BY Women and Hollywood
Interview with Delphine and Muriel Coulin – Co-Directors/Writers of 17 Girls
17 Girls, directed and written by sisters Delphine and Muriel Coulin, was inspired by the Massachusetts story about a group of teenage girls who all make a pact to get pregnant and raise their...
TIFF: Interview with Susanne Bier — Director of Love Is All You Need
At the Toronto Film Festival you see a lot of heavy movies really early in the morning. Love is All You Need was a most welcome respite from the intensity that was around at the festival. Academy...
Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg Direct Knuckleball
Who says women can’t direct sports movies? Stern and Sundberg who directed the amazing documentary on Joan Rivers, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work have set their sights now on the world of baseball...
Link Round Up: Multiple New Women-Created, Focused TV Projects in Development
Over the past couple days multiple networks (and Netflix) have been reporting about a slew of women-created and women-focused TV projects that are currently in development. As we reported today,...
More Women-Directed Films Nab Deals Out of TIFF
While the whirlwind of the Toronto International Film Festival is now behind us, the deals from TIFF are continuing. Over the weekend, many women-created, women-focused films were picked up by major...
Women Created 26 Percent of the Television Shows in the 2011–2012 Season
As we get ready to launch the new television season the statistics are out for how women fared last season behind the scenes in the TV business. According to the Center for Study of Women in...
TIFF: Interview with Deepa Mehta — Director of Midnight’s Children
Midnight’s Children is literally an epic movie. It tells about the birth and development of India through the eyes of children born the moment the country declared its independence. Deepa Mehta...
TIFF Review: The Stories We Tell — Sarah Polley’s Effective New Documentary
Toronto loves Sarah Polley. The display of that love was evident last week at the premiere of her first documentary Stories We Tell which held its Canadian premiere at the Toronto International Film...
What We’re Watching: Switched at Birth
The second season of ABC Family’s Switched at Birth returned recently and this is my pleading with you to watch it. Created by Lizzy Weiss and with a majority female writing staff, Switched at...
James Cameron on Women and Action Roles in Films
The Guardian headed over to Ireland to meet with James Cameron at the new Titanic Belfast museum and among the things he discussed was how Hollywood gets its action women wrong. We know that...
Link Roundup: TIFF Edition
Here are some stories out of TIFF that we didn’t get the chance to report on or things we liked from there. We are going to have a lot more content from Toronto over the the next couple weeks...
Patricia Riggen Directing Chilean Miners Film, The 33
It was announced that Patricia Riggen will be directing The 33, the story of the 33 Chilean Miners who were trapped in the San Jose Mine. The film will cover the events leading up to the collapse of...
DVD and On Demand Round Up- September 13
This week there is an overwhelming amount of women-centric and created films released on DVD and On Demand. Here’s a round-up of your options to check out over the weekend. DVD Releases: Lola...
Renee Zellweger to Make Directorial and Stage Debuts
Renée Zellweger is going to be one busy lady. Zellweger has just signed on to make her feature directorial debut with 4 ½ Minutes. The film, which is loosely based on the experiences of stand-up...
Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil’s Being Mary Jane Will Open Urbanworld Film Festival and Air on BET
Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil’s, Being Mary Jane, is opening the 16th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Being Mary Jane, written by Brock Akil, stars Gabrielle...
TIFF: Interview with Sally Potter — Writer and Director of Ginger and Rosa
After the dust settles, Ginger and Rosa is going to turn out to be one of my the highlights of the festival. Sally Potter, the brilliant director of Orlando has written and directed a truly...
Roadside Attractions Picks up Stories We Tell and Imogene
Roadside Attractions has been on a buying binge here in Toronto and has picked up two women directed and written films from TIFF. The first is Sarah Polley’s documentary, Stories We Tell, which...
TIFF: Interview with Judi Levine — Producer of The Sessions
The Sessions is a very lovely movie about Mark O’Brien, a writer with polio who has to spend most of his life in an iron lung and his quest to lose his virginity and find a new level of intimacy in...
Trailer Watch: Wuthering Heights — Directed by Andrea Arnold
The brilliant director of Fish Tank, Andrea Arnold has adapted Emily Bronte’s classic novel, Wuthering Heights starring Kaya Scodelario and James Howson. Co-written by Arnold and Olivia Hetreed,...
Black Power Takes Center Stage at TIFF With Angela Davis Documentary
Sunday, a bit of history was explored here in Toronto. The festival premiered Shola Lynch’s documentary Free Angela and All Political Prisoners in one of its gala slots. For a festival that...
Interview with Ruba Nadda — Writer/Director of Inescapable
To be considered for TIFF Gala status, your movie has to have two things: major stars and major audience interest. Only two Canadian films are getting the Gala treatment this year, and both of them...
Women Directors News: Amy Berg’s Every Secret Thing and Kelly Reichardt’s Night Moves
As we had previously reported, director Amy Berg, whose documentary West of Memphis screened at TIFF, is directing her first narrative feature Every Secret Thing starring Diane Lane with a script...
Women and Hollywood Events in Toronto
Hey folks here in Toronto- I’m going to be speaking with director Deepa Mehta today at 4pm in the Filmmakers Lounge on the mezannine level of the Hyatt Regency on King Street. Deepa is an amazing...
Trailer Watch: HBO’s The Girl
HBO has released a chilling full trailer for The Girl starring Sienna Miller as Tippi Hedren and Toby Jones as Alfred Hitchcock. Written by Gwyneth Hughes, The Girl looks at Hedren and Hitchcock’s...
Interview with Ruba Nadda – Writer/Director of Inescapable
To be considered for TIFF Gala status, your movie has to have two things: major stars and major audience interest. Only two Canadian films are getting the Gala treatment this year, and both of them...
