Features
Best of 2016: Renee Zellweger and Why It’s Still Not Ok to Talk About Women’s Faces and Bodies
Women and Hollywood is off this week. Please enjoy one of our top posts of the year. This piece is from July 1, 2016. Here’s a thought: how about we, as members of the media, cease to write...
Best of 2016: Kathleen Kennedy Doesn’t Think There’s a Woman Director Ready for “Star Wars”
Women and Hollywood is off this week. Please enjoy one of our top posts of the year. This piece is from November 23, 2016. “Star Wars” producer Kathleen Kennedy sounds determined to get a...
Best of 2016: Ava DuVernay Will Be First African-American Woman to Helm $100 Million Film
Women and Hollywood is off this week. Please enjoy one of our top posts of the year. This piece is from August 3, 2016. Yesterday, a list of CA tax credits was announced. On that list was...
Listen: Podcast with “Hidden Figures” Screenwriter Allison Schroeder
We’ve been counting down the days to “Hidden Figures’” release: We can’t for audiences to be introduced the unsung heroes behind one of NASA’s greatest accomplishments. The film is based...
How I Went from Assistant to On-Set Writer-Producer in a Year and Rocked It
Jennifer Coté on location in Muskoka Lakes, Ontario, during filming of USA Network’s “Eyewitness.” Guest Post by Jennifer Coté Juxtaposing snapshots of my life from one year ago with where I...
A Reflection on 2016 and a Promise for 2017
Friends, Let’s not pretend that 2016 hasn’t been a tough year. But as I wrote after the election, we here at Women and Hollywood are deeply committed to continuing and expanding our work in...
The Best Documentaries By and About Women in 2016
“13th” So many standout documentaries by and about women have been released this year. The films that follow are just some of our many favorites. These award-winning docs explore political...
The Best-Reviewed Women-Directed Films of 2016 According to Rotten Tomatoes
As 2016 winds down, critics associations and outlets are furiously compiling “Best of” lists. This was a really strong year for cinema — so strong, that a record-breaking amount of...
Breaking the Fourth Wall: December’s VOD and Web Series Picks
“Online Heroines” Whether through irony, autobiography, or documentary, this month’s batch of VOD and web series recommendations all chip away at the fourth wall, that barrier that usually...
2016’s Best Web Series By and About Women
The rise of digital content has increased dramatically over the last few years. Web series can serve as a home for topics that aren’t represented within mainstream media: LGBTQ issues, diversity...
The Best Women-Centric Films of 2016
“Arrival” We’re huge fans of many female-led films this year, and were especially pleased to see some real-life heroines have their stories depicted on the big screen. The women behind...
2016’s Need for Female Film Critics
“Lemonade” by Kiva Reardon, cross post from TIFF Here are the positions people assume I hold when I meet them at film festivals: personal assistant, girlfriend, publicist. Sometimes, if I’m...
The Most Feminist Moments and Exciting Developments of 2016
Viola Davis in “How to Get Away with Murder” In many ways, 2016 was a terrible year, and with President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence en route to the White House, the...
The Best Women-Directed Films of 2016: “American Honey,” “The Fits,” & More
“American Honey” Women directors may not have made a major impact at the box office this year, but they absolutely helmed some of the year’s finest films. With subjects as varied as a traveling...
Women Directed Ten Percent of 2016’s Top Grossing Films
2016 wasn’t a great year for female filmmakers at the domestic box office. Women directed or co-directed 24 of the top 250 highest grossing films in the U.S. this year, amounting to about ten...
Weekly Update for December 16: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” Films About Women Opening This Week Rogue One: A Star Wars Story The first of the Star Wars standalone films, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” is an all-new...
Women in TV: The Best of 2016
This year has been a shit show of unimaginable proportions, and we’re not sure how we would have made it without the help of funny women on TV. In celebration of the end of the longest 365 days...
