BY Casey Cipriani
Trailer Watch: Elle Fanning Dreams of Being a “Ballerina”
Elle Fanning takes on the voice of the lead role of Félicie Milliner in the English-language version of the French animated film “Ballerina,” which has just premiered a lovely new trailer. Set...
“Orange is the New Black’s” Diane Guerrero Set to Star in Immigration Drama at CBS
Diane Guerrero of “Orange is the New Black” and “Jane the Virgin” is set to star in a CBS drama based on her memoir, “In the Country We Love: My Family Divided,” Deadline reports. The...
Diane Keaton to Be Honored with AFI’s Lifetime Achievement Award
The American Film Institute has announced that actress, director, producer, and writer Diane Keaton will be honored with the 45th AFI Lifetime Achievement Award. “Diane Keaton is one of the most...
D.C.’s Signature Theatre and Broadway Producer Launch Writers Initiative to Support Female…
D.C.’s Signature Theatre and Broadway Producer Launch Writers Initiative to Support Female Playwrights Broadway producer Jenna Segal is teaming up with the Washington D.C. Signature Theatre to...
Trailer Watch: “It Had To Be You” Flips the Script on Marriage Proposals
Romantic comedies centering on heterosexual couples typically treat marriage proposals as a man’s job: The woman waits passively to be swept off her feet by her beloved’s grand, romantic...
BBC Orders “Motherland” Comedy from “Catastrophe’s” Sharon Horgan
The BBC has ordered a full season of Sharon Horgan’s new comedy “Motherland,” The Hollywood Reporter writes. Horgan is the co-creator and star of “Catastrophe,” which she has co-written...
AFI Fest to Honor Isabelle Huppert
The American Film Institute has announced that the 2016 AFI Fest will honor French actress Isabelle Huppert with a tribute and gala screening of her latest thriller-drama “Elle.” Huppert’s...
Trailer Watch: “The Edge of Seventeen” Captures How Impostor Syndrome Feels
Do you remember growing up? A lot of it sucked, right? Writer-director Kelly Fremon Craig’s film “The Edge of Seventeen” captures that feeling of thinking that everyone around you has it all...
“The Killing” Creator Veena Sud Has New Series in the Works at Netflix
“The Killing” creator Veena Sud apparently has a new series in the works at Netflix. As director Gavin O’Connor (“The Americans”) told Collider, the series, called “Seven Seconds,” is...
Gilmore Girls Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel Top Variety’s TV Pay Day List
“Gilmore Girls”: Netflix There’s good news for actresses on TV, according to Variety. Unlike in the film world, where actresses are often saddled with lower pay days than their male...
Trailer Watch: Natalie Portman Embodies “Jackie”
The new teaser for “Jackie,” starring Natalie Portman, begins with a bit of the final number from the 1960s Broadway musical “Camelot,” but is then eerily interrupted by a harsher string...
Athena Film Festival and IRIS Team Up for Screenwriting Lab
Great news, female screenwriters! The Athena Film Festival has announced that it will be partnering with IRIS to present the inaugural Athena IRIS Screenwriting Lab. The unique lab will be offered...
“Pretty Little Liars” Creator I. Marlene King Lands Huge Warner Bros. Deal
“Pretty Little Liars” creator I. Marlene King has landed a huge deal, Variety reports. King has signed an overall contract with Warner Bros. Television and Warner Horizon Television. The...
Emma Thompson to Star in “The Children Act”
Oscar winner Emma Thompson is set to star in “The Children Act,” an adaptation of the novel by Ian McEwan (“Atonement”), Variety reports. Thompson will play Fiona May, a London judge...
Women Developing Shows for ABC, Amazon, Freeform, and More
A whole slew of women are diving headfirst into television and developing new series for consideration. As Variety reports, ABC and 20th Century Fox are developing “Icon,” an hour-long drama set...
Trailer Watch : Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s Creepy Sci-Fi “Evolution”
Imagine if “The Island of Doctor Moreau” was led by a group of pale, stoic women experimenting on pre-teen boys, and you’d get Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s “Evolution.” And this new trailer...
FX Buys “Meaty” Comedy from Jessi Klein, Samantha Irby, and Abbi Jacobson
FX has ordered another female-centric comedy, Deadline reports. The cable network has bought a comedy based on Samantha Irby’s memoir “Meaty,” which was inspired by her blog, “Bitches Gotta...
