Women Writers
“Charmed” Reboot in the Works from “Jane the Virgin” Creator Jennie Snyder Urman
The Charmed Ones are back. Kind of. The CW has confirmed that a new version of “Charmed” is in the works, Entertainment Weekly reports. But fans of the original series may be disappointed to...
“Coin Heist” Writer-Director Emily Hagins on Respecting the Teenage Perspective
Emily Hagins is a 23-year-old writer-director living in Los Angeles. She wrote and directed her first feature film at the age of 12, a zombie movie titled “Pathogen.” This project was the...
Trailer Watch: BAFTA-Winning Comedy “Chewing Gum” Returns for Season 2
“Chewing Gum” fans are in for a treat: A trailer for the upcoming second season of the BAFTA-winning series has been released, and it offers a look at the misadventures that await the comedy’s...
20 Most Anticipated Films By and About Women of 2017
“Wonder Woman” By Rachel Montpelier and Kate Gardner As we say goodbye to the festering disappointment that was 2016 — and try to be cautiously optimistic that next year will be a little...
“Mean Girls” Musical to Make its World Premiere this Fall
“Mean Girls” is finally making its way to the stage. The long-awaited musical version of the beloved 2004 teen film is scheduled to make its world premiere this fall at the National Theater in...
January 2017 Film Preview
“Underworld: Blood Wars” January is good month for fans of female-led action films. Both the “Underworld” and “Resident Evil” franchises are releasing their latest chapters. Even those...
Best of 2016: The Dudeocracy of Film Writers
Women and Hollywood is off today. Please enjoy one of our top posts of the year. This piece is from May 5, 2016. Yesterday, Owen Gleiberman was appointed chief film critic at Variety. We...
Listen: Podcast with “Hidden Figures” Screenwriter Allison Schroeder
We’ve been counting down the days to “Hidden Figures’” release: We can’t for audiences to be introduced the unsung heroes behind one of NASA’s greatest accomplishments. The film is based...
Breaking the Fourth Wall: December’s VOD and Web Series Picks
“Online Heroines” Whether through irony, autobiography, or documentary, this month’s batch of VOD and web series recommendations all chip away at the fourth wall, that barrier that usually...
Clare-Hope Ashitey Joins the Cast of Veena Sud’s New Netflix Series “Seven Seconds”
Clare-Hope Ashitey (“Suspects,” “Children of Men”) has been added to the cast of Veena Sud’s upcoming Netflix series, “Seven Seconds.” The Hollywood Reporter writes that the British...
Learn How to Write for TV from Shonda Rhimes
Heads up, aspiring TV writers. Have you always wanted to learn from one of the best? “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal” creator Shonda Rhimes is starting an online course through MasterClass...
Trailer Watch: Hannah and Jessa Come to Blows in “Girls’” Final Season
The sixth and final season of Lena Dunham’s “Girls” is almost upon us. The series won’t return to HBO until February 12, but a newly released promo hints at what’s in store for Hannah...
Directors UK Partners with Channel 4 for Emerging Directors Project
If you’re a member of Directors UK, or just an emerging director, here’s a new opportunity for you: Directors UK, the professional association for British screen directors, is partnering with...
Jandy Nelson to Adapt “The Sky Is Everywhere” for Warner Bros.
Jandy Nelson’s 2010 book “The Sky Is Everywhere” is headed for the big screen, and the YA author has been hired to pen the adaptation for Warner Bros., The Hollywood...
Tracy Oliver to Adapt “The Sun Is Also a Star” for Warner Bros. and MGM
“Awkward Black Girl” writer, producer, and actress Tracy Oliver has signed on to adapt “The Sun Is Also a Star,” Nicola Yoon’s bestselling YA novel. Deadline reports that Warner Bros. and...
Weekly Update for December 16: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” Films About Women Opening This Week Rogue One: A Star Wars Story The first of the Star Wars standalone films, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” is an all-new...
