News
2012 Celluloid Ceiling Study Results Are In. Spoiler Alert: They Aren’t Great
Following the Sundance Institute & Women in Film’s unveiling of their new groundbreaking study of women directors during the Sundance Film Festival, comes Dr. Martha Lauzen's annual...
Women-Created, Sitcom Voices Silenced: Apartment 23 and Ben and Kate Pulled From Line Up
This was a sad week in television for me. Two of my favorite sitcoms, Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23 and Ben and Kate were pulled from ABC and Fox’s schedules effective immediately. As...
Sundance Watch: Blackfish – Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Blackfish, a documentary directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, has been getting a lot of buzz at Sundance since its premiere. The doc follows the history of killer whales in captivity leading up to...
Five Minutes with Jane Campion
This week at Sundance I got to sit down for a brief couple of minutes to check in with Jane Campion who was in town promoting her six hour mini series Top of the Lake which will premiere on the...
Kathryn Bigelow Covers Time and Appears on The Colbert Report
Kathryn Bigelow went on The Colbert Report for one of her most candid interviews yet. She was set to appear on the show weeks ago but admitted she had been "spooked" by the Senate...
Sundance Watch: Afternoon Delight – Directed and Written by Jill Soloway
Jill Soloway's Afternoon Delight, premiered the other day at Sundance. The film centers around a thirtysomething couple (the hilarious Kathryn Hahn and Josh Radnor) living in the Los Angeles...
Sundance Deals: Women Directed and Women Centric Round Up
Here are some of the deals coming out of Sundance in the past couple days that are women directed or women focused films. Sundance 2013: 'Pussy Riot' Doc to Air on HBO...
Kathryn Bigelow Wants You to Support Women Working in National Security
Some criticism against Kathryn Bigelow during The Hurt Locker era was lobbed against Bigelow’s statements that filmmaking for her isn’t about breaking gender roles. However, as Jessica...
Sundance Watch: The East – Co-Written and Starring Brit Marling
The East, co-written by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij (who directed and previously collaborated with Marling on Sound of My Voice) centers around an ex-FBI agent (Marling) who goes undercover to...
Toni Collette and Geena Davis to Headline Two TV Pilots
Toni Collette and Geena Davis are coming back to your television screens in two new bad-ass women focused television shows. It’ll be great to have these two extremely talented actresses back on...
NBC’s Revolution Elects Woman President
NBC drama, Revolution, has elected a new president, and unlike most TV shows and films, this one is a woman. Former 24 actress, Leslie Hope, has been cast as President Foster, the tough and...
Jane Campion and Stacie Passon’s Films Announced in Berlin Line Up
Last week, the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival announced more films to their lineup. Among the women directed films include Stacie Passon’s Concussion, which premiered at Sundance (and...
Sundance Deals: Jerusha Hess and Stacie Passon Get Distribution Deals
Jerusha Hess’s directorial debut, Austenland, was picked up by Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions for around $4 million. The film, which stars Keri Russell and Jennifer Coolidge, follows a...
Sundance Watch This: Gideon’s Army – Directed by Dawn Porter
Gideon's Army, directed by Dawn Porter, is a documentary that follows a group of public defenders in the south and the man who mentored them. The film premiered at Sundance. Judging from the...
Jessica Chastain Rules the Box Office with Top Two Films
In an awesome development over the weekend, one of Women and Hollywood’s favorite actresses, Jessica Chastain dominated the box office this weekend with both her films in the top spots. Mama,...
Sundance Institute and Women in Film Release Unprecedented Study on Women Directors
This morning, here in Sundance, a new ground breaking study of women directors "Exploring the Barriers and Opportunities for Independent Women Filmmakers" was released. The study is...
Sundance Diary Part One: Mother of George and After Tiller
I arrived in Sundance on Friday morning totally freaked out about the Sundance flu and the cold. But now I'm on day 2 and so far so good. I hear there are people stuck in their hotels...
In Her Voice: Women Directors Talk Directing Volume 1 Available Now!
