ALL POSTS
Academy Launches 5-Year Diversity Initiative
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the body behind the Academy Awards, is launching a new initiative to encourage more diversity in Hollywood called A2020. On Saturday, Spike Lee...
‘Pitch Perfect’ Writer Kay Cannon to Make Directorial Debut With Anti-Sex Comedy ‘The Pact’
Veteran comedy writer Kay Cannon will make her directorial debut with “The Pact.” Best known for penning the “Pitch Perfect” movies (she’s been tapped the write the trilogy capper as...
Trailer Watch: Shailene Woodley Saves Chicago from Destruction in ‘Allegiant’
A new trailer for “The Divergent Series: Allegiant” has landed, and the question at the forefront of everyone’s mind seems to be what the purpose of borders are. Do they divide or protect? And...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Holly Morris — ‘The Babushkas of Chernobyl’
Holly Morris has written and directed several documentaries that explore the lives of courageous women: politicos, activists and artists making change in their home cultures. “The Babushkas of...
Patti LuPone, Christine Ebersole to Star in New Musical About Rival Cosmetics Entrepreneurs
Two-time Tony winners Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole will team up on a new musical about a real-life rivalry. LuPone and Ebersole will star in “War Paint,” which centers on the 50-year...
Cate Blanchett in Talks to Play Eccentric Architect in ‘Where’d You Go, Bernadette?’
After playing an evil stepmother, a bisexual housewife and a fierce TV producer this year, Cate Blanchett is looking to continue her streak of taking up some of the best female roles Hollywood has...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Amy Berg — ‘Janis: Little Girl Blue’
Amy Berg is a critically acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning and Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker. She was nominated for an Academy Award and a DGA Award (Outstanding Directorial Achievement in...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Erika Frankel — ‘King Georges’
Erika Frankel most recently produced “The Home Team” (SXSW, AFI DOCS 2014), “Annie: It’s the Hard Knock Life” (PBS 2013) and “Frontrunners” (SXSW, Oscilloscope 2008; Sundance Channel...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Juliet Jordan — ‘Miriam: Home Delivery’
Juliet Jordan is a British documentary filmmaker, currently based in New York City. She graduated from The National Film and Television School, Beaconsfield, Britain. She won the Royal...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Nicole Groton — ‘The Melting Family’
Nicole Groton started her career as Creative Executive at Intuition Productions, where she developed and produced new projects and served as field producer. Groton has worked for the president at...
Weekly Update for November 13: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Week Ayanda — Directed by Sara Blecher; Written by Trish Malone In a community vibrant with migrants from across the African continent, against the backdrop of...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Hillevi Loven — ‘Deep Run’
Hillevi Loven is a filmmaker, producer and still photographer based in Brooklyn. She is making her feature-film-directing debut with “Deep Run.” In collaboration with NYU anthropologist Natasha...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Jennifer Redfearn — ‘Tocando la Luz (Touch the Light)’
Jennifer Redfearn is an Academy Award-nominated director and producer. She directed and produced “Sun Come Up,” nominated for an Academy Award and the IDA’s Pare Lorentz Award. Redfearn has...
Women-Directed Films on More Screens in Theaters Than Ever Before This Weekend?
Women directors are taking over multiplex screens — or, at the very least, playing on many more of them than usual. There’s actually a good chance, in fact, that there are more theater...
That’s “General Leia” To You: ‘Star Wars’ Welcomes Back Carrie Fisher With a Kick-Ass Promotion
Die-hard fans were more than excited to hear that Carrie Fisher, well known for her portrayal of the kick-ass and quick-witted Leia Organa, will be back for the next installment of the “Star...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Meghan L. O’Hara — ‘The C Word’
As a producer, Meghan L. O’Hara’s credits include the award-winning features “Sicko,” “Fahrenheit 9/11” and “Bowling For Columbine.” She began her career directing, writing and...
Stephenie Meyer Has New Series in the Works at Hulu, Annie Mumolo at HBO
Two women writers who have made a big mark in the film world are taking their talents to the small screen. “Bridesmaids” co-writer Annie Mumolo has a drama in development at HBO, while Stephenie...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Molly Bernstein — ‘An Art That Nature Makes: The Work of Rosamond Purcell’
Molly Bernstein was the director, producer and editor of “Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay,” about the great magician, actor and “scholar of the unusual.” She has...
