BY Rachel Montpelier
Susanne Bier to Co-Chair Academy’s International Feature Film Executive Committee
Susanne Bier, director of the Oscar-winning “In a Better World,” is set to lead one of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ (AMPAS) awards committees. Deadline reports...
Keisha Rae Witherspoon Receives Inaugural Lynn Shelton “Of a Certain Age” Grant
The Lynn Shelton “Of a Certain Age” Grant has announced its first recipient. Miami-based independent director Keisha Rae Witherspoon will take home the $25,000 unrestricted cash grant this year,...
Submit Now: The NYWIFT Online Shorts Festival
The fourth annual New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) Online Shorts Festival is now accepting submissions, a press release has announced. NYWIFT members are welcome to enter their short...
Emma Thompson to Topline Sophie Hyde’s Sexual Awakening Comedy “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande”
For her next gig, Emma Thompson is getting her groove back. The Oscar-winning actress and screenwriter is set to star in Sophie Hyde’s “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” a comedy about...
Pick of the Day: “Sarah Cooper: Everything’s Fine”
Sarah Cooper became a household name by lip-synching some of Trump’s more incomprehensible COVID-19 remarks. With those viral videos, she was able to lay bare just how unqualified Trump is for...
Ziwe Fumudoh Lines Up Variety Series at Showtime
Ziwe Fumudoh is getting her own Showtime series. The cable network has given the rising comedian’s untitled variety show a straight-to-series order, per The Hollywood Reporter. The project will...
Bruna Papandrea & Lynette Howell Taylor Bringing Jennifer Donnelly’s “Poisoned” to the Big Screen
A new take on Snow White is on the way from Bruna Papandrea and Lynette Howell Taylor. Endeavor Content has acquired the rights to “Poisoned,” Jennifer Donnelly’s new YA fantasy novel,...
Pick of the Day: “Bad Hair”
If you’re already missing “Lovecraft Country” and wishing HBO would just go ahead and frickin’ renew it already, then “Bad Hair” is just what the doctor ordered....
Billie Jean King to Narrate Women’s Sports Docuseries, “Free Solo’s” Chai Vasarhelyi Producing
Billie Jean King will lend her voice to a docuseries exploring pay inequity, motherhood, LGBTQ+ rights, intersectionality, and inclusion in women’s sports. The tennis legend is narrating and...
Apply Now: Women In Film’s Hire Her Back Grant
Attention, members of Women In Film’s (WIF) local Los Angeles, New York, or Atlanta chapters whose filmmaking careers have been stalled by COVID-19: applications for Hire Her Back grants are...
Submit Now: Starz, WrapWomen, and WIF’s Telling Our Stories Short Film Competition
STARZ, WrapWomen, and Women in Film are accepting submissions for the Telling Our Stories (TOS) film competition. The contest, which showcases short films from women and gender non-conforming...
Pick of the Day: “Surge”
One of the few good things to come out of the 2016 election was the subsequent onslaught of women running for office, organizing political campaigns, and participating in grassroots activism —...
Diane Warren, Susan Stroman, & Weinstein Survivor Louisette Geiss Join Forces for #MeToo Musical
Screenwriter and Harvey Weinstein accuser Louisette Geiss is teaming up with 11-time Oscar-nominated songwriter Diane Warren and Tony-winning theater director and choreographer Susan Stroman to tell...
D.C. Bar-Set Comedy from “A Black Lady Sketch Show’s” Akilah Green in Development at ABC
Akilah Green, of “A Black Lady Sketch Show” and “Perfect Harmony,” is heading to “Nate’s.” She is writing and executive producing a half-hour multi-cam...
“How to Get Away with Murder’s” Abby Ajayi Has Family Drama “Riches” in the Works at ITV
“How to Get Away with Murder” scribe Abby Ajayi is teaming up with ITV for your next TV obsession. The UK channel has commissioned Greenacre Films to produce Ajayi’s...
Every Project from Margot Robbie & Christina Hodson’s All-Women Script-Writing Program Has Sold
Let’s all get a celebratory egg and cheese sandwich, because it seems that Margot Robbie and Christina Hodson’s Lucky Exports Pitch Program has been a resounding success. The respective...
Pick of the Day: “What the Constitution Means to Me”
As I write this, the Amy Coney Barrett confirmation hearings are winding down. Described as “unashamedly pro-life” and a self-proclaimed constitutional originalist, she will most likely...
