BY Rachel Montpelier
Laura Poitras’ Julian Assange Doc “Risk” Gets Release Date & Trailer
The Julian Assange documentary “Risk” is receiving a theatrical release. According to a press statement, Showtime Documentary Films and NEON will bring Laura Poitras’ doc to theaters May 5. It...
Cannes 2017: 33% of Shorts and 44% of Cinéfondation Picks Are Women-Directed
Cannes announced its selections for the Short Films Competition and Cinéfondation category today, and 33 percent of the shorts and 44 percent of the Cinéfondation films are directed by women....
Trailer Watch: Everyone Just Wants to Survive the Night in Kathryn Bigelow’s “Detroit”
“Detroit” Throughout her career, Kathryn Bigelow has explored the traditionally masculine subjects of war and violence. “The Hurt Locker” suggested that life-or-death situations can be a...
Cannes 2017: Women in Motion Announces Young Talents Award Details & Names Isabelle Huppert as Face…
Cannes 2017: Women in Motion Announces Young Talents Award Details & Names Isabelle Huppert as Face of Program The film lineup for the 70th Cannes Film Festival will be announced in a couple...
Goldie Hawn Retrospective to Screen at the Quad Cinema in NYC
The upcoming mother-daughter comedy “Snatched” marks Goldie Hawn’s first film since 2002’s “The Banger Sisters.” To celebrate the end of Hawn’s 15-year sabbatical, the Quad will hold a...
Lynn Nottage Becomes the First Woman to Win Pulitzer Prize Twice for Drama
Playwright Lynn Nottage has been honored with the Pulitzer Prize for “Sweat,” her play about dissatisfaction, anger, and resentment among the working class. To make the occasion even more...
Teaser Watch: “Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner” with Sam Bee Toasts the Free Press
The fascist-in-chief won’t be attending the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, but “Full Frontal’s” Samantha Bee isn’t passing up the chance to honor the peaceful coexistence of the...
“UnREAL” Co-Creator Sarah Gertrude Shapiro Inks Deal with A+E Studios
Looks like Sarah Gertrude Shapiro will be creating more content for A+E Studios. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the “UnREAL” co-creator has signed a multiyear overall deal with the...
Amy Sherman-Palladino’s “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” Gets Two-Season Order
As die-hard “Gilmore Girls” fans would say, “Copper boom!” “Gilmore” creator Amy Sherman-Palladino’s newest series, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” just got a two-season order from...
Shonda Rhimes Teams Up with Dove for Real Beauty Productions
Throughout her career, Shonda Rhimes has been praised for her shows’ inclusivity and diversity. Unlike many other offerings on TV, series like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal” do not...
Weekly Update for April 7: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Week “Their Finest” Their Finest — Directed by Lone Scherfig; Written by Gaby Chiappe “Their Finest” sees Gemma Arterton as Catrin, a young woman hired...
Trailer Watch: Sharon & Rob Duke it Out in “Catastrophe” Season 3
Last season of “Catastrophe” saw everyone’s favorite foul-mouthed couple in a pretty depressing state. Rob’s (Rob Delaney) workplace flirtation took a vicious turn and he ended up losing his...
Female Directors Rejected from BAFTA Elevate Program Launch #BAFTAsLucky225
Credit: The BAFTA Twitter account Talk about making lemons into lemonade. More than two hundred women directors have turned their rejection from a prestigious program into an unofficial organization...
Victoria Woodhull Series Is First Project from Suzanne Blech’s New Production Co.
A television series about suffragette and first female U.S. presidential candidate Victoria Woodhull will be the first project from Suzanne Blech’s just-launched Go Nellie Productions, Deadline...
Doc About Workers’ Rights Activist Dolores Huerta Acquired by PBS
Dolores Huerta will hopefully soon be a household name. A documentary about the workers’ rights activist, “Dolores,” was acquired by PBS and is set to screen theatrically this fall. According...
Quote of the Day: “Good Girls Revolt’s” Genevieve Angelson on Equal Pay
In an article for Elle, “Good Girls Revolt” alumna Genevieve Angelson writes about an aspect of the gender pay gap that doesn’t get much attention: There is a stigma surrounding any and all...
Actor Asia Kate Dillon Questions Emmys’ Gender Binary Acting Categories
Asia Kate Dillon, the breakout star of Showtime’s white collar crime drama, “Billions,” is generating serious awards buzz for their portrayal of Taylor Mason. Dillon also identifies as gender...
