Films
Biopic of German Singer Nico in the Works
A biopic focusing on German singer Nico is in the works, Variety reports. The late singer was a 1960s icon who played with The Velvet Underground and became a muse of Andy Warhol. Italian director...
Julia Ducournau’s “Raw” Gets Release Date
The breakout horror hit of this year’s festival circuit has a release date. Julia Ducournau’s “Raw” will hit theaters March 10, 2017 and digital platforms in the summer, Birth.Movies.Death....
Trailer Watch: “I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House”
Consider yourself warned: The main character of “I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House” won’t live to see her next birthday. A trailer has been released for the Netflix original film...
Lifetime’s Broad Focus Partners with Chicken & Egg for Short Film Series
Lifetime’s Broad Focus initiative and Chicken & Egg Pictures have partnered up for a project that elevates women’s voices. The duo is producing “Shorts on Time,” a series of short films...
“The Night Manager” Director Susanne Bier to Deliver Keynote at Screen Film Summit
Writer-director Susanne Bier will deliver the keynote speech at Screen Film Summit 2016, Screen International reports. Just over a month ago the prolific Danish filmmaker picked up an Emmy for...
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...
Maggie Greenwald’s Sundance Romance “Sophie and the Rising Sun” Acquired
“Sophie and the Rising Sun” has found a home, Deadline reports. Monterey Media has acquired the U.S. and Canadian rights to the period romance, starring Julianne Nicholson (“August: Osage...
“Miss Sloane” to Make World Premiere at AFI Fest
Elizabeth Sloane is headed from Capitol Hill to Hollywood. “Miss Sloane,” a thriller centered on a lobbyist who faces off against the gun industry, will make its World Premiere at AFI Fest 2016,...
Tina Fey, Nancy Abraham, and More to Speak at PGA Event in NY
Tina Fey is best known as a writer and actress, but she’s also a powerhouse producer whose credits include “30 Rock,” “Sisters,” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” It’s Fey’s role as...
“The Lady and the Panda” Ruth Harkness Biopic in the Works
A biopic about Ruth Harkness is in the works. Variety reports that filming on “The Lady and the Panda” is set to begin next month in China at the foot of the Himalayas. Vicki Croke’s book...
Kadri Kõusaar on Directing “Mother,” Estonia’s Oscar Submission
Kadri Kõusaar is an Estonian writer and director. Her first feature, “Magnus,” premiered in 2007, and was the the first Estonian film ever to be selected for Cannes Film Festival, screening in...
Bird’s Eye View Releasing Jane Linfoot’s “The Incident”
Birds Eye View, an organization that ran an international film festival from 2002–2014 and currently runs year-round filmmaker training programs, is now getting into distribution. According to...
Jennifer Lawrence to Play Zelda Fitzgerald in Biopic
Jennifer Lawrence is swapping Mystique’s blue body paint for flapper dresses. The Oscar winner has signed on to portray Jazz Age icon Zelda Fitzgerald in “Zelda,” an upcoming biopic about the...
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...
Rebel Wilson Honored with Inaugural Annette Kellerman Award
“Pitch Perfect” actress Rebel Wilson was honored at the annual Australians in Film Awards gala, held yesterday in LA. Wilson received the inaugural Annette Kellerman Award, which recognizes...
Tribeca Announces Second Through Her Lens Women’s Filmmaker Program
Tribeca Enterprises has partnered with Chanel and announced the second iteration of Through Her Lense: The Tribeca Chanel Women’s Filmmaker Program. The program “balances industry support,...
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...
Attend 50/50 by 2020 Gender Parity in Entertainment Summit
Swedish Film Institute, Stockholm: Mark Standley On October 25 in Los Angeles, SAG-AFTRA and the Swedish Film Institute will host a one-day summit on the topic of gender parity in the entertainment...
Reed Morano to Direct “I Think We’re Alone Now,” Starring Elle Fanning
“Meadowland” helmer Reed Morano has signed on to direct “I Think We’re Alone Now,” a post-apocalyptic movie starring Elle Fanning (“Neon Demon”) and Peter Dinklage (“Game of...
Trailer Watch: Amy Adams Defies Orders in Final “Arrival” Spot
The arrival of “Arrival” is fast approaching, and in anticipation of the cerebral sci-fi thriller’s premiere, a heart-pounding final trailer has been released. “Arrival” stars Amy Adams as...
Stella Meghie on Who and What Inspired “Jean of the Joneses”
Interview by Eboni Boykin Stella Meghie has a blind script deal at Warner Brothers, a pilot in development with John Wells Productions, a comedy optioned by BET, and a deal to pen a feature script...
Taraji P. Henson on the Race and Gender Pay Gap: “Insult, Meet Injury”
“I knew the stakes,” Taraji P. Henson writes in her new memoir, “Around the Way.” “No matter how talented, no matter how many accolades my prior work had received, if I pushed for more...
Gotham Award Nominations Announced: “Certain Women,” “Weiner,” and More
“Certain Women’s” profile continues to rise. The nominations for the 26th annual IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards have been announced, and the Kelly Reichardt-directed drama is among the...
