News
Weekly Update March 29: Women-Centric, Directed, Written Movies Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Weekend The Host From Stephenie Meyer (author of the Twilight Saga) comes “The Host,” a love story set in the future, where earth is occupied by a species...
SXSW Interview with Sini Anderson, Tamra Davis and Kathleen Hanna of The Punk Singer
I can’t write about Sini Anderson’s great documentary The Punk Singer without mentioning that Kathleen Hanna has been one of my life-long heroes. When I was sixteen a friend gave me...
Hall of Shame – The Producers of Dr. Who
Building on the report that the US Writer’s Guild recently released about the lack of momentum in increading women writers on US based TV shows, there has been a bit of a brouhaha over the...
Fay Kanin – Former Academy President, Screenwriter Dies
Fay Kanin, the Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning screenwriter passed away at the age of 95 of natural causes. Kanin, alongside her husband Michael Kanin, were one of the most popular married...
Ashley Judd Not Running for Senate
After months of speculation, Ashley Judd has decided to not run for senate. She used twitter and her website to release her decision. She made clear that while she has a deep commitment to...
The Golden Girls on Marriage Equality
We here at Women and Hollywood want to give a shout out in support of marriage equality and we believe that this clip from The Golden Girls appropriately addresses this amazing week at the...
WGA Releases Annual Writing Report And Women Make Small Progress
The Writers Guild West released its annual diversity report on the status of women, minority and older writers. Hollywood continues to make incremental, pathetic, baby steps towards diversity....
Lily Tomlin on Feminism, Humor and Girls
With the release of Admission, the awesome Lily Tomlin has been popping up in the media. Seeing Tomlin reminds us of what a pioneer she has been in Hollywood ranging from her career as a...
Bette Midler as Sue Mengers in I’ll Eat You Last
I am so there. Previews begin April 5. Tickets here.
Trailer Watch: Kick-Ass 2 – Starring Chloe Grace Moretz
Check out the international trailer for Kick-Ass 2 which hits theaters on August 16. The trailer’s focus is mainly on Hit-Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) dealing with the after effects of the first...
Peabody Award Winners Include Switched At Birth, Girls, Southland
The Peabody Awards announced the winners for their 72nd annual awards. The Peabody Awards recognize “distinguished achievement and meritorious service by broadcasters, cable and Webcasters,...
Making Connections
As Women and Hollywood has grown over the last couple of years we have been getting more and more emails from people who have ideas and projects that they need help with. There are also people...
Women Written Pilots Roundup
As pilot season continues to pick up, we wanted to bring to your attention a couple of more women-written and women centric pilots that are getting some excellent talent attached to them. Annie...
Bring Shola Lynch’s Free Angela & All Political Prisoners to Your Local Theater
Shola Lynch’s Free Angela & All Political Prisoners focuses on the remarkable life of the incomparable Angela Davis, a professor, a member of the Communist party and influential social...
Details Emerge on Lynne Ramsay’s Exit
We’ve been talking a lot about Lynne Ramsay here at Women and Hollywood since her departure from Jane Got a Gun last week. Confirmed details are still scarce, but rumors and commentary have...
Amy Pascal Asks Hollywood to Eliminate Gay Stereotypes from Films
Amy Pascal is truly a force. She championed Kathryn Bigelow and Zero Dark Thirty all the way. And at the LA Gay and Lesbian Center gala last week, Pascal asked the industry to take a long, hard look...
SXSW Interview with Brie Larson – Star of Short Term 12
Short Term 12, written and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, was hands down one of my favorite films I saw at SXSW. The film follows Grace (Brie Larson), a young staffer at a group home who...
Helen Mirren Stands Up For a Future Full of Women Directors
On Sunday evening, Helen Mirren who has always been wonderfully outspoken in calling out sexism in Hollywood, used the occasion of being awarded the Legend award from Empire magazine to...
Pussy Riot Band Members Speak Out on 60 Minutes
60 Minutes did a segment on Pussy Riot, the now infamous feminist punk band from Russia who were sent to prison for their demonstration against Vladimir Putin. Two of the members are still serving...
MPAA Releases Ticket Stats And Contrary to What Hollywood Wants Us To Believe, Women Do Go To The Movies
It’s the time of the year when the MPAA (the lobbying group from Hollywood) releases their annual stats. Since Hollywood films are so skewed towards the young boys I always think the...
Sundance 2013 Roundup: Women Directed Films Received Distribution
If you remember, the Sundance lineup in US features and US documentarues documentaries evenly divided between female and male directors. Since it’s been a couple of...
Taymor vs. Spider-Man Sets Trial Date
As we previously reported, Julie Taymor’s lawsuit against the producers of Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark was revived back in January. However, the expected settlement between the parties...
Interview with Karen Croner – Writer of Admission
Women and Hollywood: I read that you started in the documentary world? Can you talk about how you shifted into writing? Karen Croner: When I first started writing, I was very interested in true...
Weekly Update March 22: Women-Centric, Directed, Written Movies Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Weekend Admission – Written by Karen Croner Comedies today seem to always go for the broadest, raunchiest laughs. The audience is not trusted to get the...
More Lynne Ramsay News
As expected, the initial reports of the Lynne Ramsay departure from Jane Got a Gun were very sketchy. More details are coming out, among them the important detail that Ramsay did not just NOT...
Admission Gives Us Some Real Feminism On Screen
Comedies today seem to always go for the broadest, raunchiest laughs. The audience is not trusted to get the comedic nuances in everyday life. That is not the case with the new film...
