BY Women and Hollywood
LAFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Negin Farsad — ‘3rd Street Blackout’
Negin Farsad is an Iranian-American comedienne andfilmmaker. In addition to being selected as a TEDFellow, Farsad was namedone of the 50 Funniest Women by the Huffington Post and one of Good...
Bedbugs, Blue Energy and Big Boo: “Orange is the New Black” is Back
Slight spoilers ahead for the first four episodes of Season 3. Previously on “OITNB”: Baddie Vee (Lorraine Toussaint) terrorized the population for most of Season 2 before getting bumped off by...
Guest Post: Viewing Hollywood’s Woman Problem as a Pressing Creative Opportunity
I’m excited these days. I’m excited because people in our business are finally talking about women in film in the most open and honest way I’ve seen in a longtime and that’s a very good...
LAFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Daphne McWilliams — ‘In a Perfect World…’
Daphne McWilliams began her producing career by producing music videos for artists such as Blues Traveler, Notorious BIG and Queen Latifah. In 1995, she was hired to line produce the Academy...
‘Testament of Youth’ Should be a Slam-Dunk Case for Awards Consideration, So Why Isn’t It?
The war drama “Testament of Youth” opened in the US this past Friday, and I don’t understand why more people aren’t paying attention to it for the end-of-year awards race. Yes, I know it’s...
Trailer Watch: ‘Masters of Sex’ Leaps into the Swinging Sixties in Season 3
The third season of Showtime’s “Masters of Sex” will kick off in 1966, a decade after the events in Season 1. If the series’ inaugural year found sexologists Dr. William Masters (Michael...
Why Pixar Whiz Pete Docter Decided to Enter a Young Girl’s Mind — and Turn Your Emotions Inside Out
Pixar has always invented memorable female characters, ranging from Jessie the cowgirl in “Toy Story 2” and Dory the forgetful fish in “Finding Nemo” to superhero Elastigirl in “The...
‘Pitch Perfect 3’ Officially Announced; Elizabeth Banks Decries “Boxes and Labels Threatening Dreams”
On paper, “Pitch Perfect” never exactly screamed “lucrative franchise.” And yet the Barden Bellas are set to sing their way to the bank once more. A third a capella pic is officially in the...
Human Rights Watch FF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Laura Nix — ‘The Yes Men Are Revolting’
Laura Nix is an independent filmmaker committed to exploringprovocative characters and subject matter. She directed the documentary “TheLight In Her Eyes,” about a Syrian Quran school for women,...
Human Rights Watch FF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Gini Reticker — ‘The Trials of Spring’
GiniReticker is the Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning producer and director of “Pray the Devil Goes Back to Hell,” “Asylum,” and the celebrated PBS Series, “Women, War & Peace.” She...
LAFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Emily Ting — ‘It’s Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong’
Emily Tingis a graduate of the film/TV program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Ting has directedseveral shorts that have screened at film festivals across the nation andbroadcast on cable...
Reese Witherspoon Developing Female Wall Street Comedy Called ‘Opening Belle’
Eagle-eyed Reese Witherspoon has announced another page-to-screen adaptation of a novel yet to be published. Witherspoon and her producing partner Bruna Papandrea will develop a female-driven Wall...
Trailer Watch: A Gay Firebrand Goes to War in Jean Carlomusto’s “Larry Kramer in Love & Anger”
Tessa Ross and Juliette Howell Found New Film/TV Production Company
Two of the most powerful women in the UK entertainment industry are joining forces. Tessa Ross, the former Film4 chief and “the mother of British filmmaking,” is teaming up with Juliette...
LAFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Marya Cohn — ‘The Girl in the Book’
Marya Cohn is the award-winning writer/directorof the feature film “The Girl in the Book,” starring Emily Van Camp and MichaelNyqvist. Her short film, “Developing,” starring Natalie Portman...
Women in Film Now Accepting Applications for 2015 Finishing Fund Grants
Women in Film is currently accepting applications for its 2015 Film Finishing Fund. Projects that are by, for, or about women and have completed 90% of principal photography with a rough cut on...
‘Bob’s Burgers’ Writers Lizzie and Wendy Molyneux to Pen Female ’21 Jump Street’ Film
Two brains are better than one, so Sony’s betting that four brains are better than two. After hiring “Broad City” writers Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs to develop the female “21 Jumps...
