Films
“Coin Heist” Writer-Director Emily Hagins on Respecting the Teenage Perspective
Emily Hagins is a 23-year-old writer-director living in Los Angeles. She wrote and directed her first feature film at the age of 12, a zombie movie titled “Pathogen.” This project was the...
Sharyn Rothstein Adapting “Hester Street” for the Stage
“Hester Street” is heading to the stage. Playwright Sharyn Rothstein is penning a stage adaptation of the Oscar-nominated 1975 film, The New York Times reports. The film stars Carol Kane...
20 Most Anticipated Films By and About Women of 2017
“Wonder Woman” By Rachel Montpelier and Kate Gardner As we say goodbye to the festering disappointment that was 2016 — and try to be cautiously optimistic that next year will be a little...
“Mean Girls” Musical to Make its World Premiere this Fall
“Mean Girls” is finally making its way to the stage. The long-awaited musical version of the beloved 2004 teen film is scheduled to make its world premiere this fall at the National Theater in...
January 2017 Film Preview
“Underworld: Blood Wars” January is good month for fans of female-led action films. Both the “Underworld” and “Resident Evil” franchises are releasing their latest chapters. Even those...
Best of 2016: The Dudeocracy of Film Writers
Women and Hollywood is off today. Please enjoy one of our top posts of the year. This piece is from May 5, 2016. Yesterday, Owen Gleiberman was appointed chief film critic at Variety. We...
Best of 2016: Another Male Director With Little Experience Given a Big-Budget Project
Women and Hollywood is off this week. Please enjoy one of our top posts of the year. This piece is from June 21, 2016. In today’s dose of “Are you fucking kidding me?” another male director...
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...
“Hidden Figures” and Black Girls CODE Create Website for Women in STEM
Inspired by “Hidden Figures,” 20th Century Fox and Black Girls CODE have teamed to create FutureKatherineJohnsons.com. The website will be built by “the next generation of young women poised...
Watch: Viola Davis is the One to Watch in “Fences” Clip
“Fences” may revolve around the character played by the film’s director, Denzel Washington, but its costar Viola Davis who is getting most of the awards attention. And from this clip it’s...
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...
Trailer Watch: Female Friendships Conquer All in Lifetime’s “Beaches”
On January 20, 2017, we’ll be living through one of the most disappointing presidential inaugurations in the history of this country, but fortunately the next night we can drown our tears 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...
Cast Announced for Female-Driven Hacking Drama “Assassination Nation”
A new female-led film is heading our way. As Shadow and Act reports, Foxtail Entertainment and Phantom Four is making the teen-centric thriller “Assassination Nation.” The film will star Odessa...
Women-Directed Films in the Running for Best Picture at the Oscars
Oscar nominations won’t be announced until January 24, but we’re one step closer to knowing which films may score nods. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released a list of...
“13th,” “Certain Women,” and More Nab Alliance of Women Film Journalist Awards
The women have voted! The Alliance of Women Film Journalists has announced the winners selected for the 2016 AWFJ EDA Awards. The 10th annual awards were announced in 25 categories, divided into...
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...
Steppenwolf Theatre Company to Honor Phylicia Rashad
The Steppenwolf Theatre Company has announced that Tony-winning actress and stage director Phylicia Rashad has been selected as the 2017 honoree of the annual Steppenwolf Salutes Women in the Arts...
Trailer Watch: Oprah Reunites with Her South African Academy Grads in “O Girls”
“I wanted to help girls who were like me,” Oprah Winfrey says in the trailer for the doc “O Girls.” Five girls from Oprah Winfrey’s Johannesburg, South Africa school, The Oprah Winfrey...
Berlinale’s Panorama Program is 55% Women-Directed (So Far)
The Berlin International Film Festival has announced 11 films for its 2017 Panorama program, and six of them are directed or co-directed by women, amounting to about 55 percent of the slate. While...
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...
Human Rights Campaign to Honor Meryl Streep with Ally for Equality Award
The Human Rights Campaign has announced that it will honor Meryl Streep for the organization’s Ally for Equality Award at the 2017 HRC Greater New York Gala, Broadway World reports. The HRC Ally...
Trailer Watch: A Pessimistic Doctor Finds Romance in “Everybody Loves Somebody”
“I see it every day: the illusion of love,” says Clara (Karla Souza, “How to Get Away with Murder”), an OB-GYN with a cynical stance on romance, in a newly released trailer for “Everybody...
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...
Athena Film Festival Will Honor Eve Ensler, Patricia Riggen, Regina K. Scully
The Athena Film Festival (AFF) has announced its 2017 awardees, celebrating female leaders in the entertainment industry and those who support them. The festival will honor Tony Award-winning...
