BY Women and Hollywood
Interview with Ava DuVernay – Director of Venus Vs.
Venus Vs.shows an unexpected side of Venus Williams. The film is all about the fight for equal pay for women in tennis. Billie Jean King led the charge in her day and the US Open started...
Guest Post: What Women (and Men) Want: And Why That’s the Secret to Getting Back Together With the All-But-Dead Genre of Romantic Comedy
Dr. Mindy Lahiri has spent her whole life dreaming of a romantic-comedy ending to her love life: Sometime around 30, she’ll be swept off her feet by a Ken Doll of a hunk, he will make a...
Maggie Gyllenhaal to Star in Sundance Channel/BBC Miniseries The Honourable Woman
Maggie Gyllenhaal will be starring in a new miniseries The Honourable Woman, co-produced by the BBC and Sundance Channel. The eight part miniseries will follow Gyllenhaal as...
The Heat Packs The Heat at the Box Office
This weekend was supposed to be another coronation moment for Channing Tatum, but he ran into a couple of snags namely two crazy female cops. He also ran into the fact that he was in a $150...
New Trailer: Adore – Directed by Anne Fontaine
Anne Fontaine’s latest, Adore, stars Naomi Watts and Robin Wright as two lifelong friends who both end up in crossing major boundaries when they each begin relationships with the other’s...
Weekly Update for June 28th and July 5th: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Weekend and Next Weekend (we’re taking next Friday off) The...
Happy Friday: Be Bro-Choice with Sarah Silverman
This week has been a huge news week for women’s reproductive rights. From the very good– Wendy Davis standing up and being a hero for women everywhere. To the very bad–Rick Perry...
Quote of the Day: Liz W. Garcia – The Obstacles That Women Face in Hollywood Are Particularly Difficult Because Many Can’t Be Seen, Or Easily Identified…
I came across this interview from Go Into the Story with writer/director Liz W. Garcia whose film The Lifeguard premiered at Sundance in 2013 and will be coming out on August 30th. It’s a...
Keira Knightley Will Produce and Star in The Other Typist
Keira Knightley will be producing and starring in The Other Typist, based on the debut novel of Suzanne Rindell. Fox Searchlight has locked down the rights. Set in the 1920s, Knightley will play...
Beth McCarthy-Miller to Direct Mean Moms
New Line has just hired Beth McCarthy-Miller to direct the comedy, Mean Moms. Don’t worry, it’s not a sequel to 2004’s Mean Girls but both films are based on books by Rosalind...
The Heat – Written by Katie Dippold
Yesterday, I wrote a piece that gave my argument about why you need to go and see The Heat this weekend. What I didn’t share since I was embargoed was the fact that I really liked the...
Why You Need To Go See The Heat This Weekend!
Remember two years ago when Bridesmaids came out and women went to the movies and Hollywood (except for every woman who worked there) was shocked that women and men went to see a movie about a bunch...
Oprah Tops Forbes 2013 Most Powerful Celebrities List
Oprah is number one on Forbes’ 2013 Most Powerful Celebrities list. Some may be surprised with the rough go of late that her network OWN has had..but it’s Oprah! She always bounces...
Trailer Watch: The New Black – Directed by Yoruba Richen
In honor of a historic day in American history, we bring you the new trailer for Yoruba Richen’s documentary The New Black which just won the AFI Docs Film Festival Audience Award and...
Ellen Page on Strong Female Characters and Feminist Porn
In a Reddit AMA, Ellen Page answered questions from fans on numerous subjects including finding female roles in Hollywood. Page’s latest role is in The East, about an anarchist group, which is...
Cross-Post: We are the 40%!
Last week, a chart appeared on the popular screenwriting website Go Into the Story analyzing gender inequity among spec script sales in the American entertainment business. The figures not only show...
Watch This: The Evolution of Peggy Olson
It’s no surprise that Peggy Olson, played by the wonderful Elisabeth Moss, on Mad Men is one of our favorite female characters on television. We’ve watched Peggy evolve from a shy...
Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose: We Stand With Wendy Davis
While there’s much discussion about the lack of female superhero movies in Hollywood, a real life one emerged yesterday. Texas State Senator Wendy Davis was set to go through a 13 hour long...
Angelina Jolie Goes to the UN Security Council
Angelina Jolie took a seat before the UN Security Council to speak out against rape against women in war zones. Jolie is an ambassador for the UN high commissioner for refugees, and this was the...
Women Critics Give Advice for Aspiring Critics
Every week Criticwire asks a handful of critics a question and publishes their responses. This week they asked critics what advice they would give to aspiring critics. We’ve highlighted the...
Guest Post: Wrap Up from the Human Rights Film Festival
The Human Rights Watch Film Festival just ended, exhibiting some beautiful and undeniably poignant tales that are not always told, nor heard. Bringing together stories from across the globe,...
Viola Davis on the Crisis for African American Actresses
This past Sunday Oprah hosted several leading African American actresses for a conversation on OWN. There are a variety of clips available but I found this one from Viola Davis very...
Trailer Watch: Just Like a Woman – Written by Joelle Touma and Marion Doussot
Just Like a Woman, written by Joelle Touma and Marion Doussot, follows two friends–Marilyn (Sienna Miller) and Mona (Golshifteh Farahani) who are both dealing with some upheavals in their...
Whoopi Goldberg Has Gotten Really Busy Lately
I saw Whoopi Goldberg last evening on a post screening discussion at the ESPN Films & espnW kickoff event for the NINE For IX Series following the New York premiere of Venus Vs. which...
