Films
Quote of the Day: Megan Ellison Urges Hollywood to Spread the Wealth
Accepting the Visionary Award at the Producers Guild of America Awards, Annapurna Pictures’ founder Megan Ellison referred to herself as an outsider, albeit one who has received a lot of support...
Zoe Lister-Jones’ “Band Aid” Acquired by IFC Films and Sony Pictures Worldwide
“Band Aid” just got its big break. IFC Films and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions obtained the rights to the comedy from writer-director Zoe Lister-Jones, IndieWire reports. IFC Films...
Sarah Paulson to Topline “Lost Girls” Adaptation Directed by Liz Garbus
Sarah Paulson is tackling another famous crime story. “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” star will topline “Lost Girls,” an Amazon Studios thriller inspired by the so-called...
Trailer Watch: Emma Roberts Faces Evil Forces in “The Blackcoat’s Daughter”
When a trailer begins with a decapitated head being mentioned, you know that a whole lot of unpleasantness is guaranteed to follow. A bloody, atmospheric spot for “The Blackcoat’s Daughter”...
Protesting Pressure: February VOD and Web Series Picks
“The Watermelon Woman” Whether they’re romantic comedies, suspenseful thrillers, or spoofs, each one of this month’s VOD and web series picks gives us a look at how women handle societal...
Weekly Update for February 3: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous” Films About Women Opening This Week This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous (Documentary) — Directed by Barbara Kopple (Opens in NY and LA; Available on...
Producer Cathy Schulman Launches Welle Entertainment
Women in Film President Cathy Schulman is working on yet another project. According to TheWrap, Schulman just launched Welle Entertainment, a production and finance company. Schulman, who stepped...
Emmy Winner Lili Fini Zanuck to Direct Documentary about Eric Clapton
A documentary about the legendary Eric Clapton is on its way and we couldn’t be happier — because it will be directed by Lili Fini Zanuck. Variety reports that Zanuck, who won an Oscar for...
Mimi Leder to Direct Ruth Bader Ginsburg Biopic Starring Natalie Portman
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Steve Petteway/ Wikimedia Commons/Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States Finally, some good news about the Supreme Court. The long-gestating Ruth Bader Ginsburg...
Trailer Watch: Jessica Brown Findlay Enchants in “This Beautiful Fantastic”
“Downton Abbey’s” Jessica Brown Findlay takes on the role of a reclusive aspiring author in “This Beautiful Fantastic,” for which a trailer has just been released. Findlay plays Bella...
Guest Post: Striving for Inclusivity as a Producer One Choice at a Time
Guest Post by Jennica Schwartzman The theater goes black. I’m watching the credits at the end of my latest film. It’s a private debut screening, and my first time watching “Parker’s...
Katherine Waterston Acquires the Film Rights to “A Separation,” Will Star
Katie Kitamura’s “A Separation” hasn’t hit shelves yet, but the novel has already found a fan in Katherine Waterston. The “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” actress has acquired...
Athena Film Festival Announces IRIS Screenwriting Lab Participants
The Athena Film Festival has announced the participants for its inaugural Athena IRIS Screenwriting Lab. The Athena IRIS Lab, “whose goal is to develop feature-length narrative scripts with bold...
Representation Matters: Girls Dressed as “Hidden Figures” Characters Will Melt Your Heart
Is it too early to start getting excited about Halloween? Last year we got to see thousands of girls dressed up as the women of “Ghostbusters,” and now we have “Hidden Figures” costumes to...
Watch: Patricia Clarkson is a Party Pooper in First Clip of Sally Potter’s “The Party”
Sally Potter’s newest film, “The Party,” is set to make its world premiere at Berlinale this month, where it’s screening in competition. Fortunately for those of us who can’t make it to...
Screen Rights to Rachel Lloyd’s “Girls Like Us” Acquired by EveryWhere Studios
Rachel Lloyd’s “Girls Like Us” is coming to the big screen. EveryWhere Studios has acquired the screen rights to the critically acclaimed memoir, Deadline reports. Lloyd’s harrowing account...
Jennifer Brea’s Sundance Winner “Unrest” Acquired by PBS
Jennifer Brea’s award-winning directorial debut has found a home. PBS has bought the U.S. broadcast rights to “Unrest,” Indiewire reports. The documentary centers on a medical mystery:...
