Television
Zadie Smith’s “Swing Time” Set for Television Adaptation at the BBC
Author Zadie Smith’s novel “Swing Time” has been picked up by the BBC for a television adaptation, ScreenDaily reports. Smith will adapt the book herself, along with her husband, writer Nick...
Liu Xiaoqing to Star in and Co-Produce “Empress” U.S. TV Series
Liu Xiaoqing is introducing U.S. audiences to Empress Consort Wu. The Chinese actress will star in and co-produce “Empress,” a TV series centered on the seventh and eighth century empress Wu...
Samantha Bee’s “Full Frontal” Renewed for a Second Season, Thank God
One of the few late-night voices doing any kind of serious critical work during this election season was that of Samantha Bee’s on her TBS show “Full Frontal.” Thankfully, the show has been...
“The Killing Season” Warms Up a Cold Case
“The Killing Season”: A&E The new docuseries “The Killing Season,” on A&E, will feel familiar to anyone passingly acquainted with true-crime shows. Its ominous music, abrupt...
BBC America Orders New Series from “Fleabag” Creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge
It’s uncertain whether “Fleabag” will be getting a second season, but BBC America has ordered a new drama from the critically acclaimed dark comedy’s creator and star, Phoebe...
illuminatrix Launches Database of Female Cinematographers in the UK
Looking to hire a female cinematographer? A helpful new resource will make that task easier: illuminatrix, the UK’s first all-female collective of cinematographers, has launched a database...
Tig Notaro’s “One Mississippi” Renewed for Second Season on Amazon
“One Mississippi” will return for a second season. The Hollywood Reporter writes that Tig Notaro’s semi-autobiographical series has been renewed by Amazon. The comedian, writer, and actress...
Christina Hodson to Write Harley Quinn Movie and “Transformers” Spinoff
Christina Hodson is breaking into the big leagues. The screenwriter will pen the “Suicide Squad” Harley Quinn/ “Birds of Prey” spinoff for Warner Bros. and DC Films, and the...
HBO Renews “Insecure,” “Divorce,” and “Westworld” for Second Seasons
“Insecure”: HBO HBO has renewed the Issa Rae comedy “Insecure” and Sarah Jessica Parker-starring “Divorce” for a second season. The drama “Westworld,” which was co-created and is...
Hollywood Women (Plus One Guy) React to the Election
A good number of us were shocked into numbness and dismayed by the outcome of Tuesday night’s election. America elected a demagogue instead of our first female president, and it’s devastating....
Octavia Spencer to Star in Miniseries Based on the Life of Madam C.J. Walker
Oscar winner Octavia Spencer is attached to star in a series adaptation of A’Lelia Bundles’ bestselling biography “On Her Own Ground,” Deadline reports. The book tells the story of...
“Blue Crush” TV Series in the Works at NBC with Script by Lizzy Weiss
Take out your surfboard and ride some celebratory waves. “Blue Crush” may be coming to TV. NBC has given a script commitment with penalty to a series based on the 2002 surfing movie starring...
“Lady Macbeth” Screenwriter Alice Birch Adapting “Love and Capital” for TV
British playwright Alice Birch is writing the television adaptation of Mary Gabriel’s 2011 bestseller “Love and Capital,” Screen Daily reports. James Schamus’ Symbolic Exchange is...
Trailer Watch: “The Affair” Season 3 Kicks Off Three Years After Noah’s Confession
ANSFW trailer has been released for Season 3 of “The Affair,” and the spot confirms that Showtime’s critically acclaimed, multi-perspective drama will continue to deliver the thrills, sex...
Kate Walsh Joining Queen Latifah and Jada-Pinkett Smith for “Girls Trip”
“Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice” star Kate Walsh is set to join the R-rated comedy feature “Girls Trip,” Deadline has reported. The film’s cast already includes Regina Hall,...
CBC Launches Breaking Barriers Film Fund for Diverse Directors
Things might be rocky here in the U.S., but Canada is taking strides to achieve more diversity in its entertainment industry. As CBC News reports, the CBC is launching the Breaking Barriers Film...
Elizabeth Banks Developing Family Comedy at CBS
Elizabeth Banks has landed her first major network sale, Variety reports. The actress, producer, and director signed an overall deal with Warner Bros. TV last year that sees her and Max Handelman,...
