BY Women and Hollywood
Female Spin-Off of ’21 Jump Street’ in the Works, ‘Broad City’ Writers Attached
“Ghostbusters” isn’t the only franchise getting a female-friendly makeover. Variety reports that Sony has begun development on a “female-driven spinoff” of the immensely popular and...
Trailer Watch: Nina Simone is “as Fragile as She is Strong” in ‘What Happened, Miss Simone?’
Guest Post: Why I Decided to Direct Lifetime’s Ariel Castro Movie ‘Cleveland Abduction’
Likemany people around the world, I was shocked and gripped by the story of thewomen who were abducted and kept for over a decade by Ariel Castro in a housein Cleveland, Ohio. When Sony first...
An Open Letter to Joss Whedon from a Disappointed Feminist Fan After Watching ‘Age of Ultron’
Is There Room for Women of Color In TV Comedy?
Last week, Amy Schumer made waves with the third season premiere of her sketch show, “Inside Amy Schumer.” The episode mocked everything from ageism in Hollywood to the absurdity of rape culture...
Ballet in the Media: New Fellowship for Fem. Choreographers; Dance Drama ‘Flesh & Bone’ Gets Trailer
Ballet is making headlines this week, thanks to a newly launched fellowship for women choreographers and the first trailer for “Flesh And Bone,” the new Starz ballet drama from former...
Trailer Watch: Nicole Kidman Hides Secrets During a Search for Her Lost Children in ‘Strangerland’
Warner Brothers to Release Patricia Riggen’s Chilean Mining Drama ‘The 33’
HBO’s ‘The Casual Vacancy’: Even in Rowling’s Adult Work, It’s the Kids Who Shine
Hot Docs 2015 Women Directors: Meet Donna LoCicero — ‘3 Still Standing’
Donna LoCicero is a writer, producer and documentary filmmaker with more than 15 years experience working on dozens of groundbreaking film projects for network, cable and international television....
Trailer Watch: Hailee Steinfeld Kicks Ass in ‘Barely Lethal,’ Books Another Film
Hailee Steinfeld seems poised for stardom in the imminent future. The “Pitch Perfect 2” actress — and one-time Academy Award nominee — has a number of exciting projects set for...
Hot Docs 2015 Women Directors: Meet Amber Fares — ‘Speed Sisters’
Amber Fares is a Canadian-born filmmaker with Lebanese roots. In the aftermath of 9/11, Fares left her career in marketing to deepen her understanding of life in the Middle East. In response to her...
Sarah Jessica Parker’s Company Developing ‘The Fever’ for MTV
Fresh off the news that Sarah Jessica Parker will produce and star in a new comedy from HBO comes word that the former “Sex and the City” star’s production company, Pretty Matches Productions,...
‘Obvious Child’ Dream Team Reunites: Slate, Robespierre, and Holm To Make FX Pilot
Jenny Slate is set to reunite with the team behind “Obvious Child,” writer/director Gillian Robespierre and producer/writer Elisabeth Holm. Slate will star in an untitled FX comedy pilot...
Trailer Watch: The Journey from Oxford to the Trenches in WWI Drama ‘Testament of Youth’
Fresh off the sci-fi indie “Ex Machina,” for which she’s receiving rave reviews, budding star Alicia Vikander is demonstrating excellent range as she switches gears from a playing a futuristic...
Women & Hollywood’s Summer Preview, Part 1: May and June 2015
The summer movie landscape can often feel like a haze of one huge blockbuster after another, each more testosterone-drenched than the last. However, this summer is packed with titles about...
DGA Women’s Steering Committee Rejects Proposal to Expand Diversity Options for Women
Two weeks ago, the Women’s Steering Committee at the DGA rejected a proposal that could have increased the opportunities for women directors in TV. As we all know, the numbers of women directing...
Hot Docs 2015 Women Directors: Meet Erinnisse Rebisz — ‘Shoulder the Lion’
Erinnisse Rebisz is a seasoned editor for television and film, born and based in NYC. Her credits include numerous unscripted TV shows and documentaries such as “What Not To Wear,” “24 Hour...
