BY Women and Hollywood
HIFF Women Directors: Meet Donna Zaccaro
Donna Zaccaro is Founder and President of Dazzling Media, a New York-based media production company and is also Geraldine Ferraro’s daughter. Donna served as the director and producer for...
Happy 200th Episode Grey’s Anatomy
Tonight, Shonda Rhimes’ Grey’s Anatomy will air it’s 200th episode. It’s truly a groundbreaking achievement. Not many shows make it to 100 episodes, let alone 200. In an interview with The...
A Problematic TV Trend This Fall: Pregnant and Engaged Teenagers
By any measure, this hasn’t been an encouraging fall network television season. The dramas are soggy, the jokes in many of the comedies aren’t landing — or worse, they’re racism trying...
IFC Films Picks Up Megan Griffiths’ Lucky Them
IFC Films has acquired the rights to Megan Griffiths’ Lucky Them which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last month. Written by Emily Wachtel and Hugo Botko, the film follows a music...
The 33rd Susan B. Anthony Awards
Last night I was one of four people who received a Susan B. Anthony Award from the NYC chapter of the National Organization for Women. It was a great event. I was really humbled by the other women...
The Horror of Coming-of-Age: Subverting the Teen Girl Experience in Film
Growing up can be a bit of a bloodbath for everyone, regardless of gender. And when it comes to how the actual gory details of the process are portrayed on film, young female characters don’t...
Guest Interview: Meg Wolitzer — Author of The Interestings
Novelist Meg Wolitzer talks with Holly Rosen Fink about the success of her latest novel, The Interestings (Riverhead Books, 2013), inspiration, sexism in the literary world, working with Nora...
HIFF Women Directors: Meet Barbara Kopple
Barbara Kopple is a two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker. A director of documentaries, as well as narrative TV and film, her most recent project is the documentary Running From Crazy, which...
Ridiculous Comment of the Day: “It’s Harder to Animate Female Characters”
Earlier this week, MovieViral.com ran an article about the 50 Things You May Not Know About Frozen, the upcoming Jennifer Lee co-directed Disney animated feature based on The Snow Queen. The...
Nicole Kidman Goes All Feminist at Variety Awards
Nicole Kidman was honored at this year’s Variety Power of Women awards for her work with UN Women to advance the rights of women and girls across the world. Variety’s 5th annual Power of Women...
Claire Denis to be First Woman Director to Receive Stockholm’s Lifetime Achievement Award
Claire Denis will be the first female director to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 24th Annual Stockholm International Film Festival. Denis directed her first feature film in 1988,...
16 of 76 Oscar Foreign Language Submissions Directed by Women
A record number of 76 films were submitted this year for the 2014 Foreign Language Film Oscar. Last year, 71 films were submitted. Moldova, Saudi Arabia and Montenegro submitted films for the first...
TIFF Interview: Jasmila Zbanic and Kym Vercoe — Director and Co-Writers of For Those Who Can Tell No Tales
For Those Who Can Tell No Tales written by Jasmila Zbanic and Kym Vercoe and directed by Zbanic is one of those rare films that just stays with you. The film tells the story of Kym...
Introducing October’s Women and Horror Series
I grew up being deathly afraid of horror movies. I’d flip quickly through channels that had anything horror related on to prevent nightmares. As I grew up my taste for horror began to...
Guest Post: Afghan Doc Subject from The Network Flees to the Netherlands
In 2011, I spent 3 months in Afghanistan making The Network, a film set behind the scenes at Afghanistan’s largest media company, Tolo. The film is about the power of media to effect social change...
Smallville’s Super Girl, Laura Vandervoort, to Produce Series About Girl with Superpowers
Laura Vandervoort, who played Supergirl Kara on Smallville, has created Super Duper Deelia, a series for young girls. Vandervoort, who will also executive produce, explained her motivations for...
Halle Berry Heading to TV with CBS Series
We have all noticed the recent trend of actresses like Anna Faris and Toni Collette trying their hand at network TV. It seems to be the medium where women can work and play interesting characters....
