BY Laura Berger
Leslie Jones Takes to Twitter to Find Designer Duds for “Ghostbusters” Premiere
Leslie Jones in “Ghostbusters”: Hopper Stone /Columbia Pictures In today’s head-scratching “WTF” news, “SNL” star Leslie Jones experienced problems trying to secure an outfit to the...
Successful Female Cinematographers Share Insight About Working in the Field
Women accounted for only three percent of the cinematographers working on the top 100 grossing films of 2015. Vulture recently spoke with three prominent women in the business about their...
LaToya Morgan Lands a Writing Deal at AMC
LaToya Morgan has signed a two-year overall deal with AMC, reports Deadline. She’ll work on existing series — AMC’s current slate includes titles such as “Better Call Saul,” “The...
Lisa McInerney Wins Two Prestigious Prizes for Her Debut Novel
Lisa McInerney will undoubtedly remember June 2016 as one of the most exciting months of her life. The Irish novelist won the £10,000 (about $13,000 USD) Desmond Elliott Prize for her debut novel...
Gospel Singer Mavis Staples To Be Honored by Kennedy Center
Living legend Mavis Staples is set to be honored by the Kennedy Center, making her the second gospel singer to be recognized in the award’s 39 year history (the first was Marion Williams...
WestEnd Launches Brand Targeting Female Audiences with Film from Agnieszka Holland
Female audiences are under-served and underestimated, and WestEnd Films, an international film sales and finance house, is doing something to address these problems. Variety reports that WestEnd has...
Trailer Watch: “Difficult People” Are Back and More Outrageous Than Ever
Your favorite platonic soulmates are back, and they’re just as lovable and hateable as you remember. A hilarious new trailer has arrived for Season 2 of Hulu’s “Difficult People,” starring...
Watch: A Female Comedian’s Looks Are Torn Apart by “The Focus Group”
Comedian Sara Benincasa has dreamed up hilarious and horrifying nightmare fodder. Imagine having your style and body mercilessly evaluated by a focus group while in a state of undress. Now witness...
Weekly Update for June 24: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“The Shallows” Films About Women Opening This Week The Shallows When Nancy (Blake Lively) is surfing on a secluded beach, she finds herself in the feeding ground of a great white shark. Millions...
Frances Conroy Will Star in TV Adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Mist”
Frances Conroy is set to enter “The Mist” for Spike TV. She’ll star in the scripted drama, an adaptation of Stephen King’s 1980 novella. “The Mist,” which Spike has ordered...
Reed Morano May Direct “The Handmaid’s Tale” Adaptation Starring Elisabeth Moss
Reed Morano is in talks to helm “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Hulu’s adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s classic 1985 dystopian novel. The streaming service has given a straight-to-series order for...
Trailer Watch: Romance Fiction’s Sisterhood Shines in “Love Between the Covers”
Romance fiction grosses over a billion dollars a year. Its intensely devoted readership spans six continents, and the genre is sold in 34 languages. So why aren’t people talking about this hugely...
Trailer Watch: Sarah Jessica Parker Demands a “Divorce” on HBO
As the title of “Divorce” warns, the new HBO show is not going to offer a storybook romance. A trailer has dropped for the eagerly-awaited Sarah Jessica Parker comedy series, and it doesn’t...
The Kilroys Launch “The List”: Production-Ready Plays by Female and Trans Writers
The Kilroys have announced the third annual installment of “The List.” The LA-based collective has assembled a list of production-ready new plays written by female and trans writers. The Kilroys...
Two Movies About Agatha Christie in the Works with Potential Big Stars Attached
Agatha Christie’s mysteries have riveted readers and viewers for nearly a century, so it comes as no surprise that there’s interest in uncovering some clues about the legendary wordsmith...
Catherine Deneuve Named the 2016 Recipient of the Lumière Award
Catherine Deneuve will be honored with the 2016 Lumière Award at the Lumière Grand Lyon Film Festival in France, Variety reports. The event focuses almost exclusively on film classics as opposed...
Andrea Berloff to Adapt “The Kitchen” Comic Series for New Line Cinema
Great news for fans of comics and female-fronted stories: “The Kitchen” is coming to the big-screen. The Vertigo comic series, which The Tracking Board notes “has been celebrated for its...
Clio Barnard Starts Shooting “Dark River,” Starring Ruth Wilson
Principal photography for Clio Barnard’s “Dark River,” a family drama starring Ruth Wilson (“The Affair”), has kicked off. Filming will take place in Yorkshire, a county in Northern...
