ALL POSTS
Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, America Ferrera and Gabrielle Union Join The Respect Challenge
Some of our favorite actresses have joined The Respect Challenge, a campaign created by the non-profit Futures Without Violence. The campaign is designed to celebrate everyday heroes — someone...
Men Directed 85% of TV Shows Last Season
Here’s a sucky statistic brought to you by the Director’s Guild of America: men directed 85% of all TV episodes last season. These stats include all network and cable scripted TV...
26 of 84 Films in the Hamptons International Film Festival Are Directed by Women
Last week the 20th edition of the Hamptons International Film Festival announced their line-up. The festival will run from October 4–8. With a slate of 84 films announced thus far, 26 are directed...
TV Pilot News: Malin Akerman to be ‘Trophy Wife’; Ilene Chaiken to CBS
Malin Akerman will be starring in Trophy Wife written and executive produced by Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins. As Deadline had reported, Trophy Wife received a cast-contingent pilot order earlier...
Trailer Watch: Identity Thief — Starring Melissa McCarthy
Diana (the hilarious and amazing Melissa McCarthy) steals the identity of Sandy (Jason Bateman) and uses his money to live the good life in Miami. A week before his life (and credit) falls apart,...
Trailer Watch: Midnight’s Children — Directed by Deepa Mehta
Deepa Mehta’s latest film is an adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s beloved novel Midnight’s Children. Two children are born at midnight at the exact moment India regains their independence from...
Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal Court Controversy With Won’t Back Down
When was the last time there was a movie that focused on two women (or more) both over 30 that opened on 2,500 screens? I count three in the last two years. Earlier this year there was Joyful Noise...
Dame Helen Mirren to Receive European Achievement in World Cinema 2012
The European Film Academy is awarding Dame Helen Mirren with their prestigious Achievement in World Cinema 2012 award. It’s no surprise that Mirren would be honored, with her impressive body of...
Tina Fey Covers EW and Signs a Four Year Deal with Universal TV
As the sun sets on her series 30 Rock starting next week with a slew of special guests including Amy Sedaris and Catherine O’Hara, Tina Fey takes a look back at the show and her movie career in an...
Talking to Penny Marshall
A new memoir by actress and director Penny Marshall hit bookstore last week. Marshall was a big star in the 70s and 80s appearing on multiple TV shows and hanging out with the rest of Hollywood TV...
TIFF: Interview with Cate Shortland — Director and Co-Writer of Lore
Lore is Cate Shortland’s second film after the exciting Somersault. It is a bold look at a young girl who lived her whole life in the belly of the Nazi beast and had no perspective on anything...
Women Do Rule the Documentary World
Last week was Independent Film Week here in NYC. There are a wide variety of events, panels and of course parties. I was able to attend the Chicken and Egg Pictures event (which was beyond packed)...
The Male Dominated Emmy Awards
Last week we posted a piece about the research that showed that women created 26% of the TV shows during the 2011–2012 season. But, based on the lack of women visible onstage at last night’s...
TIFF: Interview with Shola Lynch — Director of Free Angela & All Political Prisoners
On the day of the premiere of her documentary at the Toronto Film Festival, director Shola Lynch answered some questions about the film. Here is a look at the importance of the film — Black...
Interview with Lisa Immordino Vreeland — Director of Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel
Lisa Immordino Vreeland loved Diana Vreeland before she married her grandson. Even though they never met she paints a glorious portrait of a unique woman who was a driving force in the fashion and...
Guest Post: 2012–2013 Fall TV Created by Women
Fall TV season has arrived. As we excitedly dive into a fresh season, what is the state of female participation in creative content? I gathered a list of new shows and looked at their creative...
Trailer Watch: Beautiful Creatures — Starring Alice Englert and Viola Davis
Beautiful Creatures, based on the bestselling YA novel written by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, follows Lena Duchannes (Ginger and Rosa’s Alice Englert), a mysterious girl with supernatural...
