ALL POSTS
Trailer Watch: Elle Fanning Dreams of Being a “Ballerina”
Elle Fanning takes on the voice of the lead role of Félicie Milliner in the English-language version of the French animated film “Ballerina,” which has just premiered a lovely new trailer. Set...
“Orange is the New Black’s” Diane Guerrero Set to Star in Immigration Drama at CBS
Diane Guerrero of “Orange is the New Black” and “Jane the Virgin” is set to star in a CBS drama based on her memoir, “In the Country We Love: My Family Divided,” Deadline reports. The...
Diane Keaton to Be Honored with AFI’s Lifetime Achievement Award
The American Film Institute has announced that actress, director, producer, and writer Diane Keaton will be honored with the 45th AFI Lifetime Achievement Award. “Diane Keaton is one of the most...
“Divorce” is No “Catastrophe”
Maybe it’s just that Sharon Horgan’s caustic dialogue sounds better in her own Irish accent. Maybe it’s too soon after “The Affair” to watch another well-off couple duking it out in an...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Claire Simon — “The Graduation”
Claire Simon is a screenwriter, actress, cinematographer, editor, and director. Simon has directed independent shorts and many documentaries throughout her filmmaking career, including “La...
D.C.’s Signature Theatre and Broadway Producer Launch Writers Initiative to Support Female…
D.C.’s Signature Theatre and Broadway Producer Launch Writers Initiative to Support Female Playwrights Broadway producer Jenna Segal is teaming up with the Washington D.C. Signature Theatre to...
Trailer Watch: “It Had To Be You” Flips the Script on Marriage Proposals
Romantic comedies centering on heterosexual couples typically treat marriage proposals as a man’s job: The woman waits passively to be swept off her feet by her beloved’s grand, romantic...
BBC Orders “Motherland” Comedy from “Catastrophe’s” Sharon Horgan
The BBC has ordered a full season of Sharon Horgan’s new comedy “Motherland,” The Hollywood Reporter writes. Horgan is the co-creator and star of “Catastrophe,” which she has co-written...
Two Redheads and a Fleabag: In Defense of the Comedy Anti-Heroine
“Fleabag”: Amazon Ari, the narrator of Elisa Albert’s novel “After Birth,” describes how she felt around other feminists when she was a student: “I was a person. I mattered. I was in fact...
Hamptons Film Fest 2016 Women Directors: Meet Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg — “Marathon: The…
Hamptons Film Fest 2016 Women Directors: Meet Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg — “Marathon: The Patriots Day Bombing” Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg’s credits include “Joan Rivers: A...
Guest Post: My First Year Running a Production Company
Guest Post by Devin Shepherd A little over a year ago, I started Wild Obscura Films, a production company, with my business partner, Nora Unkel. We focus on narrative, female-driven content created...
Listen: Podcast with “13th” Director Ava DuVernay
It’s amazing to be reminded that director Ava DuVernay didn’t pick up a camera until she was 33 years old. She has come so far in such a short time. I sat down with her last week and talked...
“The Watermelon Woman” Celebrates 20th Anniversary with Revival Run
LGBTQ festival favorite “The Watermelon Woman” is heading back to to the cinema with a makeover, Shadow and Act reports. First Run Features has announced the re-release of writer-director Cheryl...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Asli Özge — “All of a Sudden”
Asli Özge was born in Istanbul, Turkey and has lived in Berlin, Germany since 2000. Özge directed short films and a documentary before making her feature film debut in 2009 with “Men on the...
AFI Fest to Honor Isabelle Huppert
The American Film Institute has announced that the 2016 AFI Fest will honor French actress Isabelle Huppert with a tribute and gala screening of her latest thriller-drama “Elle.” Huppert’s...
NBC Snags New Comedy About Siblings Created by Mindy Kaling
Mindy Kaling’s stacked resume continues to expand, Deadline reports. The creator, executive producer, and star of Hulu’s “The Mindy Project” just scored a put pilot commitment from NBC for a...