Trailer Watch: Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn Go on Vacation in “Snatched”
A hilarious red band trailer has dropped for “Snatched,” the long-awaited mother-daughter comedy starring Goldie Hawn and Amy Schumer. Just as you’d expect, the two make a perfect...
Julia Roberts to Star in Limited Series Adaptation of “Today Will Be Different”
Julia Roberts is attached to star in and produce a television adaptation of Maria Semple’s bestselling novel “Today Will Be Different” as a limited series. Semple is writing the...
Laeta Kalogridis Signs Overall Deal With Skydance Media
“Terminator Genisys” screenwriter and executive producer Laeta Kalogridis is taking the next step in her relationship with Skydance Media. Deadline reports that she has inked an exclusive,...
Rachel Weisz Set to Star in Film Adaptation of “Secret Life of Dr. James Miranda Barry”
Rachel Weisz is set to star in an adaptation of “The Secret Life of Dr. James Miranda Barry: Victorian England’s Most Eminent Surgeon” by Rachel Holmes, Deadline reports. The rights have been...
Black List 2016 Topped by Elyse Hollander’s Script about Madonna
The 2016 edition of the Black List has dropped. “Blond Ambition,” a Madonna biopic penned by Elyse Hollander, scored the most votes from the 250 film executives asked to participate. Each exec...
Trailer Watch: Brit Marling Mysteriously Returns After 7 Years in Netflix’s “The OA”
Netflix launches a new series from “The East” actress and co-writer Brit Marling this Friday, December 16. The streaming giant just released a trailer for the genre-bending show, titled “The...
NBC Orders Pilot from Shondaland Writer-Producer Jenna Bans
NBC has ordered a pilot pickup from “Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Family,” and “Scandal,” writer and producer Jenna Bans, THR reports. According to THR, the drama, titled “Good Girls,”...
Metrograph Hosting Film Tribute to Novelist Patricia Highsmith
The Metrograph independent movie theater in New York has announced that they will host a series devoted to the film adaptations of queer author Patricia Highsmith. The screenings kick off on January...
Trailer Watch: Shirley MacLaine and Amanda Seyfried Get “The Last Word”
Shirley MacLaine and Amanda Seyfried have teamed up for “The Last Word,” a portrait of two women from different generations who forge a close connection under unlikely — and rather...
Weekly Update for December 9: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“All We Had” Films About Women Opening This Week All We Had — Directed by Katie Holmes; Co-Written by Jill Killington (Also Available on VOD) Ruthie Carmichael (Stefania Owen) makes the...
Meryl Poster Developing Two Scripted Series for Lifetime
Meryl Poster is teaming up with Lifetime on two new female-centric projects. Deadline reports that the “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce” executive producer is developing two scripted series for...
Trailer Watch: Sex, Scandal, and Murder Haunt “Lady Macbeth”
Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth has long been characterized as a strong and powerful yet manipulative woman. Now her namesake is being used as the title for a film that’s set a couple hundred years...
“The Good Wife” Spinoff Gets a Premiere Date
A premiere date has finally been set for “The Good Fight,” the hotly anticipated “Good Wife” spinoff. The Hollywood Reporter writes that the legal drama will debut on CBS and CBS All Access,...
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “VEEP,” & More Land WGA Nominations
The Writers Guild of America has announced the nominees for its 2017 awards. The eligibility period for the 2017 awards falls between December 1, 2015 and November 30, 2016. The good news is,...
Metropolitan Opera Premieres First Opera Composed By a Woman in 116 Years
The Metropolitan Opera just premiered its first opera composed by a woman in 116 years. Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s “L’Amour de Loin” is the first female-written opera to play at the...
Lynn Nottage to Make Broadway Debut with “Sweat”
Pulitzer-winning playwright Lynn Nottage is heading to Broadway. As Deadline reports, her play “Sweat” will transfer to Studio 54 in March after a successful run at The Public Theater. The play...
Save “Good Girls Revolt”
“Good Girls Revolt” has been cancelled by Amazon, but there’s still hope for the female-centric series. “Producer Sony Pictures Television has big plans for a sophomore season of the...