Gravity Has Biggest October Opening in History
Gravity hit big at the box office over the weekend, grossing much more than was predicted for Alfonso Cuaron’s sci-fi epic starring Sandra Bullock. The film grossed $55.6 million, making it the...
What Does Women and Hollywood Mean To You?
I wanted to share with you the news that I am going to be one of this year’s recipients of the Susan B. Anthony award this Wednesday night from the NYC chapter of the National Organization for...
My First Forbes Piece: Gravity — A Step Forward for Women Onscreen
I believe that it is important to talk about the issues related to women and Hollywood to as wide as audience as possible. That’s the only way we will make progress. So, I am happy to report that...
TV Pilot News Roundup for October 7
Here’s some exciting women written and produced TV pilot news that’s happened in the last couple weeks. Diablo Cody returns to the small screen with Prodigy for Fox, Liz Garcia will be...
Weekly Update for October 4: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Weekend Concussion — Written and Directed by Stacie Passon Concussion was one of my favorite movies at Sundance this year. It was truly a revelation. Robin...
Nahnatchka Khan and Reese Witherspoon Team Up on Happily Ever After
Disney has picked up Happily Ever After from Don’t Trust the B creator, Nahnatchka Khan. Reese Witherspoon is on board to star and produce the project through with her Pacific Standard partner,...
How Will We Remember ‘Breaking Bad’s Skyler White?
In the lead-up to the final half-season of Breaking Bad, AMC’s much-admired show about an Albuquerque chemistry teacher who began cooking and selling methamphetamine when he received a cancer...
Jane Fonda Will Receive AFI Lifetime Achievement Award
Jane Fonda will be the 42nd recipient of the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honor for a career in film. Fonda has appeared in over 40 movies since her debut in 1960’s Tall Story....
New Trailer: Diana — Starring Naomi Watts
Here is the first domestic trailer for Diana, starring Naomi Watts. The film covers the period during the last two years of Diana’s life while she was dating surgeon Hasnat Khan (Naveen Andrews)...
Natalie Portman Teams with Marvel for STEM Mentoring Program for Girls
Natalie Portman has teamed up with Marvel to announce the Ultimate Mentor Adventure, a mentor program/contest that gives girls the opportunities to interview women working in science, technology,...
The Big O: How Sandra Bullock Found Her Own Sense of Gravity
AsSandra Bullock embarks on her spellbinding one-woman space odyssey in AlfonsoCuaron’s stunning 3-D thriller Gravity at theaters this weekend, let usconsider her extraordinary trajectory right...
Quote of the Day: Jennifer Lawrence to Hollywood’s Diet Police “Go F*** Yourself”
In the upcoming November issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK, Jennifer Lawrence speaks about the time she was labeled as “fat” by producers and told that if she didn’t lose weight, she’d be...
Sundance Interview Rerun: Concussion — Directed by Stacie Passon, Produced by Rose Troche, Starring Robin Weigert
Originally published on February 1st. Concussion opens in theaters and on VOD on October 4th. Concussion was one of my favorite movies at Sundance this year. It was truly a revelation. Robin...
DGA Report: Women Represent Only 14% of TV Directors
The DGA has released its annual report tracking the statistics of directors on episodic TV shows for the 2012–2013 season, and the news is that there is no news. The numbers have remained pretty...
Trailer Watch: Frozen — Co-Directed by Jennifer Lee
Jennifer Lee, co-director of the upcoming Frozen, is only the second woman in Disney history to direct a Disney animated feature. Frozen, is an adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale,...
Oprah Will Receive The Hollywood Reporter’s Sherry Lansing Leadership Award
Oprah will be the 2013 recipient of The Hollywood Reporter’s Sherry Lansing Leadership Award, which is given to a woman who is a leader and pioneer in the industry. To say that Oprah is a pioneer...
Wonder Woman Fan Film Shows Up Hollywood
With superheroes dominating the box office and pop culture landscape, it’s simply astonishing that there hasn’t been a female-lead film added the mix yet. While Marvel has a dearth of male...
