News
Dawn Porter to Direct Netflix Docuseries About Bobby Kennedy
Dawn Porter is revisiting Robert F. Kennedy’s tragic presidential run. The award-winning filmmaker will helm a Netflix docuseries about the former Senator from New York, Deadline reports. “Bobby...
Guest Post: How Starting a Film Festival Helped Expand My Social Awareness
Guest Post by Nora Armani Awareness is the first step towards reclaiming our rights as women. So long as we are unaware that we are experiencing inequality, and so long as we accept the status quo...
Women Sweep the National Book Critics Circle Awards
Women claimed victory in all six competitive categories at this year’s National Book Critics Circle Awards, The LA Times reports. The winners were announced at the annual event held yesterday in...
Ava DuVernay Is Directing Adaptation of DC Comics’ “The New Gods”
Ava DuVernay has another big budget adaptation on the way. The “Wrinkle in Time” director is taking DC Comics’ “The New Gods” to the big screen, Deadline reports. The pic will mark the...
2018 Full Frame Doc Film Fest’s Main Lineup Is Nearly 50 Percent Women-Directed
The schedule for the 2018 Full Frame Doc Film Fest is in and the subject of its opening night film, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, would be very proud of its representation of women. Women directed or...
Amma Asante Will Helm Cold War Biopic “The Billion Dollar Spy”
2018 Athena Film Festival honoree Amma Asante has booked her next gig. She will direct the big screen adaptation of David E. Hoffman’s true crime thriller “The Billion Dollar Spy” for Walden...
Miranda July Has a New Film On the Way
Miranda July is stepping behind the camera again. The award-winning writer-director is set to kick off production on her third feature, a press release has announced. Currently untitled, the heist...
Trailer Watch: A Volleyball Team Overcomes Tragedy and Defies Odds in “The Miracle Season”
“A lot of people are going to see this movie and think that a lot of it was dramatized for the sake of making a movie — and none of it is,” says Erin Moriarty in the final trailer for...
Abi Morgan to Adapt Psychological Thriller “Tangerine”
Abi Morgan is set to tell another female-led story. Deadline reports that the Emmy winner is following up women’s rights drama “Suffragette” with an adaptation of “Tangerine,” an upcoming...
Alice Birch Named Winner of 2018 Blackburn Prize
Alice Birch is this year’s recipient of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, American Theatre reports. She’s being honored for “Anatomy of a Suicide,” a play about three generations of women...
Trailer Watch: Melissa Benoist Helps Defend the Homefront in Jennifer Morrison’s “Sun Dogs”
In the wake of 9/11 Ned Chipley (Michael Angarano, “The Knick”) wants nothing more than to be a hero. “I put on 15 pounds of muscle mass,” he announces when he tries to join the marines....
AmDoc, Pinewood Atlanta Launch Kickstarter Campaigns to Support Rising Filmmakers
American Documentary (AmDoc) and Pinewood Atlanta Studios have both started Kickstarter funds for up and coming filmmakers. Per Variety, AmDoc is teaming up with the Knight Foundation to support...
Sarah Drew and Michelle Hurd to Topline “Cagney & Lacey” Reboot, Rosemary Rodriguez Directing
“Grey’s Anatomy” star Sarah Drew and “Blindspot” actress Michelle Hurd are the new Cagney and Lacey. Deadline confirms that the duo have been cast as the leads of the “Cagney &...
Trailer Watch: Elsie Fisher Will Break Your Heart in “Eighth Grade”
A trailer has dropped for Sundance favorite “Eighth Grade,” an exploration of adolescence in the age of social media. Thirteen year-old Kayla (Elsie Fisher) wants more confidence and more...
Mira Nair to Direct BBC Adaptation of “A Suitable Boy”
“Queen of Katwe” helmer Mira Nair is eyeing her next project, another coming-of-age story. She’s “on the verge” of a deal that will see her directing the BBC and Lookout Point TV...
Madonna to Direct Adaptation of Ballerina Michaela Deprince’s Memoir
Madonna is set to return to the director’s chair. The Golden Globe winner will direct an adaptation of Michaela Deprince’s 2016 memoir “Taking Flight” for MGM, a press release has announced....
Netflix Must Lead on Inclusion Issues — Instead, They Are Lagging Behind
It’s been 10 days since Frances McDormand uttered those two words that set Hollywood afire — inclusion rider. And in those 10 days Brie Larson, Michael B. Jordan, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon,...