Trailer Watch: “The Edge of Seventeen” Captures How Impostor Syndrome Feels
Do you remember growing up? A lot of it sucked, right? Writer-director Kelly Fremon Craig’s film “The Edge of Seventeen” captures that feeling of thinking that everyone around you has it all...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Shahrbanoo Sadat — “Wolf and Sheep”
Shahrbanoo Sadat is an Afghan screenwriter and director. Sadat’s first short fiction film, “Vice Versa One,” was selected at Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in 2011. In 2013, she launched her...
“The Killing” Creator Veena Sud Has New Series in the Works at Netflix
“The Killing” creator Veena Sud apparently has a new series in the works at Netflix. As director Gavin O’Connor (“The Americans”) told Collider, the series, called “Seven Seconds,” is...
Gilmore Girls Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel Top Variety’s TV Pay Day List
“Gilmore Girls”: Netflix There’s good news for actresses on TV, according to Variety. Unlike in the film world, where actresses are often saddled with lower pay days than their male...
Trailer Watch: Natalie Portman Embodies “Jackie”
The new teaser for “Jackie,” starring Natalie Portman, begins with a bit of the final number from the 1960s Broadway musical “Camelot,” but is then eerily interrupted by a harsher string...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Khushboo Ranka — “An Insignificant Man”
Khushboo Ranka has experience in the fields of journalism, graphic design, and filmmaking. “Continuum,” a short film she wrote and directed at the age of 20, won the best short film at the...
Watch: “Gilmore Girls” Featurette Revisits the Past and Looks Into the Future
Pour yourself a cup — or five cups — of coffee and prepare to be transported back to Stars Hollow by watching a newly released featurette celebrating the return of “Gilmore Girls.”...
Dolly Parton to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at CMAs
Dolly Parton will soon be adding another well-deserved trophy to her mantle. The music legend will receive the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award at the upcoming Country Music Association...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet C. Fitz— “Jewel’s Catch One”
C. Fitz is a creator, director, writer, and producer, as well as a television and marketing veteran. Her previous films include “Rancid,” “No More Roses,” “ShowGirls, Provincetown, MA,”...
Athena Film Festival and IRIS Team Up for Screenwriting Lab
Great news, female screenwriters! The Athena Film Festival has announced that it will be partnering with IRIS to present the inaugural Athena IRIS Screenwriting Lab. The unique lab will be offered...
Hope Dickson Leach Wins Inaugural IWC Filmmaker Bursary Award
Hope Dickson Leach has been named the inaugural recipient of the IWC Filmmaker Bursary Award, presented in association with the BFI, ScreenDaily reports. According to the BFI, the £50,000 award...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Pepa San Martin — “Rara”
Pepa San Martin’s first film, “The Shower,” premiered at the 2011 Berlin Film Festival and won the DAAD Short Film Prize. Her second film, “Gleisdreieck,” will premiere at the Valdivia...
“Pretty Little Liars” Creator I. Marlene King Lands Huge Warner Bros. Deal
“Pretty Little Liars” creator I. Marlene King has landed a huge deal, Variety reports. King has signed an overall contract with Warner Bros. Television and Warner Horizon Television. The...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Ruth Beckermann — “The Dreamed Ones”
Ruth Beckermann was born in Vienna. She studied journalism and art history in Vienna, Tel Aviv, and New York. She has contributed as a journalist to several Austrian and Swiss magazines. In 1978 she...
Emma Thompson to Star in “The Children Act”
Oscar winner Emma Thompson is set to star in “The Children Act,” an adaptation of the novel by Ian McEwan (“Atonement”), Variety reports. Thompson will play Fiona May, a London judge...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Margaret Salmon — “Eglatine”
Margaret Salmon was born in New York and studied photography at The School of Visual Arts and the Royal College of Art. She lives and works in Glasgow, Scotland. She creates filmic portraits which...
Women Developing Shows for ABC, Amazon, Freeform, and More
A whole slew of women are diving headfirst into television and developing new series for consideration. As Variety reports, ABC and 20th Century Fox are developing “Icon,” an hour-long drama set...
LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Fiona Tan — “Ascent”
Fiona Tan is an artist who works primarily in film and photography. Tan represented The Netherlands in the 2009 Venice Biennale. Her work can be found in numerous international art collections...