Rosie O’Donnell Joins the Cast of Frankie Shaw’s Showtime Pilot
Rosie O’Donnell has joined the cast of “SMILF,” Frankie Shaw’s semi-autobiographical Showtime pilot. If the project gets ordered to series, it would mark O’Donnell’s first credit as a...
FX Developing “Flatlands,” a Series from Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini’s “Flatlands” has gone into development at FX, Deadline reports. The hour-long serio-comedy comes from the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated collaborators and...
TV Land Orders “American Woman” Starring Alicia Silverstone
“American Woman” has been greenlit by TV Land, Variety reports. Based on the life of “Real Housewives’” Kyle Richards, the ‘70s period dramedy stars Alicia Silverstone (“Clueless”)....
Sharon Horgan’s “Pulling” Heading to NBC
Another British cult hit is heading stateside. As Deadline reports, NBC is developing a U.S. version of BBC series “Pulling.” Original creators Sharon Horgan, who starred in the original, and...
Amy Poehler and Lauren Gussis Score Multiple TV Deals This Year
Amy Poehler is on a roll and has sold her third comedy of the season through her company Paper Kite, THR reports. She’ll be teaming with Claudia Lonow for an “Odd Couple”-inspired series...
Teaser Watch: Carrie Heads to NYC in “Homeland” Season 6
Carrie Mathison is back. Showtime has released a teaser trailer for the new season of “Homeland,” and if the new footage is any indication, Carrie (Claire Danes) is as brave, defiant, and...
The Fallout From Trauma: ‘The Fall’ Returns
Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan on “The Fall”: BBC On its surface, you could fairly accuse “The Fall” of being yet another drama about a sexy, seductive serial killer (Jamie Dornan). On...
Hannah Mackay Comedy Pilot Lands at ABC, Mindy Kaling Producing
Hannah Mackay (“Peep Show”) and Ed Weeks (“The Revolting World of Stanley Brown”) are teaming up for a single-camera comedy about a liberal lesbian couple. The project is being produced by...
Season 3 of “UnREAL” to Introduce Female Suitor to “Everlasting”
“Everlasting” is getting a makeover. The reality dating show at the center of Lifetime’s “UnREAL” is making history for the second season in a row. Last season saw a black suitor...
“The Good Fight” Revealed as “The Good Wife” Spinoff Title
CBS has announced that its spinoff series based on “The Good Wife” will be called “The Good Fight.” Deadline reported the new title and that production has begun in New York City. The...
S.J. Clarkson to Direct Netflix’s “The Defenders”
S.J. Clarkson is returning to the Marvel universe. Clarkson, who directed the first two episodes of “Jessica Jones,” has signed on to helm Episodes 1 and 2 of Netflix’s upcoming original...
Nahnatchka Khan and Sally Bradford McKenna Team Up for Workplace Comedy
“Fresh Off the Boat” showrunner Nahnatchka Khan is joining forces with with “ Son of Zorn” showrunner Sally Bradford McKenna for a “high-concept” Fox comedy, The Hollywood Reporter...
Marti Noxon’s “Dietland” Adaptation Heading to AMC
Marti Noxon’s television adaptation of Sarai Walker’s novel “Dietland” is heading to AMC after an intense, multiple-network bidding war, THR reports. HBO, Netflix, and TV Land were all in...
Jennifer Lopez to Headline Live “Bye Bye Birdie” for NBC’s 2017 Holiday Musical
Continuing NBC’s trend of putting a live musical production on television during the holiday season, The Hollywood Reporter details that their 2017 selection will be a production of “Bye Bye...
Diablo Cody Developing New Comedy at Fox
Oscar-winning writer Diablo Cody is co-developing a comedy for Fox about the strange world of synchronized swimming, THR reports. She’s teaming up with “American Idol’s” Simon Cowell and...
Viola Davis Developing Family Musical Comedy for ABC
Dramatic powerhouse Viola Davis is turning to comedy for ABC. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Davis is developing a single-camera comedy for the network called “The Zipcoders.” “The...
Nancy Buirski on Paying Tribute to a Legend in “By Sidney Lumet”
Nancy Buirski’s 2013 documentary “Afternoon of a Faun” had its World Premiere at the 51st New York Film Festival and International Premiere at the 64th Berlinale. She is the director,...