Male Privilege Strikes Again: Director with Zero Screen Experience Lands “Cruella”
If it’s a day that ends in Y, it must be a day where a male director has gotten a job he’s not qualified for. As THR reports, first-time film director Alex Timbers is in negotiations to direct...
Breaking the Mold: December 2016’s Crowdfunding Picks
“Lipstick the Series” This month’s crowdfunding picks are all about breaking the mold. From a documentary set during the modern women’s movement to the second season of a popular web series...
Why Isn’t Casey Affleck Being Asked About Sexual Harassment Accusations?
Casey Affleck in “Manchester by the Sea” The Golden Globe nominations were announced yesterday and just as expected, Casey Affleck scored a nod for his role in “Manchester by the Sea.”...
Weekly Update for December 9: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“All We Had” Films About Women Opening This Week All We Had — Directed by Katie Holmes; Co-Written by Jill Killington (Also Available on VOD) Ruthie Carmichael (Stefania Owen) makes the...
Rory Gilmore Might, Indeed, Be the Worst. Or She Might Be Seriously Depressed.
Rory Gilmore is the most polarizing TV character since Hannah Horvath first put her foot in her mouth in 2012. At least, that’s the consensus judging from the recent think pieces and word-of-mouth...
Help Us Roast the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards
Guest Post By Megan Riakos On December 7, Australian organization WIFT (Women in Film) NSW staged a protest where members dressed as sausages stormed the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television...
Making Childcare in the Film Industry Possible with The Wee Wagon Project
Zoe Saldana, who was denied on-set child care, on The Today Show: NBC If we really want more women making the media that defines our world, we can’t ignore the giant stuffed elephant in the room:...
Oscars 2017: Documentary Feature Shortlist Includes “13th,” “Weiner,” & More
The Academy has revealed the 15 titles to advance in the race for feature documentary, and four of them are women-directed or co-directed, amounting to nearly 27 percent of the contenders. The five...
Weekly Update for December 2: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Jackie” Films About Women Opening This Week Jackie “Jackie” is a searing and intimate portrait of one of the most important and tragic moments in American history, seen through the eyes of...
Dudeocracy Alert: Female “21 Jump Street” Written and Possibly Directed by Dude
Again?!? In today’s case of “Are you fucking kidding me?” yet another guy with absolutely zero directing experience may be tapped to helm a franchise film, and a female-centric one...
Gilmore? Gil-less: Was “Gilmore Girls” Always Like This?
I guess it’s true what they say. You can’t go back to Stars Hollow again. I’ll admit, this is one I’ve been looking forward to maybe a little too much. Ever since it was announced that Amy...
Watch: “Girls Lost” Mixes Gender, Adolescence, and Supernatural Powers
Growing up can often feel like you’re living in a fantasy realm, and Swedish director Alexandra-Therese Keining aims to capture that feeling in “Girls Lost.” Based on the controversial and...
December 2016 Film Preview
“Hidden Figures” ‘Tis the holiday movie season once more, Women and Hollywood readers! This is the time of year to escape designated family time by going to your local theater and choosing from...
Sundance 2017 Competition Lineup Revealed, 36% of Films Women-Directed
“Casting JonBenet”: Sundance Sundance has revealed the competition lineup for the 2017 edition of the fest, to be held in Park City, Utah January 19–29. Of the 56 films that have been announced...
Putting it All Out in the Open: Crowdfunding Picks
“Netizens” A lot of social and cultural issues stem from those in power refusing to acknowledge the elephant in the room. In our crowdfunding picks, two documentaries delve into topics that are...
Alia Shawkat Is Awesome. So Why Has “State of Grace” Been All but Forgotten?
Alia Shawkat is killing it on “Search Party,” the new dramedy on TBS. The series centers on a confused twentysomething, Dory (Shawkat), and her obsession with a missing acquaintance from college....
Quote of the Day: Susanne Bier on the Lingering Threat of “a Female Vision”
Speaking at the Screen Film Summit, Screen Daily reports, “The Night Manager” director Susanne Bier dove into the perceptions of female directors in Hollywood. One of the biggest topics she...
