BY Women and Hollywood
Guest Post: Redefining War: Women, War & Peace by Nina Chaudry
As a long-time documentary producer, I’ve come across countless films about war and conflict. But few of those narratives captured the larger picture of warfare. War Redefined, the final episode...
The Academy Has a Brett Ratner Problem
Oh boy does the Academy have a public relations problem and that problem is the guy they hired to produce the show Brett Ratner. One of the problems they have with him is that he has become the story...
New Indiewire
As you can tell the new Indiewire site is up. I’m still missing my posts for the last couple of days which I will work to get up. Please be patient as I and my Indiewire colleagues figure out this...
Do We Still Need Women’s Film Festivals?
If you look around the landscape of film festivals there are many women’s films festivals all across the world. But those who work in that area are struggling especially during these difficult...
Guest Post: A Couple of Other F Words: Filmmaking and Family by Andrea Blaugrund Nevins
I just watched my leading man do an interview about my film on CNN. How on earth did that happen? Just a year ago, I was in the throes of editing 180 hours of documentary footage shot over the...
Quote of the Day
A Scathing Put Down of ABC TV Executives
I’ve heard a lot of the stories but have never heard it quite like this. Clearly someone affiliated (or formerly affiliated) with Pan Am has some feelings about how the network has handled the...
Interview with Angelina Maccarone Director of Charlotte Rampling: The Look
Charlotte Rampling: The Look rolls into NY today for a screening at DOC NYC at 7pm. Details on tickets here. It opens in NY tomorrow and then will roll out in theatre throughout the fall...
A Woman Takes Over the Academy
While most people get the impression from the media that Hollywood is a liberal town, there are many issues where Hollywood is in the dark ages. We all know them. One is casting women (and men) of...
Thing to be Grateful For: The Hunger Games is Not Twilight
As Part 1 of the final Twilight film Breaking Dawn gets set to roll out on November 18 to gigantic box office numbers (people are already buying tickets online in anticipation) the next big...
Adrienne Shelly Foundation Launches Woman of Vision Award
Yesterday was the 5th anniversary of the death of director/writer/actress Adrienne Shelly and in remembrance of this day, the Foundation named for her which supports women directors and run by her...
Quoted in the NY Post Regarding Lisbeth Salander
The Lisbeth Salander roll out continues now with a new clothing line from H&M. Hopefully you don’t have to be waif-like to fit into them. Here’s what I had to say about the facination with...
Jane Fonda to Receive 2011 Sherry Lansing Leadership Award
Jane Fonda will receive the 2011 Sherry Lansing Leadership Award at the annual Hollywood Reporter Women in Entertainment breakfast on December 7. The breakfast coincides with the publication of the...
DOC NYC 2011: The Women
The second edition of DOC NYC will launch tomorrow and there are a bunch of women directed and women centric films to be seen over the next week. Check out the full list of events and films. I have...
A Few Words on Fox Writer’s Intensive
I’ve gotten a couple of inquiries about Women and Hollywood’s involvement in the Fox Writer’s Intensive which is a reboot of their diversity program through a new entity which is called Fox...
British Independent Film Award Nominations 2011: The Women
Checking out the nominations for the British version of the indie spirit awards. The awards will be handed out on December 4. Based on the info we only have one female directed film vying for best...
Trailer Watch: We Need to Talk About Kevin — Directed by Lynne Ramsay
This really gives you a sense of the film. Prepare yourselves.
Janie Jones Review
Janie Jones is a heartwarming father daughter story. It is inspired by the true story of writer/director David Rosenthal about the introduction of a father to the teenage daughter he never knew he...
Meet the Hottest Screenwriter Around — Abi Morgan
This is Abi Morgan’s year. She’s had an incredibly well reviewed show — The Hour — air in England and here in the States. To top that off she has not one, but two, films hitting the...
IDA and Cinema Eye 2011 Nominations: The Women
The International Documentary Association (IDA) and the Cinema Eye, two documentary organizations unveiled their 2011 nominees last week. Women filmmakers are very prevalent. Here are the female...
Janie Jones
Janie Jones is a heartwarming father daughter story. It is inspired by the true story of writer/director David Rosenthal about the introduction of a father to the teenage daughter he never knew he...
Borgen Premieres Saturday Night on Link TV
For those of you out there who still wish Commander in Chief had lasted more than a handful of episodes I have some good news. The Danes (who actually just elected their own female Prime...
Melissa McCarthy Covers EW Comedy Issue
Here’s the great photo of her on the cover and also her as Divine. Issue lands on newsstands today. Here’s some of her quotes: But I think I’m more confident than I’ve ever felt in...
New Poster for We Need to Talk About Kevin Directed by Lynne Ramsay
Film opens for an Oscar qualifying run on December 9 and then wider on January 27.
Cool Posters for Young Adult
These posters were used for sneak screenings in Austin, Chicago and SF. They give you a sense of how subversive this film is. h/t The Playlist “Assholes Don’t Actually Change”: Jason Reitman...
Making the Case for Lynne Ramsay in the Best Director Discussion
When I came back from the Toronto Film Festival and I was asked what the best movie I saw there at the top of my list was We Need to Talk About Kevin. I just thought it was a really intense film...