Comedy Pilots from Casey Wilson and Iliza Shlesinger in the Works
Get ready to add even more to your To Watch list: new comedy pilots from tag-team Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael, as well as Iliza Shlesinger are being developed. According to Deadline,...
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...
Books, Films, News, Television
Eva Longoria’s Production Company Adapting “940 Saturdays” Book for ABC
Eva Longoria, an increasingly busy multi-hyphenate, has another television series in the works. Longoria is reuniting with ABC, the network behind “Desperate Housewives,” to develop “940...
Glenn Close to Star in Film Adaptation of Meg Wolitzer’s “The Wife”
Glenn Close is set to star in “The Wife,” a film adaptation of Meg Wolitzer’s 2003 novel of the same name. The drama sees the six-time Oscar nominee playing Joan Castleman, a woman best known...
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...
Awards, Films, News, Television, Theater
Allison Janney Scores Walk of Fame Star and Announces Return to Broadway
Allison Janney is having a big week. The Emmy-winning actress was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday, and on Tuesday the New York Times announced Janney’s return to...
Jane Campion Becomes a Dame
Award-winning writer-director Jane Campion is officially a Dame. The Sydney-based filmmaker accepted the honor in a ceremony held in Wellington, New Zealand — her hometown — earlier...
Regina Corrado Is Adapting “Equity” for ABC
“Equity” is coming to the small screen. Deadline reports that the film, released earlier this year, is being made into a drama series, “which has landed at ABC with a script commitment plus...
Apply Now to EWA’s Scriptwriter Residency Program
The European Women’s Audiovisual Network (EWA) is offering a scriptwriter residency in Berlin from January 20 to February 17, 2017. This program is an “initiative dedicated to supporting the...
New Docs Turn the Camera on Women Directors
Cady McClain, writer-director of “Seeing is Believing” Directors Cady McClain and Amy Adrion are turning the cameras towards themselves — in a sense. These two filmmakers are developing...
Lone Scherfig’s “Their Finest” Gets Release Date
“An Education” director Lone Scherfig will close out the Santa Barbara International Film Festival with her latest film, “Their Finest,” on February 11, and about a month later the WWII-set...
Rose McGowan Calls Out Hollywood for “Rewarding Sociopaths”
“Take a stand.” The open letter Rose McGowan tweeted yesterday can be boiled down into that one sentiment. McGowan argues that it’s time for Hollywood to start recognizing criminals and...
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...
Trailer Watch: Kate Beckinsale is Unstoppable in “Underworld: Blood Wars”
“I’m finished with this war,” Selene (Kate Beckinsale) says. “Well, it’s not finished with you,” David (Theo James, “Divergent”) replies. And so Selene, the heroine of the...
Trailer Watch: Noomi Rapace Is the Virus and the Cure in “Rupture”
If you combine the visual flair of “American Horror Story” with a sadistic haunted house, you’d probably get something close to “Rupture.” A trailer recently dropped for the abduction...
Producer Jennifer Cochis Named New Director of LA Film Festival
The Los Angeles Film Festival has named producer Jennifer Cochis (“Smashed”) as its next creative director, Deadline reports. Cochis is succeeding director and producer Stephanie Allain...
Biopic About Trailblazing Mathematician Ada Lovelace Being Developed
A pioneering female mathematician’s untold story is hitting the big screen. Alison Owen and Debra Hayward’s production company, Monumental Pictures, has announced it will make a biopic about Ada...
Kelly Reichardt’s “Certain Women” Wins Best Film at London Film Fest
Kelly Reichardt’s “Certain Women” took home top honors at the BFI London Film Festival. The ensemble drama was named Best Film at the 60th edition of the fest. The Montana-set story centers on...
“Hidden Figures” Enters Oscars Race with New Christmas Release Date
“Hidden Figures” is now officially an Academy Awards contender. Variety reports that Fox is giving the upcoming drama a qualifying run with a limited release on December 25. Additionally,...
American Society of Cinematographers to Honor Nancy Schreiber of “Better Things”
The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) will recognize Nancy Schreiber with its Presidents Award at the 31st annual ASC Awards for Outstanding Achievement, Variety reports. The ceremony will...
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...
DOC NYC’s Feature Film Lineup Is 44 Percent Women-Directed
The complete lineup for DOC NYC 2016 has been revealed, and the gender composition of directors is refreshingly even. Women-directed or co-directed 48 of 110 feature films screening at the fest, or...
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...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Laura Israel — “Don’t Blink — Robert Frank”
Laura Israel started editing award-winning commercials and music videos while a film student at NYU. By the time she graduated she had formed her own editorial company, Assemblage. “Windfall,”...
Annette Bening to Be Honored at AFI Fest
Mike Mills’ “20th Century Women” recently premiered to rave reviews at the New York Film Festival, and much of that praise was directed towards the drama’s star, Annette Bening. The...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Nicolette Krebitz — “Wild”
Nicolette Krebitz was born and raised in Berlin. After graduating from the National Ballet School, she studied acting at The Fritz Kirchhoff School in Berlin until 1992. Afterwards, she worked in...