BY Rachel Montpelier
Weekly Update for January 4: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING Rust Creek – Directed by Jen McGowan; Written by Julie Lipson (Also Available on VOD) An ordinary woman must summon extraordinary courage to survive a nightmare...
Miniseries and Film About “Out of Africa” Author Karen Blixen in the Works
The life of author, adventurer, and businesswoman Karen Blixen might make its way to the screen once more. According to Deadline, Nordisk Film is developing “The Lioness,” an...
“Quantico” Star Yasmine Al Massri to Topline and Produce “Juliet”
Yasmine Al Massri is taking on producing duties for her next project. The “Quantico” and “Miral” actress is set to star in and produce “Juliet,” a feature drama...
Time’s Up Rings in New Year by Launching Campaign to Double Number of Women in Leadership
Time’s Up is officially one year old. Since it kicked off on New Year’s Day 2018, the movement to make workplaces safer and more equitable for women and other underrepresented communities...
Weekly Update for December 21: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
Season’s greetings from Women and Hollywood! Thank you so much for your continued support of our work. We’ll be taking some time off for the holidays, so this will be our last weekly...
Stephanie Allain’s Homegrown Pictures Joins Forces with Abigail Disney’s Level Forward
Two inclusive, women-run companies are teaming up. Deadline confirms Stephanie Allain, Mel Jones, and Gabrielle Ebron’s Homegrown Pictures has inked a deal with Abigail Disney’s startup...
On the Big and Small Screens, 2018 Was the Year of #MeToo and #TimesUp
Despite being so deeply ingrained in the cultural discourse, #MeToo and #TimesUp are still in their early days as social movements. #TimesUp is less than a year old and, while Tarana Burke created it...
Reese Witherspoon Taps Liz Hannah to Write “Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine” Adaptation
Things are moving forward on Reese Witherspoon’s adaptation of “Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine.” Deadline confirms Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine is joining forces with...
Anita Hill-Led Harassment Commission Sets Sights on Protecting Hollywood Freelancers
The Hollywood Commission on Eliminating Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equality has made protecting freelancers a priority. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Anita Hill-led Commission is...
Berlinale 2019’s Panorama Program Is 23% Women-Helmed So Far
The Berlin International Film Festival has unveiled the first half of its 2019 Panorama program. Unfortunately, its initial numbers aren’t as encouraging as the Competition lineup’s...
Brown Girls Doc Mafia Appoints Board of Directors, Receives $105K MacArthur Grant
Big things are happening at Brown Girls Doc Mafia (BGDM), an org advocating for women and non-binary people of color in documentary filmmaking. According to Filmmaker Magazine, BGDM has announced...
Time’s Up to Support Rising Execs and Producers with New Mentorship Program
Time’s Up’s latest initiative is working to improve the entertainment industry’s executive and producer pipeline. A press release from the gender equality and inclusion coalition...
Weekly Update for December 14: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING Mary Poppins Returns (Opens December 19) “Mary Poppins Returns” “Mary Poppins Returns” is set in 1930s, Depression-era London — the time period of the...
Amy Poehler Bringing Adaptation of Rebecca Makkai’s “The Great Believers” to TV
Amy Poehler is working on yet another TV project. Deadline confirms her Paper Kite Productions has optioned the rights to Rebecca Makkai’s “The Great Believers,” a novel about the...
Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan to Star in Lesbian Romance “Ammonite”
Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan will play unlikely lovers in the next project from writer-director Francis Lee (“God’s Own Country”). According to Deadline, the two actresses are...
Trailer Watch: Michael and the Crew Face a New Foe in “Star Trek: Discovery” Season 2
The crew of the USS Discovery will be back soon. A trailer for “Star Trek: Discovery’s” second season has dropped and it sees protagonist Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green)...
Jennifer Garner-Led Drama Receives Straight-to-Series Order at Apple
“Camping” wrapped up less than two weeks ago and Jennifer Garner has already lined up another TV project. She will star in a limited drama series based on Amy Silverstein’s memoir...
