News
Helen Mirren Calls for More Women Directors
Helen Mirren received the lifetime achievement award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival this past weekend. She used the opportunity to call for more female directors in the...
Academy Names 176 New Members
In an attempt to diversify its membership, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited 176 people to become members. There are just under 6,000 members of the full Academy. Keep in...
Cross-Post: Oscar Flashback — Nora Ephron
“It is true that you are wiser when you are older. That is true. The wisdom arrives at the same moment your mind is a blank. It’s a very ironic confluence of things. It’s kind of...
Media Alert: Op-ed in Washington Post
In case you haven’t seen my tweets and Facebook posts from the weekend, I had an op-ed piece in the Washington Post yesterday. Please check it out if you haven’t: Memo to Hollywood: Women go to...
Indiewire Alert
Hey folks. Indiewire was effected by the storm outage in Virginia this past weekend. Looks like things are back up to normal. Thanks for your patience.
Julia and Jennifer Cover New Magazines in Anticipated March Movies
Julia Roberts gets ready to hit the big screen in a big way as the evil Queen in Mirror, Mirror on March 30 and Jennifer Lawrence will take her bow and arrow to the masses as Katniss Everdeen in the...
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Beasts of the Southern Wild is the perfect example of how to make a movie in this new post recession world. Take a great script, make it for a price and then let the movie stand on its merits. And...
Interview with Amy Ziering — Producer of The Invisible War
The Invisible War continues its roll out this weekend. It should be on your must see list. Producer Amy Ziering who made this film with director Kirby Dick talked about the film with Women and...
The Princess Archetype in the Movies
What kind of “princess” is better off in the woods than at home? A princess who is more like the archetype of Artemis than of Aphrodite. In three recent films, we’ve seen a shift in the...
Sexism Watch: Another Movie List Leaves Off Women
So tired of reading these lists that don’t include any women. This time it is AMC’s film site which offers up a list of the 50 top directors of all time. There is not one single woman who could...
Personal Reflections on Nora Ephron
When I heard that Nora Ephron passed away I sent an email out to a bunch of people in the business asking them to send me their thoughts. Some knew her, most didn’t, but still loved her. Here...
Cross-Post: A Heroine’s Journey
The world has moved on but I’m still obsessing about why, for the second time in three years was there no films directed by a woman in the main competition at Cannes this year. I mean I know...
Nora Ephron: In Her Own Words
This is from her book I Remember Nothing What I Won’t Miss Dry skin Bad dinners like the one we went to last night E-mail Technology in general My closet Washing my hair Bras Funerals ...
Roundup of Pieces on Nora Ephron
Here are some of the pieces on the death of Nora Ephron. Nora Ephron: A Life of Voice and Detail (Time) Diablo Cody on How Nora Ephron Blazed a Trail for Female Filmmakers (The Daily Beast) Lynn...
Fall TV Trailer Watch: Nashville Created by Callie Khouri
Finally Connie Britton is out front and center in this new show from Thelma and Louise writer Callie Khouri Fall TV Pilot Preview: ABC’s ‘Nashville’ (Hollywood Reporter)
Nora Ephron Dies at 71
I’m sitting here reeling from the news that Nora Ephron has died. No one even knew she was sick and now she is gone. The loss to movies, and especially to women in movies, cannot be...
Could Middle of Nowhere Be a Game Changer?
I had the privilege last week of attending the LA Film Festival gala of Middle of Nowhere written and directed by Ava Duvernay. If you recall, Ava is the first African American woman to win the best...
Quote of the Day: Director Jennifer Fox — “To The Degree That, If I Have A Choice, I’m Going To Only Work With Women.”
Filmmaker Magazine did an interview with documentary director Jennifer Fox on the eve of the 2012 POV season. Her film My Reincarnation kicked off the 25th season last week. She shares some very...
Indiewire Looks at the Potential Fall Festival Releases
My colleagues at Indiewire have taken an expansive look at 50 films that they would love to see hit the festival circuit this fall. There are some very interesting women’s films on the list. (All...
Trailer Watch: Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry Directed by Alison Klayman
Ai WeiWei: Never Sorry opened the Human Right Watch Film Festival in NY and will be in theatres on July 27th.
Happy 40th Birthday Title IX
This past weekend was the 40th anniversary of Title IX. This is a big deal. What most people don’t know is that Title IX is not an actual law — it is one section of the of the Educational...
Brave Scores $66 Million Opening Weekend
Brave from Pixar opened up at $66 million this weekend. Here’s a great quote from Grady Smith from EW in his box office roundup: For the third time this year, following strong openings from The...
Trailer Watch: Celeste and Jesse Forever — co-written by Rashida Jones
Looks adorable. Opens August 3.
The Invisible War
There are some movies that just gut you. They just hit you hard and twist until you are a spent rag ready to get up and fight against all the injustices that have just been witnessed. The Invisible...
Women and Hollywood Named One of the Top 100 Websites For Women by ForbesWoman
Check this out — for the second year — Women and Hollywood makes the cut of the top 100 website for women by the editors of ForbesWoman. This is what they have to say about Women and...
Barbra Streisand To Get Back Behind The Camera
Newflash. Babs is going to get back behind the camera. According to Showbiz 411, Barbra Streisand who has not directed a film since The Mirror Has Two Faces in 1996 is getting ready to direct Oscar...
Trailer Watch: Anna Karenina
My favorite book comes to the big screen again. This version opens November 9.