Pick of the Day: “Time”
Even as it turns an unwavering eye on the criminal justice system, “Time” is an extremely hopeful film. Garrett Bradley’s documentary feature debut is the story of Fox Rich, a woman...
Natasha Rothwell and Aziza Barnes Adapting Ibi Zoboi’s Novel “Pride” for HBO
“Insecure” actress-writer-producer Natasha Rothwell and “Snowfall” writer Aziza Barnes are teaming up on an adaptation of Ibi Zoboi’s YA novel “Pride.” According...
Ava DuVernay Writing, Directing, & Producing Netflix Feature Based on Isabel Wilkerson’s “Caste”
Ava DuVernay received an Oscar nomination and two Emmys for “13th,” her investigation into the ties between slavery and modern-day mass incarceration. Now she’s set to make another...
Trailer Watch: A Political Outsider Challenges the Democratic Party in “How to Fix a Primary”
In 2018, Abdul El-Sayed set out to be the Democratic candidate in Michigan’s gubernatorial race. As a young Muslim man and a political outsider — he is a doctor who ran Detroit’s...
Teaser Watch: “The Crown” Is Anything But a Fairytale in Season 4
Princess Diana has arrived in the new teaser for “The Crown.” Season 4 of Netflix’s royal family drama brings the People’s Princess (Emma Corrin) into the Windsor fold. And...
Producer Heather Rae Inks Deal with Endeavor, Will Develop Pics from Indigenous Filmmakers
“Frozen River” producer Heather Rae and Endeavor Content are teaming up to make movies by Indigenous filmmakers. Variety reports that Rae signed a three-film development deal with the...
Nina Menkes to Investigate Sexist Cinema Techniques with Doc “Brainwashed”
Nina Menkes is taking on the male gaze. The “Queen of Diamonds” director is working on “Brainwashed,” a documentary outlining the omnipresent cinematic techniques that...
Series About Baroque Artist Artemisia Gentileschi in Development at ViacomCBS
Get ready to learn more about Artemisia Gentileschi. A television series about the influential Baroque painter’s life is in the works at ViacomCBS International Studios, Deadline reports....
Trailer Watch: Alexandra Pelosi Takes a Bleak “American Selfie”
“America’s trying to find itself but it’s too late,” we’re told in Alexandra Pelosi’s new documentary. “It’s over, baby.” A trailer has arrived...
Applications for the 2021 Leah Ryan’s FEWW Playwriting Prize Opening Soon
Applications for next year’s Playwriting Prize from Leah Ryan’s Fund for Emerging Women Writers (FEWW) will open later this month. Any women or non-binary-identifying playwrights who...
Quote of the Day: Isabel Coixet Encourages Emerging Filmmakers to “Embrace the Fog” in Awards Speech
The Spanish Ministry of Culture honored Isabel Coixet with its National Cinematography Prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival last month. While accepting the prestigious award, which recognizes...
Pick of the Day: “Aggie”
Before “Aggie” was selected for Sundance 2020, I had never heard of Agnes Gund. Unless you’re very tuned into the worlds of art and social justice, you probably haven’t...
Trailer Watch: Heidi Schreck Pushes America to Be Better in “What the Constitution Means to Me”
When she was a teenager, Heidi Schreck toured the country giving speeches about the U.S. Constitution in order to earn scholarship money for college. She revisits those speeches and reexamines her...
Trailer Watch: “Totally Under Control” Exposes the United States’ Mishandling of COVID-19
The new trailer for “Totally Under Control” sees clips of the world’s most famous COVID-19 patient stressing that the pandemic is NBD. “It’s, uh, gonna be just...
Premiere Dates Set for Alexandra Pelosi’s “American Selfie” and Tania Cypriano’s “Born to Be”
Documentaries from Alexandra Pelosi and Tania Cypriano have both scored distribution. The former, “American Selfie: One Nation Shoots Itself,” premieres October 23 on Showtime. The latter,...
Pick of the Day: “The Great American Lie”
Burnt out educators, activists fighting for minimum wage in the restaurant industry, unemployed factory workers voting against their own best interests, single parents holding down four jobs to get...
Projects About Trailblazing Women, Essential Workers in NYC in Dev at Emergence Films
Emergence Films, a production company dedicated to supporting women and underrepresented filmmakers, has two new projects in development. A press release has announced that “Fearless &...
