BY Women and Hollywood
Weekly Update for June 13: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening I Am I — Written and Directed by Jocelyn Towne Here’s something you don’t see much in Hollywood: a completely original premise. In her writing and directing...
Human Rights Watch FF Women Directors: Meet Cynthia Hill
Cynthia Hill crafts documentaries that take a complex approach to critical contemporary issues, creating story-driven and visually rich films. Private Violence is Hill’s fourth feature...
Watch: Laverne Cox Talks About the “Transgender Tipping Point”
Laverne Cox isn’t as much on the new season of Orange is the New Black as some (including myself) would like, but fortunately she’s everywhere else these days. Two weeks ago, Cox became the...
CSI Producer Carol Mendelsohn Leaves Show, Joins Sony TV
After 13 years at CBS Television Studios, Carol Mendelsohn will join Sony Pictures TV. The jump from CBS to Sony means Mendelsohn will be giving up her co-showrunning duties at the long-running...
LAFF Women Directors: Debra Granik on Stray Dog, Her Follow-Up to Winter’s Bone
Debra Granik is the director of Winter’s Bone, the 2010 drug drama set in the Ozarks that received four Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay (by Granik and Anne Rosellini),...
Cate Blanchett and Kerry Washington Discuss the Difficulty of Risk-Taking As Women in Hollywood
Cate Blanchett and Kerry Washington received the two highest honors at Women in Film’s Crystal + Lucy Awards ceremony this past Wednesday, and both actresses used their time at the podium to say...
Human Rights Watch FF Women Directors: Meet Alessandra Zeka and Holen Sabrina Kahn (A Quiet Inquisition)
Alessandra Zeka and Holen Sabrina Kahn have been producing documentary stories collaboratively since 1998. Their films have focused on Albania, Rwanda, India, Taiwan, Central America, and the U.S....
LAFF Women Directors: Meet Amanda Marsalis (Echo Park)
California-born Amanda Marsalis’ photography career began during her teenage years, when she would document punk shows held in her mother’s basement and skip class to spend time in her high...
Guest Post: Notes from the Field: The Importance of Female Collaboration
This past Saturday, the Film Fatales, a collective of women feature-film writers and directors, joined other New York City-based filmmaker collaboratives for a discussion hosted by the Brooklyn Film...
Guest Post: “Nan Goldin: I Remember Your Face” is About Turning the Camera on a Photographer
Afterworking for many years as a movie makeup artist for Tom Tykwer, Dani Levy andWim Wenders, I became used to getting very close to people, no matter howfamous, young or old. After my second child...
Human Rights Watch FF Women Directors: Meet Jennifer M. Kroot (To Be Takei)
Jennifer M. Kroot directed the documentary feature It Came From Kuchar, about the legendary underground filmmaking twins George and Mike Kuchar, which premiered at the 2009 South by Southwest Film...
Kristen Wiig to Direct, Star, and Co-Write a Bridesmaids Follow-Up with Annie Mumolo
The writing team behind Bridesmaids is finally reuniting to make another female-friendship comedy. Wiig will sit in the director’s chair for the first time in the unnamed project. The former SNL...
Cate Blanchett: “People Want to See Stories With Women at the Center”
After using her Best Actress win at the Oscars as a platform to call for more movies about women (“the world is round, people”), Cate Blanchett recently spoke out again on behalf of her fellow...
Video-Game Developer Argues He Excluded Female Characters Because It Would “Double the Work”
Here’s something cool about Assassin’s Creed: Unity, the newest installment of one of gaming’s largest franchises: for the first time in the series’ history, up to four players will be able...
Human Rights Watch FF Women Directors: Meet Katy Chevigny (E-Team)
Katy Chevigny is an award-winning filmmaker and partner at Big Mouth Productions. She has produced a dozen feature-length documentaries as well as short-form films, videos and webisodes. Her credits...
Women Directors Win Majority of Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund Grants
Female filmmakers make up the majority of the 2014 recipients of the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund, a grant devoted to supporting domestic and international projects with a social mission. The...
It’s the Little Things That Make OITNB One of the Best Shows on TV
Orange is the New Black is back, and its arrival seems to have elevated the term “binge-watching” to a new level. But when did binge-watching become de rigeur for showing appreciation for a...
