BY Casey Cipriani
Directors UK Partners with Channel 4 for Emerging Directors Project
If you’re a member of Directors UK, or just an emerging director, here’s a new opportunity for you: Directors UK, the professional association for British screen directors, is partnering with...
“Rogue One” Takes the Box Office
Unsurprisingly, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” easily won the battle of the holiday box office this past weekend. As Deadline reports, the “Star Wars” anthology story took in $290.5 million...
Trailer Watch: Gillian Anderson in Gurinder Chadha’s “Viceroy’s House”
“Bend it Like Beckham” director Gurinder Chadha has teamed up with Gillian Anderson and “Downton Abbey’s” Hugh Bonneville for “Viceroy’s House.” The film “depicts the final few...
“Arrival,” “20th Century Women,” and More Earn AWFJ Award Nominations
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists has announced the nominees selected for the 2016 AWFJ EDA Awards. The 10th annual awards are presented in 25 categories divided into three sections: The Best...
Julia Roberts to Star in Limited Series Adaptation of “Today Will Be Different”
Julia Roberts is attached to star in and produce a television adaptation of Maria Semple’s bestselling novel “Today Will Be Different” as a limited series. Semple is writing the...
Trailer Watch: 24-Year-Old Emily Hagins Premieres “Coin Heist” on Netflix
Emily Hagins wrote and directed her first film, a teen zombie thriller, at just 12 years old. Now 24, the up and coming writer-director has a feature debuting on Netflix, and the trailer has...
Sonequa Martin-Green Lands Lead Role in “Star Trek: Discovery”
The USS Discovery has its female lead. As Deadline reports, Sonequa Martin-Green has landed the lead role in CBS All Access’ upcoming “Star Trek: Discovery.” She’ll be playing Lt. Cmdr....
First Set of Berlinale Film Festival Competition is 40% Female-Directed
The Berlin International Film Festival kicks off in February, and the first set of films slated to screen has just been announced. In the main competition, 10 films have been selected so far, and...
Trailer Watch: Toni Collette Unravels a Mystery in Rachel Perkins’ “Jasper Jones”
Since its release in 2009, “Jasper Jones,” by Craig Silvey, has been called Australia’s “To Kill Mockingbird.” Now the big-screen adaptation of the story is coming via director Rachel...
TNT Greenlights Niecy Nash Nail Salon Dramedy “Claws” From Rashida Jones
TNT has given a series order for the South Florida-set dark comedy “Claws.” Niecy Nash (“Scream Queens,” “Getting On”) will star in the series, executive produced by Rashida Jones, Will...
Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn Spinoff Movie Gets Male Director
The Harley Quinn spinoff movie that DC has in the works, with Margot Robbie set to lead, will be directed by a man. This news is beyond disappointing: The female villain romp will be seen through...
Trailer Watch: Katherine Heigl and Rosario Dawson Face Off in “Unforgettable”
Veteran producer Denise Di Novi (“Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Edward Scissorhands,” “Heathers”) is making her directorial debut...
Annette Bening Honored with Palm Springs Fest Career Achievement Award
Annette Bening will be honored with the Career Achievement Award at the 28th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival, which runs from January 2–16, 2017. Bening is a four-time Academy...
Rachel Weisz Set to Star in Film Adaptation of “Secret Life of Dr. James Miranda Barry”
Rachel Weisz is set to star in an adaptation of “The Secret Life of Dr. James Miranda Barry: Victorian England’s Most Eminent Surgeon” by Rachel Holmes, Deadline reports. The rights have been...
Feature Film in the Works on Fox News’ Roger Ailes Sexual Harassment Scandal
If you haven’t been following the scandal surrounding the sexual harassment charges against Fox News chairman Roger Ailes, you’ll soon have a motion picture that will fill you in on all of...
China Cracks Down on “Hooligan Sparrow” Subjects
“Hooligan Sparrow” director Nanfu Wang was awarded with IDA’s Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award at a ceremony held last Friday. This week she had some worrying updates to offer about her...
Watch: Madonna Gives Inspiring Speech as Billboard’s Woman of the Year
“I stand before you as a doormat,” Madonna said on stage at the Billboard Women in Music Event, before continuing, “Oh, I mean a female entertainer.” The line drew laughs during her speech,...