Made in NY Launches Scriptwriting Contest for Women
Hey female screenwriters of New York City! Grab your pens and keyboards. The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment and Brooklyn College’s Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema have announced...
December 2016 Film Preview
“Hidden Figures” ‘Tis the holiday movie season once more, Women and Hollywood readers! This is the time of year to escape designated family time by going to your local theater and choosing from...
Putting it All Out in the Open: Crowdfunding Picks
“Netizens” A lot of social and cultural issues stem from those in power refusing to acknowledge the elephant in the room. In our crowdfunding picks, two documentaries delve into topics that are...
Mia Hansen-Løve to Direct Juliette Binoche in “Maya”
“Things to Come” doesn’t hit U.S. theaters until this Friday, but writer-director Mia Hansen-Løve’s follow-up to the film is already taking shape. The cast for her next project, “Maya,”...
“Carol” Screenwriter Phyllis Nagy to Adapt Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta Film
“Carol” screenwriter Phyllis Nagy has signed on to adapt Patricia Cornwell’s untitled Kay Scarpetta film for Fox 2000, THR writes. The character has appeared in two-dozen bestselling books,...
“Happy Valley” Creator Sally Wainwright to Pen BBC Series About Anne Lister
“Happy Valley” won’t return for its third season for at least a year, but Sally Wainwright, the show’s creator, is keeping busy. The writer and director isn’t penning the third installment...
Anne Rice is Bringing “The Vampire Chronicles” to TV
Before “Buffy,” “Twilight,” and “The Vampire Diaries,” there was “The Vampire Chronicles,” Anne Rice’s book series that included “Interview with the Vampire,” the source...
Maria Turtschaninoff’s Feminist Fantasy Novel “Maresi” Being Developed into Film
“Maresi” is headed to the big screen, Variety reports. The film rights to the feminist fantasy novel have been optioned by Film4, the London-based company behind Andrea Arnold’s “American...
Nicole Larson’s “Love In The Time Of Dick Pics” Script Acquired by Sony Pictures
Sony Pictures has acquired the rights to Nicole Larson’s memorably-titled debut feature film screenplay, “Love in the Time Of Dick Pics.” Deadline writes that the plot is being described as...
“New Girl” Creator Liz Meriwether Has a New Comedy Pilot in the Works at Fox
“New Girl” creator Liz Meriwether has a new pilot in the works at Fox, the home of her long-running Zooey Deschanel-led sitcom. Variety reports that the network has made a pilot production...
Read Sarah Ruhl’s Inspiring Speech on the Election and Being a Female Writer
Playwright Sarah Ruhl was awarded with the 2016 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award last week. The prize, which “celebrates career excellence in American theater,” comes with $200,000. An...
Houda Benyamina on What Inspired Her Award-Winning Drama “Divines”
After completing her diploma at ERAC (Acting School for the Cannes Region), Houda Benyamina gained training as a director through the 1000 Faces association, which she founded in 2006 as a way of...
Screen NSW Makes Amazing Strides Toward Gender Equality
Screen NSW (New South Wales) announced its 50:50 by 2020 Gender Target for female writers, producers, and directors one year ago. The industry has since undergone a dramatic change, and is now “on...
Struggles and Successes: November 2016’s Crowdfunding Picks
“Guard” We all deal with struggles in our daily lives, and this month’s choices for crowdfunding picks showcase the day-to-day struggles women face. From a very real fight against privilege, to...
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...
Ana Nogueira to Pen Big Screen Adaptation of “Dan and Sam” for Amblin
Actress and writer Ana Nogueira is set to pen the screenplay for the big-screen adaptation of the graphic novel “Dan and Sam,” THR reports. Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment has acquired...
Scarlett Johansson to Star in “Tangerine” Adaptation
Scarlett Johansson will star in an adaptation of “Tangerine,” Christine Mangan’s debut novel. Deadline reports that Imperative Entertainment won an auction for the mystery-thriller novel,...
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...