BY Rachel Montpelier
Issa Rae Exec Producing HBO Doc Exploring Black Television History
With “Insecure,” the HBO comedy she co-created, writes and produces, and toplines, Issa Rae has become an indelible part of television history — and a powerful voice in Black...
Pick of the Day: “Spinster”
“Spinster” is not a subtle film — again, its title is “Spinster.” The pic, from director Andrea Dorfman and writer Jennifer Deyell, features a few clunky conversations...
Marina Kato Receives AGBO/AFI Conservatory Development Grant
Marina Kato will develop a feature-length screenplay as this year’s recipient of the AGBO/AFI Conservatory Development Grant. According to a press release, the grant will support the...
Apply Now: The ITVS Diversity Development Fund
Independent Television Service (ITVS) is looking to develop “exceptional stories by filmmakers from diverse backgrounds: stories that take creative risks, inspire dialogue, and are rarely seen...
Women In Film Hosting CW Variety Special to Benefit Hire Her Back Campaign
Jane Fonda, Rosario Dawson, Alison Brie, and Jennifer Garner are just a few of the entertainers who will perform as part of “Women In Film Presents: Make It Work!,” a one-hour variety...
Pick of the Day: “Sam Jay: 3 In The Morning”
Sam Jay is comfortable with being uncomfortable. In her new Netflix special, “3 In the Morning,” the comedian — a masculine-presenting Black queer woman — wrestles with hard...
Robin Roberts Extends Partnership with Lifetime, Sets Mahalia Jackson Biopic Starring Danielle Brooks
Following her “Lifetime Presents Variety’s Power of Women: Frontline Heroes” hosting gig and her role as executive producer on TV movie “Stolen by My Mother: The Kamiyah Mobley...
Quote of the Day: Lena Waithe Wants Hollywood to Mandate and Enforce Inclusion
In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Lena Waithe reiterated some common knowledge about show business’ inner workings — and how it can be especially tough for women and people...
The Writers Lab for Women Screenwriters Over 40 Unveils 2020 Class
The Writers Lab for Women Screenwriters Over 40 has announced its most inclusive class yet. The annual script development lab has selected 12 participants for its 2020 edition, half of whom identify...
Wanuri Kahiu and Jocelyn Bioh Are Bringing Broadway Musical “Once On This Island” to Disney+
“Rafiki” writer-director Wanuri Kahiu and “School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play” scribe Jocelyn Bioh are teaming up on a film adaptation of “Once On This Island.”...
Janet Mock to Direct “Scandalous!” Pic About Kim Novak and Sammy Davis Jr.’s Relationship
Janet Mock will return to Old Hollywood with her next project. The “Hollywood” writer-director-producer will reunite with Jeremy Pope, the Netflix series’ newly-Emmy-nominated star,...
Alicia Keys & Yoruba Richen Teaming Up for PBS Doc About Trailblazing Black Female Entertainers
Alicia Keys and Yoruba Richen are joining forces on “How It Feels To Be Free,” an “American Masters” documentary spotlighting six pioneering Black female entertainers. Richen...
Civil Rights Leader and Minnesota’s First Black Female Attorney Lena O. Smith Is Getting a Biopic
Lena O. Smith, a civil rights leader and trailblazing lawyer, will soon be getting her own feature film. A biopic about Smith, the first African American woman attorney to be licensed in Minnesota,...
Oprah Sets New Interview Series at Apple TV+, First Episodes Will Focus on Race in America
Oprah Winfrey is following up the televised town hall special “OWN Spotlight: Where Do We Go From Here?” with further discussion about America’s fraught relationship with race....
“P-Valley” Renewed for Second Season at Starz
Starz is returning to The Pynk. The premium cable network has renewed its new hit drama, “P-Valley,” for Season 2. The sophomore season will feature 10 episodes, as compared to this...
Trailer Watch: Drumline Members Honor Their Culture, Ancestors, & Community in “River City Drumbeat”
Thirty years ago, Edward “Nardie” White and Zambia Nkrumah formed a Black drum corps in Louisville, Kentucky, with the aim of teaching West Louisville youth about music, art, and their...
Joanna Hogg, Veronika Franz, and More Join Cate Blanchett on Venice Film Fest’s Main Jury
Filmmakers Joanna Hogg (“The Souvenir”) and Veronika Franz (“The Lodge”) and actress Ludivine Sagnier (“The New Pope”) will be joining Cate Blanchett at the 2020 Venice Film...
