Features
Quote of the Day: Jessica Chastain’s Goal is to Work with a Female Director Every Year
Jessica Chastain is among the most vocal Hollywood A-Listers championing inclusivity in the industry, both onscreen and behind the scenes. In 2015, she published an essay via The Hollywood Reporter...
Weekly Update for November 4: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Operator” Films About Women Opening This Week My Dead Boyfriend (Also Available on VOD) Mary’s (Heather Graham) life has been defined by a string of temp jobs and a half-hearted attempt to...
A Legacy of Their Own: Crowdfunding Picks
“Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers” It’s probably fair to say that most artists want their work to remain relevant after they’re gone; for people to remember them because their art is...
The Fallout From Trauma: ‘The Fall’ Returns
Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan on “The Fall”: BBC On its surface, you could fairly accuse “The Fall” of being yet another drama about a sexy, seductive serial killer (Jamie Dornan). On...
November 2016 Film Preview
“Moana” As the holidays begin to kick into high gear, so does award season. This month is packed with performances by actresses who are considered likely to receive Oscar nods.. If you’re not...
Daisy Ridley is Done With “Mary Sue” Criticisms, and Quite Frankly So Are We
“Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens”: Disney After months of angry fanboys complaining that Rey’s excellent piloting abilities and Force powers made her the worst kind of Mary Sue and the...
Weekly Update for October 28: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“The Eagle Huntress” Films About Women Opening This Week The Eagle Huntress (Documentary) (Opens November 2 in NY and LA) Narrated by Daisy Ridley, “The Eagle Huntress” follows Aisholpan, a...
Decision 2016: October’s VOD and Web Series Picks
“The Young Hillary Diaries”: Lifetime Decisions are at the core of most narratives. The emphasis on personal decisions are at the heart of our VOD and web series picks this month. The women...
When Visionary Women Aren’t Trusted: Emma Rice Out at The Globe Theatre
Just two days ago I read a story about Emma Rice, the new (she started in April) and soon to depart Artistic Director of The Globe Theatre in London. She was on a panel sponsored by Tonic Theatre...
Quote of the Day: Helen Mirren Says She’s “The Nastiest of All Nasty Women”
Helen Mirren is the “nastiest of all nasty women” — at least that’s how she described herself at the Elle Women in Hollywood Awards, held Monday in LA. The Oscar winner joined millions...
Tracey Ullman, Still a Master Class in Impersonation
Tracey Ullman’s new HBO sketch-comedy show, “Tracey Ullman’s Show,” is a master class in impersonation, and so is the woman herself. During a recent conversation with writer Patty Marx at...
“Good Girls Revolt”: Herstory, Repeating Itself
“Good Girls Revolt,” on Amazon Prime starting Oct. 28, is a perfect storm of things I love: journalism and feminism and 1960s New York City and Nora Ephron (if only briefly). So to claim I’m...
Guest Post: How I Went from Editor to Director
Guest Post by Melissa Kent I have edited more than 20 features and TV movies with credits that include “The Virgin Suicides,” “Four Christmases,” “The Age of Adaline,” and “American...
Weekly Update for October 21: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“It Had to Be You” Films About Women Opening This Week It Had to Be You — Written and Directed by Sasha Gordon Sonia (Cristin Milioti) is a quirky, neurotic jingle writer who has always...
Book Excerpt: “Never Done: A History of Women’s Work in Media Production”
by Erin Hill There’s a myth in Hollywood that women did not participate in much of film history except as actors or, more rarely, as screenwriters, because they were pushed out from behind the...
Exclusive: Cristin Milioti’s Relationship Is a Seven Out of 10 in “It Had to Be You” Clip
Long term relationships and intimacy aren’t all they are cracked up to be in this exclusive clip from Sasha Gordon’s “It Had to Be You.” Sonia (Cristin Milioti, “Fargo,” “The Mindy...
Know No Boundaries: Crowdfunding Picks
“Mourning Dove” storyboard The creativity and audacity of women directors and writers know no bounds in this round of crowdfunding picks. These stories, ranging from sharp-witted comedies to...