Sony Pictures Classics Acquires “Maudie” Starring Sally Hawkins
Sony Pictures Classics has announced the acquisition of Aisling Walsh’s “Maudie,” her biopic of artist Maud Lewis. Written by Sherry White and starring Sally Hawkins (“Happy Go Lucky”),...
Temple University to Honor Tina Fey
Temple University has announced that funny woman Tina Fey will be honored with the Lew Klein Excellence in the Media Award this fall. A Philadelphia-area native, Fey is the 16th recipient of the...
Elizabeth LeCompte Awarded 2016 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize
Elizabeth LeCompte, founding member and director of experimental theater company The Wooster Group, has been chosen as the recipient of this year’s Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, Broadway...
Rachel Weisz Will Produce and Star in Naomi Alderman’s “Disobedience”
Rachel Weisz is set to star in and produce a film adaptation of Naomi Alderman’s novel “Disobedience,” Variety reports. The story, Variety writes, “follows young woman who returns to her...
Trailer Watch: Kristen Stewart Talks to Ghosts in “Personal Shopper”
The new trailer for Olivier Assayas’ “Personal Shopper,” starring Kristen Stewart, makes the film look downright scary. “Personal Shopper” marks Stewart’s second time teaming up with...
ArcLight Adds Speakers to Second Annual Women in Entertainment Summit
ArcLight Cinemas has announced additional speakers for the second annual ArcLight Presents Women in Entertainment Summit, which is taking place on November 10th. As we previously reported, the...
60th BFI London Film Festival Lines Up Diverse Jury
The jury members for the 60th London BFI Film Festival, which runs from October 5–16 this year, have been revealed. The inclusive juries feature a number of women and people of color. As Screen...
Margot Robbie and Emily Blunt to Host “Saturday Night Live”
Margot Robbie is set to host the 42nd season premiere of “SNL” this coming weekend. Robbie had a huge summer, starring in “The Legend of Tarzan” and the big money-maker “Suicide Squad.”...
Chicken & Egg Productions Launches 2017 Accelerator Lab
Hey there, first-time female filmmakers, or even those with one in the can. Chicken & Egg Pictures will soon begin accepting applications for the 2017 Accelerator Lab for first and second-time...
Trailer Watch: Revisit 1979’s Feminism with “20th Century Women”
It’s 1979 and President Jimmy Carter is on television giving his “Crisis of Confidence” speech. Meanwhile, in the new trailer for “20th Century Women,” Annette Bening is the only one in...
Sarah Ruhl to Receive Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award
Playwright Sarah Ruhl has been named the recipient of this year’s Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, The New York Times reports. The prize, which “celebrates career excellence in American...
How Ryan Murphy is Fighting Ageism in Hollywood
Ryan Murphy is on a quest. Not only is he helping make the director’s chair more inclusive, he’s also making strides to challenge ageism in Hollywood. Earlier this year, Murphy launched Half, a...
Amy Schumer is the First Woman to Make Highest-Paid Comedians List
Amy Schumer is the highest paid female comedian, and the first woman ever to land on Forbes’ list of the top earners in comedy. According to Forbes’ latest rankings, Schumer is the world’s...
Viola Davis Takes the Lead in Gillian Flynn Heist Thriller
Viola Davis is set to star in the heist thriller “Widows,” Variety reports. The script will be written by “Gone Girl” screenwriter and novelist Gillian Flynn along with Steve McQueen (“12...
Quote of the Day: Amma Asante on Trusting Female Filmmakers
Amma Asante’s “A United Kingdom” is set to open the 60th BFI London Film Festival in a week, and her film may be an awards contender this year. Like any female director, Asante has no doubt...
Jodie Foster to Receive Britannia Award for Excellence in Film
Jodie Foster is set to be honored with the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film at this year’s Britannia Awards, USA Today reports. The actress and director will be awarded with...
Pam Grier and Jessye Norman to Receive W.E.B. DuBois Award
Actress Pam Grier and opera soprano Jessye Norman will be among the recipients of Harvard University’s 2016 W.E.B. Du Bois medals. Named for the civil rights activist, historian, and sociologist,...
