News
Mariska Hargitay to Make Documentary on Rape Kit Backlog
Mariska Hargitay is working on a documentary, slated to shoot within the next two months, about the backlog of untested rape kits in this country. The project has a producer but they are currently...
Update to Romola Garai’s Campaign Against Tesco
Romola Garai’s support of UK Feminista’s and Object’s Lose the Lads’ Mags campaign has paid off – both the Co-op and Tesco have capitulated, albeit in limited...
The Sapphires DVD Cover Controversy
The Sapphires, which was released earlier this year, is about the true story of four indigenous women from Australia who are discovered by a talent scout and are sent to Vietnam to perform for the...
Kathy Bates is Not Happy With NBC
Over the weekend at the Television Critics Association’s Summer TV 2013 Press Tour, Kathy Bates spoke out about the Harry’s Law cancellation and her experience with NBC. When asked...
Trailer Watch: Paradise – Written and Directed by Diablo Cody
We’ve been reporting a lot about Diablo Cody’s directorial debut in the last couple weeks–first about the film’s initial October release alongside Kimberly Peirce’s...
Film and TV News Round Up for August 2nd: Lake Bell’s Next Project, SXSW Short to Lifetime and Sarah Hyland to Produce
Here’s a news round up of some of the most notable television and film news from the past couple days. Modern Family’s Sarah Hyland is going to star in and produce the indie...
Weekly Update for August 2nd: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
This week there are no new women centric, directed or written films opening. Here’s the list of what’s currently playing in theaters near you. Films About Women Currently Playing ...
Diablo Cody’s Paradise to Premiere on Direct TV Next Week
As we previously reported, Diablo Cody’s directorial debut was hitting theaters on October 18th, the same day that Kimberly Peirce’s remake of horror classic Carrie drops as...
Headline of the Week: Where Are All the Women Directors?
A story from the UK Telegraph entitled Where are All the Women Directors by David Gritten has been making its way around the internet over the last couple of days. On the surface the story...
Ellen DeGeneres to Host Upcoming Oscars
Friday in August usually mean boring, but not today. After a big week when the Academy elected its first female African American leader, more news was made this morning with the announcement...
Trailer Watch: A Teacher – Written and Directed by Hannah Fidell
Hannah Fidell’s A Teacher was a favorite at SXSW where Fidell won the Emergent Narrative Women Director Award at the festival. A new trailer for Fidell’s taut and unflinching film,...
Helen Hunt to Write, Direct, Produce and Star in Ride
Helen Hunt is writing, directing, producing and starring in Ride. This will be her second directing gig following the 2007 film Then She Found Me. The film focuses on a 20 year...
Forbes Releases Hollywood’s Highest Paid Actresses List
Forbes recently released their annual highest paid actress list. The list is unfortunately, unsurprisingly very white and very young. And several of the actresses such as Angelina Jolie and Natalie...
A Open Letter to Cheryl Boone Isaacs: Remember the Ladies
Yesterday marked the first day of Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs’ tenure and she made the press rounds to talk about her priorities and goals for her new job. As we know, she is...
TIFF Announces Documentary Line Up
Last week, the 2013 Toronto Film Festival began announcing its line up. However that came with dismaying news for female directors–out of the 16 galas not one was directed by a woman. And of...
Romola Garai Takes on Sexist Magazines
Romola Garai, star of The Hour, is taking a stand against U.K.’s “Lads” Mags. In the video below, Garai perfectly explains the importance of eradicating these harmful images...
Women and Hollywood Welcomes UK Writer Kate Wilson
As you probably know by now, Women and Hollywood isn’t just about women working in Hollywood. That’s why it’s called women and Hollywood because the site is about how the...
Kristin Chenoweth Gives it to Anthony Weiner
This is what we have to deal with for the next month here in NYC. I hope we make it. It is just awful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgAjzlwClBw
Shonda Rhimes to Write Film Script About Female War Correspondents
Shonda Rhimes is returning to movies. She began her career writing Crossroads and Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement before changing our television screens with hit shows Grey’s Anatomy...
Jodie Foster’s Elysium Role Was Originally Written for a Man
In Neill Blomkamp’s upcoming Elysium, Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) is a Secretary of Defense for Elysium, a satellite hovering above Earth where the wealthy live. Below, on Earth,...
The BBC Academy’s Anne Morrison Appointed Deputy Chair of BAFTA
Adding to her role as Director of the BBC Academy (their training centre), Anne Morrison has been appointed Deputy Chair of BAFTA. She will support Chair John Willis, who is in the second year...
An African American Woman — Cheryl Boone Isaacs — Wins the Presidency of the Academy
It’s literally a new day at the Academy. The Board of Governors last night voted Cheryl Boone Isaacs an African American woman as its leader. She is the first African American to hold...
BFI Stats Show That the UK Claimed 15.3% of the Global Box Office in 2012
Although the UK’s share of 2012’s global box office is down 2% from the previous year, at 15.3% it is the third highest share on record and more than twice than what was earned in...
Spike Lee Thinks Only One Woman Has Made an Essential Movie
Another list, and another list that another list that includes hardly any women – one to be exact. Sometimes I try to let these pass, but you can’t ignore a list put out by Spike...
August Film Preview
It’s been a depressing summer for women at the box office but things are looking up…heading into August, there are a several great women centric, directed and written films to look...
Nine for IX: Swoopes Directed by Hannah Storm Premieres July 30
Sheryl Swoopes is one of the greatest women’s basketball players to have ever graced the court. Those early seasons after she had her son and she was playing on the Houston Comets when...