Viola Davis Developing and Planning to Star in Harriet Tubman Movie for HBO
One of the most important women in American history might finally have a movie made about her life. Viola Davis is developing and planning on starring in a HBO movie about Harriet Tubman. The...
Writer-Director Pamela Romanowsky’s ‘The Adderall Diaries’ Acquired by A24
Pamela Romanowsky’s feature debut, “The Adderall Diaries,” has found distribution via A24. Based on the memoir of the same name, the drama stars James Franco as author Stephen Elliott, a...
Hot Docs 2015 Women Directors: Meet Amy Benson — Drawing the Tiger
Amy Benson is the co-owner of Nonfiction Media, a production company in Seattle. She has shot and edited over 25 short films, telling the stories of nonprofits in the Pacific Northwest, Africa and...
Ava DuVernay Gets Her Own Barbie, ‘Selma’ DVDs Donated to Every High School in America
Ava DuVernay fans, rejoice: This week brings news that Mattel has immortalized the “Selma” director with a Barbie in her likeness and that Paramount Pictures will be donating copies of...
Broadway Star Kelli O’Hara on Maintaining Self-Worth in a Male-Dominated Industry
Cross-posted from The Interval. You know how when you’re applying to college people always ask you those cliché questions like, “What is a moment that changed your life?” and you think they...
Gay Divorce and Rock-umentaries: April’s Noteworthy Women-Centric Crowdfunding Projects
We at Women and Hollywood are always in pursuit of women-centric projects to promote and encourage, which is why, starting this month, we are beginning a new feature. Once a month, we will highlight...
Hot Docs 2015 Women Directors: Meet Rebecca Parrish — ‘Radical Grace’
Rebecca Parrish is director, cinematographer and an editor on “Radical Grace.” She has run her Chicago-based film company, Interchange Productions, since 2007. She has worked as an editor and...
Feminism in Action: Lena Dunham Discusses Her Rape, Cecily Strong Kills at White House Corr. Dinner
Guest Post: The Challenges of Filming a Sexual Health Workshop in an Ultra-Conservative Country
“Leaving Africa” is a story of friendship andstrength. Finnish doctor Riitta has been working in Uganda for morethan 25 years. Together with her Ugandan friend Catherine, she brings sex...
Weekly Update for April 24: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Week The Age of Adaline The best reason to watch “The Age of Adaline,” a romance starring Blake Lively as a lonely woman who can’t age past 29, is the...
Quote of the Day: Carey Mulligan Criticizes the “Massively Sexist” Film Industry
Carey Mulligan had much to say about the sorry state of the film industry, especially as it pertains to gender, in a recent interview with Time Out. The Academy Award-nominated actress echoed...
Laura Bispuri’s Transgender Odyssey ‘Sworn Virgin’ Wins Tribeca Film Fest’s Nora Ephron Prize
Italian director Laura Bispuri has won the third annual Nora Ephron prize at the Tribeca Film Festival. Awarded to female filmmakers “with a distinctive voice” since 2013, the recognition comes...
Trailer Watch: Gemma Arterton Follows in Tragic Footsteps in Anne Fontaine’s ‘Gemma Bovery’
2015 promises to be a great year for fans of “Madame Bovary,” with two adaptations of Gustave Flaubert’s classic novel set for release. While Sophie Barthe’s “Madame Bovary,” a period...
Woodstock, Bounty Hunters and Sexy Apples: New and Noteworthy Women-Created VOD and Webseries
From music to war to Jewish identity, this month sees a number of excellent films releasing to streaming services. With “Always Woodstock,” director and writer Rita Merson takes us on a tale...
Hot Docs 2015 Women Directors: Meet Laurie Kahn — ‘Love Between the Covers’
Laurie Kahn started her film career by helping a friend make an adaptation of a Guy de Maupassant story. While working on this project, she found paying work on the side writing film reviews for the...
Queer Women Out of the Picture in 2014 Films
Damn, Hollywood, what is it going to take to finally give us some hot girl-on-girl action? Oh, so now I have your attention? Well, then what I really want to ask is, what will it take to finally...