Quote of the Day: Universal Head Donna Langley Talks Inclusion and Diversity
Universal Chairperson Donna Langley spoke about the importance of inclusion and diversity at Fortune’s Most Powerful Woman Summit on Tuesday, but the exec also recognized that Hollywood needs to...
A White Man Is Directing Sony Pictures’ Live-Action “Mulan”
Diversity, inclusion, and sexism continue to feature prominently in conversations, scholarship, and headlines about Hollywood, but here we are with the news that a white man will direct a...
In the Wake of Trump, Hollywood Must Confront Its Own Misogyny
Hollywood is known as a liberal community. Many of the power moguls donate millions upon millions of dollars to Democratic candidates. But for many women working in Hollywood, both on-screen and...
Weekly Update for October 14: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Certain Women” Films About Women Opening This Week Certain Women — Written and Directed by Kelly Reichardt Kelly Reichardt directs an ensemble cast led by Michelle Williams, Kristen...
Quote of the Day: Ava DuVernay Says Hollywood is “a Patriarchy”
Ava DuVernay is having one hell of a 2016. After bursting into Oscar conversations, mainstream Hollywood circles, and onto A-lists in 2014 with her film “Selma,” DuVernay has been incredibly...
The Personal Is Political: Crowdfunding Picks
“Valentina” storyboard As November 8 draws ever closer, it seems like the only thing people are talking or writing about is politics. Unsurprisingly, intersectional feminist...
Weekly Update for October 7: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“The Girl on the Train” Films About Women Opening This Week The Girl on the Train — Written by Erin Cressida Wilson Rachel (Emily Blunt), devastated by her recent divorce, spends her...
“Divorce” is No “Catastrophe”
Maybe it’s just that Sharon Horgan’s caustic dialogue sounds better in her own Irish accent. Maybe it’s too soon after “The Affair” to watch another well-off couple duking it out in an...
Two Redheads and a Fleabag: In Defense of the Comedy Anti-Heroine
“Fleabag”: Amazon Ari, the narrator of Elisa Albert’s novel “After Birth,” describes how she felt around other feminists when she was a student: “I was a person. I mattered. I was in fact...
Guest Post: My First Year Running a Production Company
Guest Post by Devin Shepherd A little over a year ago, I started Wild Obscura Films, a production company, with my business partner, Nora Unkel. We focus on narrative, female-driven content created...
Listen: Podcast with “13th” Director Ava DuVernay
It’s amazing to be reminded that director Ava DuVernay didn’t pick up a camera until she was 33 years old. She has come so far in such a short time. I sat down with her last week and talked...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Khushboo Ranka — “An Insignificant Man”
Khushboo Ranka has experience in the fields of journalism, graphic design, and filmmaking. “Continuum,” a short film she wrote and directed at the age of 20, won the best short film at the...
Chantal Akerman: May Her Memory Be for a Blessing
Guest Post by Jenni Olson “Chantal Akerman committed suicide yesterday.” That was all I could manage to write in my journal on the evening of October 6, 2015. It was also my 53rd birthday that...
October 2016 Film Preview
“The Girl on the Train” For those of you who are gearing up for awards season or are planning to celebrate Halloween at the movies, we at Women and Hollywood would just like to say you will not...
Weekly Update for September 30: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“American Honey” Films About Women Opening This Week American Honey — Written and Directed by Andrea Arnold Star (Sasha Lane), an adolescent girl from a troubled home, runs away with a...
“Amanda Knox”: Making a Monster
“Amanda Knox”: Netflix “Inappropriate.” “Inexplicable.” “A little bit anarchist.” “This is not what grief looks like.” These are observations about a young woman’s...
NYFF 2016 Highlights: Ava DuVernay, Annette Bening, and More
“13th” The 54th annual New York Film Festival opens with a bang today. One of our most anticipated titles of the year, never mind this particular fest, holds the honor of kicking off the...
