BY Rachel Montpelier
Sarah Adina Smith Signs First-Look Deal with Amazon Studios
“Hanna” was just the beginning of Sarah Adina Smith’s career at Amazon. According to Deadline, she’s inked a first-look deal with Amazon Studios. Under the pact, Smith, who...
Apply Now: NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre
Attention, New York City women working in the arts: the NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre is now accepting applications. Per a press release, the grant program — previously known...
Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith Launch New Business Venture Westbrook Inc.
Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith are expanding their media empire. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the spouses and business partners have announced the launch of Westbrook Inc., a “studio and...
Regina King Will Make Narrative Feature Directorial Debut with “One Night in Miami” Adaptation
After years of directing on television shows such as “Insecure,” “This Is Us,” and “Being Mary Jane,” Regina King is set to helm a narrative feature. She’ll...
Trailer Watch: Liza Mandelup’s “Jawline” Documents a Teen’s Quest for Social Media Fame
“I’m not going to settle in this small, little town I live in,” 16-year-old Austyn Tester announces in the trailer for “Jawline.” “I got to go explore the world, I...
Amy Poehler-Tracy Oliver Comedy Receives Straight-to-Series Order from Amazon
The director of “Wine Country” and the writer of “Girls Trip” are teaming up for a female-led comedy. Amy Poehler and Tracy Oliver’s untitled project about four black...
Weekly Update for July 5: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING My Days of Mercy – Directed by Tali Shalom-Ezer (Also Available on VOD) Two sisters, Lucy and Martha, regularly protest capital punishment at state executions. Lucy...
Susan Meiselas Will Receive Kering’s First Women in Motion Photography Prize
Kering is recognizing women’s contributions to another male-dominated creative field. Best known for its Women in Motion program at Cannes — which celebrates women’s strides in...
Apply Now: Walt Disney TV Launches Inclusive Behind the Scenes Initiatives
Walt Disney Television is looking to add more women, people of color, LGBTQ+ folks, individuals with disabilities, and those from other underrepresented communities behind-the-scenes. According to...
Women-Created Podcast Network Earios’ Inaugural Slate Features Shows from Margaret Cho & More
“Podcasts by women, for everyone.” That’s the slogan for Earios, the new podcast network launched by comedy performers Maria Blasucci (“Mascots”) and Amanda Lund...
Shonda Rhimes and Dove Launch Inclusive Image Database #ShowUs
Seventy percent of women don’t see themselves reflected in media images. “Grey’s Anatomy” creator Shonda Rhimes revealed this startling statistic at the the 2019 edition of...
Weekly Update for June 28: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING Ophelia – Directed by Claire McCarthy; Written by Semi Chellas (Available on VOD July 2) Something is rotten in medieval-era Denmark, where political intrigue swirls...
“One Day at a Time” Saved by Pop TV
What Netflix giveth, Netflix taketh away — and Pop TV saveth, apparently. More than three months after its cancellation by Netflix, “One Day at a Time” has been picked up by Pop TV,...
Lindsey Beer to Pen New Line’s “Hello Kitty” Pic
The long-in-the-works “Hello Kitty” movie has landed its screenwriter. Deadline confirms “Sierra Burgess Is a Loser” scribe Lindsey Beer has been tapped to pen the project for...
New Program from Refinery29 and Kate Spade Gives Women Directors Opp to Helm Video Short
Media company Refinery29 and fashion brand Kate Spade are working together to provide opportunities to emerging women directors. According to WWD, the businesses are partnering on “Pilot Season,”...
A Pic About Corey Rae, the First Openly Trans Prom Queen, Is in the Works
A prom story told from a trans perspective is on the way. According to Deadline, Red Crown Productions is working on a film about Corey Rae, an activist and model who became the world’s first...
Trailer Watch: Everyone’s Struggling to Move On in “Orange Is the New Black’s” Final Season
The previous season of “Orange Is the New Black” left off with several characters on the brink of major change. Piper (Taylor Schilling) and Sophia (Laverne Cox) were released from...
WIF LA & Pepperdine University to Boost Funding for Women-Run Businesses in Film Industry
Women In Film, Los Angeles (WIF LA) and Pepperdine University are working together to address the entertainment industry’s gender gap in business funding. A press release has announced that the...