TIFF Trailer Watch: Mary, Queen of Scots
Screening at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival is Mary, Queen of Scots about the tragic monarch who lost her head. French actress Camille Rutherford plays the young queen in the...
Diane Lane to Play Hillary Clinton in NBC Mini-Series
Over the weekend at the TCA’s, NBC announced that they are developing a four part mini-series about Hillary Clinton starring Diane Lane. It will be written and directed by Courtney Hunt, who...
Women Directed Documentaries on HBO’s Fall Line Up
HBO announced their Fall 2013 documentary line up and it’s ruled by women directed features. They’ll be airing docs from Whoopi Goldberg, Andrea and Sean Fine and Cynthia Wade....
New Trailer Watch: After Tiller Directed by Martha Shane and Lana Wilson
I saw After Tiller when it premiered at Sundance. It is a film that needs to be seen and is so relevant to our times and the continued assaults on women’s reproductive freedom....
Film News Round Up for July 26th: Updates on Gone Girl, Nicole Holofcener’s Latest and Melissa McCarthy as a Spy
Here’s a news round up of some of the most notable news from the past couple days. Drew Barrymore is producing Animal –a horror film for the Chiller network about a group of friends who...
Amber Tamblyn and David Cross Do a Frighteningly Funny PSA About Women’s Health
Amber Tamblyn and David Cross have released a PSA about the recent attacks on women’s reproductive rights and health. Entitled “Gynotician,” the video follows a woman seeking...
Kimberly Peirce’s Carrie and Diablo Cody’s Paradise Go Head to Head on October 18th
It’s not like we get that many women directed films so it is always baffling films — especially such high profile films like Kimberly Peirce’s remake of Carrie and Oscar winner...
Weekly Update for July 26: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Weekend The To Do List – Written and Directed by Maggie Carey The teen sex comedy is a staple subgenre of teen films. Porky’s, Revenge...
Huff Post Live: Where Did the Women Go
I participated in a Huff Post Live conversation yesterday with some great folks including producer Lynda Obst about the lack of women on screen this summer. Check out our conversation.
70th Venice International Film Festival Announces Line Up
The 70th annual Venice International Film Festival announced their line up today and it’s very thin on women directed films. There are only two women directed films out of the 20 films that...
Carey Mulligan to Reteam with Writer Abi Morgan for The Fury
Carey Mulligan is in early talks to join director Sarah Gavron’s The Fury, written by Abi Morgan. The film will focus on the suffragette movement in the UK. This is the second time that...
Women Centric Films in Toronto International Film Festival 2013 Gala & Special Presentation Line Up
After taking a look at the women directed films in the galas and special presentations, we also wanted to take a look at the women centric films that will be receiving lots of attention in...
Report From London: Women Directors and Screenwriters in Decline According to New BFI Statistics
The BFI’s Stats Yearbook for 2013 was published this week and provides an unsettling wake up call for women working as screenwriters and directors in the UK. Only 25 of 187...
Alfonso Cuaron Defends Having Female Lead in Gravity
Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity is one of the most highly anticipated films of the year and has been receiving major buzz since the release of its teaser trailer in May. But getting this...
Video of the Day: Mod Carousel’s Gender Swapping Version of Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines
Check out Mod Carousel’s (a Seattle based boylesque troupe) reinvention of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines”. The troupe rewrote the lyrics, re-recorded the song and redid...
Natalie Portman to Direct, Write and Star in A Tale of Love and Darkness
Natalie Portman just received a grant from the Jerusalem Film Fund to write, direct and star in an adaptation of Amos Oz’s memoir, A Tale of Love and Darkness. Taking place in the 1940s...
Toronto International Film Festival Announces Galas and Special Presentations for 2013
This morning the folks at the Toronto Film Festival rolled out the beginning of the line-up — the galas and the special presentations. These are the film where we see the biggest...
Debra Messing Making Broadway Debut in Outside Mullingar
Early next year, Debra Messing will make her Broadway debut in Outside Mullingar. Messing will co-star with Brian F. O’Byrne in the production. Written by John Patrick Shanley (Doubt) the...
Comic-Con: The New Trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
A new trailer debuted at Comic-Con for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire during the panel for the film. Per usual, the new trailer is intense and compelling. Based on the second novel in the series,...
Rita Moreno to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at 2014 SAG Awards
Rita Moreno’s amazing nearly 70-year-career will be honored at the 2014 SAG awards with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Moreno, 81, is one of the only 11 artists and only Hispanic...
Must-Read Blog: Hollywood Boys Club
Check out this new blog, Hollywood Boys Club, that compiles examples of “men only” in Hollywood. Current examples include the all male writing staffs of television shows like Real...
Alyssa Rosenberg Joins Women and Hollywood
I have some great news to report. Alyssa Rosenberg, the amazing, talented writer is joining Women and Hollywood as a weekly columnist. When I was thinking about bringing in someone to...
Comic-Con: Veronica Mars Trailer
Out of Comic-Con is the first footage from the anticipated Veronica Mars movie. In March, creator Rob Thomas launched a Kickstarter fund requesting $2 million to make a film version of the critically...
Sony Pictures Classics Only Counting on Women for Austenland
Sony Pictures Classics (SPC) has made a calculated decision that the audience for the upcoming Jerusha Hess (who co-wrote Napoleon Dynamite) directed film will be predominantly women. They are...
Celebrate the 18th Anniversary of Amy Heckerling’s Clueless
I remember watching Clueless for the first time when I was in 5th grade. It was immediately my favorite movie because I wanted all of Cher’s clothes, her electronic wardrobe and thought Paul...