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Inaugural DGA Diversity Report: Women Make Up Only 6.4% of Film Directors
The DGA’s inaugural Feature Film Diversity Report confirms what we already knew: the employment numbers for women directors are deplorably low. The DGA crunched the numbers for the 376 features...
6 Actresses of Color Nominated by Golden Globes for TV, 0 for Film
TV proved itself not just a medium for women, but especially one for women of color, with this year’s Golden Globes nominations. Six actresses of color — Queen Latifah, Viola Davis, Taraji...
Quote of the Day: Time Warner CEO on Wonder Woman’s Power to Boost the Box Office
Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes has high hopes for the “Wonder Woman” movie. At a press conference this week, Bewkes identified why he’s so confident about the superheroine’s success at the box...
Lionsgate Planning on ‘Hunger Games’ Prequels
Lionsgate Vice Chairman Michael Burns promised that “The Hunger Games” franchise would “live on and on and on” in a company press conference on Tuesday. The Jennifer Lawrence-led franchise...
Sundance’s Shorts Program is 39% Female-Helmed
The short film programs at Sundance 2016 have been announced, and of the 72 shorts being screened across various subsections, 28 are directed or co-directed by women. That means that, overall, the...
Margaret Atwood to Write Superhero Graphic-Novel Series Called ‘Angel Catbird’
Margaret Atwood is getting into the superhero genre. The author of “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Cat’s Eye” will publish the first installment of her graphic-novel trilogy, “Angel...
Abigail Breslin to Star in ABC’s ‘Dirty Dancing’ Musical
Abigail Breslin danced her way into our hearts — and all the way to an Oscar nod — with her hilariously inappropriate striptease in 2006’s “Little Miss Sunshine.” And now the teen...
Feminist Comedy, Deaf Ears in War Zones & the Tangerine Juice Fund: This Week’s Crowdfunding Picks
This week’s crowdfunding picks include two projects by women determined to make a difference. “Tangerine Juice Fund” is the financing section of “Tangerine Entertainment,” a female-driven,...
New Female-Centric FX Comedy to Focus on TV Writer Returning Home to Rural PA
“You’re the Worst” writer Alison Bennett and creator Stephen Falk are creating a new comedy for FX. The untitled series is described as “a dirty, female-driven take on the “you can’t go...
Trailer Watch: Michelle Yeoh Returns in ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ Followup
Martial arts films tend to exalt honor and duty, but the trailer for Netflix’s followup to “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” begins with its protagonist, Yu Shu-Lien (Michelle Yeoh, reprising...
Claudia Shear Developing 19th-Century NYC-Set Musical About Show Business for NBC
After finding ratings success in its live stagings of “The Sound of Music,” “Peter Pan” and “The Wiz,” NBC is working on bringing an original musical to its primetime programming....
Trailer Watch: Natalie Portman Pulls the Trigger in Western ‘Jane Got a Gun’
Jane got a gun — and a U.S. trailer. We previously got a peek at the Natalie Portman-led Western in October with a French trailer, and now more footage has been released. This newly cut...
Sundance Announces Its 2016 Premieres
Sundance has revealed the lineups for its narrative and nonfiction Premieres sections. Seventeen narrative films will be making their world premieres at Sundance next year. Only three (or 18% of the...
Queen Latifah to Star in Lee Daniels’ Girl-Group Drama
Queen Latifah has joined the cast of “Empire” co-creator Lee Daniels’ unnamed girl-group drama. An Oscar and Emmy nominee, Queen Latifah will play a beauty-salon owner who becomes a surrogate...
Oprah Winfrey to Pen Definitive Memoir, Establish Her Own Publishing Imprint
One of the most successful media personalities ever has a memoir on the way. Oprah Winfrey’s definitive autobiography, “The Life You Want,” will be published by Flatiron Books in January 2017....
Trailer Watch: Working-Class Pals Breed a Racehorse in Sundance Winner ‘Dark Horse’
Louise Osmond’s “Dark Horse” has a new trailer, and this is an underdog story you won’t want to miss. The documentary, which won the World Cinema Documentary Award at Sundance, focuses on a...
‘The Good Wife’ Creators Sell Drama About Female Papal Spokesperson to Amazon
Michelle King and Robert King, the wife-husband writing partners that created “The Good Wife,” have sold “Vatican City,” a new drama, to Amazon. “Vatican City” centers on an American...
Australia Launches Three-Tick System to Encourage Gender Diversity Onscreen and Behind the Scenes
Only fifteen percent of features backed by Screen Australia, that country’s state film fund, are directed by female filmmakers. Just 23% are written by women, and a mere 32% are produced by women....
Jennifer Johnson and Sue Chung Developing Female-Vigilante Drama for The CW
TV writers Jennifer Johnson (“Lost”) and Sue Chung (“Gotham,” “Marvel’s Agent Carter”) are teaming up for a new CW series about a team of female vigilantes. Previously titled...
Quote of the Day: Tina Fey: “When We Choose Projects, We Do Have Our Own Internal Bechdel Test”
Today’s New York Times profile of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler is full of wonderful details: Poehler’s nickname for Fey is “Betty,” the duo have ruled out hosting the Oscars and even they hope...
Ava DuVernay Barbie Goes on Sale Today
Great news just in time for the holiday season — the Ava DuVernay Barbie is available for purchase starting today. Mattel first introduced the doll back in April as part of its “Sheroes”...