Early Look at Finale of ‘Georgia’ Written and Directed by Marta Kauffman
Have you been following the great online videos being posted on the new WIGS You tube channel? If not, you have been missing out. Women and Hollywood is happy to preview the finale of...
Trailer Watch: The Patience Stone
The Patience Stone was the movie in Toronto that two separate women told me I needed to see. And boy was it worth it. It is basically a monologue performed brilliantly by Iranian actress Golshifteh...
Interview with Delphine and Muriel Coulin — Co-Directors/Writers of 17 Girls
17 Girls, directed and written by sisters Delphine and Muriel Coulin, was inspired by the Massachusetts story about a group of teenage girls who all make a pact to get pregnant and raise their...
Interview with Delphine and Muriel Coulin – Co-Directors/Writers of 17 Girls
17 Girls, directed and written by sisters Delphine and Muriel Coulin, was inspired by the Massachusetts story about a group of teenage girls who all make a pact to get pregnant and raise their...
TIFF: Interview with Susanne Bier — Director of Love Is All You Need
At the Toronto Film Festival you see a lot of heavy movies really early in the morning. Love is All You Need was a most welcome respite from the intensity that was around at the festival. Academy...
Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg Direct Knuckleball
Who says women can’t direct sports movies? Stern and Sundberg who directed the amazing documentary on Joan Rivers, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work have set their sights now on the world of baseball...
Link Round Up: Multiple New Women-Created, Focused TV Projects in Development
Over the past couple days multiple networks (and Netflix) have been reporting about a slew of women-created and women-focused TV projects that are currently in development. As we reported today,...
More Women-Directed Films Nab Deals Out of TIFF
While the whirlwind of the Toronto International Film Festival is now behind us, the deals from TIFF are continuing. Over the weekend, many women-created, women-focused films were picked up by major...
Women Created 26 Percent of the Television Shows in the 2011–2012 Season
As we get ready to launch the new television season the statistics are out for how women fared last season behind the scenes in the TV business. According to the Center for Study of Women in...
TIFF: Interview with Deepa Mehta — Director of Midnight’s Children
Midnight’s Children is literally an epic movie. It tells about the birth and development of India through the eyes of children born the moment the country declared its independence. Deepa Mehta...
TIFF Review: The Stories We Tell — Sarah Polley’s Effective New Documentary
Toronto loves Sarah Polley. The display of that love was evident last week at the premiere of her first documentary Stories We Tell which held its Canadian premiere at the Toronto International Film...
What We’re Watching: Switched at Birth
The second season of ABC Family’s Switched at Birth returned recently and this is my pleading with you to watch it. Created by Lizzy Weiss and with a majority female writing staff, Switched at...
James Cameron on Women and Action Roles in Films
The Guardian headed over to Ireland to meet with James Cameron at the new Titanic Belfast museum and among the things he discussed was how Hollywood gets its action women wrong. We know that...
Link Roundup: TIFF Edition
Here are some stories out of TIFF that we didn’t get the chance to report on or things we liked from there. We are going to have a lot more content from Toronto over the the next couple weeks...
Patricia Riggen Directing Chilean Miners Film, The 33
It was announced that Patricia Riggen will be directing The 33, the story of the 33 Chilean Miners who were trapped in the San Jose Mine. The film will cover the events leading up to the collapse of...
DVD and On Demand Round Up- September 13
This week there is an overwhelming amount of women-centric and created films released on DVD and On Demand. Here’s a round-up of your options to check out over the weekend. DVD Releases: Lola...
Renee Zellweger to Make Directorial and Stage Debuts
Renée Zellweger is going to be one busy lady. Zellweger has just signed on to make her feature directorial debut with 4 ½ Minutes. The film, which is loosely based on the experiences of stand-up...
Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil’s Being Mary Jane Will Open Urbanworld Film Festival and Air on BET
Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil’s, Being Mary Jane, is opening the 16th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Being Mary Jane, written by Brock Akil, stars Gabrielle...