Shonda Rhimes’ MasterClass on Writing for Television Is Now Available
“I don’t believe in the phrase ‘aspiring writer.’ To me, it’s just: You’re a writer. Go write.” Consider that Shonda Rhimes’ first lesson on how to write for TV. For the rest of her...
Iliza Shlesinger’s Late-Night Show “Truth & Iliza” Gets Premiere Date
“Confirmed Kills” stand-up Iliza Schlesinger will soon be joining the Late Night Wars. The Tracking Board writes that Schlesinger’s “Truth & Iliza” will debut May 2 on Freeform and its...
Catherine Hardwicke Set to Direct “Miss Bala” Remake for Sony
Catherine Hardwicke has found her next gig. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the “Twilight” director will helm Sony’s remake of “Miss Bala,” a 2011 Mexican drama from...
Trailer Watch: “Anne” Can Do Anything a Boy Can Do and More
“My name is Anne Shirley Cuthbert, and please be sure to spell ‘Anne’ with an ‘e’,” the heroine of Netflix’s newest series requests on her first day at a new school. Even if you’ve...
Trailer Watch: Niecy Nash is a Badass Salon Owner in “Claws”
If you wish “The Sopranos” had included more women and people of color onscreen — and had doubled down on Carmela’s fierce manicures — your dream has come true. The Niecy...
Bette Midler to Be Honored by Drama League, Keeps Breaking Broadway Records
Bette Midler is killing it. Per Variety, her “Hello, Dolly!” Broadway revival earned the Shubert Theatre its biggest week ever in just seven performances. And the four-time Grammy winner will be...
WTF of the Day: Marvel Exec Thinks Female & Diverse Characters Are Ruining Sales
Wow. After the Aaron Sorkin debacle last week, you’d assume that powerful executives with a platform — especially if they are white dudes — would carefully consider their words before...
Trailer Watch: “Wynonna Earp” Is on the Fury Road Express in Season 2
“Wynonna’s not a flowers-and-chocolate kind of a girl,” Sheriff Nedley (Greg Lawson) says of the titular character in the second season trailer for “Wynonna Earp.” That’s for damn sure....
Gurinder Chadha Moves to TV with FremantleMedia-Backed Bend It TV
Gurinder Chadha is branching out into television. The “Bend It Like Beckham” director’s TV production company, Bend It TV, will receive 25 percent backing from FremantleMedia, Variety writes....
Theresa Rebeck Opens Up About Being Fired from “Smash”
“The misogyny is beyond anything that people believe,” “Smash” creator and former showrunner Theresa Rebeck writes in an essay entitled “What Came Next.” “On my first job in...
Lifetime and National Women’s Soccer League Announce 2017 Game of the Week Schedule
Credit: NWSL’s Twitter account Lifetime and the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) have revealed the 2017 NWSL Game of the Week on Lifetime live broadcast schedule. According to a press...
Quote of the Day: Ellen Pompeo Praises Shonda Rhimes’ Leadership
Ellen Pompeo made her directorial debut on last night’s episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” after 13 seasons of portraying the titular Dr. Meredith Grey. And it seems as though her boss,...
Weekly Update for March 31: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Week “The Zookeeper’s Wife” The Zookeeper’s Wife — Directed by Niki Caro; Written by Angela Workman The real-life story of one working wife and mother...
Women Execs Appointed at British Film Institute, Creative BC, and Annapurna
Three major job appointments for women executives have been announced at Creative BC, Annapurna, and the British Film Institute (BFI), ScreenDaily reports. Gaylene Gould is now the BFI’s Southbank...
HBO Announces TV Adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s “My Brilliant Friend”
The TV adaption of Elena Ferrante’s novel “My Brilliant Friend” — book one of her Neapolitan series — has found a home. HBO, in partnership with Italy’s national public...
Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs Accepts CinemaCon Pioneer of the Year Award
Cheryl Boone Isaacs accepted the Pioneer of the Year honor at CinemaCon’s Will Rogers Motion Picture Foundation Dinner, held Wednesday. The President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and...
Drew Barrymore, Samantha Bee, America Ferrara, & More to Be Honored at the Gracie Awards
The recipients of the 42nd annual Gracie Awards have been announced via the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWMF). Taking place June 6 in Beverly Hills, the Gracies “honor exemplary...
