News
Submit Now: She Directed Contest
Exactly zero women are up for Best Director at the upcoming Oscars, but Women In Film, actress Kate Bosworth, and Chloe Wine Collection are intent on recognizing and rewarding female filmmakers this...
Paramount Launches New Dev/Green Light Process, Aims to Make Film Slate More Inclusive
Only a couple weeks after taking Time’s Up and the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s #4PercentChallenge — and promising to commit to a women-directed project in the next 18 months —...
Catherine Hardwicke to Direct “Lost Boys” Pilot for The CW
Catherine Hardwicke is reuniting with bloodsuckers. The “Twilight” helmer has been tapped to direct The CW’s “Lost Boys” pilot, Deadline confirms. An adaptation of the...
Lena Waithe & Cathy Kisakye’s “How To Make Love To a Black Woman” Gets Pilot Order from Showtime
Lena Waithe has yet another project in development. The prolific multi-hyphenate just received a pilot order from Showtime for “How To Make Love To A Black Woman (Who May Be Working Through...
Nahnatchka Khan Signs Overall Deal with Universal Television
Nahnatchka Khan is going into business with Universal Television, Deadline confirms. In what was described as a “competitive situation,” the company landed Khan for an eight-figure,...
Awkwafina Assembles All-Female Writers’ Room for Her Comedy Central Show
Awkwafina is opening doors for other women in comedy. The “Crazy Rich Asians” breakout has a semi-autobiographical Comedy Central series in the works, and The Huffington Post reports...
Four Gender Equality Docs to Air on WORLD Channel in Honor of Women’s History Month
If you want to celebrate Women’s History Month by supporting stories about women bucking tradition and demanding equality and justice all over the globe, then WORLD Channel is here for you. The...
Weekly Update for February 15: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING The Breaker Upperers – Written and Directed by Jackie van Beek and Madeleine Sami (Available on Netflix) Fifteen years ago, Mel (Madeleine Sami) and Jen (Jackie van...
Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino Sign Overall Deal with Amazon Studios
The Palladinos are all in on Amazon. Variety reports that Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino have extended their overall pact with Amazon Studios, the home of their award-winning dramedy...
Steubenville Doc “Roll Red Roll” Gets Theatrical Release and “POV” Premiere Date
A deep dive into the crimes that placed Steubenville, Ohio in national headlines, “Roll Red Roll” has found a home. A press release announced that Together Films has acquired Nancy...
Lifetime Network’s Hiring of Women Directors Far Surpasses Industry Averages
Lifetime Network is leaving its competition in the dust when it comes to enlisting women behind the camera. Rob Sharenow, president of programming at A+E Network, kicked off a recent TCA presentation...
Paul Feig’s Powderkeg Creating Diverse, Inclusive Writers’ Rooms with New Initiative
Powderkeg has launched its latest inclusive initiative. Paul Feig and Laura Fischer’s digital media production company is following up its incubator for women filmmakers with Break the Room...
“Black-ish’s” Marsai Martin Signs First-Look Deal with Universal
It’s starting to look like Marsai Martin may be a mogul in the making. Best known for playing Diane, AKA Dolly, on “Black-ish,” the actress is set to co-star with...
Apply Now: 2019 Writers Lab for Women Screenwriters Over 40
The 2019 Writers Lab is now accepting submissions. An intensive screenplay development retreat for women screenwriters who are 40 or older, the program will host its fifth edition October 2-6, 2019...
Women in Politics Doc “Knock Down the House” Nabs Record Sundance Deal, Wins Fest Fave Award
We already knew “Knock Down the House” was one of Sundance 2019’s biggest winners. Rachel Lears’ documentary about four working-class, progressive women running for Congress...
WeForShe Unveils 2019 WriteHer List
WeForShe has made its selections for its fifth WriteHer List. A curation of the best women-written, women-centric unproduced TV scripts, the annual list “seeks to answer the endemic gender...
Maggie Kiley to Direct Pilot for “Riverdale” Spin-Off “Katy Keene”
Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray) is leaving Riverdale and her gig singing at Le Bonne Nuit behind to pursue her dreams in New York City, and Maggie Kiley will be behind the camera capturing all the...