Liz Garbus & Lisa Cortés’ Voter Suppression Doc “All In: The Fight for Democracy” Gets Release Date
Today in much-needed good news: Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortés’ “All In: The Fight for Democracy,” a documentary investigating voter suppression in the United States, will be released...
Trailer Watch: Barbara Kopple Revisits a Daring Rescue Mission in “Desert One”
On November 4, 1979, 52 American diplomats and citizens were taken hostage by revolutionary Iranian students at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. It was up to President Jimmy Carter to resolve the crisis...
Trailer Watch: Sam Jay Has No Chivalry in Her Netflix Comedy Special “3 In The Morning”
When Sam Jay travels, she always takes her girlfriend with her, “which is stupid,” she admits in her Netflix comedy special. A trailer for “Sam Jay: 3 In The Morning” sees the...
Rosario Dawson, Retta, and Aly Raisman Hosting Women’s Suffrage Podcasts
Two podcasts honoring the anniversary of women’s right to vote are on the way from the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission (WSCC). The commission, along with the National Park Service and...
Pick of the Day: “Amulet”
“Amulet” features several horror staples: a derelict house, a mysterious family, a handsome, tortured hero, and a young woman in need. And yet Romola Garai’s feature directorial...
Kamilah Forbes to Direct HBO Special Based on Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “Between the World and Me”
Having already made its way to the stage, Ta-Nehisi Coates’ seminal memoir “Between the World and Me” is coming to the small screen. HBO has announced a special based on the book...
Michael B. Jordan and Color Of Change Introduce #ChangeHollywood Inclusion Initiative
In the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the widespread Black Lives Matter protests, it’s become clear that institutions — not least of all Hollywood — must reckon with their...
Trailer Watch: Christina Clusiau and Shaul Schwarz Unpack the State of Our “Immigration Nation”
Directors Christina Clusiau and Shaul Schwarz follow undocumented immigrants and ICE alike in their upcoming Netflix docuseries. A new trailer for “Immigration Nation” shows families...
Sarah Treem Adapting Curtis Sittenfeld’s Hillary Clinton Novel “Rodham” for Hulu
Hulu viewers may soon get to explore a world in which Hillary Rodham never married Bill Clinton. “The Affair” co-creator Sarah Treem is writing and executive producing a drama series...
Natalie Portman, Jennifer Garner, America Ferrera, & More Bringing Women’s Soccer Team to LA
Natalie Portman and some of her colleagues/fellow soccer fans are bringing a women’s team to Los Angeles in 2022. According to Variety, Portman has teamed up with tech venture capitalist Kara...
Nichelle Nichols Doc “Woman In Motion” Lands at Shout! Studios
Nichelle Nichols isn’t only a boundary-breaking “Star Trek” alumna. As a new documentary details, she also has a history of helping NASA recruit women and people of color to its...
Trailer Watch: Three Women Set Their Sights on Political Office in Hillary Bachelder’s “Represent”
Myya Jones, Bryn Bird, and Julie Cho each run for office and — in one way or another — take on politics’ boys’ club in “Represent.” A trailer for Hillary...
Doc About Women Journalists Covering 2020 Primaries Coming to HBO Max
HBO Max and CNN Films will introduce viewers to some of the journalists behind the 2020 primary elections. A press release announced that “On the Trail: Inside the 2020 Primaries” will...
Leah McKendrick Writing “Grease” Prequel “Summer Lovin’” for Paramount
Leah McKendrick will tell us more, tell us more with her next project. The actress and filmmaker penned “Summer Lovin’,” Paramount’s prequel to the perennial musical classic...
Trailer Watch: Beyoncé Leads a Young Man to His Destiny in Visual Album “Black Is King”
“You were formed by the heat of the galaxy,” Beyoncé narrates in the new “Black Is King” trailer. “What a thing to be both unique and familiar. To be one and the same....
Bruna Papandrea Developing Christina Baker Kline’s “The Exiles” as TV Series
Christina Baker Kline is the latest author whose work will be adapted by Bruna Papandrea’s Made Up Stories. The production company has optioned the rights to Kline’s eighth novel, “The...
Brenda Robinson Named Board President of International Documentary Association
Brenda Robinson is taking her experience as an entertainment attorney and executive producer to the International Documentary Association (IDA). The funding, education, and advocacy organization has...