Inspirational Women in Theater To Be Celebrated By London’s Tonic Theatre
Tonic Theatre is launching an event to honor women in theater. The inaugural celebration will take June 22 at the Ambassadors Theater in London, England. Lucy Kerbel, Tonic’s director, will...
Paramount Acquires Julia Cox’s Black List Script “Do No Harm”
In total, 16 of the 81 scripts featured on the 2015 Black List, or 20%, were written or co-written by women. The list included Julia Cox’s “Do No Harm,” which has now been acquired by...
Sony Pictures TV Kicks Off Diverse Directors Program: Apply Now
Sony Pictures Television is accepting applications for its Diverse Directors Program, now in its third year. The program aims to offer opportunities to directors with diverse backgrounds. Fifteen...
“I Dream Too Much” Writer-Director Katie Cokinos on Her Bright and Uplifting Coming-of-Age Story
Katie Cokinos began her film career in the late 1980s working at Southwest Alternate Media Project (SWAMP) in Houston, where she co-produced Eagle Pennell’s “Heart Full of Soul” in 1989. She...
Catch a Sneak Peek of “Ghostbusters” With Its Screenwriter Katie Dippold
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced an upcoming event centered around one of summer’s most anticipated releases. “Ghostbusters” won’t hit theaters until July 15,...
ESSENCE Festival Names Tina Knowles-Lawson Winner of the Inspiring Leadership Award
Tina Knowles-Lawson is best known for being Beyonce’s mother, but her accomplishments extend far beyond raising an uber successful daughter: Knowles-Lawson is a philanthropist, author, and fashion...
“Orphan Black” Renewed for Fifth and Final Season
The good news: “Orphan Black” is returning for a fifth season. The bad news: Season 5 will mark the end of the series. The fifth and final season, composed of 10 episodes, is set to air in 2017....
Margaret Atwood Wins PEN Pinter Prize
Margaret Atwood has been named this year’s recipient of the PEN Pinter Prize, an honor celebrating champions of free speech. The Canadian writer is perhaps best known for her novels “The...
Anne Hathaway Becomes Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women
Oscar winner Anne Hathaway has a new role to play: the actress has been named a global goodwill ambassador for UN Women, the UN agency working towards gender equality and female...
Award-Winning Female Composers Recognized at “The Women Who Score” Concert
Of the 112 original scores eligible for an Oscar last award season, only three, or 2.7 percent, were composed or co-composed by women. Female composers are sorely underrepresented in the industry,...
Trailer Watch: Rachel Weisz Gets Taken to Court in Holocaust Drama “Denial”
A gripping trailer has been released for “Denial,” Rachel Weisz’s upcoming courtroom drama. The hotly anticipated film was just given an Oscar-friendly release date of September 30, and the...
Lily Tomlin, Gina Rodriguez, and Other Comedy Actresses Sound Off on Sexism at THR Roundtable
The Hollywood Reporter brought together some of the biggest names from the small-screen for its Comedy Actress Roundtable. The six hilarious participants —Lily Tomlin (“Grace and Frankie”),...
Kirsten Johnson’s “Cameraperson” Takes Home Top Honors at Sheffield Doc/Fest
Kirsten Johnson’s “Cameraperson” has been named the grand prize winner of Sheffield Doc/Fest. The documentary is a curated collection of extraordinary footage that Johnson has assembled over...
Watch: Kerry Washington Stands Up Against Domestic Violence
Kerry Washington is speaking out against domestic violence. For the third year, the “Scandal” star has signed on to serve as an ambassador for the Allstate Foundation Purple Purse campaign,...
Celebrate Reproductive Rights at a Reading of “Spare Rib” Hosted by Gloria Steinem
More information has been revealed about Spare Rib, an upcoming reproductive rights celebration hosted by the Society for Ethical Culture. Gloria Steinem will host the event honoring the work of Dr....
Quote of the Day: “The Girlfriend Experience” Star Riley Keough Talks “Shitty” Roles For Women
Riley Keough plays a law student and sex worker on Starz’s “The Girlfriend Experience.” The rising star explained the allure of the meaty role to The Hollywood Reporter: the chance to play an...
Helena Bonham Carter to Star in, Produce “Saint Mazie” Miniseries
Helena Bonham Carter is coming to the small-screen. The two-time Oscar nominee will star in the miniseries “Saint Maizie,” a portrait of a big-hearted New Yorker in the Jazz Age. Bonham Carter...