6 of 8 Film Independent DocuLab Fellows Are Women Directors
Film Independent has chosen eight projects for their 2013 Documentary Lab — six of those projects are directed by women. Each filmmaker will participate in an eight week program that helps...
Interview with Deborah Mailman – Star of The Sapphires
The ads for The Sapphires might feature Chris O’Dowd but the second you sit down for the Sapphires, you will know that reality the movie is not about him. The movie is the true story...
Exclusive Clip from WIGS’ Blue – Starring Julia Stiles
As we previously reported, WIGS recently announced their new seasons for popular shows Lauren and Blue as well as Paloma, written and directed by Julia Stiles. Blue stars Stiles as a single mother...
Guest Post: Screenplay Design with Diane Drake
Diane Drake is a professional screenwriter, creative consultant, and screenwriting instructor with the UCLA Extension Writer’s Program. Her produced original screenplays include Only You,...
Watch This: Awkward Season 3 – Created by Lauren Iungerich
Awkward is hands down one of the best teen shows airing right now. Created by Lauren Iungerich, the show follows Jenna (Ashley Rickards), an unpopular girl, who gains sudden notoriety after an...
Interview with Katrin Benedikt – Co-Writer of Olympus Has Fallen
Hollywood is such a crazy place that this year there are two films that focus on the White House being taken over. The first one out of the gate is Olympus Has Fallen starring the terrific...
Annie Baker Wins Susan Smith Blackburn Prize
Annie Baker has won the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for her play, The Flick, an exploration of love, friendships and work. New York Times theater critic, Charles Isherwood spoke highly...
Director Lynne Ramsay Leaves Jane Got a Gun Just As Production Was to Begin
Deadline reported yesterday that director Lynne Ramsay had quit Jane Got a Gun which is to star Natalie Portman the morning production was to have begun — Tuesday in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This...
Watch This: Veep Season 2 Trailer
We here at Women and Hollywood are huge fans of the hilarious Julia Louis-Dreyfus and are very excited for the return of Veep, a smart, prickly and very funny look at politics through the eyes of the...
movieScope Launches Women in Film Issue
In super cool news, movieScope, a magazine looking at the film industry, has launched their inaugural Women in Film issue. The 64 page, March/April 2013 issue will look at women working in all...
So That’s The Problem – We Just All Missed the Joke
Oscar producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan just keep on sticking their feet in their mouth. As they collected an award for Smash at the GLAAD awards on Saturday night in NYC, they spoke out in...
Films Targeting Women Dominate the Box Office This Weekend
Maybe we can call this a bit of poetic justice but it looks like the big boys are floundering and the girls are on the rise. This weekend, the female targeted, yet not very feminist, Oz –...
Directors UK and BBC Studying Lack of Women Directors
Directors UK and the BBC are working together to investigate the lack of women directors in television. Talent executive, Jo Hatley, will lead the research working with internal commissioners,...
Trailer Watch: Nurse Jackie – Season Five
Here’s the trailer for season five of Showtime’s Nurse Jackie starring the terrific Edie Falco. This season will be the first without showrunners and creators Liz Brixius and Nancy Wallem...
Interview with Jennifer Fox, Director, Producer and Subject of Flying: Confessions of a Free Women
Originally published on May 12, 2008. Fox’s series Confessions of a Free Woman follows Fox’s personal journey around the globe to discover what it means to be a woman today. While...
Veronica Mars Movie Reaches $2 Million Kickstarter Goal
The message today is: never underestimate the power of fandom. After series creator, Rob Thomas, launched the Veronica Mars Kickstarter movie fund on March 13th with a $2 million goal and an...
Weekly Update March 15: Women-Centric, Directed, Written Movies Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Weekend Ginger and Rosa – Directed by Sally Potter After the dust settles, Ginger and Rosa is going to turn out to be one of my the highlights of...
Want to Help Women and Hollywood Grow? Outreach and Editing Gigs Available
Here’s some great news. Women and Hollywood has received a grant to help grow our work. For all of you who read the site regularly, you know that the goal of the work of Women and...
SXSW Announces Film Festival Winners
I’ve been here on the ground at SXSW for Women and Hollywood and have had the opportunity to see some incredible films, many of which I’m so pleased to say won awards. Destin Daniel...
Can Women in Hollywood Lean In?
Unless you’ve been under a rock over the last week you have read an article about, heard a talk show about, and seen a panel discussion about Sheryl Sandberg’s new book Lean In. I...
Magnolia Pictures Picks Up Lynn Shelton’s Touchy Feely
Magnolia Pictures has acquired the world-wide distribution rights to Lynn Shelton’s Touchy Feely. Premiering at Sundance, the film, directed and written by Shelton, follows Abby...
Come Join Women and Hollywood at Events This Week in NYC
I’ll be participating in two events in NYC this week that people can attend. Both events are free. The first is Thursday evening March 14th at 7pm sponsored by the Screen Actors Guild...
Trailer Watch: Top of the Lake – a Mini-Series Directed by Jane Campion
It’s always important to note when something by Jane Campion is about to be released. Next week starts a seven part mini series Top of the Lake written and directed by Campion....
Nancy Meyers New Film To Be At Sony
There are not a lot of women who direct at the studio level. I can count them on two hands. The loss of Nora Ephron took one big name off the list, so it is always important to note when...
WIGS Announces New Season and New Series
WIGS, the number one YouTube channel for scripted drama and features with female leads, has announced new seasons for their popular shows Lauren and Blue. They have also announced a new series...