Borgen Season Two DVD Now Available Here in the US – Win a Copy
Next week when I head to London one of the things I am going to do is try and find a copy of the 3rd season of Borgen. It’s already played in Europe and I must find it. That’s...
Anne Hathaway to Produce and Star in The Lifeboat
Anne Hathaway has just signed on to star in and produce The Lifeboat, an adaptation of the novel by Charlotte Rogan. Set in 1914, Hathaway will star as Grace Winter, a young newlywed woman who...
Women Centric & Directed Films Nab Awards at Provincetown Film Festival and Los Angeles Film Festival
Yesterday both the Provincetown Film Festival and the Los Angeles Film Festival announced the recipients of their awards and women won big. Both festivals honored several women directed and women...
Miss You Can Do It Premieres Tonight on HBO
Miss You Can Do It is a wonderful, uplifting film about a beauty pageant targeted at girls with disabilities. It shows the power these events can have to make girls who are sometimes...
Women Directors and Why Language Matters
A couple of weeks ago I read that the two male directors — Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg — of Kon-Tiki which was nominated for best foreign language film got the gig of...
Weekly Update for June 21: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Currently Playing The Bling Ring The Wall Twenty Feet From Stardom (doc) My Best Day – Directed by Erin Greenwell Tiger Eyes ...
Counting the Women
Last Friday, NPR writer Linda Holmes duly infuriated the masses by actually going out and counting the movies about women and the movies directed by women that were playing in her neighborhood....
Happy Friday: Abby Wambach Breaks Mia Hamm’s Goal Scoring Record
While everyone was watching the basketball game last night, another record setting event took place to much less media play. Mia Hamm was the top goal scorer in the world — male or female...
The Spec Scripts and Women
The folks over at Go Into the Story, the official Screenwriting blog of The Black List took a look at the gender divide in the world of spec scripts. Major props to Susana Orozco for doing...
Interview with Kai Cole – Producer of Much Ado About Nothing
When I saw Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing at South by Southwest in March, I was excited. I’ve long been a huge fan of Whedon’s work–his approach to fantasy and...
Watch This: Nine for IX Short Film Coach – Directed by Bess Kargman
As we previously reported, this summer ESPN will be airing Nine for IX–a series of films about women athletes directed by women. To say that we were excited would be an understatement. ESPN...
2014 Athena Film Festival Wants Your Submissions
The 2014 Athena Film Festival (co-founded by our own Melissa Silverstein), hosted at Barnard College, is seeking submissions for next year’s festival scheduled to take place from February...
Sam Taylor-Johnson Will Direct Fifty Shades of Grey
We’ve reported a lot about the upcoming Fifty Shades of Grey adaptation. We were a little wary about the producing team, Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca, from The Social Network working...
Teaser Trailer: Frozen – Co-Directed by Jennifer Lee
Disney’s latest, Frozen, is based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Snow Queen. The film follows Anna (Kristen Bell) who teams up with a mountain man (Jonathan Groff) to find her...
Two is Just Too Many Women for Spiderman to Deal With
I noticed on twitter some chatter earlier today about the fact that Shailene Woodley who is about to cover EW with her new film Divergent (which looks like it could be a real successor to The Hunger...
Oprah’s Next Chapter Looks at African American Women in Hollywood
Oprah’s Next Chapter on OWN consists of the iconic Oprah Winfrey sitting down with famous figures and having an intimate conversation. On this week’s episode, Oprah is sitting down...
Patton Oswalt On Rethinking Rape Jokes
Last week, Lindy West wrote an article for Jezebel about the rape threats she had been receiving after appearing on FX’s Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell to explain rape culture and the role...
Julie Taymor Receives Sackler Center First Award
Julie Taymor received the Sackler Center First Award, which recognizes women who are “first” in their field. The Center honored Taymor’s varied career including being the first...
New Trailer: Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
The latest trailer for Mortal Instruments: City of Bones has dropped. An adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s wildly popular YA series, the film follows Clary Fray (Lily Collins) a seemingly regular...
Barbra Streisand Receives Honorary Doctorate, Speaks Out For Women
Earlier this week, Barbra Streisand began her tour of Israel, starting out with receiving an honorary doctorate from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Upon receiving the degree, Streisand spoke...
EWA Launches Campaign to Support Women Directors in Europe
EWA (the European Women’s Audiovisual Network) has launched a European campaign to build awareness around women directors. The statistics (when there are any) in Europe are dismal with...
Cross Post: On Gender Parity
The issue of gender parity in the theater, and celebrating more female writers, has been on my mind for a while now. Part of that is just out of a sense of fairness....
2013 Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund Announces Spotlighting Women Documentary Awards
The 2013 grantees for the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund were announced. The fund gives money to feature length projects that highlight important social issues from around the world. The Kering...
Trailer Watch: Touchy Feely – Directed by Lynn Shelton
Lynn Shelton’s latest, Touchy Feely, premiered at Sundance earlier this year. We got a chance to speak with Shelton at the festival about the film, which focuses on Abby (Rosemarie DeWitt), a...
New Season of Call the Midwife to Be Directed Only by Women
Hurrah. How exciting. One of my favorite shows, Call the Midwife which airs on PBS here in the US is in production on its third season in England. Turns out as they were lining up...
Women and Hollywood Networking Event in London – July 4th
We’re organizing a public networking event in London! We’d love to see you. Please join Melissa Silverstein, Founder and Editor of Women and Hollywood and author of In Her Voice: Women...
Melissa McCarthy and the Definition of Success
This Sunday, The New York Times did a wonderful profile of Melissa McCarthy. She’s been well on her way to superstardom since her breakout performance in Bridesmaids. McCarthy is...