ALL POSTS
Questioning the Canon
When I arrived at graduate school for theatre we were told to have read books entitled “Famous American Plays” of the 20s, 30s, 40s etc. before we arrived. I did as I was told and really...
Shonda Rhimes to Write Film Script About Female War Correspondents
Shonda Rhimes is returning to movies. She began her career writing Crossroads and Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement before changing our television screens with hit shows Grey’s Anatomy...
Jodie Foster’s Elysium Role Was Originally Written for a Man
In Neill Blomkamp’s upcoming Elysium, Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) is a Secretary of Defense for Elysium, a satellite hovering above Earth where the wealthy live. Below, on Earth,...
The BBC Academy’s Anne Morrison Appointed Deputy Chair of BAFTA
Adding to her role as Director of the BBC Academy (their training centre), Anne Morrison has been appointed Deputy Chair of BAFTA. She will support Chair John Willis, who is in the second year...
An African American Woman — Cheryl Boone Isaacs — Wins the Presidency of the Academy
It’s literally a new day at the Academy. The Board of Governors last night voted Cheryl Boone Isaacs an African American woman as its leader. She is the first African American to hold...
BFI Stats Show That the UK Claimed 15.3% of the Global Box Office in 2012
Although the UK’s share of 2012’s global box office is down 2% from the previous year, at 15.3% it is the third highest share on record and more than twice than what was earned in...
Spike Lee Thinks Only One Woman Has Made an Essential Movie
Another list, and another list that another list that includes hardly any women – one to be exact. Sometimes I try to let these pass, but you can’t ignore a list put out by Spike...
August Film Preview
It’s been a depressing summer for women at the box office but things are looking up…heading into August, there are a several great women centric, directed and written films to look...
Nine for IX: Swoopes Directed by Hannah Storm Premieres July 30
Sheryl Swoopes is one of the greatest women’s basketball players to have ever graced the court. Those early seasons after she had her son and she was playing on the Houston Comets when...
TIFF Trailer Watch: Mary, Queen of Scots
Screening at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival is Mary, Queen of Scots about the tragic monarch who lost her head. French actress Camille Rutherford plays the young queen in the...
Diane Lane to Play Hillary Clinton in NBC Mini-Series
Over the weekend at the TCA’s, NBC announced that they are developing a four part mini-series about Hillary Clinton starring Diane Lane. It will be written and directed by Courtney Hunt, who...
Women Directed Documentaries on HBO’s Fall Line Up
HBO announced their Fall 2013 documentary line up and it’s ruled by women directed features. They’ll be airing docs from Whoopi Goldberg, Andrea and Sean Fine and Cynthia Wade....
Alysia Reiner Talks About Being a Part of Orange is the New Black
In Orange is the New Black – the new Netflix sensation that takes place in a women’s prison, Alysia Reiner’s character is incredibly callous. She plays Natalie...
New Trailer Watch: After Tiller Directed by Martha Shane and Lana Wilson
I saw After Tiller when it premiered at Sundance. It is a film that needs to be seen and is so relevant to our times and the continued assaults on women’s reproductive freedom....
Film News Round Up for July 26th: Updates on Gone Girl, Nicole Holofcener’s Latest and Melissa McCarthy as a Spy
Here’s a news round up of some of the most notable news from the past couple days. Drew Barrymore is producing Animal –a horror film for the Chiller network about a group of friends who...
Amber Tamblyn and David Cross Do a Frighteningly Funny PSA About Women’s Health
Amber Tamblyn and David Cross have released a PSA about the recent attacks on women’s reproductive rights and health. Entitled “Gynotician,” the video follows a woman seeking...
Kimberly Peirce’s Carrie and Diablo Cody’s Paradise Go Head to Head on October 18th
It’s not like we get that many women directed films so it is always baffling films — especially such high profile films like Kimberly Peirce’s remake of Carrie and Oscar winner...
Weekly Update for July 26: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Weekend The To Do List – Written and Directed by Maggie Carey The teen sex comedy is a staple subgenre of teen films. Porky’s, Revenge...
Huff Post Live: Where Did the Women Go
I participated in a Huff Post Live conversation yesterday with some great folks including producer Lynda Obst about the lack of women on screen this summer. Check out our conversation.
Cross Post: Heroines of Cinema: The 10 Most Exciting Young Female Directors in the World Today
This week, the British Film Institute released statistics revealing that a mere 14 feature films were directed by women in the UK last year, compared to 164 by men....
Maggie Carey’s The To Do List Reinvents the Teen Sex Comedy
The teen sex comedy is a staple subgenre of teen films. Porky’s, Revenge of the Nerds and American Pie are just some of the films that have brought sex puns and now grossly iconic...
70th Venice International Film Festival Announces Line Up
The 70th annual Venice International Film Festival announced their line up today and it’s very thin on women directed films. There are only two women directed films out of the 20 films that...
Guest Post: A Rising Tide: Women in Independent Documentary Production
As a documentary director and producer, I am surrounded by women working and thriving in the entertainment industry. The documentary realm has long had a reputation for being more open to...
Carey Mulligan to Reteam with Writer Abi Morgan for The Fury
Carey Mulligan is in early talks to join director Sarah Gavron’s The Fury, written by Abi Morgan. The film will focus on the suffragette movement in the UK. This is the second time that...
Women Centric Films in Toronto International Film Festival 2013 Gala & Special Presentation Line Up
After taking a look at the women directed films in the galas and special presentations, we also wanted to take a look at the women centric films that will be receiving lots of attention in...
