BY Women and Hollywood
Watch: E!’s Late-Night Newbie Grace Helbig Gets Promo, Premiere Date
SXSW Women Directors: Meet Nelly Ben Hayoun — ‘Disaster Playground’
Award-winning director and designer of experiences Nelly Ben Hayoun is a critical explorer and a fearless and passionate provocateur. Wired Magazine awarded Nelly Ben Hayoun with an Innovation...
Elizabeth Banks to Play Billie Jean King in HBO’s ‘Battle of the Sexes’
Elizabeth Banks and Paul Giamatti will star as Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in a HBO movie about the two tennis stars’ 1973 Battle of the Sexes. The 29-year-old King handily defeated the...
SXSW Women Directors: Meet Karyn Kusama — ‘The Invitation’
Karyn Kusama wrote and directed her first feature film, “Girlfight,” in 1999. The film won the Director’s Prize and shared the GrandJury Prize at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. It went on to...
Trailer Watch: Exploding Castles and Movie-Star Unicorns Add Magic to ‘Inside Out’
A newly cut trailer for Pixar’s “Inside Out” is here, and it’s a tearjerker. The latest spot for the animated feature, voiced in part by Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling, and Phyllis Smith, takes...
Trailer Watch: A Sex Surrogate’s Life is Turned Upside Down in ‘She’s Lost Control’
A trailer has been released for multiple Independent Spirit Awards nominee “She’s Lost Control.” We were enthralled by Helen Hunt’s performance as a sex surrogate in 2012’s “The...
2015 Longlist for Baileys Women’s Prize Includes Sarah Waters, Anne Tyler, Ali Smith
Sarah Waters’ “The Paying Guests,” Anne Tyler’s “A Spool of Blue Thread,” Ali Smith’s “How to be Both,” and Xiaolu Guo’s “I Am China” are among the twenty books longlisted...
Watch: Amy Schumer Riffs on Hollywood’s Bullsh*t Beauty Standards, Being Labeled a “Sex Comic”
Watch: Britt Robertson and George Clooney Fight to Fix the Future in ‘Tomorrowland’
Dakota Johnson to Star in and Executive Produce Romantic Tragedy ‘Forever, Interrupted’
Newly minted star Dakota Johnson has lined up her first post-”50 Shades” project. Johnson will take the lead role in and executive produce an adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s debut novel...
Listen: Women and Hollywood Podcast #9: ‘The Hunting Ground’ Producer Amy Ziering
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Watch: Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Selina Meyer Gets a Promotion in ‘Veep’ Season 4
After a stellar third season, “Veep” finally returns to the airwaves on Sunday, April 12. A new trailer for the HBO comedy finds Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Selina Meyer, who flamed out spectacularly...
Watch: Amy Poehler, Jenny Slate, Cameron Diaz Commemorate Int’l Women’s Day with ‘Not There’ PSA
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Tribeca FF Announces Lineup for High-Profile Spotlight Screenings: Claudia Llosa, Leslye Headland
While women directors are well-represented in the international categories at the upcoming 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, they feature much less prominently in the high-profile Spotlight section. TFF...
Lorene Scafaria’s Next Film, ‘The Meddler,’ to Star Susan Sarandon and Rose Byrne
Writer-director Lorene Scafaria (“Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World”) has booked her next film. Susan Sarandon will play Marnie Minervini, a...
Trailer Watch: Caitlin Moran’s Hilarious Coming-of-Age Sitcom ‘Raised By Wolves’
‘The Daily Show’s’ Samantha Bee to Become One of 2015’s Only Two Female Late-Night Hosts
Samantha Bee, the longest-serving correspondent ever on “The Daily Show,” has taken herself out of the running to become Jon Stewart’s replacement. Instead, the comedienne will headline her...
Weekly Update for March 6: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Week October Gale — Written and Directed by Ruba Nadda Toronto doctor Helen Matthews (Patricia Clarkson,) mourning the death of her husband, retreats to the...
