BY Rachel Montpelier
Women of Color Unite Bringing #Startwith8 Mentorship Program to the U.K.
Women of Color Unite (WOCU) is taking its #Startwith8 campaign across the pond. A press release has confirmed that WOCU, a non-profit advocacy group for women of color in entertainment, is expanding...
Trailer Watch: Annie Murphy Blows Up the Thankless Sitcom Wife Trope in “Kevin Can F**k Himself”
Allison (Annie Murphy) has finally had enough of being the sitcom wife to her loutish husband. “Kevin Can F**k Himself” sees Allison tapping into her anger and desire and finally living...
Trailer Watch: A College Student Attends the Worst Wake Ever in Emma Seligman’s “Shiva Baby”
From the moment Danielle (Rachel Sennott) arrives at a shiva, everything that could go wrong does go wrong. A trailer has dropped for Emma Seligman’s “Shiva Baby” and promises tons...
Pick of the Day: “Test Pattern”
“Test Pattern,” Shatara Michelle Ford’s feature directorial debut, could form an unofficial trilogy with Jessica M. Thompson’s “The Light of the Moon” and Eliza...
Nielsen Will Now Track Diversity and Inclusion in Television Programming
Nielsen, the firm best known for measuring TV ratings, is adding a new focus to its work. According to a press release, the org has launched Gracenote Inclusion Analytics in order to track diversity...
“Promising Young Woman,” “WW84,” “The Old Guard,” and More Films Receive ReFrame Stamps
Twenty-nine of the 100 most popular narrative films of 2020 have been awarded the ReFrame Stamp, a badge signifying a production was made with a gender-balanced cast and crew. “Promising Young...
Apply Now: Lena Waithe, Hillman Grad Prods., and Indeed’s Rising Voices Filmmaking Initiative
Lena Waithe, her company Hillman Grad Productions, and employment site Indeed are teaming up to “discover, invest in, and share stories created by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)...
Groenlandia Launches Editorial Department Focused on Women-Directed Film
Production company Groenlandia has announced a new editorial department specifically dedicated to films from women directors. Created with “the goal of putting female directors at the center of...
The Horizon Award Announces 2021 Recipients
Shira Baron and Marian De Pontes are the winners of the seventh annual Horizon Award, an honor presented to emerging female filmmakers. According to Screen Daily, Baron and De Pontes will both...
ARRAY President Tilane Jones Accepts Slamdance Founders Award
ARRAY president and producer Tilane Jones won the Slamdance Founders Award, an honor “given to an individual that supports the filmmaker community of Slamdance well into their careers,”...
Trailer Watch: Madeleine Sims-Fewer Seeks Revenge in Psychological Thriller “Violation”
“You created a reality that is completely different from everyone else’s, where you’re this saint who gets tricked into doing bad things,” a woman tells her sister in...
Issa Rae’s “Rap Sh*t” Receives Series Order at HBO Max
All those mirror raps seem to have paid off. “Rap Sh*t,” Issa Rae’s half-hour comedy about former friends who reunite to form a rap group, has received an eight-episode series order...
Pick of the Day: “Dead Pigs”
Cathy Yan’s zippy comic book pic “Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” was one of the last films to open in theaters before COVID shut everything down, but...
Over Half of SXSW’s 2021 Competition Titles Are Directed by Women
Once again, women directed or co-directed the majority of SXSW Competition titles. The festival has unveiled its 2021 lineup, and women helmed nine of the 16 Feature Competition titles, amounting to...
Projects from Ava DuVernay, Diablo Cody, Jennie Snyder Urman, & Ariana Jackson Ordered at The CW
Four projects from women writers are moving forward at The CW. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the broadcast network has ordered Ariana Jackson’s remake of “The 4400” to...
Ava DuVernay’s “Middle of Nowhere” & “This Is the Life” Coming to Netflix in Honor of ARRAY’s 10th Anniversary
ARRAY is about to have its 10th birthday and will celebrate by releasing two of Ava DuVernay’s earliest films on Netflix. A press release has announced that ARRAY’s distribution branch,...
Rose Rollins Will Topline Spectrum/BET Basketball Drama from Pam Veasey
Rose Rollins is taking center court. The “L Word” and “Bosch” alumna will star in “Long Slow Exhale,” a drama set in the world of women’s college basketball...
