BY Women and Hollywood
The Game on BET Changes the Game for BET
The Game, created by Mara Brock Akil as a spin off from Girlfriends, languished with low ratings in its three years on the CW. It never was able to connect with a decent size audience and the CW...
Keira Knightley and Elisabeth Moss Take on Hellman’s The Children’s Hour
I have to say this is one of my favorite plays and Hellman is one of my favorite female writers. I remember when I got to Graduate school and had to read a ton of plays (yes, I have a degree in...
Nomination Reaction
I was able to get in touch with Alix Madigan Yorkin, producer of Winter’s Bone to get her reaction on her four nominations, including a best picture nod. We are beyond excited about being...
Miranda Hart Wins Three British Comedy Awards
British comedian Miranda Hart scored three big awards at British comedy awards this past weekend. She won the best comedy actress, best new show for Miranda which she writes and stars in, as well as...
A Look at the Oscar Nominations
I held my breath this morning as the best picture nominations were read. It wasn’t until I heard the 10th, the one that named Winter’s Bone as a nominee that I was finally able to exhale. If I...
Wonder Woman is Revived and Other Women Getting Pilot Gigs
Bob Greenblatt, the new chief at NBC, is aggressively stepping up his pilot pickups for next season and he’s hired several women writer/creators. He has also revived that recently deceased David E....
National Book Critics Circle Finalists — 2010
Here are the female finalistsFictionJennifer Egan, A Visit From The Goon Squad, Knopf BiographySarah Bakewell. How To Live, Or A Life Of Montaigne. Other PressSelina Hastings. The Secret Lives Of...
Sundance Women — Part 3
Deals• Buck directed by Cindy Meehl goes to Sundance Selects• Circumstance written and directed by Maryam Keshavarz was bought by Participant Media. The Future- directed by Miranda July• The...
Sundance is Here and The World Discovers Women Can Direct
It feels like “Groundhog Day.” The most visible film festival in the US and one that showcases independent films and SURPRISE there are women making great films around town. It’s not news that...
Question: Who Has Two Movies in the Top 10 This Weekend?
Answer. Natalie Portman. Portman has had some successful movies but she has never been considered a box office threat, but now she clearly is with The Black Swan crossing the $80 million mark (it...
Sexism Watch: Worst Headline Ever
You will never believe where the headline comes from — Time Magazine Here’s the description: At a look-at-me event like the Golden Globes, nothing should trump the “Does this really...
Sundance Women Part 2
Some goings on and reviews for women directors and women’s films Miss Representation:Sundance documentary: Are you Miss Represented? (Salt Lake Tribune) Sundance Review: ‘Miss Representation’...
Interview with Lynn Hershman Leeson Director of !War: Women Art Revolution
Lynn’s film Women Art Revolution played at Sundance last night. I was able to interview her when the film premiered last fall at the Toronto Film Festival. Women and Hollywood: This is the most...
Guest Post: Advocating Through Film by Maria Cuomo Cole
As an advocate, I have always believed that the most effective change rises from constituents and communities. In the same way, it is the personal stories of challenge and triumph that serves as the...
Applause
Paprika Steen is a big star in Denmark. Now folks in the US will get a chance to see her as her film Applause opens here in the US. The film tells the story of an actress struggling to conquer her...
Seriously, Clint Eastwood to Direct A Star is Born Remake?
I know that he is a musician and composer, but pleeeze, how can it be a good idea for Clint Eastwood to direct Beyonce in the remake of A Star is Born. This would be the fourth incarnation of the...
Women in Film Hits Sundance
Women in Film hosts its fifth “Meet the Filmmakers Panel” on Sunday, January 23 at noon. Bad news for those of you without tickets, it is sold out. Panelists Include: • Joslyn...
No Surprise — Most Film Super Bowl Ads Are Targeted at Men
The Super Bowl is gearing up to be one big commercial for the big Hollywood boy flicks that will premiere throughout the year. It’s not like women don’t watch the Super Bowl. They do. And...
Sundance Women’s News — Pariah Premieres
First up on opening night was the coming of age story Pariah written and directed by Dee Rees. Here’s the description: “A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship,...
Feminists Characters Fall Out of Contention for Awards Consideration
In early October I wrote a post talking about all the great feminist characters that were going to be seen on screen throughout the fall. I was really hopefully that several of them would make it...
Playing at a Theatre Near You: Natalie Portman
While Natalie Portman has not won an Oscar (yet), she is clearly one of the biggest beneficiaries from this awards season. On Friday, Portman will be the biggest star on the most screens this...
Trailer Watch: Archipelago directed by Joanna Hogg
The Oscar Foreign Film Shortlist — Two Female Directors Nominated
Yesterday, the shortlist for the foreign film Oscar was released. There are two female directed films out of nine nominees. That’s 22%. The two female directors are both European, Susanne Bier for...
Noomi Rapace Bags Big Action Role
How cool and exciting. Noomi Rapace has signed on to play Elizabeth Shaw in the Ridley Scott directed Prometheus which even though is not yet written already has a release date of March 9, 2012....
The Berlin Film Festival Reveals Full Competition Lineup
The Berlinale has announced the full competition lineup for its 61st edition kicking off on February 10th. Out of the 20 films in competition, four are directed by women. That’s 20%. Here are the...