Rachel Brosnahan Signs First-Look Deal with Amazon Studios
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is just the beginning of Rachel Brosnahan’s career at Amazon. The Emmy-winning actress has inked a first-look deal with Amazon Studios, Deadline reports....
Six Critics Orgs Join Forces to Promote Women, POC, and LGBTQ Voices in Film Journalism
Six national critics organizations are forming a coalition in order to champion marginalized voices in entertainment journalism. According to a press release, Critics Groups for Equality in Media...
Trailer Watch: A First Date Goes Sideways in Lena Waithe & Melina Matsoukas’ “Queen & Slim”
Queen and Slim’s first date seems to be going pretty well, even if starts off a bit shakily. Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith, “Nightflyers”) decided to go out with Slim (Daniel Kaluuya,...
Weekly Update for June 21: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING Endzeit – Ever After – Directed by Carolina Hellsgård; Written by Olivia Vieweg (Opens in NY; Opens in LA June 28) A zombie apocalypse provides the backdrop for...
Quote of the Day: “Pose” Writer-Director Janet Mock Wants Her Work to “Shatter Stigma”
Janet Mock has blazed trails as the first trans woman of color to write and direct a TV ep and the first out trans woman to ink a multimillion-dollar deal with a major content company. But the...
Elizabeth Banks Will Be the First Woman Director to Receive Pioneer of the Year Award
Elizabeth Banks is breaking another boundary. The mogul will be the first woman director to be honored with the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation’s (WRMPPF) Pioneer of the Year...
Andrea Savage’s “I’m Sorry” Renewed for a Third Season
Andrea Savage is going to apologize for at least another year. “I’m Sorry,” the TruTV comedy she created, executive produces, and toplines, has been renewed for a third season set...
2019 Kilroys List Spotlights 33 Plays from Women, Trans, & Nonbinary Writers
Feminist theater collective The Kilroys has unveiled The List 2019, a collection of 33 un-produced or underproduced plays written by women and trans and non-binary playwrights. The Kilroys describes...
UK Channel ITV Will No Longer Commission Comedy Shows from All-Male Writing Teams
ITV head of comedy Saskia Schuster is working to correct the wide gender gap among her department’s scribes. BBC confirms the UK channel is banning comedy series penned by all-male writing...
Weekly Update for June 14: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING American Woman In a blue-collar town in Pennsylvania, a 32-year-old woman’s (Sienna Miller) teen daughter goes missing and she is left to raise her infant grandson alone....
Alyssa Milano Publishes State-by-State Abortion Legislation Guide for Film Industry
In the wake of the restrictive abortion bans that keep cropping up around the country, Alyssa Milano is making it easier for studios and filmmakers — at least those that support women and...
Tracee Ellis Ross Will Lead and Exec Produce “Daria” Spinoff “Jodie”
One of “Daria’s” most beloved characters will return to TV. The Hollywood Reporter confirms MTV Studios is developing “Jodie,” an animated spinoff of iconic ’90s...
Sarah Phelps to Adapt Agatha Christie’s “The Pale Horse” for BBC and Amazon
Sarah Phelps is bringing her fifth Agatha Christie adaptation to the small screen. Variety confirms the award-winning screenwriter will pen a two-part series based on Christie’s “The Pale...
Raising Films Survey: Carers Aren’t Getting Support They Need from the Industry
Raising Films recently conducted a survey “to query the particular impact that caring responsibilities have on those within the [film industry], focusing on those who care for people other than...
Winners Announced for Bumble’s Second Female Film Force Competition
Bumble is awarding five women-made short films funding as part of its second Female Film Force competition. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the winning projects include a comedic drama about...
Desiree Akhavan & Haifaa al-Mansour Among ReFrame Rise’s Inaugural Class of Women Directors
Not only did the 2019 Women In Film Annual Gala honor Amy Poehler, Issa Rae, Elizabeth Debicki, Cathy Schulman, and more, it also featured the launch of ReFrame Rise Directors Program,...
Quote of the Day: Tessa Thompson on the Barriers Blocking Women of Color from Equal Pay
When news first broke that Tessa Thompson would be starring in the new “Men in Black” movie alongside her “Thor: Ragnarok” co-star Chris Hemsworth, Women and Hollywood...
