BY Women and Hollywood
Reese Witherspoon to Star in and Produce Original Supernatural Thriller ‘Cold’
Reese Witherspoon will be dipping back into the icy waters of the thriller genre in “Cold,” a supernatural thriller. Acquired by Lionsgate, the project was pitched by Witherspoon, her producing...
Riva Marker to Run Jake Gyllenhaal’s New Production Company
Riva Marker will head Jake Gyllenhaal’s unnamed new production company, which reached a first-look deal with Bold Films two days ago. Marker’s producing credits include “The Kids Are All...
‘The Mindy Project’ Season 4 Gets Premiere Date, Will Feature Alt-Reality Episode, Female Friendship
The fourth season of “The Mindy Project” on Hulu will find Mindy Kaling’s self-absorbed but dedicated Dr. Mindy Lahiri pregnant and wondering what would have happened if she’d never met...
‘Louie’ Actress Pamela Adlon to Headline FX’s First Female-Led Comedy Series
After co-starring in nearly every season of FX’s “Louie,” Pamela Adlon has landed her own series. “Better Things” will star Adlon as “a working actor with no filter trying to earn a...
Greta Gerwig Announces First Solo Directorial Project; New ‘Mistress America’ Trailer Released
https://movies.yahoo.com/video/mistress-america-trailer-163000182.html?format=embed
12 Screenwriters Announced for Meryl Streep’s Women Over 40 Writers Lab
Four months ago, Meryl Streep announced that she would fund a script-development program for female screenwriters over 40. The Writers Lab has named its first 12 participants, who will take part in...
Self-Harm, Female DJs and Emily Dickinson: August 2015’s Crowdfunding Picks
There are some important women-centric projects to check out this August, but before these works can come into full fruition, they could do with a little help from some friends — and that’s...
Podcast: Marielle Heller — Writer and Director of ‘The Diary of a Teenage Girl’
I was able to get some time to speak with Marielle Heller on the opening day of “The Diary of a Teenage Girl.” Here’s a short review “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” is an important movie...
Guest Post: On the ‘Diary of a Teenage Girl’, Self-Acceptance, and the Power of Cinema
It’s very rare that a project comes along and saves your life. But that’s what happened to me with “The Diary of a Teenage Girl.” “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” is not just about female...
Weekly Update for August 7: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Week Ricki and the Flash — Written by Diablo Cody Meryl Streep takes on another musical role as aging rocker Ricki Randazzo, who left her family years ago to...
Kate Mara to Star in Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s Female Marine Drama ‘Megan Leavey’
“Fantastic Four” actress Kate Mara will star as another kind of heroine in the upcoming military biopic “Megan Leavey.” Directed by “Blackfish” helmer Gabriela Cowperthwaite, “Megan...
Hannah Minghella Takes Over TriStar at Sony
Staff reorganization among Sony’s brass has led to Hannah Minghella’s appointment as president of the studio’s TriStar division. The new position will offer Minghella “substantial latitude...
‘Empire’ Creator Lee Daniels Developing Drama About Girl Band
Following the mega-success of “Empire,” Fox has bought another series from writer-director Lee Daniels: a drama about the tensions within a cobbled-together girl band. The Atlanta-set...
Trailer Watch: Elle Fanning Stars as Trans Teen in Multi-Generational Family Drama ‘About Ray’
An extended family comes to terms with the gender transition of one of their own in director Gaby Dellal’s drama “About Ray.” Elle Fanning stars as the titular Ray, a high-school student...
Issa Rae’s Long Road: When Are We Finally Going to Stop Wondering if Women of Color Are “Relatable”?
Five years ago, HBO greenlit Lena Dunham’s “Girls,” betting that the romantic misadventures of an educated, upper-middle-class twentysomething white girl and her friends were resonant enough...
Trailer Watch: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Are Gorgeous, Unhappy, Possibly Violent ‘By the Sea’
https://medium.com/media/43bf860f649da4a5d0e2b59d2a052367/href
Eve Ensler Producing Web Series Starring and Written by Trans Woman About Dating
The new web series “Her Story” features playwright Eve Ensler (“The Vagina Monologues”) as a producer and trans activist Jen Richards as its star and co-writer. Richards has penned the...