Trailer Watch: Growing Up Isn’t the Problem in ‘The Little Prince’
Hot Docs 2015 Women Directors: Meet Tonje Hessen Schei — ‘Drone’
Tonje Hessen Scheiis an award-winning documentary filmmaker who has worked with independentdocumentary productions since 1996. Her films focus on human rights, theenvironment and social justice....
Lena Dunham and Rose Byrne Launch All-Female Production Companies
The gender imbalance in Hollywood is leading more actresses to form their own production companies. Two of the latest entrants to the producers’ game are Lena Dunham and Rose Byrne, who both...
Whitney Cummings Gets HBO Stand-Up Special, Pilot Order for New Comedy
Whitney Cummings is returning to television. After co-creating CBS’s “2 Broke Girls” (still going strong) and creating/starring in NBC’s “Whitney” (canceled after two seasons), Cummings...
Trailer Watch: Studio Ghibli’s ‘When Marnie Was There’ Offers a Mysterious Female Friendship
A trailer has been released for Studio Ghibli’s latest feature, which unfortunately may also be its last. “When Marnie Was There,” an adaptation of Joan G. Robinson’s young-adult book of the...
Watch: #makeitfair Video Highlights Gender Inequality with Humor
A new video from #makeitfair, a project calling for gender equality in the entertainment industry, politics and beyond has us nodding our heads in agreement while laughing out loud. Rita Wilson,...
Is 2015 the Year of the Older Actress?
We at Women and Hollywood have noticed a trend: 2015 seems to be the year of the older actress. We can’t recall a year in the past decade or so with more female-centric projects led by actresses...
Jessie Mueller Will Star in Sara Bareilles’ Musical ‘Waitress’
Broadway star Jessie Mueller has been confirmed to play the title role in Sara Bareilles’ upcoming musical “Waitress.” Mueller won a Best Actress Tony last year for her performance in the...
Carey Mulligan Discusses Her Victorian Heroines in ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’ and ‘Suffragette’
Female Filmmakers Initiative Research Confirms Hollywood Is Stuck in a Sexist Rut
The big Hollywood studios are all in Las Vegas this week, showing off their upcoming summer films to the theatre owners at CinemaCon. Clearly, gender is on their mind, since John Fithian, the head...
Watch: LA-Based Female Film Collective R.I.P. Dora Channeled a ‘Wild Fearlessness’ to Make ‘Serena’
The lack ofwomen filmmakers in Hollywood has been much discussed recently, and it’s clearit’s a problem that’s a long way from being remedied — though the voicesclamoring for change are...
San Francisco Film Society Announces Recipients of Inaugural Women Filmmaker Fellowships
Jennifer Phang (“Advantageous”), Nikole Beckwith (“Stockholm, Pennsylvania”) and Stewart Thorndike (“Lyle”) have been selected as the inaugural recipients of the San Francisco Film...
Sharing Our Story: Hollywood’s First Contract Director Dorothy Arzner’s ‘Dance, Girl, Dance’
To celebrate the firstanniversary of Seeking Our Story, this month’s screening will proudly feature awoman of many firsts: Dorothy Arzner. Arzner first moved to Hollywood in 1906, whereher father...
Three Women Directors to be Featured in Cannes 2015’s Directors’ Fortnight
Three women-directed features are included in the lineup for this year’s Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes. Artistic director Edouard Waintrop announced the program of 19 features, chosen from a...
Cathy Schulman Joins Newly Launched STX Entertainment as Production Exec
Oscar-winning producer Cathy Schulman (“Crash”) has joined the newly launched STX Entertainment after eight years as the president of Mandalay Pictures. Schulman will serve as a top production...
Three Movies About Women Make ‘The Billion Dollar Club’
Only twenty films have grossed more than $1 billion dollars through their global theatrical runs, with “Furious 7” being the most recent addition to that list, taking only 17 days to race its...
Emma Stone to Play Billie Jean King in Biopic Directed by Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton
One of the three(!) Billie Jean King projects in development found its directors and stars yesterday. Husband-and-wife team Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (“Little Miss Sunshine,” “Ruby...