Trailer Watch: “The Crown” Feels Like It Could Take Place Today
“We have a new sovereign. Young…and a woman!” exclaims a voice in the new trailer for Netflix’s “The Crown.” The series begins in 1952 just as Queen Elizabeth II is taking the throne,...
Actors Can Now Request to Have Their Ages Removed from IMDb
We all know that ageism is an issue in Hollywood. In an effort to combat age discrimination, actors now have the ability to take action if they want their ages removed from IMDb,...
Trailer Watch: Ava DuVernay’s “The 13th” Critiques Mass Incarceration
Director Ava DuVernay (“Selma”) has secured the Opening Night spot at this year’s New York Film Festival, which runs from September 30-October 16, for her documentary “The 13th.” And now...
“Bridget Jones’s Baby” Tops Foreign Box Office For Second Week in a Row
“Bridget Jones’s Baby” is still going strong in international market, despite a poor performance in the U.S. As Variety reports, the movie topped the foreign box office once again, earning...
Trailer Watch: “Good Girls Revolt” Tackles Sexism in Journalism
If there’s one thing that “Mad Men” never sufficiently got into in its last days, it was the budding women’s rights movements of the 1970s. Well, a new Amazon series called “Good Girls...
You’re Invited! USC Annenberg Hosts Diversifying Entertainment Event
Join Women and Hollywood founder and publisher Melissa Silverstein at “Transforming Hollywood 7: Diversifying Entertainment.” The all-day public event is being held on October 21 from 9 a.m....
Female-Led “Magnum P.I.” Sequel in the Works at ABC
ABC has picked up “Magnum,” a female-led sequel to the 1980s series “Magnum P.I.” for “a script commitment plus substantial penalty,” Deadline reports. The project, from Eva...
AFI Fest to Celebrate Dorothy Dandridge, Ida Lupino, and Anna May Wong
The American Film Institute has announced that the 30th iteration of AFI Fest will spotlight Dorothy Dandridge, Ida Lupino, and Anna May Wong. Dandridge was the first African-American woman...
Jamie Lee Curtis to Direct an Episode of “Scream Queens”
The queen of screams herself is taking charge. “Halloween” actress Jamie Lee Curtis is set to direct an episode of Fox’s horror-comedy series “Scream Queens,” Deadline reports. Curtis acts...
Annie Howell and Lisa Robinson’s “Claire in Motion” Goes to Breaking Glass
Breaking Glass Pictures has acquired the North American rights to writer-director team Annie Howell and Lisa Robinson’s “Claire in Motion,” ScreenDaily reports. The film premiered at SXSW and...
Trailer Watch: “Hidden Figures” International Spot Shows More History
“I’m a negro woman, I’m not going to entertain the impossible,” says Janelle Monáe’s “Hidden Figures” character at the prospect of becoming an engineer. But as her colleague replies,...
What Happens When Women Hit 40 in Hollywood
By now, we’re aware of the fact that Hollywood is ageist. As Women and Hollywood previously reported, a study released by the Media, Diversity and Social Change Initiative at the University of...
Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards Have All Male Finalists and Judges
In today’s edition of “Are you fucking kidding me?!?” the Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards have whittled down their selection to five finalists, and, as far as we can tell, not only are they all...
Bette Midler’s “Hello, Dolly!” Breaks Broadway Sale Records
Bette Midler has broken a record. As Deadline reports, her upcoming Broadway revival of “Hello, Dolly!” has already banked $9.08 million in ticket sales, and the show won’t even open...
Felicity Jones to Receive BAFTA Britannia Award
Felicity Jones will be honored with BAFTA Los Angeles’ Britannia Award for British artist of the year, The Hollywood Reporter writes. The artist of the year award “pays tribute to a talented...
Fan Favorite Sarah Steele Joins “The Good Wife” Spinoff
Sara Steele is on board for “The Good Wife” spinoff on CBS All Access, Deadline reports. As Women and Hollywood previously reported, the spinoff will focus on the characters of Diane Lockhart...
Trailer Watch: “Amanda Knox” Trial Gets the Doc Treatment
The Amanda Knox case had the world on edge, with viewers glued to the news. Was this young woman a murderer? Or trapped in a backwards justice system that punishes women for being sexual? “Either...