New Research Shows Number of Women Directors Hasn’t Changed Over the Last Decade
Our sentiments exactly, Ava DuVernay: Democracy Now!/YouTube A new study from USC Annenberg’s Media, Diversity, & Social Change (MDSC) Initiative found that the past 10 years have seen little...
Meryl Streep Supports The Writers Lab for Women Screenwriters Over 40 (Again)
Once again, three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep is putting her money where her mouth is. For the third year in a row, the actress is supporting The Writers Lab, a program for women screenwriters...
Saoirse Ronan to Play a Refugee in “Sweetness in the Belly” Adaptation
Last year Saoirse Ronan earned an Oscar nomination for playing a young Irish immigrant who moves to New York in “Brooklyn,” and now the actress has signed on to portray another protagonist who...
Teaser Watch: Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith Go on a “Girls Trip”
Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith are reuniting for a wild “Girls Trip.” A teaser has been released for the female-led comedy, which sees the pair back onscreen together for the first time...
Find Out Why We Are Still Protesting At Meeting During Berlinale
Dortmund Cologne International Women’s Film Festival (IWFF) just said what we’ve all been thinking: “I cannot believe we are still protesting!” According to a press release from the...
Irish Film Board Awards 75% of Production Loans to Women Directors
The Irish Film Board (IFB) has made good on its pledge to “commit to gender parity in its funded projects,” Screen Daily writes. In fact, three of its four latest production loans were given to...
Viola Davis and Julia Roberts to Star in “Small Great Things”
Viola Davis and Julia Roberts are teaming up for “Small Great Things.” The A-listers are set to star in Amblin Partners’ adaptation of Jodi Picoult’s 2016 best-selling novel of the same...
Trailer Watch: Belle’s Inner Beauty Shines in Final “Beauty and the Beast” Spot
The final U.S. trailer for Disney’s live-action “Beauty and the Beast” is live, and the spot offers more insight into Belle’s relationship with her father, the Beast, and the enchanted...
Women Represent Only 20% of Non-Acting Oscar Nominations
Our sentiments exactly. “Toni Erdmann” Today in news that makes us want to scream, women make up only 20 percent of this year’s non-acting Academy Award nominations, according to research from...
Marielle Heller’s Next Movie Begins Filming, Melissa McCarthy Stars
Like many, we fell in love with Marielle Heller’s award-winning directorial debut, “The Diary of a Teenage Girl.” The writer-director’s next project, Fox Searchlight’s “Can You Ever...
Trailer Watch: Sandra Oh and Anne Heche Face Off in “Catfight”
Sandra Oh and Anne Heche trade epic barbs and blows in a newly released trailer for “Catfight.” The dark comedy sees the two playing old college friends who reunite at a party. Struggling artist...
Dee Rees’ “Mudbound” and Eliza Hittman’s “Beach Rats” Score Sundance Deals
The biggest deal of Sundance 2017 was for a woman-directed movie. Netflix shelled out $12.5 million for Dee Rees’ “Mudbound,” Deadline reports. Writer-director Eliza Hittman also secured a...
SAG Awards: A Night of Inclusivity, Empathy, and Women Taking a Stand
As politically bleak as the last 10 days have been, one thing is for sure: Hollywood is rising to the occasion. Last night’s Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards ceremony was less about who won what...
Quote of the Day: Octavia Spencer on Her Dream Role and Diversity
“Hidden Figures” just surpassed $100 million at the box office, and that’s just one of the many reasons Octavia Spencer has to celebrate. Spencer and her “Hidden Figures” costars, who...
Sundance 2017 Awards: Women Win Big During a Political Ceremony
Now, that’s more like it. The 2017 Sundance Film Festival held its closing awards ceremony last night and the winners reflect the actual world we live in: women won eight of the 16 filmmaking...
A Tough Feminist Conversation at Sundance
There is a story circulating about a star-studded lunch that took place last week at Sundance in honor of women filmmakers and others attending the fest. The hosts were Glamour’s Cindi Leive and...