October Film Preview
We’ve come off an impactful September for women in film with Haifaa Al-Mansour’s Wadjda breaking boundaries for women directors in Saudi Arabia and being the country’s first Oscar entry;...
“No One Can Say it’s a Level Playing Field” — Catherine Hardwicke Ignites Discussion on Women Directors
Catherine Hardwicke, director of Thirteen and Twilight, spoke candidly to Variety about her career. After Hardwicke directed Twilight, which was a huge deal for a woman director, she admitted that...
Aline Brosh McKenna to Write Live Action Cruella de Vil Film
Cruella de Vil is the latest Disney bad girl to get the live action treatment. Maleficent with Angelina Jolie playing the Sleeping Beauty villain already has finished filming and will be released...
Citizen Jane Film Festival and Summit
I’m heading to Columbia, Mo for the Citizen Jane Film Festival which celebrates independent films by independent women. I will be a part of the Citizen Jane Summit which is going to discuss the...
CNN and NBC Cancel Hillary Clinton Projects
After both CNN and NBC announced that they were both developing projects about Hillary Clinton — a documentary and a miniseries respectively — it caused a panic to say the least. The...
Trailer Watch: New Trailer for Philomena — Starring Judi Dench
Philomena, starring Judi Dench, has taken the festival circuit by storm — receiving critical praise at Toronto and nabbing the Best Screenplay award at Venice. Dench plays Philomena, a woman...
Natalie Portman Gives Some Real Talk About Feminist Portrayals in Hollywood
Natalie Portman, in an interview for Elle UK, gave some surprisingly blunt real talk about what Hollywood considers feminist portrayals of female characters. Portman has been outspoken about wanting...
Trailer Watch: Full Trailer for Black Nativity — Directed by Kasi Lemmons
Kasi Lemmons’ Black Nativity is based on Langston Hughes’ infamous retelling of the Nativity story with an all black cast. In this contemporary and musical setting, the film follows Langston...
TIFF Interview with Megan Griffiths and Emily Wachtel — Director and Writer of Lucky Them
Lucky Them tells the story of a stuck in place music writer played by the extraordinary Toni Collette. The film is directed by the wonderfully talented Megan Griffiths who directed the terrific film...
Trailer Watch: Sunlight Jr. — Written and Directed by Laurie Collyer
Laurie Collyer’s Sunlight Jr. is her latest film following up 2006’s Sherrybaby starring Maggie Gyllenhaal. Written and directed by Collyer, the film follows Melissa (Naomi Watts) and her...
Cross Post: The State of the Race: Will There be a Hillary Effect on the Oscar Race?
Imagine as we enter Oscar race 2013 three strong films written and directed by women, with leading women at the forefront, one of which is crowned the early frontrunner to win. Imagine an Oscar race...
Must Watch: SNL Girls Parody with Tina Fey
Over the weekend, Tina Fey hosted the first new episode of the latest season of Saturday Night Live. One of the highlights of Fey’s hosting was a parody of Girls with Fey playing Blerta,...
Kimberly Peirce: “How Many More Movies Could I Have Made?”
Yesterday, the NY Times Magazine featured a profile of director Kimberly Peirce as she readies the release of the remake of Carrie starring Chloe Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore. This is a highly...
Weekly Update for September 27: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Weekend Therese Set in the lower echelons of 1860s Paris, Therese Raquin, a sexually repressed beautiful young woman, is trapped into a loveless marriage to her...
Cinema Eye Announces 15 Nonfiction Short Film Finalists
Cinema Eye has announced the 15 nonfiction short film finalists for their 2014 Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking award. The announcement was made on the opening day of the...
Gamechanger Films to Fund Women Directed Films
A new movie fund, Gamechanger Films, is set to fund women directed films only. It’s the first fund to specifically focus on women directors. Organizers of the fund have said that the idea for it...
TV Trailer Watch: Homeland Season 3
The official trailer for season 3 of Homeland has been released just in time for the season premiere. The new season focuses on the repercussions of the CIA headquarters bombing. Carrie (Claire...