Women Writers
Playwright Susan Soon He Stanton Wins Leah Ryan’s Fund for Emerging Women Writers
The eighth annual recipient of Leah Ryan’s Fund for Emerging Women Writers (FEWW) has been announced. According to a press release from the fund, playwright and screenwriter Susan Soon He Stanton...
Sandra Oh to Star in Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s “Killing Eve”
Move over, Cristina Yang; Sandra Oh has lined up a new series-regular role. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the “Grey’s Anatomy” actress has signed on to topline “Fleabag” creator and...
Season 2 of Nicole Byer Series “Loosely Exactly Nicole” Headed to Facebook
Nicole Byer’s cancelled MTV comedy may have found a new life at Facebook. A deal to pick up “Loosely Exactly Nicole” as part of the social media platform’s foray into original video content...
Trailer Watch: A Teen Tries to Move On from Her Viral Past in Kyra Sedgwick’s “Story of a Girl”
“It was three years ago when the video of me and Tommy Webber went viral,” says Deanna (Ryann Shane, “Banshee”) in a new trailer for Kyra Sedgwick’s “Story of a Girl.” The video...
Regina King Is Adapting Dana Dane Song “Cinderfella” for the Screen
Regina King is bringing rapper Dana Dane’s “Cinderfella” to the big screen. According to Vibe, the Emmy-winning actress is partnering with Dane to adapt his 1987 song — a gender reversal...
Debby Ryan Beauty Pageant Dramedy “Insatiable” Lands at Netflix
If you loved “Drop Dead Gorgeous” you’ll want to listen up. The 1999 Kirsten Dunst-led cult comedy isn’t getting rebooted, but Netflix does have another beauty pageant-centric project in the...
Rosie O’Donnell and Kathleen Turner to Lead Benefit Reading of “Hollywood Nurses”
Rosie O’Donnell and Kathleen Turner are taking to the stage in support of women’s healthcare. Per Playbill, the two will lead a one-night-only reading of “Hollywood Nurses” to benefit The...
Weekly Update for June 9: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Megan Leavey” Films About Women Opening This Week Megan Leavey — Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite; Co-Written by Pamela Gray and Annie Mumolo “Megan Leavey” is both a story of war...
Melissa McCarthy to Star in Christmas Musical “Margie Claus”
We still have a few blessed months before we’re bombarded with Christmas-themed advertising, but here’s some holiday news worth celebrating in June: Melissa McCarthy is set to topline and...
Release Date Set for Angela Robinson’s “Professor Marston & The Wonder Women”
Another story about Diana, Princess of Themyscira is coming our way. Deadline reports that Annapurna’s “Professor Marston & The Wonder Women” will be released October 27. The film is based...
Trailer Watch: Jenny Slate Deals with Family Drama in Gillian Robespierre’s “Landline”
“I’m flailing. I’m just trying to figure out if the life I picked for myself is even the one I want,” admits Dana (Jenny Slate) in a newly released trailer for Gillian Robespierre’s...
Film Society of Lincoln Center to Host Jane Campion Retrospective
The Film Society of Lincoln Center (FSLC) has unveiled its schedule of programs and festivals this summer and fall, and a retrospective of director, writer, and showrunner Jane Campion is among the...
Trailer Watch: Naomi Watts Can’t Control Her Impulses in “Gypsy”
“I used to believe that people determine their own lives. Yet there’s one force more powerful than free will — our desires,” says Naomi Watts in a new trailer for “Gypsy.” The...
Guest Post: I Used an All-Female Crew to Shoot My Movie and Was Called Sexist
Guest Post by Rainy Kerwin Being on set of “The Wedding Invitation” with my all-female crew was the greatest experience of my life. Nope, we didn’t get into catfights. Nope, no one was...
Naomi Alderman Wins Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction for “The Power”
This year’s Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction has gone to Naomi Alderman. The “Disobedience” author took home the prize — a bronze statuette called a Bessie — and £30,000 (about...
Zoe Lister-Jones on Hiring an All-Female Crew for Her Directorial Debut “Band Aid”
Zoe Lister-Jones is an actress, writer, and producer. And now she’s a director. “Band Aid,” her directorial debut, is a terrific story about a couple who decide to turn their epic fights into...
Freeform Orders “Misfits” Reboot Pilot From Diane Ruggiero-Wright
We’re one step closer to getting an American version of “Misfits.” Freeform has given a pilot order to a sci-fi drama inspired by the cult British series, Deadline reports. The project hails...
