Films
Denise Di Novi and Nina Tassler Form New Studio Dedicated to Inclusivity
Director/producer Denise Di Novi and former CBS Entertainment Chairman Nina Tassler will spotlight diverse stories via their new company, PatMa Productions. A press release announced that the newly...
Trailer Watch: Claire Foy Is Stuck in a Psychiatric Hospital in “Unsane”
Claire Foy’s latest role sees her moving from Buckingham Palace to a psychiatric ward. A trailer has landed for horror-thriller “Unsane.” “The Crown” star plays a woman trying to heal in...
Marielle Heller Will Direct Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers
“Diary of a Teenage Girl” director Marielle Heller is bringing Tom Hanks to Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood. The Hollywood Reporter writes that Heller will direct “You Are My Friend,” which is...
Trailer Watch: A Girl Decides to Live as a Warrior in “I Kill Giants”
“There are times when you have to ask yourself: Do I want to live my life as a coward or a warrior?” says a teen girl who’s embraced life as the latter in a new trailer for “I Kill...
Athena Film Fest Announces IRIS Screenwriting Lab Participants
Women accounted for just 10 percent of the writers behind 2017’s 100 highest-grossing films. The Athena IRIS Screenwriting Lab is designed to help improve this figure and get more female leaders...
Academy Announces Procedures to Enforce New Code of Conduct
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has made it easier for members to report instances of workplace misconduct. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the organization approved measures to...
Sundance: Women Sweep Directing Awards
About 40 percent of the films to screen in Competition at Sundance 2018 were women-directed or co-directed. One hundred percent of its directing prizes went to women. A press release has announced...
Sundance 2018 Women Directors: Meet Jennifer Fox — “The Tale”
Jennifer Fox is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning producer, director, writer, and camerawoman. Her film credits include “Beirut: The Last Home Movie,” “An American Love Story,”...
Weekly Update for January 26: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Please Stand By” Films About Women Opening This Week Please Stand By (Also Available on VOD) A young autistic woman (Dakota Fanning) runs away from her caregiver in order to boldly go and...
Sundance: Sexual Abuse Drama “The Tale” Snagged by HBO
One of the best-reviewed and most talked about films out of Sundance 2018 has found a home. HBO Films secured the rights to Laura Dern-starrer “The Tale.” Variety broke the news. Written and...
Today in #MeToo: Updates on Franco, Affleck, and Weinstein
Thanks to #MeToo and the brave individuals who continue to speak out, two more men are facing consequences for their past actions. James Franco was digitally removed from Vanity Fair’s annual...
“Big Sick” Scribe Emily V. Gordon to Adapt “The Nest” for Amazon
“The Nest” is coming to the big screen, and Oscar nominee Emily V. Gordon is set to take it there. “The Big Sick” screenwriter has signed on to pen a feature adaptation of Cynthia D’Aprix...
Cheryl Hines to Helm “Revenge Wedding”
Cheryl Hines is stepping behind the camera again. The Emmy-nominated “Curb Your Enthusiasm” actress has signed on to direct “Revenge Wedding” for CBS Films, The Hollywood Reporter...
“Edge of Seventeen” Writer-Director Kelly Fremon Craig to Adapt “Wild Game”
Kelly Fremon Craig has booked her follow-up to “The Edge of Seventeen.” The Hollywood Reporter confirms that the writer-director is taking the reins on a feature adaptation of “Wild Game: My...
Study: Women Are Being Shut Out of Popular Music
We’re living in the time of Queen Bey, but the music industry has yet to receive the memo. The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative has released a new study on popular music and found that, while...
“Black-ish’s” Marsai Martin to Star in and Exec Produce Tina Gordon Comedy
Thirteen-year-old “Black-ish” star Marsai Martin just lined up her first producing credit. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actress has signed on to star in and exec produce...
Sundance 2018 Women Directors: Meet Crystal Moselle — “Skate Kitchen”
Crystal Moselle is best known for her Sundance Grand Jury Prize award-winning documentary “The Wolfpack.” She served as producer on “Excavating Taylor Mead,” and in the last decade she has...
Tiffany Haddish Signs First-Look Deal With HBO
Whether she’s telling epic stories about a Groupon swamp tour, trying out different pronunciations of “Get Out” star Daniel Kaluuya’s name, or doing unmentionable things to a grapefruit,...