Margaret Betts to Direct Melissa Leo in Nun Drama ‘Novitiate’
Writer-director Margaret Betts will make her narrative-feature debut with “Novitiate,” a coming-of-age drama that takes place in a convent during the early ’60s. Starring Margaret Qualley with...
Watch: Sisters Jessica Biel and Zosia Mamet Argue Who “Counts” in Intimate ‘Bleeding Heart’ Clip
Yoga instructor May (Jessica Biel) attempts to help her sex-worker sister Shiva (Zosia Mamet) get out of an abusive relationship in writer-director Diane Bell’s “Bleeding Heart.” The first...
Weekly Update for December 4: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This WeekChi-Raq “Chi-Raq” is a modern-day adaptation of the ancient Greek play “Lysistrata” by Aristophanes. After the murder of a child by a stray bullet, a group...
Theater Now Has Its Own Bechdel Test
Just over a third of theater roles in England are for women, according to a 2014 study by Tonic Theatre. To help correct the gender lopsidedness on stage, the London-based Sphinx Theatre Company has...
Trailer Watch: Helen Mirren’s ‘Eye in the Sky’ Makes Black Comedy Out of Drone-Warfare Morality
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Barbra Streisand’s First Directorial Project in 20 Years Will Be Catherine the Great Biopic
One of Hollywood’s most prominent women filmmakers is attached to direct a biopic about one of history’s most powerful women rulers. Barbra Streisand has announced that she’ll helm a movie...
Trailer Watch: British Princesses Let Loose and Celebrate the End of WWII in ‘A Royal Night Out’
When victory over the Germans is announced on VE Day, all of England comes together — including Princesses Elizabeth (Sarah Gadon,”The Amazing Spider-Man 2") and Margaret (Bel Powley,...
‘Transparent’ Returns, in All Its Complicated Glory
Trailer Watch: Pregnant Claire Heads to France to Change History in ‘Outlander’ Season 2
“Outlander” is coming back, but much has changed since the first season concluded back in May. For starters, Claire (Caitriona Balfe) is visibly pregnant. Starz has released a sneak peek of the...
Sundance 2016 Competition Lineup Unveiled, Over 40% Directed by Women
Sundance has released the competition slate for the 2016 installment of the festival, and nearly half of the program is women-directed. Of the 54 films that have been announced in competition with a...
Trailer Watch: The ‘Girls’ Contend With Japan, “Gay Emergencies” and a Wedding in Season 5
Stephany Folsom to Pen ‘Thor 3’
Stephany Folsom has been confirmed as the writer for “Thor 3.” That makes Folsom the third female screenwriter for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, after Nicole Perlman (“Guardians of the...
‘Carol’ Sweeps NYFCC Awards, Saoirse Ronan and Kristen Stewart Also Recognized by Critics Group
The New York Film Critics Circle gave “Carol” the awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography in a major coup for the period lesbian romance. Todd Haynes’...
Deepa Mehta Honored by Toronto Critics, to Bestow $50,000 to Fellow Filmmaker
Indian-Canadian director Deepa Meehta has been named the recipient of the Technicolor Clyde Gilmour Award by the Toronto Film Critics Association (TFCA). Mehta will receive $50,000, which she will...
‘Waitress’ to Make Broadway History
When it begins previews on March 25, 2016, “Waitress” will make Broadway history as the first musical with women in all four key positions. Based on the 2007 film by the late writer-director...
Emma Watson Told Not to Say the Word “Feminism” in Feminist Speech
Since the end of the “Harry Potter movies, one of Emma Watson’s most public roles has been as a women’s rights activist partnered with the UN. Watson’s 2014 HeForShe speech was not only a...
Moving the Needle on Hollywood’s Gender Disparity: 4 Solutions
Under media pressure and the threat of possible government intervention, Hollywood seems to finally be taking its female-protagonist and woman-director problems more seriously. Forty-four industry...
‘Amy,’ ‘Malala,’ ‘Hunting Ground,’ ‘What Happened, Miss Simone?’ Make Oscars’ Doc Shortlist
Three women-directed films and another three women-centric ones have made the 2016 Oscars documentary shortlist. Among the 15 finalists for an Academy Award nomination are Liz Garbus’ “What...
Carrie Fisher Wants Princess Leia Toys, Reveals She Was Told to Lose Weight for ‘Force Awakens’
“Star Wars” fans have been protesting the lack of Leia goodies for ages, and now General Leia herself is weighing in via Twitter. It’s hard to believe that one of the most iconic characters in...
12 of BFI’s Top 20 Films About Girls and Women
It’s been a good year for women at the movies, at least where the arthouse is concerned. That impression is bolstered by the British Film Institute’s list of the top 20 best films of 2015, as...
‘Inside Out’ Dominates Annie Award Nominations with 14 Nods
“Inside Out” leads this year’s Annie Award nominations. The Pixar coming-of-age film, voiced in part by Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling and Phyllis Smith (“The Office”), scored a whopping 14...
December 2015 Film Preview
Fitting well with the festive spirit of Christmas (if that’s your thing), December brings us a number of women-centric and female-directed films that will help end the year on a high. The...
Women Take Home Only Acting and Web Series Accolades From 2015 Gothams
A trio of actresses and a web series duo were the only creative female honorees of last night’s 25th Gotham Independent Film Awards. “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” was nominated in four...
‘Supergirl’ Picked Up for Full Season at CBS
You have a lot more “Supergirl” to look forward to. CBS has ordered an additional seven episodes of the series, bringing Season One from 13 episodes to 20. The Hollywood Reporter notes that,...