News
Sundance 2016 Women Directors: Meet Sara Jordenö — ‘Kiki’
Sara Jordenö is a New York- and Gothenburg-based Swedish visual artist and documentary filmmaker. Her stories often concern communities facing different types of marginalization and how they...
Shonda Rhimes on PGA Diversity Award: “It’s Not Trailblazing to Write the World As It Actually Is”
Shonda Rhimes delivered a tongue-in-cheek speech challenging writers and producers to be more inclusive while receiving the PGA’s Norman Lear Achievement Award at the PGA Awards on Saturday....
Saoirse Ronan to Star in Greta Gerwig’s Directorial Debut ‘Lady Bird’
A double dose of good news: As previously announced, Greta Gerwig is set to make her solo directorial debut, and now we know that Saoirse Ronan will star in it. “Lady Bird” will see the...
Finding Inspiration at Sundance 2016
So I’ve been a bit logistically challenged here at Sundance, meaning that I have missed a films and been shut out of others. That’s the way it goes here. You have to surrender to it. But the one...
Sundance 2016 Women Directors: Meet Meera Meenon — ‘Equity’
Meera Menon was recently selected to be a fellow at 20th Century Fox’s Global Directors initiative. Her directorial debut, “Farrah Goes Bang.” premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, where she...
Sundance 2016 Women Directors: Meet Bonni Cohen — ‘Audrie & Daisy’
Since co-founding Actual Films in 1998, Bonni Cohen has produced and directed an array of award-winning films, including “The Island President,” “Inside Guantanamo,” “The Rape of Europa”...
Sundance 2016 Movies, Part 1
So I’ve been here on the ground at Sundance for a little over three days, and it feels like it’s been three weeks. This is my second real Sundance, and I’m finding it to be an acquired taste....
Sundance 2016 Women Directors: Meet Maya Goded — ‘Plaza de la Soledad’
Through her photographs and now on film, Maya Goded explores the subjects of female sexuality, prostitution and gender violence in a society in which the role of women is narrowly defined and...
Sundance 2016 Women Directors: Meet Stephanie Soechtig — ‘Under the Gun’
Stephanie Soechtig is an award-winning writer, producer and documentary-film director. Her most recent film, “Fed Up,” premiered at Sundance and was acquired by Radius-TWC. It also received a...
Sundance 2016 Women Directors: Meet Chris Hegedus — ‘Unlocking the Cage’
Chris Hegedus has been making films as a director, cinematographer and editor for 40 years. She received the 2001 DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement for “Startup.com.” With her...
The Academy Steps Up to the Diversity Challenge in a Big Way
Sundance is in full swing but the big news today came out of LA, where Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs and CEO Dawn Hudson, with the support of the Board of Governors, unveiled radical changes...
Sundance 2016 Women Directors: Meet Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami — ‘Sonita’
Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami studied filmmaking and animation at Tehran Art University. Ghaemmaghami is the author of “Animated Documentary, a New Way to Express,” which is a product of her research on...
Book Excerpt: The Future of Feminist Film
The following is excerpted from Sophie Mayer’s “Political Animals: The New Feminist Cinema,” published in December 2015. Just over a year ago, the 2014 European Film Awards might have thought...
Vimeo Launches Initiative Supporting Female Filmmakers
Vimeo is making an effort to give more women the opportunity to get behind the camera. The video-sharing website is kicking off a new program for female filmmakers, offering them both financing,...
Watch: Elizabeth Banks, Retta and More Tell Abortion Stories
Actresses from the big and small screen are speaking out about abortion in a new series of videos launched by the Center for Reproductive Rights. The Draw the Line monologues, which feature stars...
Agents Scully and Carter Return
Sundance 2016 Women Directors: Meet Elite Zexer — ‘Sand Storm’
Elite Zexer received her BFA and MFA from Tel Aviv University, the latter in film directing. Her previous short films are “Take Note,” which won the Best Fiction Film Award at the Tel Aviv...