For the past couple of years I have been working IN HER VOICE: WOMEN DIRECTORS TALK DIRECTING, a book of interviews with women directors from the first couple of years of the site. I am happy...
Abi Morgan to Adapt ‘Taming of the Shrew,’ Anne Hathaway to Star
Brit Abi Morgan is taking on the master and adapting Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew. Morgan, who created the BBC series The Hour and has written Shame and The Iron Lady, is supremely...
Teaser Trailer for HBO Miniseries Parade’s End – Directed by Susanna White
Susanna White, director of HBO's Generation Kill, directed the new HBO miniseries, Parade's End, penned by Tom Stoppard. The series is adapted from a series of 1920s novels by Ford...
A24 Acquires Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring for June Release
One of our most anticipated movies of 2013, Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring, was just acquired by A24. Coppola’s film is based on the real life story of a group of rich teenagers who...
Kathryn Bigelow Speaks Out About Zero Dark Thirty Criticism to Los Angeles Times
Kathryn Bigelow has decided to address the torture criticism surrounding Zero Dark Thirty in a personally written response to her critics in the LA Times. And it’s a must read. Bigelow...
Lucy Alibar and Doris Kearns Goodwin Nominated for USC Scripter Award
USC announced their 2013 Scripter award nominees this week. The Scripter award celebrates both the screenwriter and the author of the original text that the film was adapted from. This year, due to a...
Trailer Watch: Life Is But A Dream – Directed by Beyonce
Be prepared to bow down everyone. One of my personal queens, Beyonce, has self-directed a documentary about who she is behind the scenes. Stripping away the glamour of the stage, the doc looks at...
New York Times Says ‘Female Directors Gain Ground, Slowly.’ Should We Wait That Long?
The great Carrie Rickey published a piece in the New York Times this past weekend with the depressing headline ‘Female Directors Gain Ground, Slowly’. The piece reported that in 2012, by...
Lauren Greenfield and Alison Klayman Receive DGA Nominations for Best Documentary
Earlier this week, the Directors Guild of America announced their nominees for best documentary. They’ve previously announced the nominees for film and television. Two women were nominated out...
Watch This: New Trailer for Athena Film Festival – February 7-10
Check out the new trailer for the Athena Film Festival (co-founded by our own Melissa Silverstein), hosted at Barnard College, on February 7-10. The new trailer incorporates clips from the films...
Taymor vs. Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark Lawsuit Back On
The complicated saga of Julie Taymor’s infamous Spider-Man:Turn off the Dark continues, with the revival of her lawsuit against the producers of the musical. Taymor first filed the suit in...
Zero Dark Thirty Scores Number 1 at Box Office, Sony’s Co-Chair Speaks Out on Torture Remarks
The Zero Dark Thirty torture conversation shows no sign of abating. Sony’s co-chairman Amy Pascal responded to claims from AMPAS member, actor David Clennon (Miles from Thirtysomething),...
Women Directors and Women-Centric Films Win Big at Palm Springs Film Festival
Women and women-centric films were big winners at the 24th annual Palm Springs Film Festival. The fest began on January 3rd and ends today. The Sapphires, about an Aboriginal girl group in the 1960s,...
Thoughts on the Golden Globes – Girls Literally Ruled
Last night, I ended up watching the Golden Globes in real time (with the commercials too.) The reason why that was possible was because of twitter and because I was having such a good time watching...
Cher to Bring More Glamour to Television Screens with 60s Focused Project
Personal life icon and owner of my favorite Twitter account, Cher, has recently inked a development deal with Logo, an LGBT focused network that has blessed lives with RuPaul’s Drag...
Critics and Film Lovers Respond to Kathryn Bigelow Snub
After Kathryn Bigelow’s name wasn’t announced for Best Director during yesterday’s Oscar nominations, film and entertainment critics as well as movie lovers were outraged causing a...
2 of 15 Films in Berlin Competition Line Up Directed by Women
The Berlin International Film Festival announced their full competition line up for the Golden Bear. Two of the nine films from this most recent announcement are directed by women. As we previously...