Exclusive: Loira Limbal, Jialing Zhang, & Cristina Ibarra Among 2021 Chicken & Egg Award Recipients
Loira Limbal, Jialing Zhang, Cristina Ibarra, Maryam Ebrahimi, Tatiana Huezo, and Elwira Niewiera will be honored with a $50,000 grant and a year-long mentorship program for their documentary...
Teaser Watch: Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick Revisit the Allegations and Headlines of “Allen v. Farrow”
Chances are, even if you’re unfamiliar with Mia Farrow as an actress or have never seen a Woody Allen movie, you know about their shared history. Farrow and Allen’s daughter, Dylan...
Pick of the Day: “Two of Us”
A coming out story, a portrait of two retired women in love, and a drama confronting old age and mortality — “Two of Us” is all of these and more. The French-language film is about...
Apply Now: 2021 Writers Lab for Women Screenwriters Over 40
The Writers Lab is now accepting submissions for its 2021 edition. Each year, the program offers mentorship, feedback, networking, panels, and workshops to a group of women screenwriters aged 40 or...
Oscars 2021 International Feature Contenders: Meet Kaouther Ben Hania – “The Man Who Sold His Skin”
Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s films have screened at prestigious festivals including Cannes, Locarno, IDFA, and Hot Docs. Her film “Beauty and the Dogs” premiered in the...
Siân Heder’s “CODA” Becomes First Film to Sweep Top U.S. Dramatic Prizes at Sundance
“CODA” has made history yet again. After nabbing a record-breaking distribution deal with Apple, Siân Heder’s coming-of-age story about a teen girl who is also the only hearing...
Anthony Fauci Doc on the Way from Co-Director Janet Tobias, EP Liz Garbus, and National Geographic
Dr. Anthony Fauci, aka the person who helped America navigate the apocalyptic intersection of COVID-19 and Trump, is getting his own documentary. National Geographic Documentary Films announced the...
Sundance Deal: Jamila Wignot’s Alvin Ailey Doc “Ailey” Goes to Neon
Jamila Wignot’s portrait of iconic dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey has found a home. Following its world premiere at Sundance this weekend, Neon acquired “Ailey,” a documentary...
Natalie Qasabian Wins 2021 Sundance Institute/Amazon Studios Producers Award
Producer Natalie Qasabian has been honored for her work on psychological thriller “Run.” She was presented with the 2021 Sundance Institute/Amazon Studios Producers Award for Fiction...
Watch: News Anchors Downplay COVID-19 in Chilling Clip of Nanfu Wang’s “In the Same Breath”
“Eight people were punished for spreading rumors about an unknown pneumonia,” various anchors tell us over and over again, sharing a January 1, 2020 announcement from the Wuhan police....
Pick of the Day: “The Long Song”
Being stolen from her mother as a young girl, being renamed “Marguerite” against her will, and deciding whether having a child of her own is worth bringing another soul into bondage are...
February 2021 Television Preview
Whether you’re in the mood for warm tales of family and friendship or reboots featuring ass-kicking female leads, February’s television offerings have got you covered. From new titles...
Trailer Watch: Kristen Wiig & Annie Mumolo Reunite for a Holiday in “Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar”
A new trailer for “Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar” has arrived and sees “Bridesmaids” collaborators Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo taking a holidaaaay to celebraaaate. Set...
Eva Longoria, Catherine Hardwicke, Cara Delevingne, & More Team Up for “Women’s Stories” Anthology
Eva Longoria, Catherine Hardwicke, Cara Delevingne, and Marcia Gay Harden are set to tell “Women’s Stories.” The anthology film will be made up of six vignettes starring and directed by...
Sundance 2021 Women Directors: Meet Frida Kempff – “Knocking”
Frida Kempff’s films have been screened and awarded at festivals including Cannes, Sundance, Telluride, IDFA, London Film Festival, and Gothenburg. In 2010 she won Cannes’ Jury Prize for...
Sundance 2021 Women Directors: Meet Carlson Young – “The Blazing World”
Carlson Young’s first short film, “The Blazing World,” premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Also an actor, she has appeared in “Scream: The TV Series,” “Key...
New Study Concludes Swedish Film Industry Isn’t Reaching Full Diversity & Representation Potential
A new study released by the Swedish Film Institute, entitled “Which Women?,” has determined the Swedish film and TV industry can do a lot better when it comes to representation and...
