BY Laura Berger
Trailer Watch: Netflix Docuseries “The Keepers” Investigates a Nun’s Murder
Love “Making a Murderer” and other docuseries that tackle mysterious crimes from a fresh perspective? You’re going to want to watch a newly released trailer for “The Keepers.” Netflix’s...
Michelle Byrd to Head PGA East
Former Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) Executive Director Michelle Byrd has been named as the Managing Director of PGA East, ScreenDaily reports. She’ll oversee operations from the New York...
Trailer Watch: Teens on the Autism Spectrum Make a Splash in “Swim Team”
“When I’m swimming, I feel normal. It feels amazing,” says one of the characters in a newly released trailer for Lara Stolman’s “Swim Team.” The award-winning documentary follows the...
Tribeca 2017 Women Directors: Meet Sarah Adina Smith — “Buster’s Mal Heart”
Sarah Adina Smith’s first feature, “The Midnight Swim,” won six awards on the festival circuit, including the audience award from AFI FEST. She wrote and directed “Mother’s Day,” a...
Tribeca 2017 Women Directors: Meet Alexandra Dean — “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story”
Alexandra Dean is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and producer. She produced news-magazine documentaries for PBS before becoming a series and documentary producer at Bloomberg television, producing...
Tribeca 2017 Women Directors: Meet Elvira Lind — “Bobbi Jene”
Elvira Lind has shot and directed documentaries of various lengths for TV, cinema, and the web on four different continents. Her first feature documentary, “Songs for Alexis,” competed at IDFA...
“The Daily Show’s” Michelle Wolf Has an HBO Comedy Special on the Way
Michelle Wolf has a stand-up special in the works at HBO. Scheduled to tape this summer, the as-yet untitled project marks Wolf’s comedy special debut, The Hollywood Reporter writes. You may...
Tribeca 2017 Women Directors: Meet Laurie Simmons — “My Art”
Laurie Simmons is an internationally recognized artist. Her work is included in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Whitney Museum, among...
Michelle Monaghan to Play Immigration Attorney Judy Wood in “Saint Judy”
Michelle Monaghan may be stepping into the courtroom. The Golden Globe-nominated actress is in negotiations to star in “Saint Judy,” a biopic about LA immigration attorney Judy Wood, Deadline...
Trailer Watch: Laurie Simmons Revisits Hollywood’s Past in “My Art”
A trailer has landed for “My Art,” Laurie Simmons’ feature directorial debut. The spot for the drama kicks off with a scene all-too-familiar to those who have chosen to pursue a career in the...
Trailer Watch: Bryan Cranston Hides from His Family in Robin Swicord’s “Wakefield”
“Suburban life. So much is the same week after week. Who hasn’t had the impulse to put their life on hold for a moment? Just vanish completely,” says Howard Wakefield (Bryan Cranston) in the...
Anne Hathaway Talks Internalized Misogyny and Working with Lone Scherfig
Anne Hathaway is an outspoken advocate of gender equality in Hollywood and beyond. The Oscar winner is a global goodwill ambassador for UN Women, the UN agency working towards gender equality and...
Cannes 2017: Directors’ Fortnight Lineup Is 35% Women-Directed
Cannes has announced its 2017 Director’s Fortnight lineup, and seven of 20 films screening are helmed by women, amounting to 35 percent of the slate. This is a dramatic improvement from last year,...
Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck to Direct “Captain Marvel”
We finally know who’s going to helm “Captain Marvel.” After months of speculation and rumors, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have been announced as the directors of the highly anticipated Marvel...
Child Sex Trafficking Doc “I Am Jane Doe” Gets Digital Release Date
Child sex trafficking is dramatically more common than most people realize. Mary Mazzio’s new documentary, “I Am Jane Doe,” aims to raise awareness about this horrific crime and the fact that...
Trailer Watch: Alison Brie and Aubrey Plaza are Raunchy Nuns in “The Little Hours”
Nuns are usually depicted as stern, stoic, and cloistered away from the debauchery of the wider world. A NSFW trailer has landed for “The Little Hours,” and never before have we seen the likes...
Rosamund Pike Signs on to Play War Reporter Marie Colvin
Rosamund Pike is set to portray another real-life figure. The Oscar-nominated actress will play American war reporter Marie Colvin in an untitled film, Deadline reports. Pike was last seen in Amma...