Today’s Lesson — You Can’t Please the Twihards
Today I learned an important lesson which I probably already should have known. The people who care about all things Twilight — the fans of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are intense....
TIFF Trailer Watch: Ginger and Rosa -Written and Directed by Sally Potter
In 1960’s London, Ginger (Elle Fanning) and Rosa (newcomer Alice Englert) are inseperable best friends who discuss everything from politics to hairstyles. But when the Cold War meets the Sexual...
The Toronto Experience — Part One
Greetings from the Toronto Film Festival. I touched down on Thursday afternoon and since that moment this has been a serious whirlwind. Since it is my second year I understand is the key is pace and...
Interview with Bachelorette Writer/Director-Leslye Headland
I got the chance to talk with the writer and director of Bachelorette Leslye Headland earlier this week. Here are some thoughts on the film. Women and Hollywood: Your film is a subversive look at...
TIFF Trailer: The Sapphires
The Sapphires follows a late 1960’s Australian Aboriginal girl group as they are discovered by a talent scout and go to Vietnam to perform for the U.S. troops. It will be premiering as a Special...
Bachelorette — Written and Directed by Leslye Headland
While it might be tempting to compare Bachelorette to Bridesmaids because they are both about women and weddings — you would be doing so at your peril. Whereas Bridesmaids was about the utter...
Interview with Sarah Koskoff — Writer of Hello I Must Be Going
Hello I Must Be Going is the coming of age story of a 35 year old woman who had been sleepwalking through her life until her whole world is shaken when her husband leaves her. With no skills, no...
A Chat with Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing: Directors of Detropia
Detropia is a very prescient film. It’s about what is going on in our country right now. It’s about how the middle class is disappearing. This is a painful movie to watch because it documents...
Trailer Watch: Rust and Bone Starring Marion Cotillard
Marion Cotillard stars in Rust and Bone as Stephanie, a whale trainer, who becomes close with a single father and boxer, Ali, after a devastating accident where she loses her legs. The film had its...
The Academy Names All Male Recipient List for the Governors Awards
Yesterday, the Academy named their 2012 recipients of the Governors Awards. As Deadline reports, the Academy will be presenting Honorary awards to stunt performer, Hal Needham, documentary...
TIFF Preview: The Female Directing Masters Playing at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival
The Toronto Film Festival opens tonight. Over the next 10 days there will be a couple of hundred movies to be seen. This is one festival where you can make a decision to see films by women and see...
Guest Post: How Can We Get More Women In Power As Directors?
This is an expansion of the piece written for the NY Times forum: How Can Women Gain More Influence in Hollywood. Most directors work intermittently as free-lance employees and are far from rich or...
TIFF Trailer Watch: Free Angela and All Political Prisoners — Directed by Shola Lynch
Free Angela and All Political Prisoners, directed by Shola Lynch, is a documentary about Angela Davis, her 1970’s imprisonment and how she became an international icon. Free Angela and All...
TIFF Preview: Women Directors to Watch
The Toronto Film Festival launches tomorrow and there are women directors all over the lineup. We reached out to a couple of directors whose careers are on the way up (we will have some of our...
Women Directors Are Way More Successful in the Indie World
As we embark on the fall festival season, Dr. Martha M. Lauzen has published another one of her vitally important studies tracking the progress of women working behind the scenes on movies. In...
Interview with So Yong Kim — Writer/Director of For Ellen
So Yong Kim’s For Ellen stars Paul Dano in a beautiful performance as a young father forced to make a life altering decision about his relationship with his daughter Ellen. Dano plays Joby a...
Cross Post: La Femme Telluride
William Blake once wrote that exuberance is beauty. Despite the success of Ben Affleck’s Argo here, this fest seems to be driven by women filmmakers. This is most surprising, since we just came...
Trailer Watch: The To Do List — Written and Directed by Maggie Carey
The To Do List, written and directed by Maggie Carey, is a coming of age comedy about Brandy (Aubrey Plaza) who creates a check list to become more sexually experienced before she goes to college....
Women Directors Abound at the Venice Film Festival
The news on the prevalence of women directors coming out out of the Venice Film Festival is in stark contrast to the different conversation that came out of Cannes just several months ago. Festival...
Interview with So Yong Kim – Writer/Director of For Ellen
So Yong Kim's For Ellen stars Paul Dano in a beautiful performance as a young father forced to make a life altering decision about his relationship with his daughter Ellen. Dano plays Joby...
Guest Post: A Fan Speaks — Kristen Stewart and Our Miserable Failure
The media stoning of Kristen Stewart, of Twilight fame, has been going on for about four weeks now. About a month ago, she was pictured having a fling, which she called a “momentary...
Nicole Kidman To Be Honored During New York Film Festival
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the New York Film Festival. The festival which runs from September 28 — October 14th will feature seven films directed by women and also will be...
TIFF Trailer Watch: The Stories We Tell Written and Directed by Sarah Polley
This first documentary by the incredibly talented Sarah Polley is getting great reviews out of Venice and Telluride.
Some Links From When We Were Away
We’re back and getting ready to head to Toronto this week. Here are some links to stories that ran while we were away. Natalie Portman’s ‘Jane Got a Gun’ Lands Financing, Lynne Ramsay...
Vacation Break
We’ll be back next week with a big Toronto preview of the women directors. Enjoy the last week of summer.
Cross-Post The Winning Weirdness of ‘Bunheads’: The Case for Amy Sherman-Palladino’s Charming Dramedy
When the news came down the transom a few days ago that “Bunheads,” the new show from “Gilmore Girls” creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, had received a back-order pickup for more episodes on ABC...