Julie Klausner’s a Master of the Poison Pen With ‘Difficult People’
Salim and Mara Brock Akil Sign Deal With Warner Bros. TV
Husband-and-wife team Salim and Mara Brock Akil have signed a multi-year deal with Warner Bros. TV. The Akils’ partnership with the studio will take effect in May 2016, upon which Brock Akil will...
Apply for a 10-Day Retreat for Women of Color Directors and Screenwriters
Spotting a woman director of color helming a studio film orshowrunning for a network can be like finding a Puya Raimondi — that rare flower that blooms every 100 years. There are plenty of...
Cecily Strong and Jessica Chastain to Star in April Prosser’s Wing-Woman Comedy ‘Plus One’
Cecily Strong of “SNL” and Jessica Chastain of, well, movie-star fame have been cast in the upcoming comedy “Plus One.” Written by April Prosser, “Plus One” will be one of the first...
Reese Witherspoon Makes Producing Deal with ABC Studios
After optioning several female-driven books for big-screen adaptation, Reese Witherspoon and her producing partner Bruna Papandrea are looking to develop projects for the small screen. Witherspoon...
Study: An Epidemic of Invisibility Afflicts Female, Racially Diverse, LGBT Characters
A new study from USC has found that Hollywood is failing pretty much anyone who isn’t a straight white man. A 700-film, 30,000-character study was undertaken by USC’s Media, Diversity, &...
The Women of Color Heroes We Both Need and Deserve
This summer has been a pretty big one for nerd culture so far. Nerd Christmas came and went with this year’s San Diego Comic-Con”: “Ant-Man” premiered; the trailers for “Superman v....
HBO’s Upcoming Docs: Autism Portrait ‘How to Dance in Ohio,’ Urban Portrait ‘San Francisco 2.0,’ More
“How to Dance in Ohio,” Alexandra Shiva’s chronicle of three autistic girls’ preparations for Prom, and “San Francisco 2.0,” Alexandra Pelosi’s examination of that city’s...
Christina Applegate to Star as Unconventional Psychologist in Family Dramedy by Kathleen Robertson
Christina Applegate is apparently eyeing another return to TV. The “Vacation” actress is currently attached to star in the Lionsgate TV dramedy “Your Time Is Up,” a family saga centered on...
Wolfe Video Donates 100 Lesbian Films to June Mazer Lesbian Archives
Wolfe Video, the largest exclusive distributor of LGBT movies, is celebrating its 30th anniversary by donating its complete library of lesbian films — about 100 or so — to the June L....
Watch: Amy Schumer Takes on Gun Violence (VIDEO)
Amy Schumer has become a star by being one of the funniest people alive about feminism, but recent events have forced her to publicly embrace other politics as well. After a man killed and injured...
UFC Champion Ronda Rousey to Star in Movie Adaptation of Her Autobiography
After knocking out her opponent in an instantly famous 34-second match, UFC star Ronda Rousey became a household name over the weekend. Now Hollywood is calling. Rousey, who has appeared in “The...
Little White Lies Lists 100 Greatest Movies by Women Directors
Last month, the BBC created a list of the 100 greatest American films ever made. Appallingly, only three female co-directors made the cut: Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer on “Grey Gardens” and Maya...
4 of the Top 5 Indies of 2015 (So Far) Feature Female Protagonists
Indiewire has published its annual running list of the year’s highest-grossing independent films. The unsurprising takeaway? Plenty of moviegoers are interested in watching stories about women....
MoMA Film Benefit to Honor Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett will be saluted by the Museum of Modern Art as part of the institution’s annual film benefit. In addition to the Oscar winner’s filmography, MoMA’s film department will...
Trailer Watch: Anne Hathaway is the Boss in Nancy Meyers’ ‘The Intern’
Quote of the Day: Robin Wright: “We Need a Female Che Guevara” to Fight Hollywood Sexism
“We need a revolution, we really do,” proclaimed Robin Wright in a new interview with the London Evening Standard. “Thank God gender equality is finally being talked about and making news,”...
