Features
Negotiating the Real and the Surreal: Crowdfunding Picks
“The Language of Laughter” This summer, female-directed and written crowdfunding projects are making sense of the real world by telling stories infused with the surreal. By blending common...
Trolls Flood “Ghostbusters” IMDb Ratings, But Female Film Critics Fight Back
“Ghostbusters”: Sony As we continue our celebration of “Ghostbusters” this week, the film, which opens this Friday, July 15, faces yet another foe: phony IMDb ratings. In a move that comes...
Fighting for Female DP’s in “Shooting Women: Behind the Camera, Around the World”
An excerpt from the preface for “Shooting Women: Behind the Camera, Around the World” by Harriet Margolis, Julia Stein, and Alexis Krasilovsky. Preface by Alexis Krasilovsky. Every couple of...
5 Reasons We’re Excited for “Ghostbusters”
It’s “Ghostbusters” week here at Women and Hollywood, and we’ll be celebrating the film all week up until its official release on Friday, July 15. After all of the misogynist backlash, the...
Seeking Our Story: Mary Pickford and the Feminist Foundation of Hollywood
Pickford on the set of “Little Annie Rooney” Guest Post by Samantha Shada For five years I passed the signs on Venice at National; the only billboard sized image in Los Angeles with a woman...
Weekly Update for July 8: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Our Little Sister” Films About Women Opening This Week Under the Sun (Documentary) (Opens in NY; Opens in LA July 15) “My father says that Korea is the most beautiful country… Korea is...
It’s Just As Bad for Women Directors in Commercials and Ad Campaigns
While we at Women and Hollywood, and others in the industry, have been fighting for women to be given the opportunities to direct in film and television, there’s one segment of the business that...
Watch: “Underwritten Female Character: The Movie” Skewers Manic Pixie Dream Girls
We’re all familiar with the underwritten female character tropes that appear in a multitude of movies these days. And now YouTube sketch group Nuclear Family has gathered them all up in one...
Watch: What if Women Had Made the Most Iconic Presidential Speeches?
In a new short film by Tatia Pllieva called “Speech,” five actresses deliver selected portions of some of the most famous presidential speeches in history. Becki Newton (“Ugly Betty”) takes...
Weekly Update for July 1: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Our Kind of Traitor” Films About Women Opening This Week The Innocents — Directed by Anne Fontaine; Co-Written by Anne Fontaine, Sabrina B. Karine, and Alice Vial (Opens in NY...
Renee Zellweger and Why It’s Still Not Ok to Talk About Women’s Faces and Bodies
Here’s a thought: how about we, as members of the media, cease to write about, comment on, or judge how Hollywood actresses age, look, or present themselves? A marvel of an idea right? That idea...
July 2016 Film Preview
“Our Little Sister” by Eboni Boykin and Diana Martinez Women filmmakers and protagonists are especially brave in poignant stories being released this month, shedding light on global issues that...
The Academy Remakes the World for Women Directors
We have to take our victories. Granted, there is still so much to do, but yesterday was a monumental step forward. In case you haven’t heard, The Academy, which has come under incredible scrutiny...
Listen: Podcast with “Our Kind of Traitor” Director Susanna White
Women and Hollywood recently spoke with British director Susanna White about “Our Kind of Traitor,” her upcoming spy thriller starring Ewan McGregor, Naomie Harris (“Spectre”), Stellan...
Leslie Jones Takes to Twitter to Find Designer Duds for “Ghostbusters” Premiere
Leslie Jones in “Ghostbusters”: Hopper Stone /Columbia Pictures In today’s head-scratching “WTF” news, “SNL” star Leslie Jones experienced problems trying to secure an outfit to the...
Proof the Dudeocracy of Film Writers Exists Thanks to Latest Study of Top Critics
When we here at Women and Hollywood published The Dudeocracy of Film Writers, we were basing our theory on observations of the film writing industry, and what we saw going on around us. But now,...
Motherhood and Martyrdom: June 2016’s Crowdfunding Picks
Women content creators touch on some heavy topics in this month’s crowdfunding picks. From a web series about the underbelly of motherhood, to the reconsideration of the martyrdom of a patron...