Trailer Watch: BFFs Get in Over Their Heads in Cannes Winner “Divines”
Atrailer has been released for “Divines,” Houda Benyamina’s coming-of-age drama that won the hearts of critics and audiences at Cannes earlier this year. When asked by a teacher what she...
Hamptons Film Fest 2016 Women Directors: Meet Jessie Auritt — “Supergirl”
Jessie Auritt is an award-winning documentary filmmaker based in New York City. Her short film, “The Birdman,” screened at festivals around the country and won the Slamdance Grand Jury Prize for...
“Inside Out” Screenwriter to Make Directorial Debut with Disney’s “Gigantic”
Meg LeFauve’s profile continues to rise. The in-demand screenwriter has signed on to make her directorial debut. She’ll co-helm Disney Animation’s “Gigantic,” a retelling of “Jack and...
Trailer Watch : Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s Creepy Sci-Fi “Evolution”
Imagine if “The Island of Doctor Moreau” was led by a group of pale, stoic women experimenting on pre-teen boys, and you’d get Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s “Evolution.” And this new trailer...
Women Creators Missing from Adult Swim Programming
Adult Swim is known for offering viewers alternative, unconventional content, but the network famed for cutting-edge programming is seriously behind the times when it comes to hiring women. BuzzFeed...
FX Buys “Meaty” Comedy from Jessi Klein, Samantha Irby, and Abbi Jacobson
FX has ordered another female-centric comedy, Deadline reports. The cable network has bought a comedy based on Samantha Irby’s memoir “Meaty,” which was inspired by her blog, “Bitches Gotta...
Sony Pictures Classics Acquires “Maudie” Starring Sally Hawkins
Sony Pictures Classics has announced the acquisition of Aisling Walsh’s “Maudie,” her biopic of artist Maud Lewis. Written by Sherry White and starring Sally Hawkins (“Happy Go Lucky”),...
Chantal Akerman: May Her Memory Be for a Blessing
Guest Post by Jenni Olson “Chantal Akerman committed suicide yesterday.” That was all I could manage to write in my journal on the evening of October 6, 2015. It was also my 53rd birthday that...
A Conversation with BFI London Film Festival Director Clare Stewart
Clare Stewart came to the BFI London Film Festival in 2011 from running the Sydney Film Festival in Australia. She spoke with Women and Hollywood before the 60th edition of the fest kicks off with...
Angelina Jolie in Talks to Play History-Making Military Star
Oscar winner Angelina Jolie is eyeing her return to the big screen. According to The Hollywood Reporter, she is in early talks to topline “Shoot Like a Girl,” Tristar’s adaptation of an...
Temple University to Honor Tina Fey
Temple University has announced that funny woman Tina Fey will be honored with the Lew Klein Excellence in the Media Award this fall. A Philadelphia-area native, Fey is the 16th recipient of the...
NYC Invests $5 Million Towards Tackling Gender Inequality in Film and TV Industry
New York City is a Mecca of entertainment. The iconic city serves as the setting for countless film, TV, and theater classics. Now the city is tackling a major absence in many of these works: women....
October 2016 Film Preview
“The Girl on the Train” For those of you who are gearing up for awards season or are planning to celebrate Halloween at the movies, we at Women and Hollywood would just like to say you will not...
Submissions for the 2017 Bentonville Film Festival Open Soon
The third annual Bentonville Film Festival will soon be accepting submissions. The fest, co-founded by Oscar-winning actress Geena Davis, is scheduled to take place in Bentonville, Arkansas May...
Weekly Update for September 30: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
“American Honey” Films About Women Opening This Week American Honey — Written and Directed by Andrea Arnold Star (Sasha Lane), an adolescent girl from a troubled home, runs away with a...
Elizabeth LeCompte Awarded 2016 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize
Elizabeth LeCompte, founding member and director of experimental theater company The Wooster Group, has been chosen as the recipient of this year’s Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, Broadway...
Rachel Weisz Will Produce and Star in Naomi Alderman’s “Disobedience”
Rachel Weisz is set to star in and produce a film adaptation of Naomi Alderman’s novel “Disobedience,” Variety reports. The story, Variety writes, “follows young woman who returns to her...