Helen Mirren to Play Catherine the Great in HBO/Sky Miniseries
Helen Mirren has portrayed both Queen Elizabeths and Queen Charlotte, and she’ll soon take on another famous monarch, Catherine the Great. The Hollywood Reporter confirms that the Oscar winner...
Pam MacKinnon Will Head San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater
Broadway director Pam MacKinnon will soon be making her way to the West Coast. The New York Times confirms that the “Parisian Woman” helmer will succeed Carey Perloff as American Conservatory...
Sundance 2018 Women Directors: Meet Susan Lacy — “Jane Fonda in Five Acts”
Susan Lacy has received multiple Emmy and PGA Awards. She created PBS’ “American Masters.” Her directing credits include “Spielberg,” “Judy Garland: By Myself,” and “Joni Mitchell: A...
Trailer Watch: A Brooklyn Musician Moves Back to the Midwest in LAFF Winner “Becks”
“Thanks for coming out. Now I know how Beyoncé feels. Beyoncé still lives with her mom, right?” a musician asks her very modestly sized audience in a new trailer for “Becks.” Becks (Lena...
Sundance Deals: Betsy West and Julie Cohen’s “RBG” Gets Distribution
“Colette” and Debra Granik’s “Leave No Trace” are in good company. Betsy West and Julie Cohen’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg documentary “RBG” is one of the latest flicks to get a deal at...
2018 Writers Lab for Women Screenwriters Over 40 Now Accepting Submissions
If you know or are a female screenwriter over age 40, this is for you: The Writers Lab’s 2018 program is accepting submissions. Produced by IRIS and New York Women In Film & Television...
Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer Band Together for Favored Nations Deal on New Film
News of Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer’s on-screen reunion just got that much sweeter. “The Help” co-stars are re-teaming for a holiday comedy, and thanks to Jada Pinkett Smith, we now...
Apply Now: Disney and Nissan Launch Search for Next Visionary Director
Ava DuVernay just accepted the PGA’s Visionary Award, and now she’s playing a role in a nationwide search to find the next visionary filmmaker. Timed to coincide with the release of DuVernay’s...
Sundance 2018 Women Directors: Meet Narcissister — “Narcissister Organ Player”
Narcissister is a Brooklyn-based artist and performer who works at the intersection of dance, art, and activism in a range of media including video art and experimental music. She won Best Use of a...
Guest Post: Why I Stepped in Front of the Camera for My Short About Grief and Aging
Guest Post by Susan Bay Nimoy In 1979 I was one of six women in the Directors Guild of America that confronted the male-run Hollywood machine by demanding more directing opportunities for women....
Yara Shahidi, Gillian Jacobs, Jessica Sanders, & More to Direct Season 2 of “Shatterbox Anthology”
Details about Season 2 of “Shatterbox Anthology” have emerged. A press release has announced the directors participating in this run of Refinery29’s women-directed short film series. The...
Melissa McCarthy, Dee Rees, and Nancy Meyers Directing Oscar Shorts for Walmart
What a difference a year makes. After hiring all male directors for its Oscar shorts project in 2017, Walmart has brought on all women to direct its 2018 campaign. Melissa McCarthy, Dee Rees...
Oscar Noms: Greta Gerwig Up for Best Director, “Mudbound’s” Dee Rees & Rachel Morrison Make History
Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson is moving up from her high school production of “Merrily We Roll Along” all the way to the Academy Awards. Oscar nominations are in, and Greta Gerwig’s...
Sundance 2018 Women Directors: Meet Stephanie Soechtig — “The Devil We Know”
Stephanie Soechtig is an award-winning writer, producer, and documentary film director. Her films “Fed up” and “Under the Gun” were previously nominated for Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize....
Benita Ozoude and Giselle Bonilla Named Horizon Award Winners at Sundance
The Horizon Awards were given out this Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival. A press release announced Benita Ozoude and Giselle Bonilla as this year’s recipients. The pair were presented the...
Rachel Weisz to Topline Sci-Fi “Cloud One”
Rachel Weisz has recently led a Holocaust drama, a gothic mystery, and a forbidden romance, and the Oscar winner is taking on yet another genre in her latest role. She’s signed on to star in...