Lauren Graham to Adapt YA Novel “Windfall” for the Screen
“Gilmore Girls” star and author Lauren Graham is writing a screenplay. As Deadline reports, Graham has optioned Jennifer E. Smith’s YA novel “Windfall” and plans to pen its film adaptation...
Karen Gillan to Receive Rising Star Award at the Maui Film Festival
Former “Doctor Who” companion Karen Gillan is set to receive the Rising Star Award at the 2017 Maui Film Festival, Variety reports. Since her days on the beloved BBC time-traveling series the...
Idina Menzel to Lead Reading of “Jagged Little Pill” Musical
Idina Menzel is switching from “Let It Go” to “You Oughta Know.” Per The Hollywood Reporter, the Tony and Obie Award-winning actress will lead a reading of “Jagged Little Pill,” Diablo...
Trailer Watch: Holly Hunter Deals with Trauma and Betrayal in “Strange Weather”
A woman searches for answers after her son’s death in a newly released trailer for Katherine Dieckmann’s “Strange Weather.” Darcy’s (Holly Hunter) son killed himself seven years ago, but...
“Divergent” Author Veronica Roth’s Next Film Adaptation to Tackle Mental Illness
Veronica Roth is best known as the author of “Divergent,” the best-selling YA book series that spawned the Shailene Woodley-led franchise. The dystopian saga centers on a teen who rises up...
Web Series “Brown Girls” Is Coming to HBO
Like “Broad City,” “High Maintenance,” and “Insecure” before it, the web series “Brown Girls” is making its way to TV. According to ELLE, “Brown Girls” director Samantha Bailey...
Trailer Watch: Abbi and Ilana Resist and Persist in “Broad City” Season 4
Yas queen! The broads are back! A new trailer for “Broad City” is here and its brief 98 seconds is packed. As Jennifer Lopez’s “Get Right” plays, we see glimpses of Shania Twain, RuPaul,...
Cartoonist Lynda Barry Receives Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award
Lynda Barry: Guillaume Paumier/Wikimedia Commons “Ernie Pook’s Comeek” cartoonist Lynda Barry received the National Cartooning Society’s Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award, a...
Lynn Nottage’s New Play “Mlima’s Tale” to Premiere Off Broadway in 2018
Lynn Nottage’s follow-up to her Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony-nominated play “Sweat” will bow in 2018. Per the New York Times, “Mlima’s Tale” will premiere Off Broadway at the Public...
Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters Sign New Three-Year Overall Deal with ABC
Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters have extended their overall deal with ABC. The showrunners of the dearly departed “Agent Carter” have signed a new three-year contract with the studio, Deadline...
Spec Script from “Underground” Co-Creator Misha Green Goes to Netflix
Misha Green is on a roll. Just weeks ago it was announced that the “Underground” co-creator is set to serve as showrunner on “Lovecraft Country,” a new HBO project that received a...
Weekly Update for June 2: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Wonder Woman” Films About Women Opening This Week Wonder Woman — Directed by Patty Jenkins Today the first female superhero movie directed by a woman arrives on the big screen. Gal Gadot...
June 2017 Film Preview
“Wonder Woman” It’s June, but there’s no gloom here! The moment we’ve been waiting (literally years) for is here. Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman” starts the month off with a bang,...
Guest Post: How Writing “The Women’s Balcony” Made Me Rethink My Relationship with Judaism
Guest Post by Shlomit Nehama My debut screenplay centers on the aftermath of an accident at a synagogue. The women’s balcony collapses, leaving the synagogue in shambles. When repairs are made...
Jessica M. Thompson’s SXSW Winner “The Light of the Moon” Acquired by Imagination Worldwide
Imagination Worldwide (IWW) has nabbed the worldwide distribution rights to Jessica M. Thompson’s “The Light of the Moon,” a press release has announced. The SXSW winner chronicles the...
Netflix Nabs Rights to Olivia Milch’s Lucy Hale-Starrer “Dude”
“Pretty Little Liars’” famous time jump took its high school protagonists five years into the future, but the show’s star, Lucy Hale, is set to return to high school one last time. She and...
Carey Mulligan to Topline and Produce Film About Vietnam War Reporter Kate Webb
Carey Mulligan has booked her next role. The Oscar-nominated actress will topline “On the Other Side,” a drama about the experiences of real-life Vietnam war correspondent Kate Webb. According...