Report From London: Women Directors and Screenwriters in Decline According to New BFI Statistics
The BFI’s Stats Yearbook for 2013 was published this week and provides an unsettling wake up call for women working as screenwriters and directors in the UK. Only 25 of 187...
Guest Post: The Women of Comic Con: How the Internet Killed the Studio Star
During the lead up to this year’s Comic Con International, a Networked Insights analysis of social media conversation showed that 54% of people talking about the conference were women....
Alfonso Cuaron Defends Having Female Lead in Gravity
Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity is one of the most highly anticipated films of the year and has been receiving major buzz since the release of its teaser trailer in May. But getting this...
Video of the Day: Mod Carousel’s Gender Swapping Version of Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines
Check out Mod Carousel’s (a Seattle based boylesque troupe) reinvention of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines”. The troupe rewrote the lyrics, re-recorded the song and redid...
Natalie Portman to Direct, Write and Star in A Tale of Love and Darkness
Natalie Portman just received a grant from the Jerusalem Film Fund to write, direct and star in an adaptation of Amos Oz’s memoir, A Tale of Love and Darkness. Taking place in the 1940s...
Being Miranda Hobbes: Why Women Really Love Sex And The City
In her fantastic reclamation of the much-maligned HBO sitcom Sex and the City as part of television’s golden age, New Yorker television critic Emily Nussbaum argues this week that Carrie...
Toronto International Film Festival Announces Galas and Special Presentations for 2013
This morning the folks at the Toronto Film Festival rolled out the beginning of the line-up — the galas and the special presentations. These are the film where we see the biggest...
Guest Post: The Growing Influence of Women at Comic-Con
This year marked my 8th Comic-Con and my, has this event changed over the years. It is bigger than ever, covering everything from the largest movie franchises, popular TV shows, top video games,...
Debra Messing Making Broadway Debut in Outside Mullingar
Early next year, Debra Messing will make her Broadway debut in Outside Mullingar. Messing will co-star with Brian F. O’Byrne in the production. Written by John Patrick Shanley (Doubt) the...
Comic-Con: The New Trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
A new trailer debuted at Comic-Con for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire during the panel for the film. Per usual, the new trailer is intense and compelling. Based on the second novel in the series,...
Rita Moreno to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at 2014 SAG Awards
Rita Moreno’s amazing nearly 70-year-career will be honored at the 2014 SAG awards with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Moreno, 81, is one of the only 11 artists and only Hispanic...
Must-Read Blog: Hollywood Boys Club
Check out this new blog, Hollywood Boys Club, that compiles examples of “men only” in Hollywood. Current examples include the all male writing staffs of television shows like Real...
Sticking Together
Having recently completed my first feature film, Arcadia, I’m occasionally asked in q&a’s what my experience has been directing a feature as a woman. In truth, I don’t often...
Alyssa Rosenberg Joins Women and Hollywood
I have some great news to report. Alyssa Rosenberg, the amazing, talented writer is joining Women and Hollywood as a weekly columnist. When I was thinking about bringing in someone to...
Comic-Con: Veronica Mars Trailer
Out of Comic-Con is the first footage from the anticipated Veronica Mars movie. In March, creator Rob Thomas launched a Kickstarter fund requesting $2 million to make a film version of the critically...
Sony Pictures Classics Only Counting on Women for Austenland
Sony Pictures Classics (SPC) has made a calculated decision that the audience for the upcoming Jerusha Hess (who co-wrote Napoleon Dynamite) directed film will be predominantly women. They are...
Celebrate the 18th Anniversary of Amy Heckerling’s Clueless
I remember watching Clueless for the first time when I was in 5th grade. It was immediately my favorite movie because I wanted all of Cher’s clothes, her electronic wardrobe and thought Paul...
Outfest Review Roundup: Road Trips, True Love and Iconic Queer Memoirs
This year’s Outfest Los Angeles has yet again proven why they are one of the best LGBT film festivals in the country. They’ve had a spectacular line up of LGBT films including a few we...
Weekly Update July 19th: Women Centric, Written and Directed Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Weekend Girl Most Likely – Directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, written by Michelle Morgan Kristen Wiig could have made another...
2013 Emmy Nominated Women React to Nominations
As we reported yesterday, the caliber, talent and diversity of women nominated for the 2013 Emmy Awards is incredible. We have writers and directors like Lena Dunham and Allison Anders earning...
Guest Post: There She Is: From Festival Rejections To Online Success
In film school you learn that there is an established process once you’re done with your film. After hours slaving away in an edit room, you start applying to festivals and hope for the...
Quote of the Day: Fay Kanin on Being President of the Academy
Earlier this week, the WGA and Academy paid tribute to the late, great Fay Kanin. Kanin passed away in March at the age of 95. Kanin was a woman of many achievements–writing for television and...
Cross Post: In Praise of Difficult Women
Fuck off, Don Draper, Walter White, Tony Soprano, et al. The age of the male antihero is over. Sure, you’ve had a good run. And, fuck, look at all those shiny, shiny Emmys. But I’m...
Reese Witherspoon to Star in Adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild
Fox Searchlight just acquired the worldwide rights to Cheryl Strayed’s critically acclaimed and bestselling memoir Wild. Reese Witherspoon is set to star and produce. The film is about Strayed...
Looking at the 2013 Emmy Nominated Women
Looking at this year’s Emmy Awards a couple of things are clear. TV, like films has changed. Cable had been infiltrating the Emmy’s for years but now there is Netflix, maybe soon...
One Man Trailer Perfectly Illustrates What is Wrong With Hollywood
Why is a man always saving...