Inner Lives: November 2016’s VOD and Web Series Picks
“Bwitches” It’s no secret that women lead rich, inner lives. From keeping their true selves secret from the public eye, to private struggles with illness, this month’s choices on VOD and the...
Weekly Update for November 23: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Miss Sloane” Films About Women Opening This Week Miss Sloane (Opens November 25) In the high-stakes world of political power-brokers, Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain) is the most sought...
Kathleen Kennedy Doesn’t Think There’s a Woman Director Ready for “Star Wars”
“Star Wars” producer Kathleen Kennedy sounds determined to get a female director on board for a movie in the “Star Wars” franchise, but she seems to be going about it the wrong way. Rather...
Quote of the Day: Gabrielle Union on the “Bullshit” She Experiences in Hollywood
Gabrielle Union is calling out the “bullshit” she experiences as a black woman in Hollywood. The “Being Mary Jane” star spoke with Harper’s Bazaar about “that sense of being...
Read Sarah Ruhl’s Inspiring Speech on the Election and Being a Female Writer
Playwright Sarah Ruhl was awarded with the 2016 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award last week. The prize, which “celebrates career excellence in American theater,” comes with $200,000. An...
Catching Up with “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life’s” Lauren Graham & Alexis Bledel
Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham are best known as Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, the quick-witted, close-knit mother-daughter pair in “Gilmore Girls.” The popular series, which ended in 2007 after...
Weekly Update for November 18: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Moana” Films About Women Opening This Week The Edge of Seventeen — Written and Directed by Kelly Fremon Craig “The Edge of Seventeen” A look at what it’s like to grow up as a young...
Oscars 2017 Foreign Language Contenders: Meet Paula van der Oest — “Tonio”
Paula van der Oest is a screenwriter and director. Her works have screened at film festivals around the world. She was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category for her...
“The Killing Season” Warms Up a Cold Case
“The Killing Season”: A&E The new docuseries “The Killing Season,” on A&E, will feel familiar to anyone passingly acquainted with true-crime shows. Its ominous music, abrupt...
Struggles and Successes: November 2016’s Crowdfunding Picks
“Guard” We all deal with struggles in our daily lives, and this month’s choices for crowdfunding picks showcase the day-to-day struggles women face. From a very real fight against privilege, to...
“Silent Women: Pioneers of Cinema” Explores Film’s Female Trailblazers
Book excerpt from the introduction of “Silent Women: Pioneers of Cinema” by Cheryl Robson “Silent Women: Pioneers of Cinema” (Supernova Books, 2016) is not just a book about women working...
Sexism Watch: Max Landis Trashes Female-Led “Arrival”
Screenwriter bro Max Landis is at it again. After the “Victor Frankenstein” screenwriter spent a good part of last winter insulting “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens” for its female...
Only Two of 27 Feature Animated Films in the Oscar Race Are Women-Directed
A record 27 features have been submitted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the the 2017 Oscar Race, but only two of them are directed or co-directed by women, amounting to...
Hollywood Women (Plus One Guy) React to the Election
A good number of us were shocked into numbness and dismayed by the outcome of Tuesday night’s election. America elected a demagogue instead of our first female president, and it’s devastating....
Weekly Update for November 11: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Arrival” Films About Women Opening This Week Arrival Amy Adams takes the world on her shoulders as linguist Louise Banks. When space ships arrive across the globe, Dr. Banks is called upon for...
A Renewed Purpose
Yesterday, many like-minded people woke up in shock that this country clearly did not share the values that we believe in. Today, the shock has worn off and the brutal reality has set in. While...
Producer Adrienne Biddle on the Mother-Daughter Relationship in “The Monster”
Guest Post by Adrienne Biddle I’ve thought a lot about why I gravitate towards the projects director Bryan (Bertino) and I work on. I’m not entirely sure either of us consciously went into our...