Women Writers
Trailer Watch: Jessica Brown Findlay Enchants in “This Beautiful Fantastic”
“Downton Abbey’s” Jessica Brown Findlay takes on the role of a reclusive aspiring author in “This Beautiful Fantastic,” for which a trailer has just been released. Findlay plays Bella...
Katherine Waterston Acquires the Film Rights to “A Separation,” Will Star
Katie Kitamura’s “A Separation” hasn’t hit shelves yet, but the novel has already found a fan in Katherine Waterston. The “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” actress has acquired...
Athena Film Festival Announces IRIS Screenwriting Lab Participants
The Athena Film Festival has announced the participants for its inaugural Athena IRIS Screenwriting Lab. The Athena IRIS Lab, “whose goal is to develop feature-length narrative scripts with bold...
New Dramatists to Honor Producer Daryl Roth and Playwright Paula Vogel
Good news for any feminist theater fanatics out there. Daryl Roth and Paula Vogel will both receive New Dramatists’ Distinguished Achievement Award, BroadwayWorld writes. New Dramatists, the...
Watch: Patricia Clarkson is a Party Pooper in First Clip of Sally Potter’s “The Party”
Sally Potter’s newest film, “The Party,” is set to make its world premiere at Berlinale this month, where it’s screening in competition. Fortunately for those of us who can’t make it to...
Gina Rodriguez to Exec Produce Hulu Bullying Drama
Well, that was fast! Gina Rodriguez is already putting her deal with CBS to good use. According to Deadline, a project from Rodriguez and her I Can and I Will Productions is on its way to Hulu. The...
Women’s Media Summit to Develop “Actionable Strategies” for Hollywood’s Gender Problem
While the underrepresentation of women in key positions behind the scenes in the film and TV industry is getting more attention now than ever, the numbers don’t seem to be shifting as...
Screen Rights to Rachel Lloyd’s “Girls Like Us” Acquired by EveryWhere Studios
Rachel Lloyd’s “Girls Like Us” is coming to the big screen. EveryWhere Studios has acquired the screen rights to the critically acclaimed memoir, Deadline reports. Lloyd’s harrowing account...
Meryl Streep Supports The Writers Lab for Women Screenwriters Over 40 (Again)
Once again, three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep is putting her money where her mouth is. For the third year in a row, the actress is supporting The Writers Lab, a program for women screenwriters...
Playwright Leah Purcell Wins Australia’s Top Literary Prize
Leah Purcell, an Indigenous Australian playwright and actress, won Australia’s top literary honor. The Guardian reports that Purcell was awarded $100,000 and “the Victorian prize for literature...
Teaser Watch: Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith Go on a “Girls Trip”
Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith are reuniting for a wild “Girls Trip.” A teaser has been released for the female-led comedy, which sees the pair back onscreen together for the first time...
Elizabeth Heldens’ Vampire Drama “The Passage” Gets Pilot Pickup at Fox
The vampire craze isn’t over just yet. There’s still a demand for shows and films about the undead, and Fox is looking to satiate bloodthirsty viewers. The network has ordered a pilot for “The...
Marielle Heller’s Next Movie Begins Filming, Melissa McCarthy Stars
Like many, we fell in love with Marielle Heller’s award-winning directorial debut, “The Diary of a Teenage Girl.” The writer-director’s next project, Fox Searchlight’s “Can You Ever...
“Waitress” Broadway Musical Recoups $12 Million
This calls for a celebratory pie. “Waitress” has recouped its “$12 million capitalization costs, according to producers, less than 10 months after the show began previews in March,” Variety...
February 2017 Film Preview
“A United Kingdom” There may or may not be love in the air this February, but one thing is certain: there is an abundance of female-led horror on the screen. There are, of course, some lighter...
NBC Gives Pilot Orders to Projects from Tina Fey and Mindy Kaling
Tina Fey and Mindy Kaling are set to produce more TV magic. NBC has given pilot orders to Fey’s “The Sackett Sisters” and an untitled project from Kaling, Deadline writes. Both are...
Weekly Update for January 27: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter Films About Women Opening This Week Resident Evil: The Final Chapter Picking up immediately after the events of “Resident Evil: Retribution,” Alice (Milla...