Pick of the Day: “Identifying Features”
There is no shortage of disturbing images in “Identifying Features,” Fernanda Valadez’s poetic tale of family, violence, and migration. We see an eyeball being operated upon and the...
Ava DuVernay Will Develop and Produce Original Podcasts Under New Deal with Spotify
Ava DuVernay is the latest artist getting into the podcast game. The Oscar-nominated filmmaker has inked a multiyear deal with Spotify, under which she’ll develop and produce exclusive original...
SWAN Introduces First Swiss Digital Directory of Women Working in Audiovisual Sector
The Swiss Women’s Audiovisual Network (SWAN) will launch a history-making platform on Monday, January 25. The org is set to unveil the first Swiss digital directory of women in the audiovisual...
Rachel Givney’s Jane Austen-Inspired Novel “Jane in Love” Headed for the Big Screen
Jane Austen is set to anchor her own love story. Di Novi Pictures and Amazon Studios have acquired Rachel Givney’s novel “Jane in Love” with plans for a feature adaptation....
Pick of the Day: “How It Feels To Be Free”
Black women have been the backbone of social justice movements throughout history. PBS’ new “American Masters” entry, “How It Feels To Be Free” tells the story of six of...
Tessa Thompson Lines Up Two Projects Under Her New Prod. Co.’s First-Look Deal with HBO
Tessa Thompson is well on her way to mogul-dom. The “Sylvie’s Love” actress has started her own production company, Viva Maude, which has already entered into a two-year first-look...
Pamela B. Green Developing Biopic About First Female Filmmaker Alice Guy-Blaché
Pamela B. Green is working on another Alice Guy-Blaché project. Green, the co-writer-director-producer of documentary “Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché,” is in early...
Trailer Watch: Freida Lee Mock Revisits RBG’s Legacy in “Ruth: Justice Ginsburg in Her Own Words”
“I did very well in law school. It was not possible to do much better,” Ruth Bader Ginsburg reveals via archival footage in “Ruth: Justice Ginsburg in Her Own Words.”...
“Sex and the City” Revival Coming to HBO Max
And just like that, we reunited with Carrie Bradshaw, Charlotte York, and Miranda Hobbes. A “Sex and the City” revival has been given a series order at HBO Max, a press release announced....
Pick of the Day: “Herself”
What makes a home? What makes a family, or community? Struggling single mother Sandra (co-screenwriter Clare Dunne) finds out in “Herself,” Phyllida Lloyd’s third feature film. Due to the...
Sarah Jones to Direct Sex Industry Doc “Sell/Buy/Date,” EPs Include Meryl Streep & Laverne Cox
Tony-winner Sarah Jones is bringing her 2016 play “Sell/Buy/Date” to the screen — and is stepping behind the camera to do so. According to Deadline, Jones will make her feature...
Pick of the Day: “Promising Young Woman”
“Promising Young Woman” is one helluva debut feature. The first film from actress and former “Killing Eve” showrunner Emerald Fennell is a sharp, stylish take on rape culture and is frankly...
Laverne Cox Has Podcast in the Works at Shondaland Audio
Laverne Cox is branching out into the podcast world. According to Deadline, the history-making actress is set to host a weekly show produced by Shondaland Audio and iHeartMedia. Premiering in...
Pick of the Day: “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Ma Rainey knows her worth. As played by Viola Davis in the screen adaptation of August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Ma is a confident truth-teller who has experienced...
Women Directed 47 Percent of Sundance 2021’s Overall Feature Slate
Sundance has gifted us all with a holiday present. The film festival has unveiled its 2021 lineup and 47 percent of the overall feature slate is directed or co-directed by women. Even better, women...
Trailer Watch: It’s a Social Season Like No Other in Shondaland’s “Bridgerton”
The social season has begun and the pressure is on. The new trailer for Shonda Rhimes’ first Netflix show, “Bridgerton,” features glimpses of lavish balls, romantic escapades, and...
Quote of the Day: TCA Prez Sarah Rodman on the Toll COVID Has Taken on Shows By and About Women
The COVID-19 crisis has hit women especially hard: professions dominated by women have seen the most job loss, and women are bearing the brunt of homeschooling-while-in-quarantine and childcare...