Actress Daphne Zuniga to Make Feature Directorial Debut
No stranger to twisty drama, “Melrose Place” veteran Daphne Zuniga will be making her feature directorial debut with a thriller. Deadline confirms the actress has signed on to helm...
Feminist Theater Collective The Kilroys Announces New Class
The Kilroys, a Los Angeles-based collective of playwrights and producers fighting for gender parity in American theater, is bringing in some new blood. According to a press release, the 14 new...
Pic About Feud Between Actresses Sarah Bernhardt and Eleonora Duse in the Works
The rivalry between 19th century stage actresses Sarah Bernhardt and Eleonora Duse could be coming to the big screen. A feature about their feud, described as “‘The Favourite’ meets...
Lake Bell and Liz Meriwether’s “Bless This Mess” Gets Series Order at ABC
Lake Bell and Liz Meriwether’s “Bless This Mess” has nabbed a series order at ABC, Variety reports. A co-production between 20th Century Fox Television and ABC Studios, the...
Issa Rae and Columbia Pictures Join Forces to Support Emerging Diverse Writers
Issa Rae’s latest project will help boost diverse, up-and-coming screenwriters. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the “Insecure” star’s ColorCreative has signed a...
Jennie Snyder Urman and Dev Exec Joanna Klein Team Up for New Production Company
“Jane the Virgin” is winding down but creator Jennie Snyder Urman’s career is revving up. She and Lifetime’s former senior vp of scripted development, Joanna Klein, are...
Carol Burnett to Receive Special Achievement Award Named in Her Honor at Golden Globes
Not only will Carol Burnett be presented with the Golden Globes’ inaugural television special achievement award, the new prize has been named in her honor. As the Hollywood Foreign Press...
Jodie Foster Will Star in and Direct English-Language Remake of Iceland’s “Woman at War”
Jodie Foster is going to war. Deadline reports the Oscar winner will topline and direct a remake of “Woman at War,” Iceland’s submission for 2019’s Best Foreign Language Film...
Sophia Takal Is the First Woman to Direct a Blumhouse Original
Blumhouse finally managed to locate and hire a female director. Several weeks after Jason Blum’s unfortunate remarks that he’d really like to work with women directors, but there’s...
Exclusive: Roberta Grossman’s WWII Resistance Doc “Who Will Write Our History” Secures Release
“Who Will Write Our History,” Roberta Grossman’s chronicle of a lesser known form of WWII-era resistance, will have a theatrical run, Women and Hollywood has learned exclusively....
Sudabeh Mortezai’s “Joy” Wins Best Film at Marrakech Fest
Sudabeh Mortezai has nabbed another festival prize for her second feature, “Joy.” Less than two months after it took BFI London Film Festival’s top prize, Variety confirms the sex...
Priyanka Chopra-Led Family Drama from Shonali Bose Is in Production
Priyanka Chopra is taking on a true story for her next project. According to Variety, the “Quantico” actress will star in Shonali Bose’s “The Sky Is Pink.” Currently in...
Weekly Update for December 7: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING Mary Queen of Scots – Directed by Josie Rourke It’s a little crazy to say Mary, Queen of Scots is the perfect role for Saoirse Ronan because I am certain that...
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Rungano Nyoni, & Jameela Jamil Among UK’s WFTV Award Winners
“Fleabag” and “Killing Eve” creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, “I Am Not a Witch” filmmaker Rungano Nyoni, activist and “The Good Place” actress Jameela...
Amy Sherman-Palladino to Receive PGA’s Norman Lear Achievement Award
The marvelous Amy Sherman-Palladino will soon have another trophy to go with history-making pair of Emmys. According to Variety, the creator of “Gilmore Girls” and “The Marvelous...
“Jane the Virgin” Spinoff in Development at The CW
Friends, we could be getting more Jane Gloriana Villanueva — or at least more of her writing. According to Variety, a spinoff of “Jane the Virgin” is in the works at The CW. Not...
Sundance 2019: Over 50% of Shorts, Episodic Content, & Special Events Are Women Directed or Created
Sundance 2019 is shaping up to be quite the gender-balanced film festival. Not only do women represent 42 percent of the competition film directors, the fest has just announced the lineups for its...