“13th,” “Trapped,” & More Women-Directed Docs Win Peabody Awards
Twelve documentaries are being honored by the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors, and seven of them are women-directed or co-directed. 2016 was an amazing year for documentaries, and this stellar...
Greenwich Film Festival to Honor Renée Zellweger and Christy Turlington Burns
Renée Zellweger and Christy Turlington Burns will be honored at the Greenwich International Film Festival’s third annual Changemaker Gala. The event, scheduled to be held June 1, celebrates...
Tribeca 2017 Women Directors: Meet Liz W. Garcia — “One Percent More Humid”
Liz W. Garcia’s directorial debut, “The Lifeguard,” starring Kristen Bell, premiered in competition at Sundance in 2013. She is currently writing “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 3” for...
Jessica Chastain on the Power of Saying “No” and Her Fight for Equal Pay
Jessica Chastain is continuing to fight the good fight. The wonderfully outspoken advocate for gender equality in Hollywood frequently draws attention to the industry’s double standards, and in...
Trailer Watch: Salma Hayek Goes to the Dinner Party from Hell in “Beatriz at Dinner”
A trailer has landed for Salma Hayek-starrer “Beatriz at Dinner,” and the spot is full of cringe-inducing moments. “This woman is a saint. It’s like birds fly out of the sky and land on her...
Amy Schumer to Star in Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein’s “I Feel Pretty”
It’s less than a month until “Snatched” hits theaters, and now comes word that Amy Schumer has booked another gig. She’ll topline and produce “I Feel Pretty,” a comedy from McG’s...
Quote of the Day: Romola Garai Explains How Hollywood Makes Women Feel Inadequate
Romola Garai is a two-time Golden Globe nominated actress, but she has a less than favorable opinion of Hollywood. “I did a bit of modeling when I was a teenager and, even then, nobody asked me to...
“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s” Rachel Bloom to Write a Book
Before she rose to stardom as the co-creator and star of musical dramedy “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” Rachel Bloom launched her career on YouTube. Now the Golden Globe winner is taking on another...
Trailer Watch: Four Women Take on the Pacific Ocean in “Losing Sight of Shore”
“There’s an incredible insight to be gained to know that you can fight and overcome anything that is thrown your way,” says one of the characters in a newly released trailer for “Losing...
Sofia Coppola to Be Honored at Provincetown Film Festival
Sofia Coppola is having a helluva week. The writer-director’s next film, “The Beguiled,” was just announced as part of Canne’s 2017 lineup, and now comes word that the Oscar winner will be...
Trailer Watch: Amanda Lipitz’s Sundance Winner “Step” Will Have You Dancing
Get a Kleenex out and clear some space to bust a move. A trailer has been released for Amanda Lipitz’s “Step,” and it’s equally likely to bring you to tears as it is to inspire some dancing...
Kathleen Robertson to Adapt “The Possibilities” for Fox Searchlight
Writer-actress Kathleen Robertson has scored a promising gig. The former “Boss” star has signed on to adapt “The Possibilities,” Kaui Hart Hemmings’ follow up novel to “The...
Gurinder Chadha Joins UK Initiative Tackling Gender Imbalance in the Film Industry
Based in the UK and want to learn from the best and brightest in the film business? Listen up. Female Film Leaders is an industry forum that “aims to equip up-and-coming female film industry...
Willow Smith to Produce Two Female-Led Fantasy Projects
Willow Smith is working on getting female-driven fantasy stories to TV and the big screen. The multi-hyphenate’s production shingle, MSFTS Production, is teaming up with Cartel Entertainment for...
Principal Photography Kicks Off for Hannah Fidell’s “The Long Dumb Road”
Hannah Fidell is following up “6 Years,” her portrait of dysfunctional young love, with a buddy comedy. Principal photography for “The Long Dumb Road” has begun in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a...
Melissa McCarthy to Be Honored at Artemis Women in Action Film Fest
Melissa McCarthy’s filmography includes roles such as a ghost-catcher, spy, and cop, so it comes as no surprise that the Oscar-nominated actress will be honored with the Powerhouse award by the...
Nanfu Wang’s “I Am Another You” Secures Distribution
Nanfu Wang’s award-winning new documentary has found a home. FilmRise has acquired North American distribution rights to “I Am Another You,” and PBS’ “Independent Lens” secured U.S...
