BY Laura Berger
Ava DuVernay Launches Inclusive Database of Below-the-Line Talent
Ava DuVernay has announced her latest effort to give Hollywood a much-needed makeover. The Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning multi-hyphenate has “assembled a database of below-the-line talent...
Trailer Watch: Muhammad Ali Looks Onward After a Historic Win in Regina King’s “One Night in Miami…”
“I’m as ready as a person can be,” says Cassius Clay (Eli Goree) in a new trailer for “One Night in Miami…” Regina King’s feature directorial debut takes...
“Nomadland” Leads Alliance of Women Film Journalists’ EDA Award Nominations
The party’s just getting started for “Nomadland.” Chloé Zhao’s Oscar frontrunner has already picked up honors from the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Los Angeles Film...
Pick of the Day: “One Night in Miami…”
Best known for her Oscar- and Emmy-winning roles on-screen, Regina King has been pulling double duty in her professional life for the past decade or so, steadily building up a résumé of over a...
Annemarie Jacir Is Bringing “Mornings in Jenin” to Television
Annemarie Jacir is following up her 2017 Oscar hopeful “Wajib” with a project on the small screen. The Palestinian filmmaker is developing a TV series based on Susan Abulhawa’s...
Saudi Arabia Adds “Scales” to Oscars’ International Feature Race
Shahad Ameen is following in Haifaa Al-Mansour’s footsteps. “Scales” has been named as Saudi Arabia’s pick for the International Feature Film category at the 2021 Academy...
“Nomadland” Dominates Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, Chloé Zhao Wins Best Director
“Nomadland” is showing no signs of slowing down. The Frances McDormand-led Oscar frontrunner was just named Best Picture by The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA), and Chloé Zhao...
Trailer Watch: Robin Wright Battles the Elements and Herself in “Land”
“I’m not running from anyone. I’m not hiding. I’m here because I choose to be,” says Robin Wright in a new trailer for “Land.” Set to make its world premiere...
“The Wilds” Coming Back for Season 2 on Amazon
Our favorite castaways are staying put. Amazon has renewed “The Wilds” for a second season, The Hollywood Reporter confirms. Created by Sarah Streicher (“Daredevil”), the...
L.A. Film Critics Association & New York Film Critics Circle Name Chloé Zhao Best Director for “Nomadland”
Chloé Zhao is taking awards season by storm. Already named Best Director by the Boston Society of Film Critics, Zhao just picked up the same honor from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association...
“The Flight Attendant” Renewed for Second Season at HBO Max
Kaley Cuoco has plenty more flights to log and international mysteries to solve. “The Flight Attendant” has been renewed for a second season on HBO Max. A press release from the streamer...
Jennifer Lopez Will Topline and Produce Serial Killer Drama “The Cipher” for Netflix
Jennifer Lopez’s upcoming slate sees her playing a music superstar (Kat Coiro’s “Marry Me”) and a drug lord (Reed Morano’s “The Godmother”). Now she’s...
Frances McDormand and Sarah Polley Team Up for “Women Talking” Adaptation
Two of Canada’s most acclaimed storytellers are joining forces with one of America’s finest actors. Sarah Polley is signed on to write and direct a feature adaptation of Miriam...
“Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time” Goes to Greenwich Entertainment
Greenwich Entertainment just snagged U.S. rights to an Oscar hopeful. Screen Daily reports that the distribution company will release “Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of...
Apply Now: Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad Mentorship Lab
Lena Waite is welcoming in a new generation of talent into the industry. The Emmy winner’s production company, Hillman Grad, has launched The Hillman Grad Mentorship Lab, a 10-month,...
Nikole Beckwith’s “Together Together” Lands at Bleecker Street
Nikole Beckwith’s sophomore feature has secured distribution. Bleecker Street scored North American rights to “Together Together,” Beckwith’s follow-up to 2015 Saoirse...
“A Woman’s Work: The NFL’s Cheerleader Problem” Acquired by 1091 Pictures
We kicked off 2020 cheering on Gabi, Lexi, and La’Darius at Daytona’s NCA & NDA Collegiate Cheer and Dance Championship and we’ll ring in 2021 cheering on NFL cheerleaders...