Diablo Cody Talks About the Buzz on Young Adult and Becoming a Director
This is via the LA Times at the Hollywood Awards Diablo Cody: ‘Young Adult’ hype ‘freaks me out’ [Video] (LA Times)
The Messages of Disney Princesses
This speaks for itself. I got this off of Facebook and it looks like it was first posted on George Takei’s (yes, the guy from Star Trek) page.
The Help Hits the UK
How lucky are the folks thinking about The Help Oscar campaign that they have another opportunity to get Viola Davis out in the press talking about the film and challenging Hollywood to create more...
The Education of Dee Dee Ricks Premieres on HBO Tomorrow Night
When we first meet Dee Dee Ricks she is newly diagnosed with breast cancer. While breast cancer sucks for everyone who has it, in the grander scheme of things, Dee Dee was lucky. She had lots of...
Guest Post: What do Afghan Women Want? By Gini Reticker
Throughout the last year, as the director of a documentary film that follows three Afghan women, I’ve been peppered by friends and family with a recurring question: What do Afghan women want? Or...
New Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Poster
These keep getting more interesting. If you are interested keep watch on this site: Mouth-Taped-Shut, it keeps rolling out new marketing elements for the film. h/t Awards Daily
What Up With Hating on Madonna?
I’ve been watching the roll out of Madonna’s film W.E. with a lot of interest. Aside from the fact that it is a film about women directed by a woman, Madonna is a huge celebrity and I can’t...
Women’s Media Center — Social Media Award
While I am not in the habit of self promotion, I wanted you all to know that I have been nominated by the Women’s Media Center for their first Social Media Award. The award will be given out at...
New Iron Lady Picture
As they keep rolling them out, I will keep posting them. This comes via the Daily Mail in the UK. Magnetic Meryl Streep the Iron Lady plays it to perfection (Daily Mail)
Trailer Watch: In the Land of Blood and Honey Written and Directed by Angelina Jolie
An impressive trailer from first time writer and director Angelina Jolie.
Oranges and Sunshine
I walked into Oranges and Sunshine (written by Rona Munro and directed by Jim Loach) not knowing much about the story except thinking how glad I was to see Emily Watson back on screen in a starring...
Guest Post: Bayaka Women in OKA! by Lavinia Currier
Shooting the feature OKA! in the Central African Republic with the Bayaka pygmies of the forest was about as far from Hollywood as one can imagine, our ‘sets’ were forest camps of huts built by...
The Mighty Macs Finally Reaches Theatres Today
I’ve been following the film The Mighty Macs for a number of years. It’s been one of those films that has been on the brink on release for what seems is a really long time. I was very excited to...
The Gotham Award Nominations: The Women
Award season has begun and yesterday the Gotham Awards released their nominations. The awards will be handed out on November 28 in NYC. Best FeatureMeek’s Cutoff: Kelly Reichardt, director Best...
Interview with Anne Buford — Director of Elevate
After premiering this past spring at SWSX, Elevate reaches theatres this weekend. Here’s a comment from Anne on what the experience has been like since the film premiered last spring: Without...
Comments on the Age Discrimination Suit Filed Against IMDB
At first when I read about the lawsuit, I didn’t really take it seriously. Everybody’s birth dates are on imdb. I go on imdb practically every day in order to find out how old people are. I like...
Hollywood Feminist of the Day: Viola Davis
I had an excerpt from her speech yesterday but here it is in full and it is worth watching and reading. I am so awed that she had the guts to say these very important words and I hope Hollywood was...
Miss Representation Directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom Premieres October 20 on OWN
Readers of this blog know that there are gender biases in media. The documentary film Miss Representation which premiered last year at Sundance (and also played the Athena Film Festival) is the film...
Rooney Mara Covers Vogue
Gearing up for the Christmas release of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, star to be Rooney Mara gets the cover of November’s Vogue. Here are some new things I picked up in the piece. Author of the...
Sign the Petition to Support The Release of Marzieh Vafamehr
I found this on Petition Australia. There are not a lot of signatures yet. Please sign! Here’s what it says: Marzieh Vafamehr has been sentenced to one year in prison and 90 lashes for her...
Elle Honors Hollywood Women
Elle Magazine celebrated the women of Hollywood at its annual event on Monday evening. The honorees included: Naomi Watts, Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Barbra Streisand, Jennifer Aniston, Stacey...
Hollywood Legend Sue Mengers Dies at 81
Sue Mengers one of the first star agents died this past weekend. I have always been interested in her story. I first came across her when reading one of the various books about Barbra Streisand. She...
Trailer Watch: W.E. — Directed by Madonna
The film will open on December 9.
One More Glass Ceiling Shattered: Patty Jenkins Signed to Direct Thor 2
This signing deserves a big toast because what it means is that a woman has broken through into the big leagues. Patty Jenkins who directed Monster which got Charlize Theron an Oscar, has been signed...
Why We All Love The Feminist Ryan Gosling Blog
Here’s a fun piece of Hollywood and Feminism and it’s a blog called Feminist Ryan Gosling. Danielle Henderson started the tumblr blog Feminist Ryan Gosling a week ago. In that week (actually it...