“The Raven Cycle” Gets Pilot Order, Catherine Hardwicke to Direct
Fantasy fans, rejoice. Maggie Stiefvater’s best-selling four-book series “The Raven Cycle” is being adapted for TV, and Catherine Hardwicke has signed on to helm the pilot and serve as an...
Amy Adams to Receive American Cinematheque Award
Amy Adams has been named as the 2017 recipient of the American Cinematheque Award, a press release has announced. The honor recognizes “an extraordinary artist in the entertainment industry who is...
Alfre Woodard to Star in “Juanita”
Alfre Woodard has signed on to star in “Juanita,” an indie drama based on Sheila Williams’ 2002 novel “Dancing on the Edge of the Roof,” Variety reports. The “Luke Cage” actress is...
Daisy Asquith’s “Queerama” to Open Sheffield Doc/Fest
Daisy Asquith’s “Queerama” will open the 2017 Sheffield Doc/Fest, Women in Film and Television UK reports. Created with material from the BFI National Archive, the doc was made to mark the 50...
Trailer Watch: Kathryn Hahn Obsesses Over Kevin Bacon in Jill Soloway’s “I Love Dick”
“Dear Dick, you’re like a Roman god bringing the spirit of sex into our lives,” says Chris (Kathryn Hahn) in a trailer for the memorably-titled upcoming Amazon series “I Love Dick.” Chris...
Quote of the Day: Kirsten Dunst on Filming Sex Scenes with Women Directors
Like most actors, Kirsten Dunst is not a fan of filming sex scenes. “I don’t like it, I don’t like it,” the “Hidden Figures” actress told E! News at CinemaCon while promoting Sofia...
Trailer Watch: Elle Fanning Is a Transgender Teen Fighting to Transition in “3 Generations”
“The hardest part of my day is knowing everybody still sees me as a girl,” says Ray (Elle Fanning) in a new trailer for Gaby Dellal’s “3 Generations.” While Ray is part of a progressive...
Trailer Watch: Vanessa Gould’s “Obit” Spotlights Those Who Make the Dead Live Again
“It’s counter-intuitive — ironic, even — but obits have next to nothing to do with death, and in fact absolutely everything to do with the life,” an obituary writer observes in a...
Judy Blume to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters
The woman who made puberty a little less terrifying for millions of girls is being honored with a lifetime achievement award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Judy Blume will be given...
Weinstein Co. to Protest MPAA “R” Rating for Transgender Drama “3 Generations”
Gaby Dellal’s “3 Generations” continues to make headlines. This time around, the upcoming transgender drama is in the news because it has been assigned an “R” rating by the MPAA for...
Hallie Meyers-Shyer’s Reese Witherspoon -Starrer “Home Again” Gets Release Date
“Big Little Lies” concluded Sunday on HBO, and while we’ll miss much about the murder mystery, one of the highlights of the limited series was definitely watching Reese Witherspoon knock it...
Melissa Stack to Make Directorial Debut with Vacation Comedy
“The Other Woman” grossed more than $196 million worldwide on a budget of $40 million, and now the screenwriter behind the 2014 Cameron Diaz infidelity comedy seems to have another hit on her...
Pussy Riot Documentary “Act & Punishment” Gets U.S. Release
“If your vagina lands in prison, then the world is gonna listen,” sings Pussy Riot in “Straight Outta Vagina,” a song released in 2016. The Russian punk rock group is the subject of “Act...
“That’s So Raven” Spinoff Ordered to Series
Oh snap! We’re getting a “That’s So Raven” spinoff. The Hollywood Reporter writes that Disney Channel has ordered “Raven’s Home” to series. Raven-Symoné will reprise her role as Raven...
Trailer Watch: Chelsea Handler Is Back and Brasher than Ever in Season 2 of “Chelsea”
“Not all Jews haggle,” Chelsea Handler tells a vendor in a newly released trailer for the second season of Netflix’s “Chelsea.” The promo makes light of the fact that that Handler defies...
Tallgrass Film Festival to Launch Female-Helmed Doc Competition
The largest film festival in Kansas is getting more female-friendly. The Tallgrass Film Association (TFA) has announced the creation of DoXX Spotlight competition for women-directed feature-length...
Teaser Watch: Aubrey Plaza Is an Instagram Stalker in “Ingrid Goes West”
If you find yourself rolling your eyes at social media stars, Instagram platitudes, and hashtags being affixed to every other word online, “Ingrid Goes West” may just be the dark comedy for you....