Isabelle Huppert to Receive Montecito Award by Santa Barbara Film Festival
Legendary French actress Isabelle Huppert with be honored at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival this year, where she will receive the Montecito Award for her role in the controversial...
NBC Orders Pilot from Shondaland Writer-Producer Jenna Bans
NBC has ordered a pilot pickup from “Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Family,” and “Scandal,” writer and producer Jenna Bans, THR reports. According to THR, the drama, titled “Good Girls,”...
Maren Ade’s “Toni Erdmann” Sweeps 2016 European Film Awards
Maren Ade’s foreign hit “Toni Erdmann” has swept the main categories of the 2016 European Film Awards, THR reports. The comedy took home Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and acting...
Watch: Viola Davis Gives Inspiring Speech for #SeeHer Critics Choice Award
On Sunday night, Viola Davis was honored with the first ever See Her Award at the Critics Choice Awards in recognition of how much her work furthers the portrayal of three-dimensional women...
Metrograph Hosting Film Tribute to Novelist Patricia Highsmith
The Metrograph independent movie theater in New York has announced that they will host a series devoted to the film adaptations of queer author Patricia Highsmith. The screenings kick off on January...
Elise McCave and Liz Cook Take On New Roles at Kickstarter
Kickstarter has announced two new advancements for women in their company. Elise McCave has joined Kickstarter as the new Director of Narrative Film. Liz Cook, who previously served as Documentary...
Sundance Short Film Lineup is About 50 Percent Women-Directed
“Come Swim”: Sundance The 68 short films that will screen alongside the feature lineup of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival were announced today, and female filmmakers are very well-represented in...
Trailer Watch: Sex, Scandal, and Murder Haunt “Lady Macbeth”
Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth has long been characterized as a strong and powerful yet manipulative woman. Now her namesake is being used as the title for a film that’s set a couple hundred years...
“Hidden Figures” Wins Sloan Science in Cinema Prize
The San Francisco Film Society has announced that “Hidden Figures” is the 2016 recipient of the Sloan Science in Cinema Prize, “celebrating the depiction of science in a narrative feature...
Lydia Polgreen Hired as Editor-in-Chief at The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post has made an excellent move in appointing Lydia Polgreen as editor-in-chief of the outlet. Polgreen, who has been with the New York Times since 2002, was acting as the Times’...
Kate McKinnon to Star in “The Lunch Witch” for Amblin Entertainment
Since it doesn’t seem like “Saturday Night Live” star and Emmy winner Kate McKinnon will be trapped at Studio 8H playing Hillary Clinton for the foreseeable future, it was only a matter of...
Ryan Murphy’s Push to Hire More Female Directors is a Huge Success
Ryan Murphy has put his words into action. Months after launching Half, a foundation within his 20th Century Fox-based production company aiming to diversify Hollywood, results are actually in. As...
Trailer Watch: Christina Ricci Takes on Zelda Fitzgerald in Amazon’s “Z”
Women of historical importance deserve to have their stories told too, and Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, novelist, socialite, and wife of “The Great Gatsby” author F. Scott Fitzgerald, has plenty of...
Shailene Woodley to Star in “Adrift”
Shailene Woodley is attached to star in the film “Adrift,” Variety reports. Based on a true story, the site describes the project as “Gravity” on the high seas: “When Tami Oldham and her...
Four White Men Put on UK Channel 4’s Board While Minority Woman Rejected
There has been uproar in the UK over the course of the past week when it was announced that four white men were approved as board members for Channel 4 while a fifth candidate, a minority woman, was...
Watch: “Rogue One” Clips Tease More of the Latest “Star Wars” Heroine
In anticipation of the arrival of our next “Star Wars” heroine, some new clips and featurettes from “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” have been released. Hitting theaters on December 16,...
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “VEEP,” & More Land WGA Nominations
The Writers Guild of America has announced the nominees for its 2017 awards. The eligibility period for the 2017 awards falls between December 1, 2015 and November 30, 2016. The good news is,...