Laura Dern, Jennifer Yuh Nelson, & More Elected to Academy’s Board of Governors
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has held elections for its 2019-2020 Board of Governors. According to a press release, the 54-person board’s number of women has risen from 22 to...
Apply Now: North Face’s Move Mountains Grant for Women Directors
If you’re a woman filmmaker with a love for the Great Outdoors, then The North Face has the grant for you. The apparel company has announced the Move Mountains Filmmakers Grant, “a...
Banff Fest 2019: Fund Launched for Women in TV, Paul Feig Talks Equality & Representation
Gender equality and inclusion have been among the main topics of conversation at this year’s Banff World Media Festival. The Canadian fest saw the announcement of the Banff Accelerator for...
Study: Just Four Women Among Directors of the Top Animated Films 2007-2018
The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative presented its latest research today at the Women in Animation World Summit, held as part of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. The report,...
Weekly Update for June 7: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING Late Night – Directed by Nisha Ganatra; Written by Mindy Kaling (Opens in Select Theaters; Opens Wide June 14) “Late Night” is the movie I have been...
Public Theater’s 2019-20 Season Includes “For Colored Girls” and Hillary Clinton Musical
Hillary Clinton, Ntozake Shange, Leigh Silverman, and Jeanine Tesori are just a few of the names that will be featured at the Public Theater next season. Per The New York Times, the Off Broadway...
“Queen Sugar” Announces Additional Women Directors for Season 4
Lacey Duke, C. Fitz, Pratibha Parmar, Deborah Kampmeier, and Stacey Muhammad will be among the ranks of “Queen Sugar’s” all-women directors. A press release has announced that these...
Kay Cannon Will Direct Treasure-Hunt Comedy “79ers” for Lionsgate
Only two months after news broke that Kay Cannon would direct Sony Pictures’ retelling of “Cinderella” comes word that the “Blockers” filmmaker will helm yet another...
Trailer Watch: A Beekeeper’s Way of Life Is Upended in Sundance Winner “Honeyland”
“We only take half,” Hatidze Muratova, the last in a long line of Balkan beekeepers, explains to a young boy as she removes a honeycomb from a hive. “Half for them. Half for...
Trailer Watch: Jillian Bell & Michaela Watkins Inherit a “Sword of Trust” in New Lynn Shelton Pic
In Lynn Shelton’s latest film, Cynthia (Jillian Bell) inherits a very unique object when her grandfather dies: a sword with an apparent connection to the Civil War. “What you are looking...
Trailer Watch: 16 Years After Losing an Arm, Surfer Bethany Hamilton Is Still “Unstoppable”
In 2003, 13-year-old competitive surfer Bethany Hamilton was attacked by a tiger shark. She lost her left arm but not her love of surfing. “It wasn’t like that passion had been taken...
Apply Now: Oxford Film Fest’s Female Filmmaker Retreat
Oxford, Mississippi’s film festival will be hosting a Female Filmmaker Retreat during its 2020 edition. Scheduled to take place March 16-19, 2020 at Oxford’s Camp Hopewell, the retreat...
Quotes of the Day: Taraji P. Henson and Ellen Pompeo Get Candid About Race and Fair Pay
Taraji P. Henson and Ellen Pompeo work on two of the biggest shows on network TV. The respective “Empire” and “Grey’s Anatomy” stars are also outspoken advocates for...
Kristina Lauren Anderson Will Adapt Eliza Griswold’s “Amity and Prosperity” for TV
Eliza Griswold’s exposé on fracking’s devastating effects on the community of Amity, Pennsylvania is coming to television. According to Deadline, Film 44 is producing a limited series based...
Apply Now for the Inaugural Disney Launchpad: Shorts Incubator
The Walt Disney Company is offering directors from underrepresented communities the chance to “present diverse perspectives through the production of original, live-action short films for...
NBC Introduces Its First Below-the-Line Diversity Initiatives
NBC is ramping up its diversity efforts off-screen. The network — already the home of the inclusive Female Forward, Emerging Director, and Alternative Directors programs — has unveiled...