Trailer Watch: A Transgender Girl Fights for Her Rights in “Growing Up Coy”
A young transgender girl just made history by landing the cover story of National Geographic Magazine. Trans issues are getting the attention they deserve and need more and more, and the upcoming...
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...
Directors UK Partners with Channel 4 for Emerging Directors Project
If you’re a member of Directors UK, or just an emerging director, here’s a new opportunity for you: Directors UK, the professional association for British screen directors, is partnering with...
Jandy Nelson to Adapt “The Sky Is Everywhere” for Warner Bros.
Jandy Nelson’s 2010 book “The Sky Is Everywhere” is headed for the big screen, and the YA author has been hired to pen the adaptation for Warner Bros., The Hollywood...
“Rogue One” Takes the Box Office
Unsurprisingly, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” easily won the battle of the holiday box office this past weekend. As Deadline reports, the “Star Wars” anthology story took in $290.5 million...
Trailer Watch: Alice Lowe Has the Worst Pregnancy Ever in “Prevenge”
Atrailer has landed for “Prevenge,” writer-director-actress Alice Lowe’s deliciously unconventional portrayal of pregnancy. “You’ve got this force of nature now inside you. Baby knows what...
Tracy Oliver to Adapt “The Sun Is Also a Star” for Warner Bros. and MGM
“Awkward Black Girl” writer, producer, and actress Tracy Oliver has signed on to adapt “The Sun Is Also a Star,” Nicola Yoon’s bestselling YA novel. Deadline reports that Warner Bros. and...
Trailer Watch: Gillian Anderson in Gurinder Chadha’s “Viceroy’s House”
“Bend it Like Beckham” director Gurinder Chadha has teamed up with Gillian Anderson and “Downton Abbey’s” Hugh Bonneville for “Viceroy’s House.” The film “depicts the final few...
“Arrival,” “20th Century Women,” and More Earn AWFJ Award Nominations
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists has announced the nominees selected for the 2016 AWFJ EDA Awards. The 10th annual awards are presented in 25 categories divided into three sections: The Best...
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...
Trailer Watch: Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn Go on Vacation in “Snatched”
A hilarious red band trailer has dropped for “Snatched,” the long-awaited mother-daughter comedy starring Goldie Hawn and Amy Schumer. Just as you’d expect, the two make a perfect...
“The Bad Kids’” Principal Talks Education, Oprah, and Leadership
We’re incredibly excited to see Gal Gadot in “Wonder Woman” and Brie Larson in “Captain Marvel,” but as high school principal Vonda Viland proves, you don’t have to be a superhero to...
Oscar Foreign Language Shortlist 2017: “Toni Erdmann” Makes the Cut
The Academy has announced the shortlist for nominations in the Foreign Language Film category at the 2017 Oscars, and only one woman-directed film remains in the running: Maren Ade’s “Toni...
Trailer Watch: 24-Year-Old Emily Hagins Premieres “Coin Heist” on Netflix
Emily Hagins wrote and directed her first film, a teen zombie thriller, at just 12 years old. Now 24, the up and coming writer-director has a feature debuting on Netflix, and the trailer has...
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...
Sonequa Martin-Green Lands Lead Role in “Star Trek: Discovery”
The USS Discovery has its female lead. As Deadline reports, Sonequa Martin-Green has landed the lead role in CBS All Access’ upcoming “Star Trek: Discovery.” She’ll be playing Lt. Cmdr....
Movie About Planned Parenthood Founder Margaret Sanger in the Works
Astory centered on the woman behind one of the most important organizations in the U.S. and abroad is coming to the big screen. A press release has announced that Black Bicycle Entertainment’s...
First Set of Berlinale Film Festival Competition is 40% Female-Directed
The Berlin International Film Festival kicks off in February, and the first set of films slated to screen has just been announced. In the main competition, 10 films have been selected so far, and...
Trailer Watch: Toni Collette Unravels a Mystery in Rachel Perkins’ “Jasper Jones”
Since its release in 2009, “Jasper Jones,” by Craig Silvey, has been called Australia’s “To Kill Mockingbird.” Now the big-screen adaptation of the story is coming via director Rachel...
BAFTA Introduces New Rules to Exclude “Non-Diverse” Films
The BAFTA Awards are getting a makeover. According to The BBC, The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is changing eligibility rules for films competing in its annual awards as well as...
Women Film Critics Circle Nominations: “Hidden Figures,” “13th,” & More
“13th” Ava DuVernay’s “13th,” Kelly Reichardt’s “Certain Women,” and “Hidden Figures” are among the films to be honored by The Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC) this year. The...