LAFF Women Directors: Meet Rania Attieh (Recommended by Enrique)
Rania Attieh, among Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 Faces of Independent Film” in 2011, is a Guggenheim and U.S. Rockefeller Fellow in film/ video. Attieh is from Tripoli, Lebanon. Together with...
Marion Cotillard to Star in French Auteur Nicole Garcia’s Next Film
Marion Cotillard has signed on to star in French auteur Nicole Garcia’s next film. Mal de Pierres, literally translated to “Evil Stones,” will be a big-screen adaptation of Milena Agus novel...
Welcome Interns Kelcie Mattson and Alice Thorpe
I just wanted to take a moment and welcome the Women and Hollywood summer interns, Kelcie Mattson and Alice Thorp. Inkoo and I are very excited that they are on board. Here’s a little bit about...
Comedy Central Renews Inside Amy Schumer, Greenlights Two More Female-Led Comedies
Sometime in the last year, Comedy Central became the friendliest place for feminist comedy on the small screen. First came Inside Amy Schumer in the spring of 2013, a crass, honest, and of course...
After Tiller Director Lana Wilson to Helm Doc About Suicide in Japan
After tackling late-term abortions in After Tiller, documentarian Lana Wilson will delve into an equally difficult and complex subject in her next project: suicide. Wilson’s follow-up to Tiller,...
Shonda Rhimes’ Dartmouth Commencement Speech: “Dreamers Often End Up Living in the Basements of Relatives”
This past Sunday, Shonda Rhimes doled out some tough love — and shared a few great anecdotes — at the commencement ceremony at Dartmouth University, her alma mater. Her overall message...
LAFF Women Directors: Meet Kimberly Levin (Runoff)
Kimberly Levin is an award-winning filmmaker and former biochemist. Her short film Between Baronovsksy premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival and went on to play festivals in the US...
Yaya DaCosta Alafia to Play Whitney Houston in Lifetime Biopic
If you watched the third (and best) season of America’s Next Top Model, you’ve probably also been following runner-up Yaya DaCosta Alafia’s subsequent acting career with some interest. Alafia,...
Jennifer Lawrence to Team Up Again with David O. Russell
After working together on Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, Jennifer Lawrence and director David O. Russell will collaborate again on a film currently titled Joy. The 23-year-old actress...
Why Young Women Are the Hottest Box Office Demographic
From my latest Forbes post on Hollywood’s curious negligence of young women as a box-office demographic: This weekend proves that women are actually a more reliable audience [than young men]. As I...
Audra McDonald Sets Two Records at the 2014 Tony Awards
Theater legend Audra McDonald set two records at the Tonys last night by becoming the first performer to win all four acting categories and receiving the highest number of acting prizes in the...
Trailer Watch: Chloe Grace Moretz Wavers Between Life and Death in New If I Stay Trailer
Life-or-death situations are rarely as literal as the one teenage Mia (Chloe Grace Moretz) faces: Should she live or die? A new trailer has been released for the big-screen adaptation of Gayle...
Guest Post: What We Can Learn About Women in Hollywood from Amma Asante’s Belle
Have you seen the extraordinary new film Belle? Amma Asante’s latest project is not just a great work, but a testament tothe equal ability of women to direct great films. In fact, Belle...
Weekly Update for June 6: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening Obvious Child — Written and Directed by Gillian Robespierre Obvious Child is the kind of movie that helped me remember why I love movies. I was laughing my ass off...
Lauren Faust to Direct Animated Comedy About Medusa
After Maleficent made $170 million in international ticket sales in its opening weekend, it was almost inevitable that studio execs would sit around in their offices on Monday morning thinking of...
Updated: Lupita Nyong’o Options Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Trans-Atlantic Love Story Americanah
Update: Since this post was published, Lupita Nyong’o was (finally) cast in the next Star Wars movie and Brad Pitt’s production company, Plan B, joined D2 Productions. and Potboiler Productions...
Crosspost: The Fault in Our Stars: Our Love Affair with Romance and Feminism
Pain demands to be felt. So goes one of the wise lines from John Green’s bestselling novel The Fault in Our Stars. The line is prominently featured in the movie of the same title — and...