“Savannah” Series in the Works at Amazon from Tracy Oliver
Tracy Oliver has yet another series in the works. The “Girls Trip” scribe’s “First Wives Club” reboot has been renewed for a second season on BET+ and she’s...
Shaz Bennett’s “Alaska Is a Drag” Lands at ARRAY Releasing, Gets Trailer
Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing has acquired “Alaska Is a Drag,” Shaz Bennett’s award-winning feature directorial debut. A press release confirmed the news. Penned by Bennett...
Helena Coan on Showing a Different Side to Audrey Hepburn in “Audrey”
Helena Coan is a writer, director, and musician. Her first documentary feature, “Chasing Perfect,” was produced by Salon Pictures and distributed by Lionsgate. The documentary is a...
Black List 2020: Sophie Dawson’s Cannibal Story “Headhunter” Receives Most Votes
The 2020 Black List is here. Now in its 16th edition, the annual survey highlights Hollywood execs’ favorite unproduced — or “on the verge of being produced” —...
Nicole Kassell Will Serve as Lead Director on HBO/Sky Dark Comedy “The Baby”
Nicole Kassell will celebrate her “Watchmen” Emmy win by helping HBO deliver another hit. She’s signed on to serve as lead director on “The Baby,” a dark horror comedy...
Trailer Post: Frances McDormand and Chloé Zhao Hit the Open Road in “Nomadland”
“I’m not homeless. I’m just houseless,” says Frances McDormand in a new trailer for “Nomadland.” Written and directed by Chloé Zhao, the Oscar frontrunner tells...
Trailer Watch: Chloë Grace Moretz Faces Off Against a Gremlin in the Sky in “Shadow in the Cloud”
“You have no idea how far I’ll go,” warns Chloë Grace Moretz in a new trailer for Roseanne Liang’s “Shadow in the Cloud.” Set in WWII, the campy thriller tells...
Pick of the Day: “Finding Yingying”
A loving portrait of a young woman robbed of her bright future, “Finding Yingying” also serves as an indictment of the true crime genre, which all too often treats victims of violent...
Pick of the Day: “Through the Night”
Described by director Loira Limbal as “a love letter to single mothers and caregivers,” “Through the Night” takes us inside a 24-hour daycare center in New Rochelle, NY. The...
Pick of the Day: “Let Them All Talk”
“Here’s to picking up the conversation where we left off — and here’s to reconnecting the gang of three we used to be,” says Meryl Steep in “Let Them All Talk.” Filmed over two weeks...
Trailer Watch: Meryl Streep and Jennifer Trainer Explore What It Means to Be a “Museum Town”
Directed by former MASS MoCA director of development Jennifer Trainer and narrated by Meryl Streep, “Museum Town” explores how the largest museum for contemporary art in the world ended...
Naomi Kawase’s “True Mothers” Lands at Film Movement
Naomi Kawase’s latest has secured distribution stateside. Variety reports that Film Movement scored U.S. rights to “True Mothers,” the Japanese auteur’s Oscar hopeful. Part of...
Catalina Aguilar Mastretta to Direct Jojo Moyes Adaptation “The Giver of Stars” for Universal
Another woman-directed Jojo Moyes adaptation is in the works. The author’s novels have already served as the source material for Thea Sharrock’s 2016 Emilia Clarke-led box office hit...
KiKi Layne and Kasi Lemmons Join Forces on Skydance TV’s “Ring Shout”
KiKi Layne is coming to the small screen. Skydance Television nabbed rights to P. Djéli Clark’s fantasy historical novella “Ring Shout” in a “competitive situation,” and the...
Queen Latifah and Millicent Shelton Team Up for Netflix Thriller “End of the Road”
Queen Latifah is set to star in another genre project. The Academy Award-nominated actress already has a gender-swapped “Equalizer” reboot in the works at CBS and now she’s set to...
Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment Signs First-Look TV Deal at Amazon
Margot Robbie is going into business with Amazon Studios. The Oscar-nominated actress’ production company with Tom Ackerley and Josey McNamara, LuckyChap, has signed a deal to “create...
Corinna Faith’s Supernatural Thriller “The Power” Lands at Shudder
Shudder’s got “The Power.” The streamer scored rights to the supernatural thriller for North America, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, Deadline reports. Described as being...