TIFF: Interview with Sally Potter — Writer and Director of Ginger and Rosa
After the dust settles, Ginger and Rosa is going to turn out to be one of my the highlights of the festival. Sally Potter, the brilliant director of Orlando has written and directed a truly...
Roadside Attractions Picks up Stories We Tell and Imogene
Roadside Attractions has been on a buying binge here in Toronto and has picked up two women directed and written films from TIFF. The first is Sarah Polley’s documentary, Stories We Tell, which...
TIFF: Interview with Judi Levine — Producer of The Sessions
The Sessions is a very lovely movie about Mark O’Brien, a writer with polio who has to spend most of his life in an iron lung and his quest to lose his virginity and find a new level of intimacy in...
Trailer Watch: Wuthering Heights — Directed by Andrea Arnold
The brilliant director of Fish Tank, Andrea Arnold has adapted Emily Bronte’s classic novel, Wuthering Heights starring Kaya Scodelario and James Howson. Co-written by Arnold and Olivia Hetreed,...
Black Power Takes Center Stage at TIFF With Angela Davis Documentary
Sunday, a bit of history was explored here in Toronto. The festival premiered Shola Lynch’s documentary Free Angela and All Political Prisoners in one of its gala slots. For a festival that...
Interview with Ruba Nadda — Writer/Director of Inescapable
To be considered for TIFF Gala status, your movie has to have two things: major stars and major audience interest. Only two Canadian films are getting the Gala treatment this year, and both of them...
Women Directors News: Amy Berg’s Every Secret Thing and Kelly Reichardt’s Night Moves
As we had previously reported, director Amy Berg, whose documentary West of Memphis screened at TIFF, is directing her first narrative feature Every Secret Thing starring Diane Lane with a script...
Women and Hollywood Events in Toronto
Hey folks here in Toronto- I’m going to be speaking with director Deepa Mehta today at 4pm in the Filmmakers Lounge on the mezannine level of the Hyatt Regency on King Street. Deepa is an amazing...
Trailer Watch: HBO’s The Girl
HBO has released a chilling full trailer for The Girl starring Sienna Miller as Tippi Hedren and Toby Jones as Alfred Hitchcock. Written by Gwyneth Hughes, The Girl looks at Hedren and Hitchcock’s...
Interview with Ruba Nadda – Writer/Director of Inescapable
To be considered for TIFF Gala status, your movie has to have two things: major stars and major audience interest. Only two Canadian films are getting the Gala treatment this year, and both of them...
Today’s Lesson — You Can’t Please the Twihards
Today I learned an important lesson which I probably already should have known. The people who care about all things Twilight — the fans of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are intense....
TIFF Trailer Watch: Ginger and Rosa -Written and Directed by Sally Potter
In 1960’s London, Ginger (Elle Fanning) and Rosa (newcomer Alice Englert) are inseperable best friends who discuss everything from politics to hairstyles. But when the Cold War meets the Sexual...
The Toronto Experience — Part One
Greetings from the Toronto Film Festival. I touched down on Thursday afternoon and since that moment this has been a serious whirlwind. Since it is my second year I understand is the key is pace and...
Interview with Bachelorette Writer/Director-Leslye Headland
I got the chance to talk with the writer and director of Bachelorette Leslye Headland earlier this week. Here are some thoughts on the film. Women and Hollywood: Your film is a subversive look at...
TIFF Trailer: The Sapphires
The Sapphires follows a late 1960’s Australian Aboriginal girl group as they are discovered by a talent scout and go to Vietnam to perform for the U.S. troops. It will be premiering as a Special...
Bachelorette — Written and Directed by Leslye Headland
While it might be tempting to compare Bachelorette to Bridesmaids because they are both about women and weddings — you would be doing so at your peril. Whereas Bridesmaids was about the utter...