Elisabeth Moss and Holly Hunter Talk Jane Campion’s Top of the Lake at TCAs
At the Sundance Channel’s Television Critics Association panel last week, everyone was buzzing about Top of the Lake, Jane Campion’s epic seven part miniseries starring Elisabeth Moss and...
DGA Announces Television and Commercial Award Nominees
Earlier this week the Directors Guild of America announced their film nominees. In addition, they also announced nominees for television and commercials. There are quite a few women nominated...
2013 BAFTA Nominees Include Kathryn Bigelow, Judi Dench, Lynne Ramsay
On the heels of learning that 4 out of the 5 nominated for BAFTA’s Rising Star Award are women, comes the full list of the 2013 BAFTA awards nominees. Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal and Zero...
Good and Bad Surprises Come with 2013 Oscar Nominations
Oscar nominations were announced this morning and per usual there were the surprises, both of the good and bad variety. Nine year old Quvenzhané Wallis becomes the youngest Best Actress...
The Academy Snubs Kathryn Bigelow for History Making Second Best Director Nomination
I sit here ruminating, fulminating and seething, thinking about how Kathryn Bigelow could have been overlooked for a second best director nomination. I'm pretty sure the people who thought...
Interview with Callie Khouri – Creator of Nashville
Women and Hollywood is a big fan of Nashville (we love Connie Britton) and Callie Khouri. We were excited to get an opportunity to talk with Ms. Khouri as the show returns with a new episode...
Where’d You Go Bernadette Gets Writers and Producers
One of the best books I read over the holidays and last year is Maria Semple's Where'd You Go Bernadette? It is an original, funny, touching, moving story of a 50 year old woman,...
New Trailer: Ginger & Rosa – Directed by Sally Potter
Sally Potter's gorgeous Ginger & Rosa was one of my favorite films from last year's AFI Film Festival. A coming of age story, set during the Cold War, best friends Ginger (Elle Fanning)...
Bette Midler Returns to Broadway After 30 Years
Bette Midler is making a return to Broadway after a 30 year absence. She'll be starring as Sue Mengers in I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat With Sue Mengers. Mengers is still regarding as the most...
Kathryn Bigelow Nominated for DGA Award
The Directors Guild of America announced their nominees for film today. Kathryn Bigelow was nominated for Zero Dark Thirty. Bigelow previously won the DGA in 2009 for The Hurt Locker and was the...
Kathryn Bigelow and Zero Dark Thirty Win Big at EDA Awards
Zero Dark Thirty has swept, yet again, another awards ceremony, this time around at the EDA Awards, from the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. Bigelow received the award for best director, Mark...
Athena Film Festival Announces 2013 Line Up
I am so very proud to be sharing with you the line-up for the 3rd Athena Film Festival, a celebration of women and leadership, which will take place this upcoming February 7-10 on the campus on...
Interview with Meredith Vieira – Executive Producer of The Woman Who Wasn’t There
This eye-opening and disturbing movie is about a woman, Tania Head, who completely fabricated a story of being a 9/11 survivor. She so ingratiated herself into the survivor world that she was...
Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal Defend Film at NY Film Critics Circle Award Ceremony
Over the last several weeks the steady drumbeat against Zero Dark Thirty has grown louder and louder. There's been the discussion that Boal was a bully and Bigelow defered to him on the set...
4 Women out of 5 Nominated for BAFTA Rising Star Award
Last year’s British Academy of Film and Television Rising Star award nominees were dominated by only actors. This year, actresses are taking the upper hand, with 4 out of the 5 nominations...
Watch This: Best of 2012: Women in Film
Check out this extremely cool trailer mashup of women in film from 2012 from Pawn Takes Queen Productions. It features both performances and behind the scenes from some of the best moments women...
Two Women Nominated for 2013 Writers Guild Awards
Last week, the Writers Guild of America announced the nominees for this year’s Writers Guild Awards. Out of all the categories, original, adapted and documentary screenplay—only two...