February 2017 Film Preview
“A United Kingdom” There may or may not be love in the air this February, but one thing is certain: there is an abundance of female-led horror on the screen. There are, of course, some lighter...
Janelle Monaé, Issa Rae Among Essence’s Black Women in Hollywood Honorees
Essence has announced the honorees of its 2017 Black Women in Hollywood Awards. Musician and “Hidden Figures” star Janelle Monaé, “Insecure’s” Issa Rae, “How to Get Away with...
Weekly Update for January 27: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter Films About Women Opening This Week Resident Evil: The Final Chapter Picking up immediately after the events of “Resident Evil: Retribution,” Alice (Milla...
Trailer Watch: Abbie Cornish Fights to Remember Her Past in “Lavender”
Abbie Cornish plays a woman haunted by a past she can’t remember in “Lavender.” “I’m not sure if I’m seeing things, remembering things, or someone’s messing with my head,” Jane...
No Women Directors Included in Walmart’s “Diverse” Oscar Short Films
Today in WTF, Walmart bragged about its involvement in the Oscars this year and boasted about hiring some top tier directors for the gig. Problem is — they are all men. Score one more for the...
Paula Patton to Star in Upcoming ABC Series
“Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” actress Paula Patton is making her way to the small screen. She’ll topline ABC’s “Somewhere Between.” The drama, which is based on a Korean...
“The Salesman” Star to Boycott Oscars in Protest of Trump’s Visa Ban
Actress Taraneh Alidoosti, Iranian star of “The Salesman,” will not be attending this year’s Oscars. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Alidoosti announced via Twitter that she will boycott...
Quote of the Day: DP Nancy Schreiber on Opening Doors for Other Women
Nancy Schreiber is set to make history. The veteran cinematographer will be the first woman to receive the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Presidents Award, Variety reports. In fact,...
Trailer Watch: Dakota Fanning Takes on a Dangerous Preacher in “Brimstone”
When women are portrayed in Western films, they’re typically relegated to the sidelines. Rarely do they get in on the action. “Brimstone” is an exception. Dakota Fanning’s character, Liz, is...
Support Female Cinematographers: Recommendations for 2017 Viewing
Women accounted for just five percent of the cinematographers who worked on the top 250 highest-grossing films of 2016, and a female cinematographer has never been nominated for an Oscar. Because...
Trailer Watch: A Doctor Saves Lives Around the World in “The Resilient Heart”
As Valentine’s Day approaches, heart-shaped paper cutouts and candies are everywhere, as are cards waxing philosophical about love’s impact on the actual heart. We talk so much about the heart...
“Carrie Pilby” Gets a Release Date
If you enjoyed Bel Powley’s performance in Marielle Heller’s “The Diary of a Teenage Girl,” you’ll definitely want to check out “Carrie Pilby,” a coming-of-age story that sees Powley...
Refinery29 & TNT Team Up for Return of Women-Focused Shatterbox Anthology
Refinery29 is partnering up with TNT the return of Shatterbox Anthology, its women-focused short film series. According to a press release, Shatterbox “provides a platform for the next cycle of...
Sundance Sales for Women-Centric “Patti Cake$” and “The Incredible Jessica James”
Sundance Film Festival is a great place to see movies, and it’s also a great place to have your movie seen: the fest is a business hub, with sales being reported on a daily basis. Two deals for...
César Nominations Recognize Existence of Women Directors
Nominations for the 2017 César Awards, France’s national film awards, have been announced. The Césars are considered France’s equivalent to the Oscars. This Academy actually recognized the...
Sundance Deals: Sales for Women-Directed “Landline,” “To the Bone,” & More
This year’s edition of the Sundance Film Festival is shaping up to be a memorable one for women directors. In the past day alone Gillian Robespierre’s “Landline,” Amanda Lipitz’s...
Daisy Ridley to Play a Spy in “A Woman of No Importance”
We’ve seen how well Daisy Ridley can handle a lightsaber, and now we’ll have the chance to see her in action as a spy. The “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” breakout is attached to star in...
Jessie Auritt’s “Supergirl” Acquired by FilmRise
Naomi Kutin is poised to powerlift her way into audience’s hearts. The pre-teen is at the center of Jessie Auritt’s “Supergirl,” a coming-of-age documentary that was just acquired by...