Social Media Campaign Examines Gender Rep in Hollywood and U.S. Senate “Then and Now”
The U.S. Senate is far from achieving gender equality: just 25 percent of senators are women. Yet it’s a progressive haven for women compared to Hollywood, as a new social media campaign...
Paramount Accepts #4PercentChallenge from Time’s Up and Annenberg Inclusion Initiative
Paramount has accepted Time’s Up and the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s #4PercentChallenge. Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, and Paramount Players are committing to announcing...
Jessica Barth and Caitlin Dulany Launch Voices in Action to Combat Sexual Misconduct
Jessica Barth and Caitlin Dulany met under strange and difficult circumstances. They and nine other women were being filmed at a coffee shop while discussing personal trauma. All 11 of them had...
Sundance Deals: “One Child Nation,” “Honey Boy,” and “American Factory”
This year’s edition of Sundance Film Festival wrapped up yesterday, but many of the titles in the program have plenty of screenings to come: three more women-directed and co-directed titles...
New Ad Campaign Celebrates Women Directors, Brings Attention to Awards Season’s Gender Gap
2018 saw the release of many acclaimed films from women directors, including Chloé Zhao’s “The Rider,” Debra Granik’s “Leave No Trace,” and Marielle...
Carey Mulligan Teams Up with Emerald Fennell for “Promising Young Woman”
2019 is shaping up to be a banner year for Emerald Fennell. Best known for her role as Patsy on beloved BBC drama “Call the Midwife,” the multi-hyphenate plays Camilla Parker Bowles in...
Apply Now: “Women Writing Competition” with Year-Long Development Deal
Kyra Sedgwick’s Big Swing Productions is teaming up with SeriesFest to broaden opportunities for women writers with the “Women Writing Competition,” which is seeking new series and...
Universal Is First Major Studio to Accept 4% Challenge
Universal Filmed Entertainment Group is following in the steps of Tessa Thompson, Kerry Washington, Jennifer Lopez, Lena Waithe, and many others. The Donna Langley-led company is the first major...
Lauren Greenfield Launches Girl Culture Films to Address Lack of Diversity Behind the Scenes in Advertising
Remember Always’ #LikeaGirl ad? Besides inducing tears around the world, the viral sensation won an Emmy, 14 Cannes Lions, and became part of the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection....
“Jagged Little Pill” Musical Going to Broadway
“Jagged Little Pill” is going to have a whole new life on Broadway. The American Repertory Theater musical, based on Alanis Morissette’s 1995 album of the same name, will be opening...
CAA Supporting Rising TV Writers of Color with Showrunner Mentorship Program
Less than a year after creating a searchable database of TV writers of color, CAA is once again striving to make the television writing landscape — and the path to showrunning — more...
Level Forward Secures 50 Percent Stake in Career Site for Women in Show Biz
Level Forward, Abigail Disney’s startup studio, is investing in another company striving to support women in Hollywood. Per the Los Angeles Times, Level Forward has obtained a 50 percent stake...
4% Challenge: Inclusion Initiative & Time’s Up Aim to Boost Number of Women Directing Top Films
Tessa Thompson, Kerry Washington, Brie Larson, Constance Wu, and many more have publicly vowed to announce a project with a woman director in the next 18 months. They’ve signed on to the 4%...
Sundance Pic “Hala” Adopted the Inclusion Rider
Written and directed by Minhal Baig, “Hala” is a coming-of-age story centering around a 17-year-old girl (Geraldine Viswanathan) raised in a conservative Muslim household. The film is...
Inclusive Film Programming Collective Launches at Sundance
Sundance 2019 is off to a great start. According to a press release, the fest saw the introduction of the Programmers of Colour Collective (POC2), a group of women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ film...
Chicken & Egg Award Winners and (Egg)celerator Lab Participants Announced
Chicken & Egg Pictures has confirmed the 2019 recipients of the Chicken & Egg Award (formerly the Breakthrough Filmmaker Award) and the selected titles for the (Egg)celerator Lab (formerly...
“Mystic Pizza” Musical in the Works from Melissa Etheridge
Good news, ’80s movie fans and lovers of esoteric “30 Rock” references: a “Mystic Pizza” musical is on the way. According to Deadline, Melissa Etheridge will be writing...