Gena Rowlands’ Collaborations with John Cassavetes Celebrated at Metrograph in NY
Metrograph is set to honor a match made cinematic heaven. The Manhattan movie theater will host Cassavetes/Rowlands, a program celebrating the collaborations between legendary screen actress Gena...
Queen Latifah To Be Recognized at “VH1 Hip Hop Honors: All Hail the Queens”
Multi-hyphenate talent Queen Latifah will be celebrated at “VH1 Hip Hop Honors: All Hail the Queens.” The Grammy, Emmy, and Golden Globe winner will executive produce the event via Flavor Unit....
Nicole Kidman Joins “Top of the Lake” Season 2 with Elisabeth Moss and Gwendoline Christie
Oz’s biggest movie star is joining our favorite Australia-set series. Deadline reports that Nicole Kidman has signed on to Season 2 of Jane Campion’s feminist mystery series “Top of the...
CBS Developing Limited Series Based on Patty Hearst
Prepare for the term “Stockholm Syndrome” to re-enter public consciousness in a big way. CBS is in the midst of developing a limited series based on Patty Hearst, arguably the most famous,...
Frameline, San Fran LGBTQ Film Fest’s Features Lineup is Nearly 50% Women-Directed
LGBTQ film festivals are always something to celebrate, but especially when women-directed films feature prominently in the program, as both groups are underrepresented on the film festival circuit...
BBC’s Adaptation of Zadie Smith’s “NW” Will Star Nikki Amuka-Bird and Phoebe Fox
The leading ladies for BBC’s adaption of Zadie Smith’s 2012 novel “NW” have been revealed. Deadline announced that Nikki Amuka-Bird (“Luther,” “Jupiter Ascending”) and Phoebe Fox...
Weekly Update for June 10: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Week Diary of a Chambermaid — Co-Written by Hélène Zimmer “Diary of a Chambermaid” is set during the beginning of the 20th century in provincial France....
Jennifer Lawrence to Play Elizabeth Holmes, Founder of Theranos
Jennifer Lawrence has signed on to a high-profile, timely new project. The Oscar winner will play Elizabeth Holmes, the 32-year-old founder of Theranos, a controversial medical company. Adam McKay...
Quote of the Day: “Grace and Frankie” Creator Marta Kauffman Talks Aging on TV
The Hollywood Reporter recently hosted a roundtable of six comedy showrunners, and while the discussion featured many highlights, a delightfully candid comment from “Grace and Frankie”...
Watch: Lena Dunham and “Girls” Cast Record PSA on Sexual Assault
Lena Dunham and her “Girls” co-stars have released a PSA about sexual assault in the wake of Brock Turner’s all too lenient sentencing. Dunham posted the video to her Twitter account, where...
Trailer Watch: Blake Lively Takes On a Great White Shark in “The Shallows”
Looking forward to an upcoming beach vacation? The final trailer for “The Shallows” may make you reconsider cooling off in the water. Blake Lively leaves her designer “Gossip Girl” dresses...
“O.J.: Made In America” Producer Caroline Waterlow on Race, Marcia Clark, and Domestic Abuse
Women and Hollywood spoke with Caroline Waterlow, producer of the highly anticipated “O.J.: Made in America,” one of Sundance 2016’s biggest hits. Described as a masterpiece by many critics,...
Trailer Watch: Teen Girls Battle Bratwurst Nazis in “Yoga Hosers”
Prepare to meet Canadian Hitler. A trailer has landed for Kevin Smith’s horror-comedy “Yoga Hosers,” starring Harley Quinn Smith (“Tusk”) and model Lily-Rose Depp as sardonic Canadian...
Sloane Crosley’s Debut Novel Optioned By Universal
Sloane Crosley is getting the big-screen treatment. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that the essayist’s debut novel, “The Clasp,” has been optioned by Universal. The book centers on a...
LA Film Fest 2016 Women Directors: Anaïs Volpé — “HEIS (chronicles)”
Anaïs Volpé is a screenwriter, filmmaker, visual artist, and actress. She likes mixing arts and exploring new forms of narration. In 2013, she directed her first short film, “Blast.” The film...
Sexist Comment of the Day: Studio Ghibli Producer Explains Why They Don’t Hire Women to Direct
Perpetuating stereotypes is never a good thing — but especially in the context of an interview with one of the world’s most prominent publications. The Guardian asked Studio Ghibli producer...