News
Valerie Faris & Jonathan Dayton’s “Battle of the Sexes” Gets Awards-Friendly Release
Emma Stone just won her first Oscar in February, and the “La La Land” actress may be in running for the 2018 Academy Awards as well. Fox Searchlight has announced an awards-friendly release date...
Toxic Masculinity in “Beauty and the Beast”
“Beauty and the Beast” is doing huge numbers at the box office. Its first weekend in theaters proved — yet again — that women can more than hold their own at the box office. The...
“The Path” Co-EP Annie Weisman Signs Overall Deal With Universal TV
“The Path” co-executive producer Annie Weisman has inked a two-year overall deal with Universal TV, Deadline reports. She’s written four episodes of the Hulu series starring Aaron Paul...
New Play “Offside” Explores British Women’s 50-Year Ban from Soccer
A new play will tell the story of how Britain’s Football Association (FA) banned women from soccer for 50 years, The Guardian writes. Written by Sabrina Mahfouz and Hollie McNish, “Offside”...
Lillian E. Benson to Be Honored by Motion Picture Editors Guild
This is the kind of herstory we love learning about: Lillian E. Benson was the first African-American female member of the American Cinema Editors (ACE), a prestigious honorary society of film...
Firelight Media Launches Impact Producer Fellowship & Names Inaugural Honorees
Firelight Media has introduced the Impact Producer Fellowship and announced the initiative’s inaugural participants, Shadow and Act reports. “The first-ever training program dedicated to...
Artemis Women in Action Film Festival Announces 2017 Honorees
The Artemis Women in Action Film Festival has announced the honorees for its 2017 edition. Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Cynthia Rothrock, Gina Carano, and Luci Romberg will be celebrated in April, a press...
“Fleabag” Gets Second Season
We haven’t seen the last of “Fleabag,” thank goddess. The series’ star and creator, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, has confirmed that a second season of the pitch-black comedy is in the works. The...
Trailer Watch: Petra Epperlein Investigates Surveillance Culture in “Karl Marx City”
“It’s easy to go down the rabbit hole of the subject of modern surveillance and come out sounding like a raving paranoid,” “Karl Marx City” co-director Petra Epperlein told us. But a newly...
Salma Hayek to Be Honored with CinemaCon Vanguard Award
Salma Hayek has been named as the recipient of CinemaCon’s 2017 Vanguard Award. The Oscar-nominated actress will receive the honor March 30 at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, ScreenDaily...
All Female “Juno” Live-Read Announced to Benefit Planned Parenthood
If there was ever a time we needed a feel-good comedy about a young woman owning her sexuality and reproductive autonomy, it’s now. So, we’re pleased to tell you that a tenth anniversary...
Shonda Rhimes Branches Out Into Theatre
We all know Shonda Rhimes as a top showrunner and the writer/producer/director extraordinaire behind “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal,” and “How to Get Away with Murder.” And now we’ll...
Tamara Jenkins to Direct “Private Life,” Starring Kathryn Hahn and Molly Shannon
It’s been a decade since Tamara Jenkins released her last film, but the writer-director has a project on the way, and it sounds amazing: “Private Life,” a Netflix original film, will star...
Variety’s Power of Women Honors Jessica Chastain, Blake Lively, Audra McDonald, & More
The guest list at this luncheon is going to be stacked. Once again, Variety is celebrating the philanthropic work of some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. The outlet has announced the honorees for...
“Beauty and the Beast” Wins U.S. and Global Box Office and Smashes Records
Turns out Belle’s life is anything but provincial. The Emma Watson-led “Beauty and the Beast” opened huge this past weekend, earning $170 million in North America and $350 million globally. If...
Mila Kunis & Kate McKinnon in Talks for Susanna Fogel’s “The Spy Who Dumped Me”
Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon may be teaming up for a woman-directed comedy. The actresses are in talks to star in Susanna Fogel’s “The Spy Who Dumped Me,” Deadline reports. If they sign on...
Trailer Watch: Emilia Clarke Is in Major Trouble in Creepy “Voice from the Stone”
Looks like Emilia Clarke will need to summon her inner Khaleesi. A trailer has been released for the “Game of Thrones” actress’ next film, “Voice from the Stone,” and the footage suggests...