“The Favourite” Nabs Record 10 BIFA Awards, Continues to Reign Over the Box Office
“The Favourite” revolves around the manipulations and betrayals of Queen Anne’s court, but it’s inspiring a lot of love and loyalty from audiences and awards committees. The...
Weekly Update for November 30: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING Clara’s Ghost – Written and Directed by Bridey Elliott (Opens December 6) (Available on VOD December 7) Set over the course of a single evening in the Reynolds...
Trailer Watch: Katherine Waterston Investigates a Mysterious Death in “State Like Sleep”
“Peel back a layer and no one’s who they seem to be,” Michael Shannon says in the trailer for “State Like Sleep.” That’s what protagonist Katherine (Katherine...
Viola Davis to Topline and Produce Shirley Chisholm Biopic, Maggie Betts Directing
Viola Davis has lined up her first project under her recent Amazon deal. The Oscar winner will portray the titular pioneering politician in “The Fighting Shirley Chisholm,” Deadline...
Women Represent 42 Percent of Sundance 2019 Competition Directors
If you’re planning to attend the Sundance Film Festival in January, there will be plenty of women-directed films to check out. The fest has announced its 2019 feature lineup, and 42 percent of...
Women Make Up Over 50 Percent of Variety’s Annual Directors to Watch List
Women dominate Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch list for 2019. Women represent 60 percent of slots on the annual ranking, which recognizes up-and-coming filmmaking talent. Olivia Wilde...
Domee Shi, First Woman to Direct Pixar Short, Will Helm Feature Debut
Domee Shi made history this year by becoming the first woman to direct a Pixar short, “Bao.” Now she’s set to pivot to feature filmmaking. As Deadline reports, Shi is attached to...
Animated “Spider-Women” Film in the Works at Sony
Sony is bringing another women-driven “Spider-Man” universe story to the screen. Five months after the studio announced a “Silk” movie was in early development comes word of...
Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing Lisa France Documentary “Roll With Me”
ARRAY has lined up its latest film release. Ava DuVernay’s independent distribution company will be screening “Roll With Me,” Lisa France’s doc about recovering addict and...
Starz Gives Series Orders to Katori Hall’s “P-Valley” and Rebecca Cutter’s “Hightown”
Starz is finally moving forward with two long-in-development series from women. Variety reports the cable network has ordered Katori Hall’s strip-club-set “P-Valley” and Rebecca...
2018 Gotham Awards: Wins for Chloé Zhao’s “The Rider,” “Killing Eve,” Elsie Fisher, & More
Women were among the big winners at last night’s IFP Gotham Awards. Not only did Chloé Zhao’s Western, “The Rider,” take home the top prize, but women-driven and -created...
UK Trans Drama Miniseries “Butterfly” Heads to CBC
“Butterfly,” a UK miniseries about an 11-year-old trans girl and her family, has found a North American home. According to Deadline, the show will air on Canada’s CBC in late winter...
Trailer Watch: Patty Jenkins Digs Into the Black Dahlia Murder in “I Am the Night”
“All my life people have looked at me,” Fauna Hodel (India Eisley, “The Secret Life of the American Teenager”) writes in “I Am the Night.” “I just want to...
“Roma” and “The Favourite” Shine at the Box Office
It appears turkey wasn’t the only thing people were craving over Thanksgiving weekend: a box office report from Deadline suggests that women-driven films with awards buzz were also high in...
Cannes 2019’s Directors’ Fortnight Now Accepting Submissions
Cannes Film Festival sidebar Directors’ Fortnight is now accepting films for its 2019 edition. Organized by the French Directors’ Guild, next year’s Directors’ Fortnight...
Series About London’s First Female Detective in the Works at A+E Networks International
A+E Networks International’s first international, scripted co-production will be the story of a trailblazing woman. Screen Daily reports the company is developing “Miss Scarlet and the...
Weekly Update for November 21: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING The Favourite – Written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara (Opens in NY and LA November 23) Set in the early 18th century, we take a closer look at the reign of Queen...