Biopic About Pippi Longstocking Author “Becoming Astrid” Acquired by Music Box Films
A biopic of Pippi Longstocking’s creator is on the way. Deadline reports that Music Box Films has snagged U.S. rights to “Becoming Astrid,” Pernille Fischer Christensen’s look into the life...
New Review Aggregate of Female Critics Launches at SXSW
According to a 2016 report from The Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film, women comprise just 27 percent of top critics on Rotten Tomatoes and men 73 percent of these individuals....
SXSW 2018 Women Directors: Meet Marja-Lewis Ryan — “6 Balloons”
Marja-Lewis Ryan wrote, produced, and starred in the indie feature “The Four-Faced Liar.” In TV, she is slated to create the new “The L Word” series for Showtime, and a one-hour untitled...
Pilot News: Projects for Nina Dobrev and Cazzie David, Directing Gig for Patricia Riggen
“Vampire Diaries” alumna Nina Dobrev, “Eighty Sixed” web series co-creator and star Cazzie David, and “Miracles from Heaven” director Patricia Riggen have all booked pilots. Dobrev is...
Trailer Watch: Tessa Thompson and Melissa Leo Hit the Road in Laurie Collyer’s “Furlough”
“For the next 36 hours I own you,” Tessa Thompson tells Melissa Leo in a new trailer for “Furlough.” The dramedy sees the “Thor: Ragnarok” actress playing a rookie inmate tasked with...
Paul Feig, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck Latest to Adopt Inclusion Rider
Paul Feig, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck are following in Brie Larson and Michael B. Jordan’s footsteps and committing to the inclusion rider. Feig announced that his production company, Feigco...
Nicole Kidman to Star in and Exec Produce HBO Miniseries “The Undoing”
Nicole Kidman’s last collaboration with HBO earned her great ratings, critical acclaim, and two Emmy Awards. It’s no wonder that the “Big Little Lies” star and exec producer is heading back...
Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington’s Adaptation of “Little Fires Everywhere” Goes to Hulu
“Little Fires Everywhere” has found a home just over a week after Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington announced the project. Hulu gave a straight-to-series order for the eight-episode...
Films from Ava DuVernay, Amma Asante, and Julie Dash to Screen at Ebertfest
Three trailblazing directors are set to attend Ebertfest 2018. Ava DuVernay, Amma Asante, and Julie Dash will be screening films at the fest, a press release has announced. Co-founded by and hosted...
Producer Lisa Marie Russo to Run New BFI Doc Society Fund
Lisa Marie Russo is heading to Doc Society (formerly BRITDOC). The “Deep Blue Sea” producer will lead the new BFI Doc Society Fund, a £1M-per-year (about $1.4M USD) endowment supporting...
“Maudie” and “Alias Grace” Win Big at 2018 Canadian Screen Awards
Women dominated Sunday night’s Canadian Screen Awards. Not only did female-led projects “Maudie,” “Alias Grace,” “Anne With an E,” and “Baroness von Sketch Show” sweep the major...
Lily James-Starrer “Guernsey” and Augustine Frizzell’s “Never Goin’ Back” Get Distribution
Lily James-led period piece “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” and Augustine Frizzell’s coming-of-age pic “Never Goin’ Back” have both found homes. “Guernsey” will...
Alfre Woodard to Play a Prison Warden in “Clemency” From Chinonye Chukwu
Alfre Woodard’s recent roles have seen her playing the President of the United States and a comic book villain, and now she’s set to take on the role of a prison warden. The Emmy and Golden...
Women and Hollywood Joins WrapWomen’s Inaugural Power Women Summit
Women and Hollywood is joining Time’s Up, Women In Film (WIF), and more in supporting WrapWomen’s first ever Power Women Summit. Taking place November 1 and 2 in Los Angeles, the event will...
#OscarsSoWhite Creator April Reign’s New Database Helps POC Find Work in the Biz
In 2015 April Reign spearheaded the #OscarsSoWhite movement to call out the Academy Awards’ lack of inclusivity among its acting nominees. The hashtag gained even more momentum in 2016, when the...
“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” Co-Creator Aline Brosh McKenna Has a New Project in Development
“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” co-creator and showrunner Aline Brosh McKenna has a new female-led comedy in the works. She’s joining forces with two writer-producers from the Rachel Bloom-starrer,...
Sasheer Zamata to Star in Stella Meghie’s Next Film “The Weekend”
Sasheer Zamata and Stella Meghie are teaming up. The “SNL” alumna is set to topline “The Weekend,” a comedy from “Everything, Everything” helmer Meghie, Deadline reports. The pic sees...