Ava DuVernay Branching Out into Unscripted TV with NBC’s “Home Sweet Home”
Ava DuVernay has created narrative TV shows that delve into family (“Queen Sugar”), romance (“Cherish the Day”), and real-life tragedy (“When They See Us”) —...
Pick of the Day: “Blessed Child”
If, in 2020, you’ve ever even heard of the Moonies — i.e. the followers of the Unification Church, founded by Reverend Sun Myung Moon — it’s probably been as a punchline:...
Aurora Guerrero and More Launch First Latinx Directors Database
Aurora Guerrero (“Gentefied”), Alberto Belli (“The House of Flowers”), Joel Novoa (“Arrow”), and Diego Velasco (“Orange Is the New Black”) have set up...
Nicole Kassell to Direct “Silver Seas,” Story of Women Reporters Exposing Slavery in Fishing Industry
Nicole Kassell is following up her DGA Award-winning “Watchmen” gig with a feature film about real-life heroes. Screen Daily confirms she is directing “Silver Seas,” the story...
Josephine Baker Series in Development at Studiocanal
A show about Jazz Age icon and civil rights activist Josephine Baker could soon be dancing its way to the screen. Studiocanal, CPB Films, and Leyland Films are developing “a high-end...
TV Movie About Criminal Justice Reform Advocate Kemba Smith in the Works at BET
BET is teaming up with the Moving Picture Institute (MPI) to tell the story of criminal justice reform advocate Kemba Smith. A press release confirmed a feature-length TV movie is being developed,...
Trailer Watch: Dakota Fanning Takes the Lead in “The Alienist: Angel of Darkness”
Sara Howard (Dakota Fanning) has struck out on her own in “The Alienist: Angel of Darkness” — she’s running a detective agency and her help is sought when a child goes...
Quote of the Day: Viola Davis’ “Entire Life Has Been a Protest”
When a tide of Black Lives Matter protests broke out after George Floyd’s murder, Viola Davis wanted to join them. But, due to COVID-19 concerns, she decided not to attend the events. Instead,...
Olivia Summers, Dee Bryant, and Angela Meryl Form First All-Women Stunt-Driving Team
Fed up with “wigging,” “paint-downs” — in which, respectively, stuntmen are put in wigs to double for actresses, and white stuntmen wear dark makeup to double for actors of...
Cate Blanchett Signs First-Look TV Deal with FX Productions
Cate Blanchett and FX Productions are taking their relationship to the next level. The “Mrs. America” star has inked a first-look TV production deal with its studio via Dirty Films, an...
Lucy Liu to Topline and Produce ABC Comedy Pilot from Shana Goldberg-Meehan
Lucy Liu has lined up another TV project. She’ll star as a career woman entering uncharted territory — motherhood — in a multi-camera ABC comedy pilot from Shana Goldberg-Meehan...
LaToya Morgan Writing Feature Adaptation of “Never Caught,” the Story of Runaway Slave Ona Judge
The long-untold story of Ona Judge, a young woman who escaped slavery and was hunted by George and Martha Washington, is coming to the big screen. A press release has announced that Provenance Films...
Pick of the Day: “P-Valley”
“P-Valley” is full of strong women — not “strong” in the nebulous, she’s-an-interesting-character-but-also-a-woman! way. I mean strong as in athletic, powerful,...
Mira Nair Directing Amazon Series Based on “Jungle Prince of Delhi” NYT Exposé
With projects such as “Queen of Katwe,” “The Namesake,” and “Monsoon Wedding,” Mira Nair has told the stories of many families. For her next endeavor, she’ll...
Oprah Winfrey and Nikole Hannah-Jones Bringing “The 1619 Project” to Film and TV
The “1619 Project” is getting an adaptation — several of them, in fact. Nikole Hannah-Jones’ groundbreaking New York Times magazine issue, which considers American history via...
Yoruba Richen Directing Breonna Taylor Doc for FX/Hulu’s Upcoming New York Times Series
Yoruba Richen will #SayHerName in an upcoming New York Times docuseries. The Hollywood Reporter confirms the “New Black” director is helming a doc about Breonna Taylor, the young Black...
The Kilroys’ 2020 List Honors Cancelled and Postponed Plays by Women, Trans, and Non-Binary Writers
The Kilroys, the feminist collective of playwrights, directors, and producers, has published its annual List. Unlike previous editions, The List 2020 doesn’t feature unproduced plays by women,...