Sundance 2016 Women Directors: Meet Dawn Porter — ‘Trapped’
Dawn Porter is an award-winning filmmaker whose 2013 documentary, “Gideon’s Army,” won the Sundance Film Festival Editing Award, the Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Award and was nominated...
Regina Hall to Star in Napa-Set Hulu Comedy From Writer Tina Gordon Chism
Regina Hall is set to star as the female lead in "Crushed," a single-cam Hulu comedy from writer Tina Gordon Chism. Hall’s screen credits include "Vacation,"...
Watch: New ‘Wonder Woman’ Footage Offers Peek of the Superheroine We’ve Been Waiting For
We finally have the chance to see Wonder Woman as the star of her own film. And from the looks and sounds of it, our long-awaited superheroine is everything we could hope for. Warner Bros....
Phyllis Nagy Developing Rachel Kushner’s ‘Telex From Cuba’ As ’50s-Set TV Series
"Carol" screenwriter Phyllis Nagy, who received her first Oscar nod for penning the lesbian romance last week, is currently developing a TV adaptation of Rachel Kushner’s 2008 novel...
Jennifer Lawrence to Play Real-Life American Spy in Cuba Who Romanced Fidel Castro
Jennifer Lawrence has signed on to portray a woman with one of the strangest life stories we’ve heard in awhile. The actress is set to play Marita Lorenz, a woman who had a relationship...
A24 to Release Andrea Arnold’s ‘American Honey’
Andrea Arnold’s "American Honey," a coming-of-age tale about a girl (Sasha Lane) who joins a group of roving, law-flouting teenagers, has been acquired by A24. Co-starring Shia...
Join Us at the Women and Hollywood/The Director List Sundance Meet-Up
Please come, mingle, and network at Women and Hollywood and The Director List’s Sundance meet-up on Wednesday, January 27. We’re gathering at the No Name Saloon on 447 Main from...
Celebrities Speak Out As #OscarsSoWhite Protest Grows
Women and Hollywood generally focuses on gender issues in the entertainment business. But the fight against racism and the fight against sexism cannot and should not be separated, and so it is our...
Women and Hollywood is Not Going Away
News hit this morning that Penske Media has bought Indiewire. This was quite a surprise; I am just beginning to digest it. While the news is early, my understanding is that the blog network will be...
Sundance Selects Acquires Elyse Steinberg and Josh Kriegman’s Anthony Weiner Doc
Elyse Steinberg and Josh Kriegman’s doc portrait of Anthony Weiner documentary has found a buyer in Sundance Selects days ahead of the film’s January 24 premiere at the 2016 Sundance...
Netflix News: Updates on ‘Kimmy Schmidt,’ ‘Jessica Jones,’ ‘Orange/New Black,’ ‘Grace & Frankie’
Netflix dropped several news bombs over the weekend at the Winter TCAs. Here’s the latest updates on four of our favorite (female-centric, female-created) shows: "Unbreakable Kimmy...
All-Female Ebert Fellows Cohort Announced for Sundance 2016
The recipients of the third annual Roger Ebert Fellowship for Film Criticism have been announced, and all three aspiring film critics this year are young women: Hunter Harris, Sara Alexandra Pelaez...
Anne Hathaway’s Next Two Sci-Fi Action Films to Take Place During Baby Shower, Nervous Breakdown
Anne Hathaway is making a big move into genre both on screen and behind the scenes. The Oscar-winning actress and writer-director Jac Schaeffer are close to making the sci-fi action-comedy...
Tina Fey and Ronda Rousey Team Up for Paula Pell Comedy
"Sisters" is a bona fide sleeper hit: Since its release opposite "Star Wars" four weeks ago, the Tina Fey/Amy Poehler vehicle has racked up $94 million worldwide. No wonder,...
Kylie Bunbury to Star in Fox Drama About MLB’s First Female Pitcher
Kylie Bunbury has been cast as the lead in "Pitch," Fox’s just-picked-up drama about the major leagues’ first pitcher. The series will focus on a young female baseball...