Obvious Child Director Gillian Robespierre: “We Don’t Make Abortion Funny. We Make a Character Funny.”
Obvious Child is the kind of movie that helped me remember why I love movies. I was laughing my ass off even before the credits, and that’s when I knew I was in for a treat. In this tightly...
Eimear McBride’s First Novel Wins Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction
It took debut novelist Eimear McBride many years to get her first book published after writing it in six months, but since then, it’s been much smoother sailing. Since A Girl is a Half-formed...
Lupita Nyong’o is Going to a Galaxy Far, Far Away
Earlier this week, it was announced that Lupita Nyong’o will be joining the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. This is big news one of Hollywood’s biggest fantasy epics, which has been told...
Celine Sciamma’s Black Parisian Drama Girlhood Finds Distribution
Just a few weeks after its screening at Cannes’ Directors Fortnight, Celine Sciamma’s third film, Girlhood, has been picked up for American distribution (it has also sold throughout...
Trailer Watch: Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen Stop Being ‘Very Good Girls’
Following on the heels of Elizabeth Olsen’s Godzilla and Dakota Fanning’s Night Moves is the directorial debut of veteran screenwriter Naomi Foner. Very Good Girls, also penned by Foner, stars...
Guest Post: Creating My Film Footprint: The Importance of Women on Both Sides of the Camera
As far back as I can remember, I have always hada deep passion for movies, which probably derives from my fascination with thehuman character. The ability that film offers to travelwith a character...
In Praise of “Go Fuck Y’Self” Women: Lori Petty in Orange is the New Black
Orange is the New Black is back Friday, all 13 episodes of the second season will be miraculously available at 12:01 AM on Netflix. And what a return it is. I’ve only seen the first episode, and...
30% of Films at Karlovy Vary Festival Directed by Women
The 49th Karlovy Vary Film Festival, which will take place on July 4–12 in Carlsbad, the Czech Republic, will showcase ten women-directed films (from a total of 34). Female representation at the...
Star Wars Announces Lupita Nyong’o and Gwendoline Christie’s Additions to the Cast, But Why Did They Wait?
Last week, I deplored the fact that the only casting confirmation we’d heard about Lupita Nyong’o’s post-Oscar career was a voiceover gig in The Jungle Book. I was thrilled to be proven wrong...
Women Writers Fight Against Lupus (Bonus Book Excerpt from Jane Espenson)
Seventeen women writers from TV shows as diverse as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Battlestar Galactica, Game of Thrones, Family Guy, and Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD have grouped together to...
Women in Film-LA to Honor the Leaders of Its PSA Program
For the last 20 years, Women in Film has given its members the opportunity to hone their skills while giving back to the community through its Public Service Announcement Production Program. Each...
June 2014 Film Preview
With only one movie with a female protagonist opening wide, June will be a lean month for women at the multiplex, even by Hollywood standards. Despite not being a feminist, Shailene Woodley will...
Submit Your Film to the Athena Film Festival
The Athena Film Festival is currently accepting submissions until September 15, 2014, for its sixth annual event. Located at Barnard College in Manhattan, the Athena Film Festival is an engaging...
Maleficent Soars to the Top of the Box Office with $170 Mil in Global Ticket Sales
After a four-year absence from the big screen, Angelina Jolie crushed the competition and delivered the highest opening weekend of her career with Maleficent. Disney’s retelling of Sleeping...
Weekly Update for May 30: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
FilmsAbout Women Opening Maleficent– Written by Linda Woolverton We’veall been waiting a long time for Angelina Jolie to be back on the big screen.She’s devoted her time to many worthy...
Guest Post: How to Carry the Collaborative Spirit into the Realm of Distribution
Last summer, filmmakers David Lowery, Destin Cretton, AdamWingard and Joe Swanberg discovered that all of their movies were hittingtheaters and VOD on or around the same date. In this competitive...
Guest Post: Telling a Female Story with a (Nearly) All-Female Crew
“There is a special place inhell for women who don’t help other women.” — Madeleine Albright And even more so when itcomes to making movies. My first feature film, Emoticon 😉, tells...