Cast Your Vote for Amazon’s ‘Good Girls Revolt’
‘Song of Lahore’ Co-Directer Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy on Pakistan’s Rich Music Scene and Culture
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, the Oscar-winning co-director of 2012’s “Saving Face,” once again finds inspiration in her birth country, Pakistan, in “Song of Lahore.” This time around,...
“Song of Lahore” Co-Director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy on Pakistan’s Rich Music Scene and Culture
Interview by Becca Rose Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, the Oscar-winning co-director of 2012’s “Saving Face,” once again finds inspiration in her birth country, Pakistan, in “Song of Lahore.”...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Sharon Shattuck — ‘From This Day Forward’
Sharon Shattuck is a filmmaker and animator. She is the co-creator of the New York Times Op-Docs series “Animated Life,” which illustrates historical moments of scientific discovery using...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Darcy Dennett — ‘The Champions’
Darcy Dennett has worked in photography, film and television for nearly twenty years. “The Champions” is her first documentary. In 2013, Dennett produced a segment in Nigeria for Oprah...
Trailer Watch: ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2’ Promises More Fun and Dysfunction
Audiences are finally invited to another big, fat Greek wedding — and we have a preview of what to expect at the fun-filled, boundary-crossing party. “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” grossed...
Documenting Women’s Stories: November 2015’s Crowdfunding Picks
This month’s first crowdfunding picks focus on the strength of women in the powerful medium of documentary film. Unintentionally — yet joyously — our top crowdfunding projects this...
Trailer Watch: Jennifer Garner’s Prayers Are Answered in Patricia Riggen’s ‘Miracles from Heaven’
A trailer has arrived for Patricia Riggen’s upcoming Christian drama “Miracles from Heaven,” starring Jennifer Garner. Despite being told by doctors that there was no cure for her young...
Kim Longinotto on Her Long Career and the Role of (Lack of) Confidence in Her Filmmaking
For over thirty years, Kim Longinotto has made acclaimed documentaries that have won awards from BAFTA, the Sundance Film Festival and the San Francisco International Film Festival, among others....
DOC NYC 2015 Preview: Race-Car Drivers, Rock Gods and AIDS Activists
38% of the features screening at DOC NYC this year are directed or co-directed by women — 39 films of the 104 screening. The good and bad news is that there are simply too many films by female...
Systemic Change in Hollywood: So What Do We Do Now?
Earlierthis week, Reese Witherspoon spoke at the Glamour Women of the Year event, and in her fantastic, passionate, feminist speech, she talked about whyshe started Pacific Standard, her production...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Emily Abt — ‘Daddy Don’t Go’
Filmmaker Emily Abt was one of Variety Magazine’s “Top 10 Directors to Watch” and has produced and directed documentaries for PBS, OWN, MTV, Showtime and the Sundance Channel. Abt earned her...
‘Carol’ Screenwriter Phyllis Nagy to Adapt Melanie Raabe’s Murder Mystery ‘The Trap’
Playwright and “Carol” screenwriter Phyllis Nagy has lined up her next film project: an adaptation of Melanie Raabe’s “The Trap.” Raabe’s debut novel centers on a reclusive,...
Blythe Danner, Gabourey Sidibe, Patricia Clarkson Among Muse Awards Honorees
Actresses Blythe Danner, Gabourey Sidibe, Patricia Clarkson, BBC America exec Sarah Barnett and Marvel Studios EP Victoria Alonso have been named the 2015 recipients of NY Women in Film and...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos — ‘Making a Murderer’
Laura Ricciardi is a filmmaker with a special interest in social justice. She earned a JD from New York Law School and an MFA in film from Columbia University School of the Arts. Her thesis film was...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Sara Fishko — ‘The Jazz Loft According to W. Eugene Smith’
Sara Fishko makes her directorial debut with “The Jazz Loft According to W. Eugene Smith.” Fishko is an Emmy Award-winning film editor and public radio broadcaster/podcaster whose explorations...
