BY Rachel Montpelier
DOC NYC 2016 Women Directors: Meet Diedie Weng— “The Beekeeper and his Son”
Diedie Weng grew up in Guangdong, Southern China and is currently based in Lausanne, Switzerland. Weng received her MFA in documentary production at the State University of New York at Buffalo. She...
DOC NYC 2016 Women Directors: Meet Brittany Huckabee— “After Fire”
Brittany Huckabee is an independent filmmaker whose work focuses on telling stories about the experiences of women. She has more than 15 years of experience directing and producing documentaries....
DOC NYC 2016 Women Directors: Meet Rebbie Ratner — “Borderline”
Rebbie Ratner began her film career when she was seven years old, often running around her house capturing family scenes on tape. In college, she started making formal films, regarding film as a...
DOC NYC 2016 Women Directors: Meet Madeleine Gavin— “City of Joy”
Madeleine Gavin works in both narrative and documentary film, primarily as an editor. She was nominated for an Emmy for her work on Rebecca Cammisa’s documentary “Which Way Home” and is...
DOC NYC 2016 Women Directors: Meet Pamela French — “Becoming More Visible”
Pamela French is a New York-based independent producer/director who specializes in fly-on-the-wall films. French began her career making independent avant-garde shorts with New York artists....
A Legacy of Their Own: Crowdfunding Picks
“Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers” It’s probably fair to say that most artists want their work to remain relevant after they’re gone; for people to remember them because their art is...
Decision 2016: October’s VOD and Web Series Picks
“The Young Hillary Diaries”: Lifetime Decisions are at the core of most narratives. The emphasis on personal decisions are at the heart of our VOD and web series picks this month. The women...
Taraji P. Henson on the Race and Gender Pay Gap: “Insult, Meet Injury”
“I knew the stakes,” Taraji P. Henson writes in her new memoir, “Around the Way.” “No matter how talented, no matter how many accolades my prior work had received, if I pushed for more...
Trailer Watch: Women Chefs Are “Hungry” for Equality in New Documentary
“Have I ever worked under a women chef? I have not.” Rahm Fama, chef and host of the Food Network’s “Meat & Potatoes,” admits this fact in an interview for Logo’s upcoming...
Comedy Pilots from Casey Wilson and Iliza Shlesinger in the Works
Get ready to add even more to your To Watch list: new comedy pilots from tag-team Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael, as well as Iliza Shlesinger are being developed. According to Deadline,...
Books, Films, News, Television
Eva Longoria’s Production Company Adapting “940 Saturdays” Book for ABC
Eva Longoria, an increasingly busy multi-hyphenate, has another television series in the works. Longoria is reuniting with ABC, the network behind “Desperate Housewives,” to develop “940...
Exclusive: Cristin Milioti’s Relationship Is a Seven Out of 10 in “It Had to Be You” Clip
Long term relationships and intimacy aren’t all they are cracked up to be in this exclusive clip from Sasha Gordon’s “It Had to Be You.” Sonia (Cristin Milioti, “Fargo,” “The Mindy...
“The Killing” Creator Veena Sud and Netflix Nearing Deal on “Seven Seconds”
“The Killing” creator Veena Sud and Netflix are inching closer to a deal. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “the streaming giant is nearing a series pickup for ‘Seven Seconds,’ a racial...
Awards, Films, News, Television, Theater
Allison Janney Scores Walk of Fame Star and Announces Return to Broadway
Allison Janney is having a big week. The Emmy-winning actress was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday, and on Tuesday the New York Times announced Janney’s return to...
Regina Corrado Is Adapting “Equity” for ABC
“Equity” is coming to the small screen. Deadline reports that the film, released earlier this year, is being made into a drama series, “which has landed at ABC with a script commitment plus...
Apply Now to EWA’s Scriptwriter Residency Program
The European Women’s Audiovisual Network (EWA) is offering a scriptwriter residency in Berlin from January 20 to February 17, 2017. This program is an “initiative dedicated to supporting the...