“Half the Picture” Doc About Women Directors Finds a Home
Women accounted for just 11 percent of directors working on the 250 top-grossing films in 2017. “Half the Picture” investigates why women are so often excluded from the director’s chair...
SXSW 2018 Women Directors: Meet Lynn Shelton — “Outside In”
Lynn Shelton’s feature credits include “Humpday,” “Your Sister’s Sister,” and “Laggies.” Her work has screened at festivals such as TIFF, Sundance, Cannes Directors’ Fortnight,...
Guest Post: What I Learned From Making a Doc About a Refugee
Guest Post by Kate McCaslin Much of what I know about filmmaking I learned this year from a Sudanese refugee named Rebecca Mabior. I admit it’s peculiar given that I’ve worked in the film...
Fandango Study Investigates What Women Want at the Movies
Fandango is celebrating International Women’s Day by setting the record straight about female moviegoers. #TimesUp on the myth that women don’t frequent cinemas and are only interested in weepy...
Tina Fey and #MeToo Founder Tarana Burke Among Variety’s Power of Women 2018 Honorees
Variety’s annual Power of Women: New York event has announced its 2018 honorees. The five women, whose humanitarian efforts will be celebrated at a luncheon on April 13, are Tina Fey, Emily Blunt,...
ReFrame Pushes for More Inclusive Hiring in Hollywood with New Handbook
ReFrame, a Hollywood inclusion program that boasts 50 industry leaders among its ranks, has set its sights on updating show business’ current hiring practices — i.e. its habit of employing...
Brie Larson and Michael B. Jordan Commit to Inclusion Rider
Frances McDormand’s Oscar speech is proving to be a game-changer in Hollywood. The “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” actress mentioned the words “inclusion rider” while accepting...
Trailer Watch: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Is a Superhero in Betsy West and Julie Cohen’s “RBG”
As her legendary dissents prove, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg knows how to turn a phrase. Her way with words is one of her trademarks — as is her exercise regimen — and...
Daryl Hannah’s Feature Directorial Debut Scores Distribution Ahead of SXSW Premiere
Daryl Hannah’s feature directorial debut is set to make its world premiere at SXSW in just over a week, and the pic has already found a home. Deadline reports that Netflix has snagged global...
Tribeca 2018 Competition Lineup Is 44 Percent Women-Directed
The Tribeca Film Festival has unveiled its 2018 lineup and women directors are very well represented. As previously reported, Tribeca’s opening film will be Lisa D’Apolito’s Gilda Radner doc...
Ry Russo-Young to Direct Yara Shahidi-Starrer “The Sun Is Also a Star”
Ry Russo-Young is set to adapt another YA novel. The Hollywood Reporter confirms that she’ll follow up “Before I Fall,” released last year, with “The Sun Is Also A Star,” a star-crossed...
SXSW 2018 Women Directors: Meet Hannah Marks — “Shotgun”
Hannah Marks is an actress, writer, and director known for her roles in the BBC America/ Netflix series “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency” and films such as “Anesthesia,”...
Alexandria Bombach’s Sundance Winner “On Her Shoulders” Acquired by Oscilloscope
After wowing audiences and critics alike at Sundance in January, “On Her Shoulders” has secured distribution. A press release announced that Oscilloscope Laboratories snagged the rights to...
Cheryl Dunye to Write and Direct Adaptation of “The Wonder of All Things”
The groundbreaking writer-director of “The Watermelon Woman” has a new project in the works. Cheryl Dunye will write and direct female-led supernatural story “The Wonder of All Things” for...
SXSW 2018 Women Directors: Meet Megan Griffiths — “Sadie”
M egan Griffiths recently directed two episodes of the HBO anthology series “Room 104” and an episode of the Epix comedy “Graves.” Her feature credits include “The Night Stalker,”...
Paramount Dedicates Building to Pioneering Director Dorothy Arzner
With 20 feature credits to her name, Dorothy Arzner is the most prolific female director of all time. History has neglected to give the trailblazing filmmaker her due, but Paramount recently honored...
Trailer Watch: Annette Bening and Saoirse Ronan Lead a Tangled Web of Love in “The Seagull”
“Remember all the laughter and the noise?” Irina (Annette Bening) reminisces in the trailer for “The Seagull.” “And the love affairs — so many love affairs.” Irina is talking about...