News
Oscar Thoughts: Boys, Boys and More Boys
Here’s my thing about the Oscars. There were women everywhere. We can’t stop talking about the great dresses. Women were also there as great presenters (like the crew from Bridesmaids and Emma...
Hunger Games Advance Ticket Sales Break Records
This is very, very good news. Advanced tickets went on sale last week for The Hunger Games which opens on March 23rd. According to Fandango, the one day total for the film was bigger than the one...
Vamps, Vixens and Feminists is Friday in Leeds!
No don’t worry if you don’t live anywhere near Leeds. This year the event which tackles issues related to gender disparity in performing arts will be online. You can watch it here. The event...
Trailer Watch: Veep Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Bring it on. Series premiere on April 22.
Amy Poehler’s Message to Lawmakers
Could I love her anymore? Doubtful. If you haven’t seen her segment from SNL that this came from, watch it here.
Cross Post: Oiling the Oscar Machine
Sasha Stone from Awards Daily attended the Oscars last night and write a very good analysis piece. She has a big section on Viola Davis and Meryl Streep which she has given permission to cross post....
To The Academy: Consider the Women
It’s that time of year, The Academy Awards, the “Super Bowl for Women.” It’s the night where we all get catty about whose dress doesn’t work, who’s got a new boyfriend or girlfriend, and...
Oscar Watch: Looking at Gender and the Oscars
Stacy L. Smith, Marc Choueiti and Stephanie Gall of USC have taken a look at gender onscreen and behind the scenes in the best picture nominees over the last 30 years. There are two sets of...
Chicken and Egg Pictures Hits $2 Million in Grants
This is one of the places for women filmmakers to get money to get their films done. The list of films they are funding is incredible. I want to see them all. The descriptions are directly from the...
Comedians Take on the Contraception Issue
These are worth watching. Just goes to show that the Republicans are our comedians best friends. https://medium.com/media/526c2e5ebdd9ede686e7315d16661a9f/href The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ...
Sexism Watch: Vanity Fair Believes There are Only Two Female Character Actors
And they need to look like they are ready to murder you. Who else would you suggest to Vanity Fair that they include? How about a couple of women of color? Character Actors (Vanity Fair)
Quote of the Day on the Oscars and How Women Get Screwed
You must read these really depressing but totally spot on piece by Martha Lauzen (the woman who gives us the stats of how many women are making movies, today published by the Women’s...
Julie Taymor and Spiderman Reach Partial Settlement
It’s always interesting how the filing of the lawsuits get so much news and the settlements…not so much, but this one is important to note. Last week the producers of Spiderman and director...
Trailer Watch: Dark Tide Starring Halle Berry
It looks like this will be released in March. good to see Halle back on screen again. It’s been a long time.
Trailer Watch: Girls
No more teases. This is the real albeit short trailer. It’s Tiny Furniture but with HBO money. Also take note that Tiny Furniture is now available in DVD via the Criterion Collection which by the...
The LA Times Confirms What We Already Know — The Academy is Old, White and Male
For some reason the folks that run the Academy have made it their business to keep the membership a secret. You kind of know who has recently been asked to be a member because they now release lists...
Sexism Watch: NY Times Book Review Calls NY Times Reporter’s Book “Chick Nonfiction”
We hit another dubious milestone this weekend. A book called The Obamas written by veteran NY Times reporter Jodi Kantor was called “chick nonfiction” in a NY Times book review written by...
Trailer Watch: Take The Waltz — Co-written and Directed by Sarah Polley
This is the sophomore effort from Sarah Polley after the fantabulous Away From Her.
Sexism Watch: Gender Disparities in Actor Salaries
I saw a story the other day about how the actor Chris Pine (whose new film This Means War opens today and looks beyond dreadful) was being sued by his former agents over non payment of commissions....
Guest Post: Making the Money Talk for Women Filmmakers
Oscar night is coming. The pinnacle of a year in film. What’s deemed to be the best fare from the brightest stars in entertainment. For most, the event brings little excitement beyond the...
Women in Film (LA) Names New Board Members
This board is full of some seriously powerful women. The new members (below) join the board for 2012. The board is led by producer Cathy Schulman. New Members Orly Adelson Adriana Alberghetti ...
Hollywood Reporter FAIL! — Directors Roundtable from Berlin
How many times do we really need to say that it is not cool to have a directors roundtable and not include women. Please do not tell me you could not find a single female director at the Berlin Film...
Guest Post: Sex, Lies, and Phone-Hacking: British Tabloid Journalism on Trial
Britain has been riveted by the Leveson Inquiry, a legal body set up to investigate illegal information-gathering techniques used by the tabloid press — such as phone-hacking, data...
Meryl Streep Gets Golden Bear at Berlin Film Festival
Coming off her BAFTA win for best actress in London on Sunday night, Meryl Streep headed to the Berlin Film Festival to pick up a lifetime acheivement award. At the variety of press conferences she...
A Studio Run By Women
Elizabeth Gabler just renewed her contract as the President of Fox 2000. This is the studio which is under the main Fox studio focuses on films targeted at the female audience. Its nickname is...
Trailer Watch: Musical Chairs — Directed by Susan Seidelman
Film Opens March 23.