Quote of the Day: Salma Hayek Explains Why She’s a Feminist
Salma Hayek has been making headlines for identifying as a feminist in a recent interview with The Guardian. Hayek is the co-founder of Chime for Change, a charity dedicated to advancing women and...
Crosspost: Why Amy Pascal’s Advice to Women to “Know Their Worth” and “Walk Away” is an Insult
The following is crossposted from Julie Bush’s blog with permission of the author. It has been edited and condensed. In Hollywood, it’s rare to be told directly that you can’t get a job...
‘October Gale’ Writer-Director Ruba Nadda on Widowhood and Shooting During the Coldest Winter in Decades
Ruba Nadda is a Montreal-born, Toronto-based filmmaker. She attended York University and the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. She has written and directed several feature films, including...
New & Noteworthy Women-Centric VOD Releases: Salma Hayek, America Ferrera, Teresa Palmer
VOD titles are in the midst of a breakthrough moment, with many films being released to theaters and available to stream simultaneously. The blockbuster format is still tried and true, but the...
‘Suffragette’ Wishes You A Happy International Women’s Day
We will have to wait until the fall to see the movie, but just in time for International Women’s Day on Sunday, the team of “Suffragette” — on screen and behind the scenes — has...
Brit Marling’s Co-Written Drama ‘The OA’ to Air on Netflix
Brit Marling has written another starring vehicle for herself. The indie actress has co-created and will star in “The OA,” a drama just picked up by Netflix. The show’s plot and premise are...
America Ferrera, Kate Mulgrew, Emily Bergl to Read 3 Plays from Lilly Awards’ Kilroys’ List
Actresses America Ferrera (“Ugly Betty”), Kate Mulgrew (“Orange is the New Black”), and Emily Bergl (“Desperate Housewives”) will headline the Lilly Awards Foundation’s inaugural...
Diablo Cody to Adapt Barbie for the Big Screen
Barbie has a new makeover coming her way. Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody (“Juno,” “Jennifer’s Body,” “Young Adult,” “Paradise”) will rewrite the script for the iconic...
Anika Noni Rose Cast in CBS’ Ava DuVernay-Directed Civil-Rights Pilot ‘For Justice’
Tony winner Anika Noni Rose (“Caroline, or Change”) will headline “For Justice,” a CBS drama about a FBI agent’s investigations into hate crimes across the country. Rose will play Special...
Apocalypse and Patriarchy in USA Network’s Archaeological Thriller ‘Dig’
Her body you may recognize, because it’s the poster art for the show. “Dig” is literally written on this young woman’s naked back, along with a bleeding hieroglyph that’s been carved...
Melanie Laurent’s ‘Breathe’ Sold to Film Movement
Variety reports that the U.S. rights to Melanie Laurent’s sophomore feature, “Breathe,” have been sold to Film Movement, an arthouse distributor based in NY. The feature, based on a book with...
WGA Study: Declines for Female and Minority TV Writers “Across the Board”
Over the last three years, the employment of women and minority TV writers has suffered a sharp fall. According to a WGA-West study comparing the 2011–12 and 2013–14 TV seasons, writers rooms...
Women Directors Well Represented in Tribeca Fest’s First Round of Announced Films
The lineups of two international categories at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival have been announced, and female directors are well represented in both competition lineups. Eight of the 12 World...
The Big O: 12 Must-See Feminist Films Saluted by the Oscars
If any year proved how entrenched Hollywood’s female troubles are, it was 2014, and not just because the bench of best-actress candidates in the Oscar race was far from deep. Also problematic was...
Guest Post: Fearing the Teen-Movie Makeover
Last December, I sat down in a dark movie theater in NYC.Teenagers streamed in behind me, chattering excitedly, eager for the movie tobegin. Meanwhile, I was a nervous wreck. My hands were shaking...
Pilot Casting News Roundup: Jane Lynch, Mireille Enos, KaDee Strickland
Pilot season is upon us, which means some of our favorite actresses are being cast in promising new projects. Here’s a short roundup: — Emmy winner Jane Lynch (“Glee”) has signed on as...