New Docs Turn the Camera on Women Directors
Cady McClain, writer-director of “Seeing is Believing” Directors Cady McClain and Amy Adrion are turning the cameras towards themselves — in a sense. These two filmmakers are developing...
Rose McGowan Calls Out Hollywood for “Rewarding Sociopaths”
“Take a stand.” The open letter Rose McGowan tweeted yesterday can be boiled down into that one sentiment. McGowan argues that it’s time for Hollywood to start recognizing criminals and...
Trailer Watch: Kate Beckinsale is Unstoppable in “Underworld: Blood Wars”
“I’m finished with this war,” Selene (Kate Beckinsale) says. “Well, it’s not finished with you,” David (Theo James, “Divergent”) replies. And so Selene, the heroine of the...
Nikki Finke Signs First-Look Deal with HBO
Hollywood Dementia founder Nikki Finke has finalized a first-look television deal with HBO, Deadline reports. This agreement means that HBO “will have first crack at developing projects based on...
Trailer Watch: Noomi Rapace Is the Virus and the Cure in “Rupture”
If you combine the visual flair of “American Horror Story” with a sadistic haunted house, you’d probably get something close to “Rupture.” A trailer recently dropped for the abduction...
Producer Jennifer Cochis Named New Director of LA Film Festival
The Los Angeles Film Festival has named producer Jennifer Cochis (“Smashed”) as its next creative director, Deadline reports. Cochis is succeeding director and producer Stephanie Allain...
Biopic About Trailblazing Mathematician Ada Lovelace Being Developed
A pioneering female mathematician’s untold story is hitting the big screen. Alison Owen and Debra Hayward’s production company, Monumental Pictures, has announced it will make a biopic about Ada...
“Hidden Figures” Enters Oscars Race with New Christmas Release Date
“Hidden Figures” is now officially an Academy Awards contender. Variety reports that Fox is giving the upcoming drama a qualifying run with a limited release on December 25. Additionally,...
American Society of Cinematographers to Honor Nancy Schreiber of “Better Things”
The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) will recognize Nancy Schreiber with its Presidents Award at the 31st annual ASC Awards for Outstanding Achievement, Variety reports. The ceremony will...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Olivia Neergaard-Holm — “David Lynch: The Art Life”
Olivia Neergaard-Holm graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 2013. Neergaard-Holm has worked as an editor on various Danish and international feature films and documentaries,...
Shonda Rhimes, Rachel Bloom, and More Named as “Most Powerful Showrunners”
Judging from The Hollywood Reporter’s “Hollywood’s 50 Most Powerful Showrunners 2016” report, television is still far from reaching its gender parity zenith that some dream it to be. Still,...
Watch: Young Queen Elizabeth II Bears the Weight of “The Crown” in New Featurette
Twenty-five-year-old Queen Elizabeth II “had a massive responsibility put on her at a time when she’s grieving and she’s had a terrible loss — the death of her father. And then her whole...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Hala Alabdalla — “Farouk, Besieged Like Me”
Hala Alabdalla is a Syrian filmmaker living in France. Alabdalla has directed and produced numerous documentaries and feature films over the past 30 years. Her directing credits include “Hey!...
Gail Berman Producing TV Projects from Theresa Rebeck and Allyn Rachel
Super producer Gail Berman is prepping two new TV series created by women with her production company, The Jackal Group. Berman, who has been a show business executive since 1989, is teaming up...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Karen Bernstein— “Richard Linklater: Dream Is Destiny”
Karen Bernstein has produced various documentary projects, including “Body of War,” “Troop 1500,” “Children of Giant,” and episodes of “American Masters.” Bernstein received an Emmy...
Wonder Woman Selected as U.N. Honorary Ambassador
Yes, that Wonder Woman. The Wonder Woman. It seems the United Nations will bolster its fight against terrorism, tyranny, international poverty, and climate change with bullet-deflecting bracelets,...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Lizzie Borden— “Born in Flames”
Lizzie Borden is a writer-director based in Los Angeles. Her film credits include “Born in Flames” (1983), “Working Girls” (1986), and “Inside Out” (1991). Borden has directed television...