“Carrie Pilby” Gets a Release Date
If you enjoyed Bel Powley’s performance in Marielle Heller’s “The Diary of a Teenage Girl,” you’ll definitely want to check out “Carrie Pilby,” a coming-of-age story that sees Powley...
César Nominations Recognize Existence of Women Directors
Nominations for the 2017 César Awards, France’s national film awards, have been announced. The Césars are considered France’s equivalent to the Oscars. This Academy actually recognized the...
Daisy Ridley to Play a Spy in “A Woman of No Importance”
We’ve seen how well Daisy Ridley can handle a lightsaber, and now we’ll have the chance to see her in action as a spy. The “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” breakout is attached to star in...
Pilot Updates: Pilot Order for Diablo Cody, Script Commitment for “Witchblade”
Women-centric television projects from Diablo Cody and Caroline Dries are on the horizon. According to reports from The Hollywood Reporter, ABC gave a pilot order to “Raised by Wolves,” written...
“Fresh Off the Boat” Team Secures Pilot Order from NBC for Family Comedy
NBC has ordered a pilot for an untitled comedy based on the life of “Fresh Off the Boat” producer Kourtney Kang, The Hollywood Reporter confirms. The project marks the first comedy pilot the...
Sundance Deals: “Novitiate,” “Fun Mom Dinner,” and “The Big Sick” Find Homes
The Sundance Film Festival isn’t even halfway through yet, but there have already been some exciting deals and developments for films by and about women. Maggie Betts’ “Novitiate” and...
Casting News: Anne Hathaway Gets “Nasty,” “UnREAL” Finds Female Suitor
Anne Hathaway has signed on to MGM’s upcoming “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” remake, now titled “Nasty Women.” And speaking of nasty women, two of our favorites from the small screen,...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Lone Scherfig — “Their Finest”
In her native Denmark, Lone Scherfig began her career directing award-winning commercials and television dramas. Her feature film credits include “An Education,” “One Day,” and “The...
Weekly Update for January 20: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Starless Dreams” Films About Women Opening This Week Starless Dreams (Documentary) (Opens in NY) A haunting portrait of stolen childhood, “Starless Dreams” plunges us into the lives of...
Jane Green’s “The Beach House” to Receive Film Adaptation
Jane Green has written a whopping 18 novels, and 17 of them have been bestsellers. One of her books is finally getting the big screen treatment: Good Deed Entertainment has acquired the rights to...
Amanda Kernell’s “Sami Blood” Lands U.S. Distribution
Amanda Kernell’s “Sami Blood” has secured North American distribution prior to its U.S. premiere at Sundance on January 20. Synergetic Distribution snagged the rights to the coming-of-age...
Trailer Watch: There’s No Tomorrow for Zoey Deutch in Ry Russo-Young’s “Before I Fall”
“Maybe for you there’s a tomorrow. But for some of us, there’s only today,” explains Samantha (Zoey Deutch, “Why Him?”), the teen protagonist of “Before I Fall.” A new trailer has...
“Fun Home” Lyricist Lisa Kron Receives Kleban Prize for Musical Theater
Lisa Kron, who wrote the book and lyrics for the musical “Fun Home,” recently received the 2017 Kleban Prize, which includes $100,000, for writing in musical theater, the New York Times writes....
Amy Poehler Buys Rights to YA Book About Teen Riot Grrrl
Amy Poehler in “Parks and Recreation” Amy Poehler is working to bring a feminist teen character to the big screen. Hers and Brooke Posch’s Paper Kite production banner has acquired the film...
“Hidden Figures” Screenwriter Sells Scripted Drama to E!
“Hidden Figures” co-writer Allison Schroeder is on a roll. The Golden Globe-nominated NASA drama earned the top spot at the box office this weekend (as it did last weekend), and now there is...
TruTV Picks Up Comedy Series Created by, Starring Amy Sedaris
Amy Sedaris is making your next favorite TV show. The actress and comedian has landed a 10-episode straight-to-series pickup from truTV for an untitled, half-hour comedy she created and stars in,...
Tessa Thompson and Lily James Team Up for Nia DaCosta’s “Little Woods”
Tessa Thompson and Lily James have signed on to topline “Little Woods,” Nia DaCosta’s feature directorial debut. The two actresses will play sisters in the indie film,...