Sundance 2018 Women Directors: Meet Amy Adrion — “Half the Picture”
Amy Adrion is a graduate of the MFA film directing program at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her prior credits include “Shoegazer,” “The Home of Split Pea Soup,” and “Sucks...
Trailer Watch: Oprah Offers Words of Wisdom in “A Wrinkle in Time”
When Oprah Winfrey talks, everybody listens. The mogul and recent Cecil B. DeMille Award winner has a lot to say in the new trailer for Ava DuVernay’s “A Wrinkle in Time.” The big-budget...
Sundance Deals: Keira Knightley-Starrer “Colette” and Debra Granik’s “Leave No Trace” Score Deals
Sundance kicked off a few days ago and the business side of the Park City fest is just heating up. The largest indie fest in the U.S. is hosting the world premieres of 100 films, many of which are...
SAG and PGA 2018: Wins for Nicole Kidman and Women-Led Projects
Women’s voices were heard loud and clear this past weekend, and not just at the second annual Women’s March. The 2018 PGA and SAG Awards ceremonies also took place, on Saturday and Sunday...
Veena Sud Reuniting with Mireille Enos for New Feature
“The Killing’s” creator and leading lady are re-teaming for a new project. Mireille Enos is starring in “Between the Earth and the Sky,” a family drama from Veena Sud. Deadline reports...
Cleopatra Series Headed to Freeform
“Cleopatra” by Michelangelo: WikiCommons Looks like Elizabeth II and Victoria won’t be the only queens with their own TV shows. Deadline reports that Freeform is close to giving the green light...
Sundance 2018 Women Directors: Meet Anouk Whissell — “Summer of ’84”
Anouk Whissell is a Montreal-based filmmaker and animator. Made with her filmmaker collaborators François Simard and Yoann-Karl Whissel, Anouk Whissell’s debut feature, “Turbo Kid,” premiered...
Sundance 2018 Women Directors: Meet Amy Scott — “Hal”
Amy Scott is a director and editor. A former media producer for the University of Chicago, she has been editing social-issue documentaries for over 15 years. “Hal” is her feature directorial...
Sundance 2018 Women Directors: Meet Bernadett Tuza-Ritter— “A Woman Captured”
Bernadett Tuza-Ritter is a Hungarian independent film director and editor. Her 2013 film “Cinetrain — Russian Winter” won the audience award at Vision du Reel documentary festival. “A...
Sundance 2018 Women Directors: Meet Ísold Uggadóttir — “And Breathe Normally”
Ísold Uggadóttir is an award-winning director from Iceland whose short films have screened at over 100 festivals including Telluride, Sundance, and New Directors / New Films at MoMA, and the Film...
Sundance 2018 Women Directors: Meet Josephine Decker — “Madeline’s Madeline”
Josephine Decker is part of Time Warner’s 150 incubator, Sundance Institute’s New Frontier Lab, and one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film.” Her previous works have...
Sundance 2018 Women Directors: Meet Augustine Frizzell — “Never Goin’ Back”
Augustine Frizzell is the director of “I Was A Teenage Girl” and “Minor Setback,” both of which premiered at SXSW and screened at many other festivals worldwide. “Never Goin’ Back” is...
Sundance 2018 Women Directors: Meet Elizabeth Chomko — “What They Had”
Elizabeth Chomko is an American film director, screenwriter, playwright and actress. She is an alum of the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriters and Composers Labs, and in 2015 won an Academy Nicholl...
Sundance 2018 Women Directors: Meet Valeria Bertuccelli— “The Queen of Fear”
Valeria Bertuccelli is an Argentine actress who has spent the last 20 years acting for television and film. Her past credits include films that have screened at film festivals all over the world,...
Sundance 2018 Women Directors: Meet Heather Lenz — “Kusama — Infinity”
Writer, director, and producer Heather Lenz has worked on film and television projects in various roles including as a researcher on programs for The History Channel and Food Network. She was also...
Sundance 2018 Women Directors: Meet Sandi Tan — “Shirkers”
Sandi Tan is a Singaporean-born, California-based novelist and filmmaker. Her short films have played at over 100 film festivals including the New York Film Festival, Clermont-Ferrand International...
Sundance 2018 Women Directors: Meet Cristina Costantini — “Science Fair”
Christina Costantini has reported and produced for the New Haven Independent, The Huffington Post, ABC News, Univision, and Fusion. Her first TV documentary, which looked at sex trafficking in...