Making Your Own Way: September Web Series and VOD Picks
“Ladies Room” Too often, stories about women fall into the same tired tropes: the search for a husband, children, and “having it all.” This month’s picks for web series and VOD highlight...
Quote of the Day: Amma Asante on Trusting Female Filmmakers
Amma Asante’s “A United Kingdom” is set to open the 60th BFI London Film Festival in a week, and her film may be an awards contender this year. Like any female director, Asante has no doubt...
Celebrating Nine Years of Women and Hollywood
Nine years ago this September (I never remember the exact date) I started a website on blogger called Women and Hollywood. I culled links about women in the entertainment industry, started going to...
Guest Post: How to Be an Ally — Tips for Men Working with Women in Film Production
by Graham Sheldon The entertainment industry has a massive problem. Women are rarely behind the camera, and it isn’t for lack of interest or effort on their parts. I consider myself lucky to...
Weekly Update for September 23: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Queen of Katwe” Films About Women Opening This Week Queen of Katwe — Directed by Mira Nair For ten-year-old Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga) and her family, life in the impoverished slum...
Quote of the Day: “Selma” Star David Oyelowo On How He Supports Women Directors
“Selma” breakout David Oyelowo sat down with Variety to discuss his two upcoming projects, the chess underdog story “Queen of Katwe” and the interracial romance “A United Kingdom.” Both...
Solution for Hollywood’s Woman Director Problem: Demand More from Agencies
Guest Post By Rachel Feldman It’s about time that gender equality for directors in Hollywood has become news. It’s taken decades of pushing this story uphill, but the film and television...
“Fleabag” is a Feminist Tragi-Comedy with Bite
Phoebe Waller-Bridge in “Fleabag”: Amazon Traditionally, female narration has taken place rather ethereally, as if the character is allowing us a genteel peek into her diary: One of its most...
Strong Women, Both Real and Fictional: September 2016’s Crowdfunding Picks
“Nasbandi” As the theme song to Netflix’s “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” says, “females are strong as hell.” This month’s crowdfunding picks highlight the strength and courage women...
Listen: Podcast with “The Dressmaker” Director Jocelyn Moorhouse and Producer Sue Maslin
Women and Hollywood spoke with the women behind “The Dressmaker,” a dark comedy starring Kate Winslet as a sophisticated couturier who returns to her middle-of-nowhere hometown to reconcile with...
Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards Have All Male Finalists and Judges
In today’s edition of “Are you fucking kidding me?!?” the Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards have whittled down their selection to five finalists, and, as far as we can tell, not only are they all...
Chelsea Handler On Changing Her Focus from Celebrity Gossip to Social Good
At Sunday’s kick-off of the Social Good Summit, hosted by Mashable and the United Nations Foundation in New York City, Chelsea Handler discussed the global impact she hopes her new Netflix series...
Fall TV Preview: Series By and About Women to Check Out
“Queen Sugar” By Kate Gardner and Rachel Montpelier Fall is here, and with it comes the most wonderful time of the year for television buffs. Some new and returning series are great, others less...
Kristen Bell Takes on the Gender Wage Gap
Kristen Bell, star of “Veronica Mars,” “Frozen,” and the upcoming sitcom “The Good Place,” partook in The Huffington Post’s new comedy sketch series “Celebs Have Issues,” which...
Weekly Update for September 16: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Bridget Jones’s Baby” Films About Women Opening This Week Bridget Jones’s Baby — Directed by Sharon Maguire; Co-Written by Helen Fielding and Emma Thompson After breaking up with...
Renée Zellweger and Sharon Maguire Talk Reuniting for “Bridget Jones’s Baby”
After taking a break from both acting and directing, respectively, Renée Zellweger and Sharon Maguire are back together. Their relationship began in 2001 with “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” a movie...
Quote of the Day: Rebecca Hall Says Marvel is “Paying for Their Mistakes”
Earlier this spring, “Iron Man 3” director Shane Black revealed why Rebecca Hall’s character was seriously underutilized in the film, and now Hall has spoken on the subject as well. As Women...