Tara Miele to Write and Direct Carol Burnett Biopic
Tara Miele has lined up her next project days ahead of the release of her latest feature, Sienna Miller-starrer “Wander Darkly.” She will follow up the romantic drama about a couple whose...
Trailer Watch: Old Friends Reunite in Meagan Good and Tamara LaSeon Bass’ “If Not Now, When?”
As highschoolers, BFFs Tyra (Meagan Good, “Think Like a Man”), Patrice (Tamara Bass, “All That Matters”), Deidre (Meagan Holder, “UnREAL”), and Suzanne (Mekia Cox,...
“Feel Good” Renewed for Second and Final Season by Netflix
Mae and George’s love story has only just begun. Netflix has renewed “Feel Good” for a second and final season, a press release announced. Co-created by star Mae Martin, the...
Trailer Watch: Wendy Williams Tells It Like It Is In Her Lifetime Biopic
“I am here to stay. Wendy Williams is not going anywhere. I’m going to come in like a hurricane,” says Wendy Williams (Ciera Payton, “The Oval”) in a new trailer for...
Pick of the Day: “Nomadland”
“Nomadland” is a marvel. A master class by rapidly ascending writer-director Chloé Zhao and ever-stalwart star Frances McDormand, the drama tells the story of Fern (McDormand), a woman...
Trailer Watch: Kiernan Shipka Faces The Eldritch Terrors in “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” Part 4
It’s time to say goodbye to Sabrina Spellman and the Greendale gang — and hello to the apocalypse. A trailer has dropped for the fourth and final part of Netflix’s “Chilling...
“Women’s Studies” Dramedy in the Works at HBO Max from Natalia Castells-Esquivel
HBO Max has put “Women’s Studies,” a one-hour dramedy described as “‘Dear White People’ meets ‘The L World’ sprinkled with some ‘Broad City...
Dana Nachman on “Celebrating Everything Beautiful About Christmas” in USPS Doc “Dear Santa”
Dana Nachman is an award-winning filmmaker of both fiction and documentary films. The Walt Disney Company hired Nachman to remake her 2018 Slamdance festival documentary “Pick of the...
“Once Upon a Time in Venezuela’s” North American Streaming Rights Go to Topic
Topic has acquired North American streaming rights to “Once Upon a Time in Venezuela,” Venezuela’s submission for best international feature film at the 2021 Academy Awards. Variety...
April Mullen on Highlighting Targets and Victims of Governmental Subjugation in “Wander”
April Mullen is a mixed Anishinaabe Algonquin (Indigenous) director and producer. Her credits include “Below Her Mouth,” which made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film...
Jada Pinkett Smith Will Topline Netflix Drama “Redd Zone”
Jada Pinkett Smith is bringing healing conversations beyond “Red Table Talk.” Variety reports that she’s signed on to topline “Redd Zone,” a drama about a woman who...
Trailer Watch: A Secret Romance Is Revealed in France’s Oscar Pick “Two of Us”
A decades-long love affair takes a tragic turn in “Two of Us,” France’s submission for Best International Film at next year’s Oscars. A new trailer for the drama introduces us...
Tina Mabry & Gina Prince-Bythewood Team Up for Searchlight’s “The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat”
Gina Prince-Bythewood’s got another adaptation in the works following the smash success of “The Old Guard.” She’s following up the Charlize Theron and KiKi Layne-led comic...
Maggie Smith Is Bringing “A German Life” to the Screen
COVID-19 is taking “A German Life” in an unexpected direction. A screen version of the one-woman play about the life of Brunhilde Pomsel, Nazi politician and minister of propaganda Joseph...
Carrie Brownstein Is Directing a Heart Biopic
Carrie Brownstein is paying tribute to her fellow rock goddesses. The Sleater-Kinney musician and “Portlandia” alumna is set to write and direct a biopic about Heart for Amazon Studios....
Gugu Mbatha-Raw to Topline Apple TV+ Psychological Thriller “Surface” from Veronica West
Gugu Mbatha-Raw is getting her own Apple TV+ show. The “Morning Show” alumna will follow up her supporting role on the streamer’s flagship series with “Surface,” a...
Felicity Huffman Will Star in ABC Baseball Comedy
Still mourning the cancellation of “Pitch” and hoping against hope for a revival? There’s no update on the future of the dearly departed Fox drama, but a new female-led baseball...