Trailer Watch: Gretchen Sorin and Ric Burns Explore What “Driving While Black” Means in America
Driving, mobility, travel — these are essential elements of the American identity. But they’re also ones that have historically been denied to Black Americans. “What it means to be...
Doc About Human Rights Activist Nasrin Sotoudeh Acquired by Virgil Films, Olivia Colman Narrates
Audiences will soon have the chance to learn more about Nasrin Sotoudeh and the #FreeNasrin movement. “Nasrin,” a documentary following the Iranian lawyer, human rights activist, and...
Sam Jay Lines Up Her Own Late Night HBO Show
Sam Jay is following up her first hourlong comedy special, “3 in the Morning,” with her own late-night HBO series. A press release announced Jay will host and executive produce the...
Anita Hill’s Hollywood Commission Releases Sexual Misconduct Survey Results, Announces Incident Reporting Tool
The Hollywood Commission, an organization dedicated to ending sexual harassment in show business, has released the results of The Hollywood Survey, an anonymous questionnaire analyzing discrimination...
Ava DuVernay and ARRAY Will Receive Inaugural Marian MacDowell Arts Advocacy Award
MacDowell, the Peterborough, New Hampshire, artist residency, is the latest organization to honor Ava DuVernay. The Associated Press reports the Oscar-nominated filmmaker will receive the first...
Trailer Watch: Alexandra Kotcheff and Hannah Leder Take Care of Business in “The Planters”
Martha Plant (Alexandra Kotcheff) buries knick-knacks and tchotchkes in cookie tins and — without fail — the lucky folks who stumble upon this “treasure” leave cash in...
Francesca Sloane Signs Overall Deal with Amazon, Developing Series Based on Anaïs Nin’s Work
Francesca Sloane is heading to Amazon Studios. Deadline reports the writer-producer has inked an overall deal with the company, under which she will “create content to premiere exclusively on...
Amma Asante Will Direct “Smilla’s Sense of Snow” TV Adaptation
Following her stints on “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Mrs. America,” Amma Asante has lined up another television directing job. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the...
ViacomCBS Developing 50 TV Movies by First-Time Women & BIPOC Directors with New Program
ViacomCBS Entertainment & Youth Group has committed to telling “diverse stories through the lens of diverse storytellers” via a new initiative. The Los Angeles Times reports that the...
Demi Moore Will Star in Amazon’s Series Adaptation of “Dirty Diana” Podcast
Demi Moore is returning to the world of “Dirty Diana.” The Hollywood Reporter confirms the “Brave New World” actress will star in Amazon’s television adaptation of the...
Trailer Watch: From #MeToo to BLM, Women Are “Not Done” Fighting for Change in MAKERS’ New Doc
“There are some people who think that we are post-civil rights, we are post-feminism, and therefore we’re post-intersectional,” an interviewee says in a new documentary about the...
Trailer Watch: A Struggling Single Mom Builds a House for “Herself” in Phyllida Lloyd’s Latest
The housing crisis is hitting a single mother of two hard in Phyllida Lloyd’s “Herself.” A new trailer for the drama sees Sandra (Clare Dunne) struggling to get her daughters to school...
Taffy Brodesser-Akner to Pen Adaptation of GQ Article “The Orthodox Hit Squad” for Sister
Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s next screen project will take on Rabbi Mendel Epstein and the radical methods he employed to help ultra-orthodox Jewish women seeking divorces. The “Fleishman Is...
Nazrin Choudhury Will Write Universal Thriller “American Radical”
Nazrin Choudhury will tell the story of an “American Radical” for Universal. The “Fear the Walking Dead” co-executive producer has been hired to pen the film adaptation of...
Digital Literary Marketplace Launched for Women Writers and Entertainment Professionals
A new digital platform has been established to help connect women writers and entertainment professionals. According to its press materials, Wscripted is a literary marketplace “for women...
ESPN Films Has Doc About WNBA Star Maya Moore, Her Fight to Free Jonathan Irons in the Works
A documentary about WNBA player Maya Moore and her fight to free Jonathan Irons, a man wrongfully convicted and incarcerated for burglary and assault, is on the way. ESPN Films, in partnership with...
Exclusive: Motorcycle Champ Ana Carrasco Gets Personal in “Ride Your Dream” Clip
With her 2018 World Supersport 300 Championship victory, motorcyclist Ana Carrasco not only became the first woman to win in the Superbikes WorldSPP300 category, she became the first woman to win a...