How Can We Help the Working Mothers of Hollywood? Raising Films Has a Plan
Diane Keaton in “Baby Boom” Guest Post by Sophie Mayer Raising Films is a campaign for parent-filmmakers — and it’s urgently needed. While writing “Political Animals: The New Feminist...
Why We Should Care About the 2016 National Film Registry
“A League of Their Own” Guest Post by Haley Beasley and Zeyn Faddoul of Women in Film & Video DC Human identity remains paramount in its potential as an agent for societal change. Works in...
Another Male Director With Little Experience Given a Big-Budget Project
In today’s dose of “Are you fucking kidding me?” another male director with very little directing experience has been given the job of directing what’s most likely a big-budget film. As...
Re-Writing the Script: June’s Web Series Picks
“Caring” This month’s women-helmed web series picks are clever, innovative, and and wide-ranging in their representations of women. By putting experiences usually cast aside front and center,...
Quote of the Day: “The Girlfriend Experience” Star Riley Keough Talks “Shitty” Roles For Women
Riley Keough plays a law student and sex worker on Starz’s “The Girlfriend Experience.” The rising star explained the allure of the meaty role to The Hollywood Reporter: the chance to play an...
Weekly Update for June 10: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Week Diary of a Chambermaid — Co-Written by Hélène Zimmer “Diary of a Chambermaid” is set during the beginning of the 20th century in provincial France....
When the Moment Strikes: Crowdfunding Picks
This month’s crowdfunding picks test time in various ways. In Georgia Oakley’s “Little Bird” we travel back to 1941 London, where a young woman (Emily Taafe) is interviewing for the...
Quote of the Day: “Grace and Frankie” Creator Marta Kauffman Talks Aging on TV
The Hollywood Reporter recently hosted a roundtable of six comedy showrunners, and while the discussion featured many highlights, a delightfully candid comment from “Grace and Frankie”...
Listen: Podcast With Emily Best, CEO and Founder of Seed&Spark
Women and Hollywood spoke with Emily Best, the CEO and Founder of Seed&Spark, about the exciting new steps for the platform. It is going to bring audiences to the content creators....
Elizabeth Banks and Directing While Mothering
First things first, I am not a mom. Nor am I a director. But I have spoken with many moms who are directors and many directors who aren't moms. Second, this discussion is inherently sexist...
How Finding a Filmmaking Partner Changed My Career
Guest Post by Siobhan Devine Making an independent film takes a village, and that’s pretty much the only part that everyone likes to talk about; that two days or three weeks of crazy madness and...
Weekly Update for June 3: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
Dear followers: Welcome to the Women and Hollywood Weekly Update. Each week we will be sharing with you films by and about women that are opening around the U.S. We’ll also include information...
5 Ways to Stop Being Terrible When Discussing Amber Heard’s Bisexuality
Amber Heard: GabboT/Creative Commons Hey, tabloids, I get it. It probably seems almost irresistible when a rising starlet and her superstar husband break up. You probably pray daily to the divorce...
Why Isn’t Emily Blunt in the Sequel to Her Own Movie?
It’s bad enough when women aren’t even considered for roles that typically go to men, but when a film like “Sicario,” which was notable for having a female lead in an action-thriller, omits...
“UnREAL” Season 2: Happily Never After
“UnREAL”: Lifetime The new season of Lifetime’s caustic reality-TV satire “UnREAL” (premiering June 6 at 10 p.m.) kicks everything — and everyone — up a notch. Rachel (Shiri...
June 2016 Film Preview
“The Fits” by Eboni Boykin and Diana Martinez The women-centric, directed, and written films hitting theaters this month will make you laugh, cry, and cringe. There is plenty to choose from,...
Casting for Quentin Tarantino-Produced Film Calls for “Whores”
Quentin Tarantino: Georges Biard/Wiki Commons Consider this your daily dose of “Are you fucking kidding me?!” At the end of last week, a Los Angeles-based agency put up a casting call on Facebook...