Human Rights Watch FF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Tamara Erde — ‘This Is My Land’
Tamara Erde is a French-Israeli filmmakerliving and working in Paris. She often deals in her work with politicaland social issues focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Her works mixesher...
Trailer Watch: Katniss Leads an Army in ‘Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2’
The long-awaited attack on the Capitol will finally take place in “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2,” the fourth and final adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ YA series. The first spot...
LAFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Delila Vallot — ‘Can You Dig This’
Delila Vallot isan actress, dancer and director, born and raised in Hollywood, California. Inher career, she has worked with some of the most well-known choreographersto date, including Vince...
Trailer Watch: Meryl Streep Stops Running Away from Family Drama in New Spot for ‘Ricki & the Flash’
“I came out here because I wanted to help you,” Ricki (Meryl Streep) tells her recently divorced daughter Julie (Mamie Gummer). The new trailer for “Ricki and the Flash” emphasizes Ricki’s...
Katherine Heigl’s Lesbian Dramedy ‘Jenny’s Wedding’ Sold to IFC
Rom com queen Katherine Heigl stars in a variation on her theme in “Jenny’s Wedding,” which has been sold to IFC. Heigl stars as Jenny in writer-director Mary Agnes Donoghue’s gay dramedy....
Nicole Perlman to Adapt Hugh Howey’s Sci-Fi Bestseller ‘Wool’
Nicole Perlman, co-writer of “Guardians of the Galaxy,” has lined up her next project. Perlman will adapt Hugh Howey’s self-published runaway bestseller “Wool,” in which a few rebellious...
LAFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Maggie Kiley — ‘Caught’
Filmmaker and actress Maggie Kiley was one of eight directors selected for the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women and one of twenty accomplished filmmakers chosen for the...
Amy Sherman-Palladino Discusses Casting Melissa McCarthy, How to Achieve Equality in Hollywood
Amy Sherman-Palladino, best known for creating the WB mother-daughter hit “Gilmore Girls,” shared great insights about women in TV during a panel at the ATX Television Festival in Austin....
New $25,000 Screenplay Prize to Promote “Strong and Complex Female Lead Characters”
Got a great screenplay with a compelling female protagonist and happen to be an Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) member? If so, good news: You’ve got a chance at a $25,000 unrestricted grant....
Gini Reticker Chronicles Muslim Women’s Fights for Social Justice in ‘The Trials of Spring’
The brave efforts of nine women activists striving for a better world in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Syria, Bahrain and Yemen are documented in Gini Reticker’s “The Trials of Spring.” Billed as a...
‘Fun Home’ Makes Feminist History at Tony Awards
The women responsible for bringing “Fun Home” to the stage made history at the 69th annual Tony Awards last night. Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron became the first all-female writing team to win a...
Melissa McCarthy’s ‘Spy’ Opens at #1 in US, Worldwide $86.5 Million
Melissa McCarthy, enthusiastic reviews, and a feminist twist/deconstruction of the secret-agent genre propelled “Spy” to the top of the box office this weekend. The R-rated comedy made $30...
Country Music and Cannes: Blaming Women for Sexism
At first glance,country music and the Cannes Film Festival couldn’t appear more culturallydifferent. And yet, recent events reveal that some high-profile individualsassociated with these...
June 2015’s New & Noteworthy Women-Created VOD & Webseries: Inclusive Gaming and Online Dating
This week’s female-centric VOD releases and noteworthy webseries are not to be missed. On the VOD front, we have two documentaries that have garnered some well-deserved buzz over the last few...
Weekly Update for June 5: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Week Spy — Pick of the Week Melissa McCarthy finally gets the star vehicle worthy of her in “Spy,” a jet-setting caper that hilariously deconstructs the...
Helen Estabrook to Produce Film Adaptation of Eliza Kennedy’s Cold-Feet Comedy ‘I Take You’
Helen Estabrook (“Whiplash”) will team up with Tobey Maguire to adapt Eliza Kennedy’s debut novel, “I Take You,” for the big screen. Published on May 5, the book centers on an successful...
Watch: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Tells Girls and Women to “Forget About Likability”
Nigerian novelist and outspoken feminist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has an intensely devoted following, which famously includes Beyonce. The “Americanah” author’s critical acclaim and public...