Cross-Post: A Feminist Film Festival With a Different Take
A couple of years ago as part of my work on Women and Hollywood I hosted a party for the great Australian director Jane Campion. Campion is one of only four women nominated for a best director...
Trailer Watch: Seeking a Friend at the End of the World — Written and Directed by Lorene Scafaria
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In Darkness
Agnieszka Holland’s latest film, “In Darkness,” pulls us into a monochromatic world in which all of the primary characters display shading and nuance. The film is based on a true story about a...
Cross Post: Streep Speaks and Illuminates the Need for More Female Critics
Earlier this week, Terry Gross broadcast a provocative interview with Meryl Streep on her NPR program Fresh Air. The interview was tied to Streep’s unprecedented 17th Oscar nomination for her...
We Need to Talk About Kevin Wins Best Film at the Evening Standard Awards
Lynne Ramsey’s We Need to Talk About Kevin took another top award in Britain this week — The Evening Standard Award. These awards are given out by the top London film writers and are only...
Trailer Watch: New Trailer for the Hunger Games
Counting down towards March 23. The Hollywood Reporter in a cover story says that it took Jennifer Lawrence 3 days to say yes to the part of a lifetime and that she is made about $500,000. (But she...
Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer Book New Projects
Smart women. Strike while the iron is hot. Octavia starts shooting Diablo Cody’s directorial debut shortly, but she also has booked her next role which came to me yesterday in one of the Hollywood...
Sexism Watch: Sexist Ads for Jean Dujardin’s New Film Les Infideles
Aside from the fact that the film is about male infidelity, this ad (which is among several problemmatic ads for the film) could cause Mr. Dujardin a perception problem. I know that Mr. Dujardin does...
Can Girls Be a Game Changer?
I found this brief behind the scenes one minute and forty two second piece from the upcoming HBO series Girls created by Lena Dunham and after I watched it I could not help but think that this show...
Ten Finalists for the 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize
Now in it’s 34th year, this is the most prestigious prize for female playwrights. It’s like the female Pulitzer. It’s a way for female playwrights to get noticed, since they are stil not...
New Trailer for Wish Me Away: Directed by Beverly Kopf & Bobbie Birleffi
This will open in theatres in the summer but New Yorkers can catch it at the Athena Film Festival on February 11. Details here.
Sexism Watch: Film Trailers
The NY Times ran a story this weekend calling movie trailers the last holdout for women in the business. If that were only true we could fight it, but we all know this is just one of the...
Trailer Watch: Game Change
This movie looks so much better than the book and I really loved the book. Julianne Moore is totally rocking as Sarah Palin. Love it!
A “Smash”ing Premiere
While I might write about Hollywood I live in NY. I really don’t get to see the everyday machinations of the business. I like it that way. It keeps it more mysterious. I was able to get a little...
Sundance 2012: Interview with Amy Ziering — Producer of Invisible War
Amy Ziering is the producer of ‘The Invisible War’ directed by Kirby Dick and winner of the Sundance 2012 Documentary Audience Award. I spoke to Amy about feminist filmmaking, how she and Kirby...
Sundance Deals 2012: The Women
Here’s the list of women directed and women written films that got picked up out of Sundance. I’m sure there will be more to come. Women Directed 2 Days in New York (Magnolia) — directed...
Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue 2012
At least they are all dressed. But all the satin kind of reminds me of a brothel. Thw women on the power panel which is the actual cover are Rooney Mara, Mia Wasikowska, Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica...
Sundance 2012 Success Story: Ava Duvernay
One of the biggest success stories out of Sundance is Ava Duvernay. Here is a woman who started a new distribution movement — African American Film Festival Releasing Movement; put out two...
Sundance 2012: Interview With Aurora Gurerrero Director of Mosquita Y Mari
Aurora Guerrero debuted her feature film ‘Mosquita Y Mari’ at Sundance 2012 and I had a chance to talk to her near the end of a hectic but exciting festival. She shared the secret of her $80,000...
The Help Wins Big at the SAG Awards
Check out this image of the cast of the Help winning best ensemble at the SAG Awards last night. I’m pretty sure we won’t see that many women on a stage again at the same time winning an award...
Lauren Greenfield and Ava Duvernay Win Top Directing Honors at Sundance
Another Sundance is in the books and women and their films took many of the top honors in this past weekend’s awards ceremony. Winner of the U.S. Directing Award for Documentary Film: Lauren...
Interview with Valérie Donzelli — Director of Declaration of War
Valérie Donzelli has made a heartbreaking film about the fight a couple goes through to save their son from a brain tumor. They declare war on the cancer and with the support of their family their...
Cross-Post: Where Are the Women Directors
Here’s a thought exercise: In a nation where 33 percent of the Supreme Court justices are women, 17 percent of the seats in the Senate and House are held by women and 12 percent of the statehouses...
Maiwenn’s Poliss Scores 13 Cesar Nominations Including Best Director and Best Picture
The Maiwenn directed film Poliss scored the most Cesar nominations — 13 — including best picture, best screenplay and best director. But you wouldn’t know it from this breaking news...
Sundance 2012: Advice for Filmmakers
Chicken and Egg Pictures always has a great party at Sundance: delicious home-cooked food paired with a celebration of women filmmakers and the folks who support and nurture them. I pulled some of...