Vanessa Redgrave Makes Directorial Debut with “Sea Sorrow”
The legendary Vanessa Redgrave has made her directorial debut. The long-time actress helmed “Sea Sorrow,” which stars Emma Thomspson and Ralph Fiennes, and tells the story of “refugees fleeing...
Metropolitan Opera Premieres First Opera Composed By a Woman in 116 Years
The Metropolitan Opera just premiered its first opera composed by a woman in 116 years. Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s “L’Amour de Loin” is the first female-written opera to play at the...
Lynn Nottage to Make Broadway Debut with “Sweat”
Pulitzer-winning playwright Lynn Nottage is heading to Broadway. As Deadline reports, her play “Sweat” will transfer to Studio 54 in March after a successful run at The Public Theater. The play...
Andrea Arnold’s “American Honey” Wins Big at British Independent Film Awards
Andrea Arnold and “American Honey” won big at the British Independent Film Awards over the weekend. It took home four awards total, including Best British Independent Film. “American Honey”...
Elizabeth Banks Options Lindy West’s “Shrill” For Television
Elizabeth Banks is continuing her TV takeover. As Variety reports, Banks has a number of projects in the works, and has just optioned the feminist book “Shrill: Notes From A Loud Woman” with the...
Made in NY Launches Scriptwriting Contest for Women
Hey female screenwriters of New York City! Grab your pens and keyboards. The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment and Brooklyn College’s Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema have announced...
Regina King to Star in Veena Sud’s “Seven Seconds” for Netflix
Regina King is taking her television dominance to Netflix. As THR reports, King has signed on to star in the streaming network’s crime drama “Seven Seconds.” The series comes from “The...
Dudeocracy Alert: Female “21 Jump Street” Written and Possibly Directed by Dude
Again?!? In today’s case of “Are you fucking kidding me?” yet another guy with absolutely zero directing experience may be tapped to helm a franchise film, and a female-centric one...
“Hidden Figures” to Receive Ensemble Performance Award At Palm Springs Fest
The love for “Hidden Figures” continues. It has just been announced that the 28th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival will present the cast of “Hidden Figures” with the Ensemble...
Circus-Themed “High Wire” in the Works at Fox From Kathleen York
A drama called “High Wire” is now in the works at Fox from from Kathleen “Bird” York (“The West Wing”) and producer Cary Brokaw (“Angels in America”), Deadline reports. Written by...
Watch: “Girls Lost” Mixes Gender, Adolescence, and Supernatural Powers
Growing up can often feel like you’re living in a fantasy realm, and Swedish director Alexandra-Therese Keining aims to capture that feeling in “Girls Lost.” Based on the controversial and...
Amazon Studios to Sponsor the 2017 Athena Film Festival’s Athena List
The Athena Film Festival has announced that Amazon Studios will sponsor the 2017 Athena List, a slate of three to five screenplays that have yet to be produced that showcase female leadership or...
Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch Only Includes Two Women
Variety has announced their selections for the 20th anniversary of the 10 Directors to Watch series, and sadly only two of their eleven choices are women. (While the list is 10 Directors to Watch,...
Nicole Kidman Honored with Palm Springs Film Festival International Star Award
Nicole Kidman will receive the International Star Award at the 28th Annual Palm Springs Film Festival this year. The fest is set for January 2–16, 2017. “One of the world’s most luminous and...
“Hidden Figures,” “Cameraperson,” & More Win National Board of Review Honors
The National Board of Review announced its choices for its annual film honors yesterday. Amy Adams was named Best Actress for her role in the heady sci-fi film “Arrival.” Adams and the film are...
Jodie Foster to Star in Sci-Fi “Hotel Artemis” Directed By Unqualified Dude
Jodie Foster has signed on to star in the sci-fi film “Hotel Artemis,” THR writes. She’ll play a character called “The Nurse,” in the “near-future thriller that is set in its own...
“Carol” Screenwriter Phyllis Nagy to Adapt Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta Film
“Carol” screenwriter Phyllis Nagy has signed on to adapt Patricia Cornwell’s untitled Kay Scarpetta film for Fox 2000, THR writes. The character has appeared in two-dozen bestselling books,...