Trailer Watch: “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” Hints at Felicity Jones’ Backstory
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”: Disney “Rebellions are built on hope.” Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) says this to rally her fellow rebels in the second official “Rogue One: A Star Wars...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Delphine and Muriel Coulin— “The Stopover”
Sisters and directing-duo Delphine and Muriel Coulin made their feature film debut in 2011 with “17 Girls.” The film, which is based on the true story of a group of American teenage girls who...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Alice Diop— “On Call”
After earning a master’s degree in history and a post-graduate diploma in visual sociology, Alice Diop joined the documentary workshop at La Fémis. Since 2005, she has directed many...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Christine Molloy— “Further Beyond”
Christine Molloy hails from Dublin, Ireland and is one half of Desperate Optimists, a UK-based creative partnership formed with her partner, Joe Lawlor. Between 2003 and 2010, Molloy co-wrote and...
The Personal Is Political: Crowdfunding Picks
“Valentina” storyboard As November 8 draws ever closer, it seems like the only thing people are talking or writing about is politics. Unsurprisingly, intersectional feminist...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Claire Simon — “The Graduation”
Claire Simon is a screenwriter, actress, cinematographer, editor, and director. Simon has directed independent shorts and many documentaries throughout her filmmaking career, including “La...
Two Redheads and a Fleabag: In Defense of the Comedy Anti-Heroine
“Fleabag”: Amazon Ari, the narrator of Elisa Albert’s novel “After Birth,” describes how she felt around other feminists when she was a student: “I was a person. I mattered. I was in fact...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Asli Özge — “All of a Sudden”
Asli Özge was born in Istanbul, Turkey and has lived in Berlin, Germany since 2000. Özge directed short films and a documentary before making her feature film debut in 2009 with “Men on the...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet C. Fitz— “Jewel’s Catch One”
C. Fitz is a creator, director, writer, and producer, as well as a television and marketing veteran. Her previous films include “Rancid,” “No More Roses,” “ShowGirls, Provincetown, MA,”...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Pepa San Martin — “Rara”
Pepa San Martin’s first film, “The Shower,” premiered at the 2011 Berlin Film Festival and won the DAAD Short Film Prize. Her second film, “Gleisdreieck,” will premiere at the Valdivia...
October 2016 Film Preview
“The Girl on the Train” For those of you who are gearing up for awards season or are planning to celebrate Halloween at the movies, we at Women and Hollywood would just like to say you will not...
TIFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Bronwen Hughes — “The Journey is the Destination”
Bronwen Hughes is a Canadian-British film director based in New York and Hollywood. “The Journey is the Destination” is her fourth feature film. Hughes’ previous films include “Forces of...
TIFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Emmanuelle Bercot — “150 Milligrams”
Emmanuelle Bercot’s previous directing credits include “Clément,” “Backstage,” “On My Way,” and “Standing Tall.” Bercot’s films have earned her many awards and honors,...
TIFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Rachel Lambert — “In the Radiant City”
Rachel Lambert received a BFA from Boston University and also studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. After graduating, she worked for HanWay Films in addition to writing and...
The Ties That Bond: Crowdfunding Picks
Julia Ngeow, writer and director of “Eudaemonia” Connecting with another person, really bonding with them, can be very difficult as an adult. Whether you’re making a new friend, attempting to...
TIFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Amma Asante — “A United Kingdom”
Amma Asante’s previous directing credits include “Belle” and “A Way of Life.” Both films premiered at TIFF. Asante has been named by Variety as one of the Top Ten Directors to Watch, and...
TIFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Ann Marie Fleming — “Window Horses”
Ann Marie Fleming is an independent Eurasian-Canadian filmmaker, writer, and artist. She has created award-winning work in a variety of genres, and often focuses on the themes of family, history,...
TIFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Petra Epperlein — “Karl Marx City”
Petra Epperlein and her co-director/husband Michael Tucker’s previous films include “The Last Cowboy,” “Gunner Palace,” “The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair,”...