Support Women Filmmakers at Cannes- 2015
Celebrate Women Filmmakers at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival
Meryl Streep to Lead Master Class at Berlinale 2016
Meryl Streep will host a master class with 300 emerging film professionals at the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival. Participants were chosen from a pool of more than 2,700 applicants....
Catherine Deneuve and Catherine Frot to Star in ‘The Midwife’
French stars Catherine Deneuve and Catherine Frot will star in "The Midwife." Written and directed by Martin Provost, the film will center on Claire (Frot), an extraordinarily talented...
Rutina Wesley to Star In Ava DuVernay’s TV Series ‘Queen Sugar’
Former "True Blood" star Rutina Wesley has landed a starring role in Ava DuVernay’s upcoming OWN series "Queen Sugar." The drama, based on a novel of the same name by...
Melissa Leo to Star in Showtime Comedy About Stand-Up in the ’70s
Melissa Leo has joined the cast of Showtime’s newly greenlit "I’m Dying Up Here," an upcoming dark comedy about stand-up in the ’70s. Leo will play a...
Juliet Stevenson Set to Star in Polly Steele’s Intergenerational Drama About Mothers and Daughters
Four-time BAFTA nominee and theater vet Juliet Stevenson will likely star in Polly Steele’s "Let Me Go." The drama, an intergenerational story about mothers and daughters tracing back...
Women-Directed Films from Major Studios 2009-2013
Women-Directed Independent Features
Trailer Watch: Sarah Jessica Parker Reconnects With an Italian Ex in ‘All Roads Lead To Rome’
Sarah Jessica Parker is back with another rom com. A trailer has been released for writer-director Ella Lemhagen’s "All Roads Lead To Rome," and as the film’s title suggests,...
Netflix Reboots Post-Divorce Family Sitcom ‘One Day At A Time’ With Rita Moreno-Led Latino Cast
Netflix has given a 13-episode direct-to-series order to a reboot of Norman Lear’s "One Day at a Time," the classic sitcom that ran from 1975 to 1984. The new version will...
Netflix Buys Sian Heder’s ‘Tallulah,’ Starring Ellen Page and Allison Janney
Sian Heder’s feature directorial debut "Talluhlah" has found a home prior to its world premiere at Sundance just over a week away. Netflix is reported to have spent somewhere in the...
Trailer Watch: Julia Roberts and George Clooney Take On Wall St. in Jodie Foster’s ‘Money Monster’
A trailer has arrived for Jodie Foster’s much anticipated "Money Monster." The star-studded drama focuses on a TV personality, financial guru Lee Gates (George Clooney), who is taken...
Zeitgeist To Release Marcie Begleiter’s Doc About Artist Eva Hesse
Marcie Begleiter’s directorial debut, a documentary about sculptor Eva Hess, has been acquired. Zeitgeist Films will distribute "Eva Hesse." The film chronicles...
Trailer Watch: Elaine May’s PBS Portrait of Director Mike Nichols
One of Mike Nichols’ best-known collaborators has helmed a documentary about the Oscar-winning director and one of his most beloved films. Elaine May has directed an "American...
How Samatha Bee’s New Late Night Show is Tackling Gender Diversity Behind the Scenes
Samantha Bee and her team for her new talk show, "Full Frontal," are putting their money where their mouths are. "The talent is out there, so late-night shows need to stop saying,...
Study: Women Directors’ Ranks Increased in 2015, But Only to 1998 Rates
Female filmmakers enjoyed a slight bump last year in their representation in the film industry, with women directors and those in other key roles (writers, producers, executive producers, editors and...
Susanne Bier’s TV Adaptation of ‘The Night Manager’ Changes the Protagonist From a Male to a Female
"We have to start stealing the men’s roles," urged Helen Mirren back in August 2015. Angelina Jolie’s role in 2010’s "Salt" was originally written for a man, as...
Elite Zexer’s Sundance Competitor “Sand Storm” Acquired by Beta Cinema
Two weeks ahead of its world premiere at Sundance 2016, the Israeli family drama "Sand Storm" has landed a distribution deal. Written and directed by first-timer Elite Zexer, the...