What Happened to the Women Directors in Hollywood? Part 4: 1984–1999
by Carrie Rickey This five-part Truthdig series by Carrie Rickey is published in partnership with Women and Hollywood. The series considers the historic accomplishments of women behind the camera,...
Film About Olympian Swimmer and Syrian Refugee Yusra Mardini in the Works
In 2015, Yusra Mardini and her sister Sara saved themselves and the fellow refugees on their dinghy by jumping into the freezing Aegean Sea and swimming the boat to safety. The Mardini sisters had...
Hillary Seitz to Adapt Ruth Ware’s “The Woman in Cabin 10”
“The Woman in Cabin 10” is headed to the big screen. “Eagle Eye” and “Insomnia” screenwriter Hillary Seitz has signed on to pen an adaptation of the Ruth Ware mystery thriller, Variety...
“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” Co-Creator Aline Brosh McKenna Signs Overall Deal With CBS TV Studios
This calls for a celebratory song and dance number. “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” co-creator, showrunner, and executive producer Aline Brosh McKenna is strengthening her relationship with the studio...
Screen Australia Announces Gender Matters Mentorship Program Recipients
Eight women have been selected for a commercial directing mentorship, Screen Australia announced. As part of the Australian Directors’ Guild’s (ADG) Gender Matters initiative, these eight...
Trailer Watch: A Young Woman Is Pushed Over the Edge in “I, Olga Hepnarova”
“To commit suicide you need a strong will, my child. Something you certainly don’t have. Accept it.” Yikes. This is definitely not what someone needs to hear after a suicide attempt lands them...
Feminism Paying Off at the Box Office with “Beauty and the Beast”
Between 1980 and 2016 only four women-centric movies topped the U.S. domestic box office: 1997 with “Titanic”; 2013 with “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”; 2015 with “Star Wars: The Force...
Hot Docs Special Presentations Lineup: Dance Teams, Indigenous Musicians, & Animal Rights Activists
Hot Docs has announced the lineup for their Special Presentations program. Nine of 26 films are directed or co-directed by women, amounting to about 35 percent of the high-profile slate. According...
Trailer Watch: Melissa Leo Is an Atheist with a Cause in “Most Hated Woman in America”
Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins — these are the names most closely associated with atheism in the United States. But this wasn’t always the case. It was in fact a woman who...
Eva Longoria to Star in Fox Comedy Pilot “Type-A”
Eva Longoria is headed back to the small screen to topline “Type-A,” a Fox comedy pilot. According to Deadline, the single-camera project follows “a group of consultants hand-picked to do the...
Apply Now for the Producers Guild’s Power of Diversity Master Workshop
The deadline for the Producers Guild of America’s (PGA) 14th annual Power of Diversity Master Workshop has been extended, the PGA announced in a press release. Applications will now be accepted...
Jennifer Aniston and Anne Fletcher Team Up for Teen Comedy
Jennifer Aniston played a Prom Queen and Homecoming Queen in “Friends,” and now she’ll take on the role of a former beauty queen. Variety reports that the expert tiara-wearer has joined the...
Women Directors Dominate Nominations for German Film Awards
Maren Ade’s “Toni Erdmann” is the film to beat at the Lolas, Germany’s equivalent to the Academy Awards. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the daughter-father comedy garnered six...
Trailer Watch: Oprah Demands Justice in “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”
“What you don’t understand is, we didn’t know nothin’ about nothin,” Deborah Lacks (Oprah Winfrey, “Lee Daniels’ The Butler”) says in a new trailer for “The Immortal Life of...
Fusion Orders Dawn Porter Doc “Fatherless”
Dawn Porter has a new project on the way. Fusion has commissioned an hour-long documentary from the “Trapped” helmer, Realscreen reports. “Fatherless” will focus on “Grace & Frankie”...
Trailer Watch: Melissa McCarthy’s Old Friends Lie for a Job in TV Land’s “Nobodies”
Melissa McCarthy is not the star of “Nobodies,” but she does appear in a trailer for the upcoming TV Land series. The comedy centers on characters played by significantly less famous...
Ana Asensio’s “Most Beautiful Island” Wins Top Prize at SXSW
Ana Asensio’s “Most Beautiful Island” has been named the winner of SXSW’s Grand Jury Award in the narrative feature competition, The Hollywood Reporter writes. Asensio’s film, which she...