Weekly Update for January 13: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Claire in Motion” Films About Women Opening This Week Claire in Motion — Written and Directed by Annie J. Howell and Lisa Robinson (Also Available on VOD) Three weeks after Claire’s...
Maren Ade and Sandra Hüller Discuss Nudity and Feminism in Oscar Favorite “Toni Erdmann”
“Toni Erdman” is one of the most lauded films of 2016. It was won many critics awards and was named best film of the year by multiple international critics associations, including Sight &...
Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Acquires Heidi Saman’s Award-Winning Debut “Namour”
Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY has announced its fifteenth film acquisition. The independent distribution company has snagged “Namour,” Egyptian-American filmmaker Heidi Saman’s first feature. The...
Lisa Robinson and Annie J. Howell on Identity, Loss, and Growth in “Claire in Motion”
Lisa Robinson and Annie J. Howell’s s debut feature, “Small, Beautifully Moving Parts,” premiered at SXSW in 2011 and went on to play over thirty festivals. Awards include the Alfred P. Sloan...
Trailer Watch: Gemma Arterton Joins the Movie Biz in Lone Scherfig’s “Their Finest”
The movie business isn’t all glitz and glamour, a fact made painfully clear in a newly released trailer for “An Education” director Lone Scherfig’s latest film, “Their Finest.” In it, we...
2017 Bitch List Highlights Diverse Scripts That Pass the Bechdel Test
The annual Bitch List, which works to highlight unproduced feature film and television screenplays that pass the Bechdel Test, has just been released. For those not in the know, the Bechdel Test was...
Trailer Watch: Riley Keough & Jena Malone are BFFs in So Yong Kim’s “Lovesong”
If and when the line between platonic and romantic gets blurred, it’s unlikely that a friendship will ever be the same. A trailer for So Yong Kim’s “Lovesong” has been released, and it hints...
Trailer Watch: Diane Lockhart Bounces Back in “The Good Fight”
“Good Wife” fans, rejoice: it’s nearly time to be reunited with the inimitable Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski), and a new trailer for the series’ long-awaited spinoff, “The Good...
Series Based on Cosmopolitan Magazine Greenlit by Freeform
If you’re concerned about the fate of “Good Girls Revolt” in the wake of its Amazon cancellation, you may find some solace in the fact that another series led by female journalists is coming...
Jackie Collins’ Lucky Santangelo Books Being Adapted Into Film Trilogy
Jackie Collin’s beloved character Lucky Santangelo is coming to the big screen. As Deadline reports, the 10-novel series has been acquired by Universal Pictures with the hope of making a trilogy...
Trailer Watch: Hannah Remains Highly Opinionated in “Girls’” Final Season
“I don’t give a shit about anything, yet I simultaneously have opinions about everything,” Hannah (Lena Dunham) tells her potential employer in a newly released trailer for “Girls’”...
The CW Renews “Jane the Virgin,” “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” and “Supergirl”
This calls for a celebration: “Jane the Virgin,” “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” and “Supergirl” have all received early renewals from The CW, The Hollywood Reporter confirms. The three...
Hulu’s “Harlots” is Written, Directed, and Produced Entirely by Women
A period drama set in a brothel is bound to raise eyebrows. The subject matter could easily be mishandled, and the resulting series would be nothing more than exploitative and sexist drivel. But...
Glamour Releases First Issue Produced Entirely by Women
Glamour magazine is trying to put its masthead where its mouth is. “Gender equality is on all of our minds. It’s really important to me that Glamour not just talk the talk about female...
Weekly Update for January 6: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Underworld: Blood Wars” Films About Women Opening This Week Underworld: Blood Wars — Directed by Anna Foerster The next installment in the blockbuster franchise, “Underworld: Blood...
Cher to Star in Lifetime Movie Centered on Flint Water Crisis
Cher has signed on to star in “Flint,” an upcoming Lifetime original movie about the headline-making water-contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan, Deadline reports. The singer and Oscar-winning...
Disney’s 2017 Slate Lacks Both Women Writers and Directors
Looks like another major studio will be lacking in female representation this year. After Women and Hollywood reported that 20th Century Fox has zero female directors on their slate through 2018,...