Hailee Steinfeld Eyeing Lead Role in “Transformers” Spinoff “Bumblebee”
Hailee Steinfeld may be teaming up with an Autobot. The Hollywood Reporter writes that the Oscar-nominated actress is in talks to topline “Bumblebee,” Paramount’s first “Transformers”...
Interview: Paula Vogel Talks About Being a Woman in Theater and Making Her Broadway Debut with…
Interview: Paula Vogel Talks About Being a Woman in Theater and Making Her Broadway Debut with “Indecent” Paula Vogel: paulavogelplaywright.com Paula Vogel is making her Broadway debut this...
Annette Bening, Lynn Nottage, and More Work with Audible to Support Emerging Playwrights
Annette Bening, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, and theater director Leigh Silverman (“Violet”) are working with audiobook company Audible to support new playwrights. According...
Maggie Gyllenhaal to Star in Sara Colangelo’s “The Kindergarten Teacher”
Maggie Gyllenhaal is stepping into the classroom. The Oscar-nominated actress has signed on to topline “The Kindergarten Teacher,” a film based on a critically acclaimed 2014 Israeli drama of...
STXfilms to Release Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein’s Amy Schumer-Starrer “I Feel Pretty”
STXfilms has snagged distribution rights to the Amy Schumer-led comedy “I Feel Pretty,” Variety reports. The project marks the directorial debut of “How to Be Single” and “He’s Just Not...
Trailer Watch: New “Rough Night” Clip Flashes Back to the Ladies’ College Days
Lucia Aniello’s “Rough Night” is darker than your average R-rated comedy. What begins as a bachelorette party reuniting a group of friends (Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell,...
Stage Musical Based on Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill” to Bow in May 2018
Alanis Morissette’s breakout album “Jagged Little Pill” is set to reach a whole new generation. The 1995 album serves as the basis of an upcoming stage musical of the same name, debuting at...
Guest Post: What It’s Like to Attend a Film Fest with a Newborn
Jennica Schwartzman with her daughter Winslow at the Bentonville Film Festival Guest Post by Jennica Schwartzman “And the Best Narrative award goes to: Jamaica Schwartzman…” My name is Jennica...
Weekly Update for May 26: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Berlin Syndrome” Films About Women Opening This Week Berlin Syndrome — Directed by Cate Shortland While holidaying in Berlin, Australian photojournalist Clare (Teresa Palmer) meets...
Blake Lively to Star in Adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s “The Husband’s Secret”
Addicted to “Big Little Lies” and anxiously awaiting confirmation of a second season? Well, here’s something to help tide you over. The author who wrote the novel the HBO murder mystery is...
Summer 2017 Film Preview
“Girls Trip” By Joseph Allen and Kelsey Moore If the movies are any indication, then we are in for one hot yet refreshing summer. Some of the season’s biggest and action-filled flicks feature...
Just Four of the New Fall Broadcast TV Series Are Women-Created
Now that the May upfronts are over, the Big Five networks (ABC, CBS, The CW, FOX, and NBC) have solidified their fall 2017–18 TV lineups. And CBS isn’t the only one failing women. Women and...
Cannes Update: Gurinder Chadha’s “Viceroy’s House” Gets U.S. Distribution
“Viceroy’s House” has found a U.S. home. IFC acquired the U.S. rights to the period drama from “Bend It Like Beckham” director Gurinder Chadha at the Cannes market, The Hollywood Reporter...
Release Dates Set for Elizabeth Banks’ “Charlie’s Angels” and Michelle MacLaren’s “The Nightingale”
Two upcoming women-directed projects have received release dates. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Michelle MacLaren’s “The Nightingale” will hit theaters in summer 2018 and the...
Anne Hathaway to Topline Untitled Romantic Comedy from STXfilms
Anne Hathaway is getting back into the rom-com game. ComingSoon.net reports that the Oscar winner has signed on to star in an untitled romantic comedy from STXfilms penned by writing partners Abby...
Watch: “Victoria” Season 2 First Look Sees the Monarch Embracing Motherhood
In the inaugural season of “Victoria,” audiences saw the titular young queen (Jenna Coleman) as she settled into her life as a monarch. Victoria was coronated, broke away from her mother...
Cannes Update: Chloé Zhao’s “The Rider” Snagged by Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the North American rights to Chloé Zhao’s “The Rider,” a press release has announced. The company will also distribute the cowboy drama in Latin America,...