and Hollywood’s favorite actresses, Jessica Chastain dominated the box office this weekend with both her films in the top spots. Mama,...
Sundance Institute and Women in Film Release Unprecedented Study on Women Directors
This morning, here in Sundance, a new ground breaking study of women directors "Exploring the Barriers and Opportunities for Independent Women Filmmakers" was released. The study is...
Sundance Diary Part One: Mother of George and After Tiller
I arrived in Sundance on Friday morning totally freaked out about the Sundance flu and the cold. But now I'm on day 2 and so far so good. I hear there are people stuck in their hotels...
Guest Post: Why We Shot on Film in Rural West Texas
“What’s the movie about?” a very solemn man in a cowboy hat asks us. I hesitate. One of the first things I learned when traveling to West Texas to shoot our low budget indie BEST...
In Her Voice: Women Directors Talk Directing Volume 1 Available Now!
For the past couple of years I have been working IN HER VOICE: WOMEN DIRECTORS TALK DIRECTING, a book of interviews with women directors from the first couple of years of the site. I am happy...
Anticipating Sundance: Using Sundance to Shift the Narrative on Women Directors
I am heading to Sundance for the first time. I am looking forward to seeing a bunch of women directed movies over the next couple of days. There are also several women's events...
Abi Morgan to Adapt ‘Taming of the Shrew,’ Anne Hathaway to Star
Brit Abi Morgan is taking on the master and adapting Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew. Morgan, who created the BBC series The Hour and has written Shame and The Iron Lady, is supremely...
Teaser Trailer for HBO Miniseries Parade’s End – Directed by Susanna White
Susanna White, director of HBO's Generation Kill, directed the new HBO miniseries, Parade's End, penned by Tom Stoppard. The series is adapted from a series of 1920s novels by Ford...
A24 Acquires Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring for June Release
One of our most anticipated movies of 2013, Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring, was just acquired by A24. Coppola’s film is based on the real life story of a group of rich teenagers who...
Anticipating Sundance: Sundance Lineup is a Win for Women Directors and for Everybody Who Cares About Movies
This post was originally published on November 29, 2012. For the last couple of years (the time that I have written this blog) I have lived in a world full of disappointment when it comes to...
Kathryn Bigelow Speaks Out About Zero Dark Thirty Criticism to Los Angeles Times
Kathryn Bigelow has decided to address the torture criticism surrounding Zero Dark Thirty in a personally written response to her critics in the LA Times. And it’s a must read. Bigelow...
Lucy Alibar and Doris Kearns Goodwin Nominated for USC Scripter Award
USC announced their 2013 Scripter award nominees this week. The Scripter award celebrates both the screenwriter and the author of the original text that the film was adapted from. This year, due to a...
Trailer Watch: Life Is But A Dream – Directed by Beyonce
Be prepared to bow down everyone. One of my personal queens, Beyonce, has self-directed a documentary about who she is behind the scenes. Stripping away the glamour of the stage, the doc looks at...
New York Times Says ‘Female Directors Gain Ground, Slowly.’ Should We Wait That Long?
The great Carrie Rickey published a piece in the New York Times this past weekend with the depressing headline ‘Female Directors Gain Ground, Slowly’. The piece reported that in 2012, by...
Lauren Greenfield and Alison Klayman Receive DGA Nominations for Best Documentary
Earlier this week, the Directors Guild of America announced their nominees for best documentary. They’ve previously announced the nominees for film and television. Two women were nominated out...
Watch This: New Trailer for Athena Film Festival – February 7-10
Check out the new trailer for the Athena Film Festival (co-founded by our own Melissa Silverstein), hosted at Barnard College, on February 7-10. The new trailer incorporates clips from the films...
Cross Post: The Brave One
Hard as it may be to believe, I won’t remember the 70th annual Golden Globes Awards for my beloved Tina Fey. Or Amy Poehler. Or Sofia Vergara’s golden globes. I mean, sure, they were all...
Taymor vs. Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark Lawsuit Back On
The complicated saga of Julie Taymor’s infamous Spider-Man:Turn off the Dark continues, with the revival of her lawsuit against the producers of the musical. Taymor first filed the suit in...