Ali Smith’s ‘How to Be Both’ Wins Baileys Prize for Best English-Language Novel by a Woman
Ali Smith’s “How to Be Both,” an experimental novel about two characters living centuries apart, has been crowned the winner of the 2015 Baileys Prize. The twin tales of an Italian...
Trailer Watch: Viola Davis and Jennifer Lopez Take Back the Neighborhood in ‘Lila and Eve’
A grieving mother attempts to get revenge on the dealer who killed her son in a drive-by shooting in the female-led vigilante thriller “Lila and Eve.” Starring Viola Davis as a woman who sees...
‘The Babadook’ Director Jennifer Kent to Helm True-Life Lesbian Murder Drama ‘Alice + Freda Forever’
Jennifer Kent has announced her follow-up to “The Babadook”: the story of a broken engagement between two 19th-century teenage girls that leads to the murder of one by the other. Based on...
New Research from Women’s Media Center Concludes “Media On All Platforms Are Failing Women”
The Women’s Media Center has released their annual report tracking the status of women in both entertainment and the news. We’re feeling more optimistic about the future of women in Hollywood...
Gender and Identity in the Wachowskis’ “Sense8” on Netflix
Ever since “The Matrix,” I’ve been hoping the Wachowskis (formerly the Wachowski brothers) would do something else really worthwhile. I’m not sure if the directing duo’s “Sense8” (on...
Amy Schumer Calls Bullsh*t on Things That Give Women Low Self-Esteem in Awards Speech
Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette Comedy ‘Miss You Already’ Sells to Lionsgate, Roadside
Catherine Hardwicke’s “Miss You Already,” starring Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette, is set to be acquired by Lionsgate and Roadside. Described as a rom com, Morwenna Banks’ script finds...
Trailer Watch: Greta Gerwig is the Queen of Uncomfortable Comedy in ‘Mistress America’
Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s eagerly anticipated follow-up to 2013’s “Frances Ha” finally has a trailer. “There’s no cheating when you’re 18. You should all be touching each other...
‘Sister Act’ Remake On the Way
It’s been over two decades since the last “Sister Act” movie, “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit,” was released, but Disney is apparently confident that singing and dancing nuns never go out...
How The Lilly Awards Help Make Women’s Stories Matter
The recipients of this year’s Lilly Awards gathered onthe stage of Off-Broadway’s Playwrights Horizons Monday afternoon and remained thereas all the awards were presented, chatting, laughing,...
Zoe Kravitz to Star as Gunslinging Vigilante in Shana Betz’s Western ‘Black Belle’
Zoe Kravitz has booked a new gig, and it sounds awesome. The actress will star as a hitwoman in “Black Belle,” a Western set shortly after the Civil War. Deadline reports that the film will...
Watch: Caitlyn Jenner’s Sexist Treatment Exposed on “Daily Show,” Promo for Her New Reality Series
“You start learning the kind of the pressure women are under all the time about their appearance,” Caitlyn Jenner says in the first trailer for her reality series “I Am Cait.” (Watch the...
Quote of the Day: Simon Pegg Complains “Men Tend to Write Women as Their Fantasy”
Simon Pegg recently confessed something he said is likely to get him into trouble. “I think women write men better than men write women,” the actor contended. “Men tend to write women as...
Shonda Rhimes’ First Book, ‘Year of Yes,’ to Arrive in November
Thank Shonda Rhimes for taking care of this year’s Christmas list. TV’s most powerful writer has penned her first book, titled “Year of Yes,” about the 12 months when she accepted...
You Know Things Are Bad for Women When We’re Cheering a Studio for Making a Writing Group Only 78% Male
Two women have been added to the brain trust for the planned expansion of the “Transformers” franchise. Christina Hodson and Lindsey Beer are the first female writers to join the group....
New Study Charts the “Post-Festival Chasm” for Women Directors
After becoming the first black woman filmmaker to win the Best Director prize at the Sundance Film Festival (for her second narrative feature “Middle of Nowhere”), Ava DuVernay waited for people...
Study: Books About Women Are Shut Out of Major Awards
Of the eight films nominated for Best Picture at this year’s Oscars, none were about women. Lest you think that was some freak coincidence, novelist Nicola Griffith has come out with an informal...