Guest Post: South African Filmmaker Sara Blecher on Her Afro-Hipster Coming-of-Age Tale ‘Ayanda’
a I’ve always wanted to make feature films. I feel that makingdocumentaries and TV dramas was a valuable way of learning to do this, as was beinga mother. Some people do make features without...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet June Cross — ‘Wilhemina’s War’
June Cross is a writer and documentary producer who covers the intersection of poverty, race and politics in the United States. She has been a Professor of Journalism at Columbia University’s...
The Many, Many Reasons Behind the Exclusion of Women in TV’s Directing Ranks
In the 2014–2015 TV season, white women directed 13% of episodes and women of color directed 3%. Put another way, “Women are more than half of the American population, but they’re getting less...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Janelle Gueits — ’13 Million Voices’
Janelle Gueits is an artist, filmmaker and change-maker. Her career has spanned across artistic and social pursuits across the U.S. and worldwide as a feature film director, network television...
5 Takeaways From the ACLU’s Melissa Goodman on the Gender-Discrimination Investigation
Melissa Goodman, the director of the LGBTQ, Gender & Reproductive Justice Project at the ACLU of Southern California, recently spoke with Variety about the dearth of opportunities for women...
Fabienne Berthaud’s ‘Sky,’ Starring Diane Kruger, Acquired By IFC
French writer-director Fabienne Berthaud’s “Sky” has been acquired by IFC for North American distribution two months after the drama’s world premiere at TIFF. Diane Kruger (“The...
DOC NYC 2015 Women Directors: Meet Alex Hammond — ‘Lucha Mexico’
Alex Hammond has worked in film and TV in New York City for over ten years. Her feature debut, “Strange Things,” premiered at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight Film Festival and was featured on...
Susan Sarandon to Exec-Produce Doc About Inventor and Actress Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr is getting the doc treatment from executive producer Susan Sarandon and director Alexandra Dean, and it’s no wonder given Lamarr’s legendary careers — yes, plural — as...
Rachel Weisz Legal Drama and Sarah Jessica Parker Rom-Com Get Releases
It feels like a while since we’ve seen either Rachel Weisz or Sarah Jessica Parker headlining a movie, but fortunately it won’t be long until new vehicles starring the actresses make it to...
Jada Pinkett Smith and Olivia Munn Sell Dramas to ABC and The CW
Actresses Jada Pinkett Smith and Olivia Munn (“The Newsroom”) have promising new TV gigs behind the scenes, with both serving as executive producers on upcoming shows. Pinkett Smith will...
Trailer Watch: Jennifer Lopez Is a Morally Ambiguous Cop in a Jam in ‘Shades of Blue’
Jennifer Lopez is coming back to TV as a series regular after a two-decade-plus hiatus in NBC’s new cop drama “Shades of Blue.” Lopez shared a preview for the show on her Facebook page Sunday,...
Two Female Playwrights Win Philip Seymour Hoffman Award
Clare Barron and Sarah DeLappe have been named the winners of the inaugural Relentless Award, a play-writing prize founded in actor Philip Seymour Hoffman’s memory. Barron’s “Dance Nation”...
Infographic: Hollywood Sexism On Screen, Behind the Camera, in Paychecks
Chantal Akerman’s Final Film ‘No Home Movie’ to Be Released by Icarus
Chantal Akerman’s last film, “No Home Movie,” has found a North American distribution deal and a U.S. release date. Shot almost entirely in her mother’s apartment and focused on the...
Amy Pascal Producing Two Women-Centric Films About GamerGate, the Goddess Athena
Having just wrapped production on the “Ghostbusters” reboot starring Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, Amy Pascal has announced two more female-centric films: a journey of self-discovery...
#FavWomanFilmmaker Campaign Invites Audiences to Share Their Love of Films Made by Women
Some of myearliest memories are related to moving images and to feminism. As athree-year-old, I was annoyed by the fact that in Spanish, my native tongue, werefer to a group of women and men by...
‘Hunger Games’ Star Amandla Stenberg Debuts Kickass New Female-Centric Comic
Amandla Stenberg cleared our tear ducts as Rue in “The Hunger Games,” and she’s won our hearts by using her platform from the multi-billion dollar franchise — including nearly 500,000...