“Somersault” Director Cate Shortland Has a Miniseries in the Works
Australian filmmaker Cate Shortland is returning to the small screen. The “Somersault” and “Lore” director is working on an eight-part miniseries for Matchbox Pictures, The Playlist reports....
Zoe Lister-Jones’ “Band Aid” Gets a Release Date
Dysfunctional bands are usually notorious for their diva antics, exploitation of adoring fans, and drug addictions — not passive-aggressive discussions about personal hygiene and doing the...
Trailer Watch: Kate Mara Fights for Her Combat Dog in Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s “Megan Leavey”
“I just don’t know why you want to do this” is not the reaction you’re hoping to hear when you tell your mom a major life decision, but it’s the one Megan (Kate Mara, “House of Cards”)...
Film About Hillary Clinton During Her 1969 Gap Year Announced
A new film about Hillary Clinton — Hillary Rodham, actually — is on its way. According to TheWrap, Magdalena Zyzak and Zachary Cotler have finished “When I’m a Moth,” about the gap...
Eve Ensler’s “In the Body of the World” Set for Off-Broadway Run, Diane Paulus to Direct
Even if you’ve never seen “The Vagina Monologues” performed live, you’re almost certainly familiar with its title. The groundbreaking episodic play has been staged countless times in over...
Guest Post: When a Woman Called the Shots at the Screen Writers Guild
Guest Post by J.E. Smyth Current debates in the media about women’s employment, representation, and visibility in Hollywood focus — perhaps predictably — on stars’ pay and the...
Exclusive: Reba McEntire Talks Patsy Cline’s Influence in “Patsy Cline: American Masters” Clip
“She brought a dignity to a woman’s feelings,” actress and singer Beverly D’Angelo says of legendary country star Patsy Cline in our exclusive clip of PBS’ “Patsy Cline: American...
Australia Introduces Two New Initiatives to Support Women Filmmakers
Similar to Canada’s news last week, Australia has unveiled two new initiatives striving for gender parity in filmmaking. Screen Australia introduced Doco180 for documentary filmmakers, and the...
Trailer Watch: It’s the Same Old Selina in the New Season of “Veep”
You can take Selina Meyer out of the White House, but you can’t take the White House out of Selina Meyer. And thank god for that. In the opening moments of the full trailer for “Veep’s” new...
“Margarita with a Straw” Helmer Shonali Bose Signs on to Write & Direct Potential Pilot
Indian filmmaker Shonali Bose may be making her TV directorial debut. The “Margarita with a Straw” co-writer and co-director has signed on to write and direct a potential pilot based on Diksha...
Trailer Watch: Rami Malek Is Split in Two in Sarah Adina Smith’s “Buster’s Mal Heart”
The newly released trailer for Sarah Adina Smith’s “Buster’s Mal Heart” goes to some heady and heavy places, but the spot kicks off with a hilarious interaction between a man and his boss....
Julie Andrews Returns to TV to Teach Kids the Value of Arts Education in “Julie’s Greenroom”
Julie Andrews is coming back to TV to teach kids the value of arts education with Netflix’s “Julie’s Greenroom” set to launch on March 17. The series showcases the impact the arts can have...
Relaunched Quad Cinema to Host Lina Wertmüller Retrospective
Italian filmmaker Lina Wertmüller made history as the first woman to receive an Academy Award for Best Director back in 1977 for “Seven Beauties.” The trailblazer’s prolific career will be...
Trailer Watch: Jane Jacobs Saves the Neighborhood in “Citizen Jane”
If you need reassurance that one person’s voice can make a difference in the world — really, who doesn’t need that right now? — then “Citizen Jane: Battle for the City” probably...
Women in Sports Doc “Tomboy” Premieres on CSN Tonight
There aren’t many mainstream conversations about women in professional sports, especially during non-Olympics years. Luckily, that drought will break tonight thanks to “Tomboy: Elevating the...
Viola Davis’ Production Company Raising Significant Cash
Viola Davis won an Oscar less than a month ago and is showing no signs of slowing down. The “Fences” actress is “embarking on an effort to raise $250,000,000 in a global expansion plan for the...
Enter Your Short Film to the Audience Awards’ Women’s Film Challenge
Attention, female filmmakers: Have you finished a short narrative film or documentary? Or is there a portion of your feature-length film or doc that you’re ready to share? If so, you should enter...