Playwright Tena Stivicic Wins Blackburn Prize for Family Saga ‘3 Winters’
Tena Stivicic’s “3 Winters,” a family saga that traces the lives of women across four generations, has received this year’s Blackburn Prize. Set in Zagreb, Croatia, the play explores how...
Jennifer Lawrence to Play War Photog Lynsey Addario in Steven Spielberg-Directed Drama
Jennifer Lawrence will portray photojournalist Lynsey Addario in an adaptation of the latter’s best-selling memoir “It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War.” Steven Spielberg...
‘Selma’ Crosses $50 Million at Domestic Box Office
A week after it won an Oscar for Best Original Song, “Selma” crossed the $50 million mark at the domestic box office. Ava DuVernay’s film currently is the fourth highest-grossing Best Picture...
Keeping Score: A Record Number of Female Composers on Broadway
How many female composers on Broadway can you name? Probablynot more than you have fingers on a hand, but while gender equality in thetheater has not yet been reached, there is reason to rejoice....
Trailer Watch: Amy S. Weber’s ‘A Girl Like Her’
TV Series in Development About Modeling Industry Titan Eileen Ford
An upcoming biography of Eileen Ford, the woman who invented the modeling business as we know it today, has been optioned for a TV series. “Mistresses” creator K.J. Steinberg will adapt Robert...
Crosspost: Study Shows Female-Led Films Bring Greater Return on Investment
The following is cross-posted from The Black List with permission. Some edits have been made for clarification purposes. It seems both in practice and belief that producers and executives are...
Jodie Foster and Darlene Hunt to Team Up on a Comedy About a Recovering Alcoholic
If there’s anyone out there who can mine humor from addiction recovery, it might well be Jodie Foster and Darlene Hunt. Foster helmed the tonally challenging psychosis dramedy “The Beaver”...
Vice Launching Female-Centric Channel
Vice, the hipster news media conglomerate, is becoming “less dude.” Long known for its “edgy,” male-skewing reportage, the web/film/TV/books/music company will be launching Broadly, its...
March 2015 Film Preview
While “Fifty Shades of Grey” may have dominated the February box office, March is set to bring audiences a love story of an entirely different color. Perhaps the month’s most talked about...
Book Deals: Jill Abramson to Write About Media Industry, Drew Barrymore About Her Life
Clear out your book-club calendar: Jill Abramson and Drew Barrymore have just signed publishing deals. Abramson, the first female executive editor of the New York Times, will expound on the future...
Weekly Update for February 27: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Week The Hunting Ground (doc) (Women and Hollywood’s Pick of the Week) “The Hunting Ground” is an extraordinarily powerful and searing look at the epidemic of...
A List of All of Women and Hollywood’s 2015 Oscars Coverage
The road to the 2015 Oscars was rocky indeed. While we were disappointed by the fact that white males accounted for the overwhelming majority of nominees — so much so that we commissioned a...
Phylicia Rashad Cast in CBS’s ‘For Justice’ Pilot; DuVernay Will Direct
The matriarch of the Huxtable family is coming back to weekly TV. Variety reports that Phylicia Rashad, best known for her role as Clair Hanks Huxtable in “The Cosby Show,” has been cast as a...
SFFS Announces 2015 Documentary Film Fund Finalists; 7 Women Directors Make the List
The San Francisco Film Society has announced the finalists for its 2015 Documentary Film Fund, with awards totaling more than $75,000 going towards feature-length documentaries in post-production....
Women and Hollywood Pick of the Week: ‘The Hunting Ground’
“The Hunting Ground” is an extraordinarily powerful and searing look at the epidemic of sexual assault on campuses across this country. College is supposed to be the first step towards adulthood...
HBO Launches Writing Fellowship To Find Diverse and Emerging Writers
If you’re an aspiring TV writer and a fan of HBO programming, today is your lucky day. HBO has announced the launch of the HBOAccess Writing Fellowship, which will offer emerging and diverse...