UCLA Launches 14-Film Dorothy Arzner Retrospective
It’s impossible to overstate Dorothy Arzner’s importance as a feminist and film pioneer. She was the first female contract director in Hollywood, the first female member of the DGA, the widely...
Weekly Update for July 31: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Week Jenny’s Wedding — Written and Directed by Mary Agnes Donoghue When Jenny Farell (Katherine Heigl) decides to marry the love of her life, Kitty (Alexis...
Trailer Watch: Things Go Awry Between a Bodyguard and His Client in Alice Winocour’s ‘Maryland’
Trailer Watch: True Adulthood Threatens Taissa Farmiga’s Relationship in Hannah Fidell’s ‘6 Years’
Writer-director Hannah Fidell made a splash at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival with “A Teacher,” a dark portrait of a twentysomething teacher desperate to continue her affair with a teenage boy....
Lupita Nyong’o to Star in Danai Gurira Play About Liberian Women Held Captive During Civil War
Lupita Nyong’o is headed to the stage. The Oscar-winning actress will make her New York stage debut in playwright Danai Gurira’s “Eclipsed,” about a quartet of women held captive by rebels...
Seeking Our Story: Directing the Summer Blockbuster: Mimi Leder’s DEEP IMPACT
Seeking Our Story iscelebrating the summer with Mimi Leder’s blockbuster “Deep Impact.” Leder (b. 1952) grew up in New York City witha mother, Etyl Leder, who played classical piano, and a...
CW to Make ‘Little Women’ Adaptation That Sounds Absolutely Nothing Like ‘Little Women’
Here’s your head-scratcher of the day: The CW will adapt “Little Women” as a “gritty” and “hyper-stylized” dystopian survivalist tale that sounds nothing at all like Louisa May...
Trailer Watch: Brie Larson Flees Her Kidnapper With Her Young Son in ‘Room’
A teaser trailer for “Room,” Brie Larson’s first starring vehicle since “Short Term 12,” now has a teaser trailer. An adaptation of Emma Donoghue’s best-seller, “Room” finds a young...
Embracing the Female Gaze
WhenI started writing Women and Hollywood almost eight years ago, the two thingsthat shaped my feminist consciousness were Molly Haskell’s “From Reverence to Rape: TheTreatment of Women in the...
With ‘Another Period,’ Comedy Central Is Officially All About the Ladies
University of Chicago to Celebrate Agnes Varda With Events and Week-Long Residency
After debuting a new short for Miu Miu’s Women’s Tales series at this year’s Venice Film Festival (September 2–12), Agnes Varda will head to the University of Chicago for a week-long...
Trailer Watch: Panic and Dust Swirl in Patricia Riggen’s Chilean Mining Drama ‘The 33’
August 2015 Film Preview
Get ready: August will see the releases of a number of female-driven narratives. Furiosa may have driven out of the box office into the sunset — meaning “Mad Max: Fury Road” is now on...
Venice Film Fest Lineup Released: Only 10% of Films in Competition Helmed by Women Directors
Yesterday we reported that the main jury of this year’s Venice Film Festival will be comprised of six men and three women (Elizabeth Banks, Diane Kruger and Lynne Ramsay). The official lineup for...
Athena List 2016 Seeking Submissions of Scripts with Women in Leadership Roles
The Athena Film Festival team is seeking scripts for the 2016 edition of the Athena List. An integral part of the festival’s celebration of women and leadership, the Athena List is an annual...
Chloe King to Adapt Erotic Thriller ‘The Girl in 6E,’ About Agoraphobic “Web-Cam Girl”
Chloe King has been tapped to bring the best-selling erotic thriller “The Girl in 6E” to the big screen. Written by A.R. Torre (the open pen name of Alessandra Torre), the novel is about an...
Paula Pell and Michelle Lawler Developing HBO Comedy About Former Olympic Figure Skater
Emmy-winning “SNL” writer Paula Pell and her frequent collaborator Michelle Lawler are developing a HBO comedy. The untitled series will center on a disgraced Olympic figure skater who returns...