BAFTA Nominations
The BAFTA nominations were revealed today and there are some surprises. Here’s what I noticed: Complete snub of Winter’s Bone — no Jennifer Lawrence nomination No women directors...
BAFTA Nominations
The BAFTA nominations were revealed today and there are some surprises. Here’s what I noticed: Complete snub of Winter’s Bone — no Jennifer Lawrence nomination No women directors...
No Wonder Woman Reboot Coming
I was excited over the potential to see a rebooted version of Wonder Women. If Battlestar Galactica, a cheesy show, can be remade into a major league great show, how can we not do some justice to...
Introducing Women and Hollywood 2.0
Welcome to (the new) Women and Hollywood, your site for all things related to women and the entertainment industry. This is a feminist blog that puts women and women’s issues front...
About
Founder/Editor — Melissa Silverstein MelissaSilverstein is the founder and editor of Women and Hollywood. She is the Artistic Director and co-founder of the Athena Film Festival — A...
A Visionary Theatrical Entrepreneur — Molly Smith at Arena Stage
At a time when many theatres are retrenching because of financial difficulties, Arena Stage is bucking that trend and is actually expanding under the guidance of Artistic Director, Molly Smith....
Hollywood Feminist of the Day: Mark Ruffalo
For standing up for female directors and saying this backstage at the Golden Globes: I would just like to say to the academy members: why don’t you grow a pair and vote for Lisa Cholodenko...
A Golden Globe Recap
I started out the day yesterday watching a town hall meeting on ABC’s This Week about the Tuscon shooting. It was an incredibly moving event that showed true humanity and humility. Needless to say...
Resources for Women and Film
Feminist Sites Blogher Broadsheet Cartoonist Nicole Hollander Change.org- Women’s Rights Echidne of the Snakes Everyday Goddess Feministe Feministing Global Sister Jezebel Ms. Magazine Paradigm...
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Female Producer to Finance Kathryn Bigelow’s Next Film
Kathryn Bigelow is getting ready to start shooting her next indie flick now that she has secured financing from Annapurna Pictures which is run by Megan Ellison. The pic written by Mark Boal will...
Fighting for Crumbs — Women Vying for Batman Roles
This is one thing I hate about Hollywood. There was a story that made its rounds in the blogosphere over the last couple of days about how top tier actresses like Keira Knightley and Anne Hathaway...
Sexism Watch: New Fox Pilot Title — I Hate My Teenage Daughter
The Television Critics Association meeting in going on in LA so there is a lot of TV news coming out. A new pilot script was just picked up by Fox entitled I Hate My Teenage Daughter. Here’s the...
Rooney Mara Pictures as Lisbeth Salander
In this great preview piece in W by Lynn Hirschberg on director David Fincher, there are some new photos of Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander. Some things to note: Fincher thinks of Salander as a...
Awards Watch: The DGA Doc Nominees — No Women Included
Isn’t it supposed to be better for women in the doc world? Haven’t there been extraordinary movies by women documentarians made this year? But still there are NO women included in the final five...
Miriam O’Reilly Wins Age Discrimination Suit Against the BBC
Miriam O’Reilly was a presenter on Countryfile on the BBC in 2009 when she was replaced. She claimed she was replaced because of her gender and her age. She was 51. She refused to settle and went...
Sexism Watch: ABC New Pilot Title
According to EW, ABC is about to pick up a new series entitled Don’t Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23. When Cougar Town acquired its unfortunate title it reflected the premise of the show, but this...
No Women Nominated for DGA Awards
My screen saver is a picture of Kathryn Bigelow holding her two Oscars. Each day when my computer boots up that is the first image I see. I never expected a woman to win best director and best...
The Hailee Steinfeld Nomination Debate
As the debate about Oscar nominations concludes this week, one interesting conversation that has been going on is the debate about whether True Grit actress Hailee Steinfeld should be placed in the...
Raven Symone on Her Recent Weight Loss
Raven Symone showed up last week at the People’s Choice Awards looking notable slimmer. Clearly, she was under pressure to lose weight because this is the comment she made when asked about...
The Bigelow Effect: Kathryn Bigelow Speaks Out In Support of Winter’s Bone
It’s been almost a year since Kathryn Bigelow made history winning the best director Oscar and in that time she directed a pilot — Miraculous Year — for HBO that did not get picked up,...
Kathy Bates Stars in New NBC Show — Harry’s Law
Some good news this January. On January 17th, Kathy Bates takes on the leading role in David E. Kelley’s new TV show Harry’s Law. She plays a long time patent lawyer who gets fired and remakes...
A Sad and Lonely Women Onscreen- Mary in Another Year
I saw Another Year over a month ago and when I walked out of the screening room there was steam coming out of my ears. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the film or the performances, I just was so...
Not Living Up to Expectations — The Development of The Dirty Girls Social Club
One thing that is always cool for an author is to have your book optioned to be a TV show or film. That is something that happened to Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez that author of several novels including...
While We Were Away
Here are some stories that I wanted people to see that ran during the holidays. Oscar Watch: Kids Are All Right Faces Academy Males (Thompson on Hollywood) What came after “the year of the...
2010 National Film Registry Films — One Female Director Included
At the end of last month the Library of Congress released this year’s list of 25 films that have been added to the National Film Registry. According to the Librarian of Congress James H....