23-Year-Old Author Tomi Adeyemi’s Debut Novel Acquired by Fox 2000
Get ready to feel really unproductive. Twenty-three-year-old author Tomi Adeyemi received a seven-figure book deal from Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for her debut novel, “Children of...
“Lipstick Under My Burkha” to Open Indian Film Fests in LA and NY
“Lipstick Under My Burkha” has been subject to censorship in India, but the feminist film is being received warmly at festivals in the U.S. In fact, the Alankrita Shrivastava-directed movie will...
Male Privilege Watch: Chris Addison to Make Feature Debut with “Nasty Women”
Here we go again. Yet another newbie male director has been given the reins to a much anticipated women-centric project. This time it’s Chris Addison making his feature directorial debut with the...
Sarah Silverman to Host Political Comedy Talk Show for Hulu
Sarah Silverman is branching out into political commentary. The stand-up comedian and actress will host a weekly half-hour talk show — in the vein of “Full Frontal” or “Last Week...
Amy Pascal & Bruna Papandrea to Produce Film Adaptions of Upcoming Books
Amy Pascal and Bruna Papandrea are bringing your next literary obsessions to the big screen. Pascal is finalizing a deal for Laura Dave’s “Hello, Sunshine” and Papandrea has optioned Elizabeth...
MPAA Report 2016: 52% of Movie Audiences Are Women & Other Takeaways
Women continue to make up the majority of moviegoers: According to the MPAA’s recent findings, women comprised 52 percent of all 2016 moviegoers — an increase from 2015’s 51 percent....
Plays from Lucy Kirkwood and Anna Ziegler to Run at Manhattan Theater Club
Manhattan Theater Club is bringing two women-written plays to Broadway. Per The New York Times, Lucy Kirkwood’s “The Children” and Anna Ziegler’s “Actually” will run during the upcoming...
Amy Brenneman to Star in CBS Internet Journalism Drama “The Get”
Amy Brenneman is returning to CBS. The “Judging Amy” star will topline the network’s pilot “The Get,” about “a team of tireless Internet journalists who pursue and expose stories of...
Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Sally Wainwright Win Big at Royal Television Society Awards
Here’s some happy news about two very dark shows: writer-creators Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag”) and Sally Wainwright (“Happy Valley”) were the big winners at last night’s Royal...
Number of Comedy Central Specials from Women Slowly-but-Surely Increasing
At the beginning of the decade it was pretty much bros making stuff for other bros — plus “The Daily Show” and “Colbert Report” — at Comedy Central. But since the advent of...
Quote of the Day: Jennifer Lopez Says Roles Like “Selena” Are “Few and Far Between”
“It was a meaty role, but it was few and far between, especially for Latinos to have a role like that,” Jennifer Lopez recently told Variety, discussing her Golden Globe-nominated role in...
Awards, Films, News, Television, Theater
Awards Roundup: Honors for Christina Ricci, Julie Delpy, and Judith Light
Seasoned show business veterans Christina Ricci, Julie Delpy, and Judith Light are all set to be honored this spring. Variety reports that the Vail Film Festival will celebrate women in film during...
New Play “Offside” Explores British Women’s 50-Year Ban from Soccer
A new play will tell the story of how Britain’s Football Association (FA) banned women from soccer for 50 years, The Guardian writes. Written by Sabrina Mahfouz and Hollie McNish, “Offside”...
Firelight Media Launches Impact Producer Fellowship & Names Inaugural Honorees
Firelight Media has introduced the Impact Producer Fellowship and announced the initiative’s inaugural participants, Shadow and Act reports. “The first-ever training program dedicated to...
Artemis Women in Action Film Festival Announces 2017 Honorees
The Artemis Women in Action Film Festival has announced the honorees for its 2017 edition. Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Cynthia Rothrock, Gina Carano, and Luci Romberg will be celebrated in April, a press...
All Female “Juno” Live-Read Announced to Benefit Planned Parenthood
If there was ever a time we needed a feel-good comedy about a young woman owning her sexuality and reproductive autonomy, it’s now. So, we’re pleased to tell you that a tenth anniversary...
Shonda Rhimes Branches Out Into Theatre
We all know Shonda Rhimes as a top showrunner and the writer/producer/director extraordinaire behind “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal,” and “How to Get Away with Murder.” And now we’ll...