Brave — The First Female Pixar Heroine
The first time you see Merida’s red curly hair flowing in the wind as she rides atop her horse going full speed at the beginning of Brave you immediately know that this is not your typical...
Kristen Stewart is Top Earning Actress in Hollywood
The woman with the most Oscars is not the highest paid woman in Hollywood. According to Forbes, that honor goes to Kristen Stewart who this year will have two monster hits with the current Snow...
Trailer Watch: First Real Trailer For Breaking Dawn Part 2
Looks like Bella finally got some energy. I guess once she became a vampire it was ok for her to run outside and not fall over her own two feet. Becoming a vampire clearly makes you less clumsy. Film...
Maleficent Starts Production
Here’s the first image from the Angelina Jolie starring movie written by Linda Woolverton. Description: “the untold story of Disney’s most beloved villain, Maleficent, from the 1959 classic...
Win a Pair of Tickets to the World Premiere of Political Animals Starring Sigourney Weaver
One lucky New Yorker (sorry everyone else) over 21 will have the opportunity to win a pair of tickets to the world premiere screening and party for the new USA mini-series starring Sigourney Weaver...
The Human Rights Watch Film Festival
One thing that many people before me have taken note of is that film festivals have become the only way some films get seen in this new world of limited distribution. No where is that point clearer...
Quote of the Day: I Wanted To Give Girls Something To Look At And Not Feel Inadequate
This is what director Brenda Chapman thought about when created the character of Merida — the first female Pixar lead — which opens on Friday. Fairy tales have gotten kind of a bad...
Trailer Watch: Two Days in New York — Written and Directed by Julie Delpy
This is Delpy’s follow-up to 2 Days in Paris. Opens August 10 in theatres.
Women’s Films Opening — June 15, 2012
Your Sister’s Sister I saw Your Sister’s Sister back at the Toronto Film Festival in September. I really liked it. I highy recommend it. The film is the story of sisters Iris and Hannah played...
Athena Film Festival 2013 Request for Submissions Now Open
Films have power. They create conversation. They reveal truths. They inspire. But for far too long, Hollywood has told only half the story: what is missing are the stories of women as change agents...
Barbra Streisand Raises Awareness of Women’s Heart Disease
Streisand held a huge fundraiser at her home last night to raise money for women’s heart disease. She has endowed the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai hospital in LA. Did you...
Women at the 2012 LA Film Festival
The LA Film Festival starts this weekend. There are many women directed films as part of the Festival. Festival Director Stephanie Allain talked about the importance of having a...
Trailer Watch: For a Good Time, Call…Written By Lauren Miller and Katie Anne Naylon
This was a big hit at Sundance. Could it be this year’s Bridesmaids? The film opens August 31. Yahoo! Video Player
Oscar Winner Kathryn Bigelow Nears Completion of Filming Zero Dark Thirty
Update- Seems like the reports of the completion of filming Kathryn Bigelow’s follow-up to her Oscar winning film, The Hurt Locker were a bit premature. I am now told that production of has moved...
Gucci Tribeca 2012 Documentary Fund Winners Are Full of Women Filmmakers
Marking its fifth year of grants The Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) and Gucci today announced the 2012 recipients of the $150,000 of the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund. Included in these grants are...
Quote of the Day: “Why? Why? Why? Don’t they want the money?
That is the quote Meryl Streep uttered Tuesday night at the annual Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards. She was onstage to present Viola Davis with her Crystal Award for Excellence...
Guest Post: The Pioneering Women of the Photo League
One of many gratifying aspects about making Ordinary Miracles was the opportunity it afforded to identify and celebrate the contributions made by an impressive number of extravagantly gifted female...
Women and Hollywood is Hiring!
UPDATE: Thanks so much for all the resumes I’ve gotten. I am going to close the submission process because I have so many great ones to go through. Thanks. I am happy to announce that I am ready,...
Fasten Your Seatbelts: Political Animals is Coming
Folks it looks like this miniseries will kick some serious ass. Maybe it will be another pop culture force that will help bang the gong for Hillary Clinton in 2016. The miniseries premieres on July...
Crying Sexism As The Answer to an Under-performing Film
Daryl Wein is the co-writer (with partner Zoe Lister Jones) and director of Lola Versus starring Greta Gerwig which opened this Friday to a $31,000 gross in four theatres. Personally, I didn’t...
Why is Clybourne Park on Broadway and not Water by the Spoonful?
This article in the LA Times: Quiara Alegría Hudes, post-Pulitzer, eyes the next chapter got me going about prizes and the treatment of women. I am trying to understand the divergent paths of two...
Cross- Post: After Audra McDonald’s Historic Tony Award Win, Will Hollywood Finally Fully Embrace Her Talent?
Congratulations are in order for Audra McDonald who made history during last night’s Tony Awards celebration, becoming the first black woman to claim 5 Tony Award wins; last night’s pickup for...
Two Women Created Shows Go to Series at Showtime
Showtime has ordered 12 episodes of two series and both are created by women. Michelle Ashford (The Pacific) created the drama Masters of Sex which tells the story of Williams Masters and Virginia...
AFI Honors Shirley MacLaine with Lifetime Achievement Award
Last Thursday, Hollywood came out to honor one its most beloved and enduring stars — Shirley MacLaine with the 40th AFI Lifetime Achievement Award. She is only the 7th woman to receive the...