WGA West’s TV Writers Access Project Now Taking Submissions
Hey women TV writers, time to polish those scripts. The Writers Guild of America West has opened up the submission period for their 2016–2017 TV Writers Access Project, which is open to guild...
Women in Film & Video Hosting 2nd #GalsNGear Event at NAB New York
Women in Film & Video of Washington, D.C. has announced the second installment of their #GalsNGear pop-up event. The event, set to promote gender balance in digital content production, will take...
J.K. Rowling’s “Cormoran Strike” Series Heading to HBO
J.K. Rowling’s work is headed to HBO. You may recall when the “Harry Potter” author turned to the pseudonym Robert Galbraith to write a series of crime novels. Now BBC One is turning them into...
Decision 2016: October’s VOD and Web Series Picks
“The Young Hillary Diaries”: Lifetime Decisions are at the core of most narratives. The emphasis on personal decisions are at the heart of our VOD and web series picks this month. The women...
Trailer Watch: “I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House”
Consider yourself warned: The main character of “I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House” won’t live to see her next birthday. A trailer has been released for the Netflix original film...
Lifetime’s Broad Focus Partners with Chicken & Egg for Short Film Series
Lifetime’s Broad Focus initiative and Chicken & Egg Pictures have partnered up for a project that elevates women’s voices. The duo is producing “Shorts on Time,” a series of short films...
Wendi McLendon-Covey Sells Workplace Comedy to ABC
“The Goldbergs” star Wendi McLendon-Covey has transformed her humble beginnings into comedy gold. Deadline reports that McLendon-Covey has secured a script commitment plus significant penalty...
Trailer Watch: Rory and Lorelai’s Banter is Back in “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life”
Rory and Lorelai Gilmore are back, and the twosome’s famous repartee is thankfully still intact. A newly released trailer for Netflix’s “Gilmore Girls” reboot has been released, and the...
Tracey Ullman, Still a Master Class in Impersonation
Tracey Ullman’s new HBO sketch-comedy show, “Tracey Ullman’s Show,” is a master class in impersonation, and so is the woman herself. During a recent conversation with writer Patty Marx at...
Tina Fey, Nancy Abraham, and More to Speak at PGA Event in NY
Tina Fey is best known as a writer and actress, but she’s also a powerhouse producer whose credits include “30 Rock,” “Sisters,” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” It’s Fey’s role as...
Every Episode of “Jessica Jones” Season 2 Will Be Directed by Women
Your favorite superhero is adding some amazing allies to her team. “Marvel’s Jessica Jones” executive producer and showrunner Melissa Rosenberg has revealed that Season 2 of the hit Netflix...
“Good Girls Revolt”: Herstory, Repeating Itself
“Good Girls Revolt,” on Amazon Prime starting Oct. 28, is a perfect storm of things I love: journalism and feminism and 1960s New York City and Nora Ephron (if only briefly). So to claim I’m...
Carol Burnett Returning to Television for Collaboration with Amy Poehler
It’s like our lady comedy dreams are coming true. Television legend Carol Burnett is returning to TV with the help of soon-to-be television legend Amy Poehler. As Deadline reports, Burnett is set...
Stella Meghie on Who and What Inspired “Jean of the Joneses”
Interview by Eboni Boykin Stella Meghie has a blind script deal at Warner Brothers, a pilot in development with John Wells Productions, a comedy optioned by BET, and a deal to pen a feature script...
Comedy Pilots from Casey Wilson and Iliza Shlesinger in the Works
Get ready to add even more to your To Watch list: new comedy pilots from tag-team Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael, as well as Iliza Shlesinger are being developed. According to Deadline,...
Books, Films, News, Television
Eva Longoria’s Production Company Adapting “940 Saturdays” Book for ABC
Eva Longoria, an increasingly busy multi-hyphenate, has another television series in the works. Longoria is reuniting with ABC, the network behind “Desperate Housewives,” to develop “940...
“The Killing” Creator Veena Sud and Netflix Nearing Deal on “Seven Seconds”
“The Killing” creator Veena Sud and Netflix are inching closer to a deal. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “the streaming giant is nearing a series pickup for ‘Seven Seconds,’ a racial...