ACLU and “On the Basis of Sex” Team Up for “All Rise” Workplace Equality Campaign
Mimi Leder’s “On the Basis of Sex” traces Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s work in a landmark gender discrimination case. The events depicted in the biopic changed the world. And now the...
WIF LA Names 2018 Film Finishing Fund Recipients
Women In Film, Los Angeles (WIF LA) has awarded its 33rd annual Film Finishing Fund to nine projects about and/or made by women, a press release announced. The Fund provides cash grants and in-kind...
AFI Directing Workshop for Women Announces Class of 2020
Robin Cloud, Revati Dhomse, Ashley Eakin, Tiffany Huang, Marie Jamora, Bridget Moloney, Lara Panah-Izadi, and Nicole Taylor-Roberts are the AFI Directing Workshop for Women’s (DWW) Class of...
Heidi Schreck’s “What the Constitution Means to Me” Heading to Broadway
Is the longest government shutdown in U.S. history getting you down? Well, here’s some encouraging (no, really!) civics-related news for you: Heidi Schreck’s play “What the...
ICM’s Lorrie Bartlett Becomes First Black Board Member of a Major Talent Agency
ICM talent agent Lorrie Bartlett has made a historical career move. She has been brought on to her agency’s board of directors, the Los Angeles Times reports. Per ICM, this makes Bartlett the...
Box Office Report: “On the Basis of Sex” Hits $10.6M, “Beale Street” $7.7M, & More
Ruth Bader Ginsburg continues to rule at the box office. Last year Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s doc about the Supreme Court Justice, “RBG,” became one of the highest-grossing...
Missy Elliott Becomes First Female Rapper to Be Inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame is getting its freak on. Hall of Fame Chairman Nile Rodgers announced its new inductees this weekend, and Missy Elliott is among them. She’s making history as the...
In Loving Memory of Nancy Schwartz Sternoff
It’s not a big stretch to say — actually, it’s the truth — that there would be no Women and Hollywood without the love and mentorship of Nancy Schwartz Sternoff, who recently...
NYC’s Film Forum to Host Tribute to Elaine May
New York City cinema Film Forum will pay special tribute to actress-comedian-filmmaker Elaine May during its upcoming “FAR-OUT IN THE 70s: A New Wave of Comedy, 1969-1979” film series....
“Captain Marvel” Pre-Sales Among Top Three in MCU History
Carol Danvers has made history yet again — and we still have another two months before her film opens. According to Deadline, “Captain Marvel,” the Marvel Cinematic...
Apply Now: WhoHaha Spring Creator Lab
Attention creators: WhoHaha wants to nurture your talent. Launched to celebrate and elevate women in comedy, the creative community and digital content studio is now accepting applications for their...
Women in Film LA and Women and Hollywood Launch Campaign in Support of Women Directors
On this weekend of the Golden Globes, where again not a single female has been nominated for best director, and as Academy Awards nominations open this Monday, January 7, Women and Hollywood and...
Miniseries and Film About “Out of Africa” Author Karen Blixen in the Works
The life of author, adventurer, and businesswoman Karen Blixen might make its way to the screen once more. According to Deadline, Nordisk Film is developing “The Lioness,” an...
Apply Now: Stephanie Rothman Fellowship for Women Film Students
Applications for the Stephanie Rothman Fellowship are now open. Launched to “recognize and reward the creativity and passion of female film students with an innovative take on genre...
Time’s Up Rings in New Year by Launching Campaign to Double Number of Women in Leadership
Time’s Up is officially one year old. Since it kicked off on New Year’s Day 2018, the movement to make workplaces safer and more equitable for women and other underrepresented communities...
Stephanie Allain’s Homegrown Pictures Joins Forces with Abigail Disney’s Level Forward
Two inclusive, women-run companies are teaming up. Deadline confirms Stephanie Allain, Mel Jones, and Gabrielle Ebron’s Homegrown Pictures has inked a deal with Abigail Disney’s startup...
Lynne Ramsay’s “You Were Never Really Here” Tops Bechdel Test Fest’s Best Films of 2018
Loved by critics and a winner at Cannes, Lynne Ramsay’s “You Were Never Really Here” has been largely shut out of the Oscar conversation. The revenge thriller is, however, getting...