Weekly Update for May 27: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Alice Through the Looking Glass” Films About Women Opening This Week Alice Through the Looking Glass — Written by Linda Woolverton In Disney’s “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” an...
Summer 2016 Preview
“Me Before You” by Eboni Boykin and Diana Martinez This summer will be packed with a broad range of films by and about women for your enjoyment as you escape the summer heat. Kicking off the...
Activism and the Abstract: Crowdfunding Picks
“Cave Small Cave Big” This month’s crowdfunding picks delve into the wondrous world of the childlike imagination, tackle intense topics like living with breast cancer, and consider women’s...
Why Sony Needs to Stop Freaking Out About the Trolls Attacking“Ghostbusters”
The New York Times published a piece yesterday detailing how Sony was excited that the “Ghostbusters” cast was going to be on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” this week to promote the film, which...
Seeking Our Story: Growing Up with Catherine Hardwicke’s “Thirteen”
“Thirteen” Guest Post by Angela Trott Catherine Hardwick will be appearing in person at this event, see details below. Catherine Hardwicke (b. 1955) grew up in McAllen, Texas on the border...
Men Intentionally Sabotage Reviews Of Entertainment Aimed at Women
It didn’t come as a surprise that a particular subset of men online set out to sabotage the upcoming all-female “Ghostbusters” remake. But surely that kind of intentional, misogynist scheme...
Weekly Update for May 20: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Maggie’s Plan” Films About Women Opening This Week Maggie’s Plan — Written and Directed by Rebecca Miller (Opens in LA and NY) Greta Gerwig’s name is now pretty much synonymous...
Laughing to Keep From Crying: May 2016’s VOD and Web Series Picks
“Bad Mother” Women are constantly taking risks to make their voices heard through alternative platforms. The web series and VOD picks this month demonstrate just how bold women media makers are,...
Quote of the Day: Pedro Almodóvar Says Hollywood Guilty of “Diobolical Sexism”
Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar has worked with many women throughout his eclectic career and made some of the most female-centric films coming out of Europe. Now at the Cannes Film Festival to...
Kerry Washington, Julianna Margulies, Sarah Paulson, and More Women of TV Talk Sexism on THR’s…
Kerry Washington, Julianna Margulies, Sarah Paulson, and More Women of TV Talk Sexism on THR’s Roundtable The Actress Roundtable: The Hollywood Reporter The Hollywood Reporter has put together...
Female Villain Scrapped From “Iron Man 3” Because of Stupid Toys
Consider this your daily dose of “Are you fucking kidding me?!” In an interview with Uproxx, “Iron Man 3” director Shane Black revealed a surprising truth about why Rebecca Hall’s...
Cannes and Women: Part One
Julia Roberts barefoot at Cannes: Wochit Entertainment/ YouTube It’s day six at the Cannes Film Festival and all three of the Competition films directed by women have premiered. Both Andrea...
A Creative Woman’s Journey
Guest Post By Amirose Eisenbach A mix of hard work, luck, and timing has allowed me to have a very fruitful and exciting career in entertainment for the last decade. From Warner Bros., to Fox, and...
Cannes 2016 Part 1: On the Ground at this Wack Job of a Festival
It’s really hard to describe Cannes. They screen the crème de la crème of films (according to the fest, anyway) but they also have a market with lowbrow fare like “Dudes and Dragons.” It is...
Weekly Update for May 13: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Money Monster” Films About Women Opening This Week Sunset Song (Opens in NY, LA, and Toronto) The film takes place during the early years of the twentieth century, with the conflicts and...
Fantasy or Reality? May 2016’s Crowdfunding Picks
“Afterbirth” This month’s crowdfunding picks are centered around the ways love, fear, and anxiety can stop us from distinguishing between fiction and reality. The short film “Dreamer”...
Maria Bamford Finally Explodes in “Lady Dynamite”
As far as I can tell, the only lyric in the opening theme to Maria Bamford’s gloriously surreal new Netflix show is “I’m a pterodactyl!” Except in the pilot, when it’s “Have you ever...