ALL POSTS
‘Tangerine’ Team Launches First-Ever Oscar Campaigns for Transgender Actresses
Playing a transgender character has recently joined starring in a biopic and “going ugly” as surefire ways to grab the Academy’s attention. Jared Leto won an Oscar for “Dallas Buyers...
Trailer Watch: Katniss Everdeen Finishes What She Started in ‘Mockingjay — Part 2’
The last installment of “The Hunger Games” franchise is nearly upon us, and a new trailer has been released for the final chapter of Katniss Everdeen’s epic journey with suitably epic drums....
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Sarah Gavron — ‘Suffragette’
Sarah Gavron’s feature film debut was “Brick Lane,” which earned her a BAFTA nomination, a BIFA nomination and The Alfred Dunhill Talent Award at the BFI London Film Festival. Prior to this,...
Gina Prince-Bythewood Developing Racially Flipped Police-Shooting Drama for Fox
Writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood is re-teaming with her “Love and Basketball” star Sanaa Lathan on a Fox drama about a black cop who kills a white teen. Lathan will play an investigator...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Lyric R. Cabral — ‘(T)ERROR’
Lyric R. Cabral is a photojournalist and documentary filmmaker committed to reporting stories seldom seen in mainstream media. Her documentary work has been supported by artist grants from the BBC,...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Sara Blecher — ‘Ayanda’
Sara Blecher is a co-founder of CINGA, a South African-based production company that has made a number of award-winning features, documentaries and drama series. An honors graduate of NYU, Blecher...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Karyn Kusama — ‘The Invitation’
Karyn Kusama wrote and directed her first feature film, “Girlfight,” in 1999. The film won the Director’s Prize and shared the Grand Jury Prize at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. It went on...
ABC Gives Liz Friedman and Liz Friedlander’s Legal Drama ‘Conviction’ Put Pilot Commitment
Following the successful launch of “Quantico,” ABC is giving its production company, the Mark Gordon Co., a second deal. Liz Friedman and Liz Friedlander’s “Conviction” has received a put...
Adult Nancy Drew May Solve Mysteries on CBS
Beloved sleuth Nancy Drew may be returning to the small screen after a considerable hiatus. According to The Hollywood Reporter, CBS is developing a “contemporary take” on the bestselling book...
New Refinery29 Series Highlights Leaders on Feminism’s Frontlines
Who are some of the leading activists and revolutionaries fighting for gender equality around the world and what are their main concerns? A new eight-part original series from lifestyle website...
Study: “Female Directors Face a Fiscal Cliff in Their Careers Soon After Making a Short Film”
“Making a short film might be both the launch and the pinnacle of [many female filmmakers’] careers,” concludes a comprehensive new study that looks at how often women start on unequal terrain...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Mor Loushy — ‘Censored Voices’
Mor Loushy graduated from the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in 2007 and has been working as a freelancer ever since. Her debut film, “Israel Ltd.,” world-premiered at International...
TCM’s ‘Trailblazing Women:’ A Q&A with Host Illeana Douglas
As the host of TCM’s new series “Trailblazing Women,” a month-long series highlighting women’s achievements in the film industry, Illeana Douglas brings a widely varied experience to the...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Ondi Timoner — ‘BRAND: A Second Coming’
Director and producer Ondi Timoner won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance twice — for “Dig!” (2004), about the collision of art and commerce through the story of two bands, and “We Live in...
Male Privilege Watch: First-Time Film Director Seth Grahame-Smith To Direct ‘The Flash’
In today’s chapter in the annals of dude with no experience gets job no woman would ever get, our dude with no directing experience is writer Seth Grahame-Smith of “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire...
Bette Midler and Lorraine Touissant to Star in Trudie Styler’s YA LGBT Film ‘Freak Show’
The film adaptation of the Lambda-nominated YA novel “Freak Show” has found a director in Trudie Styler. Styler will make her narrative directing debut adapting author James St. James’...
Trailer Watch: Amazon’s Dystopian ‘The Man in the High Castle’ Imagines a Different Outcome of WWII
What would the U.S. be like had the Allied Powers lost World War II and the Nazis and the Japanese taken over? A new series from Amazon, “The Man in the High Castle,” imagines exactly that...
Guest Post: Continuing the Push Towards Diversity in the U.K.
Despite “diversity” being everyone’s favorite word in the film and TVindustry these days, we seem to be making little headway moving towards it. Last year’s Sex and Power Report showed us...
Sara Bareilles’s ‘Waitress’ Musical Gets Opening Date
The Sara Bareilles’ stage musical “Waitress” has found a debut date. The critically acclaimed production starring Tony-winning actress Jessie Mueller will begin previews on March 25, 2016,...
Women & Hollywood’s Recommended Reads: Week of October 2
Lupita Nyong’o Shines a Light on Africa (NY Times) Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald on New ‘Malala’ Doc, Feminist Barbie and a Revived ‘Men in Black’ (Sans Will Smith) (THR) Patricia...
Weekly Update for October 2: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You
Films About Women Opening This Week Freeheld “Freeheld” tells the story of Laurel Hester (Julianne Moore), a veteran police detective who is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer, and her fight to...
Join LA Women in Film’s #52FilmsByWomen Movement
Trailblazing Women, the multi-year initiative by Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and Women in Film (WIF LA), kicked off last night with a month-long programming event. As we previously reported, TCM...
TIFF to Honor Indian-Canadian Director Deepa Mehta With 10-Film Retrospective
Deepa Mehta, the director of “Fire,” “Earth,” “Water” and the screen adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s “Midnight’s Children,” will be honored by the Toronto International Film...
Prompted by ACLU, EEOC Begins Investigation into Gender Discrimination in Hollywood
Back in May, we reported that the ACLU had sent a letter to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) requesting that the agency look into the systemic discrimination against women...
Emma Watson, Marion Cotillard and Meryl Streep Talking About Feminism and Film
Remember not too long ago when every actress walking a red carpet would be asked what she was wearing? Remember not too long ago when actresses were asked about their babies and their boyfriends...
Why Horror Is Good for Women
People are always telling me they don’t like horror. Like rightafter I tell them I make horror films. Or programmers pickingme up from the airport who have barely said hello and whose festival...
Liz Feldman Scores Put Pilot Commitment for New CBS Comedy with “a Gaggle of Lesbians”
“One Big Happy” creator Liz Feldman has landed a put pilot commitment from CBS for her new comedy series “Hello Again.” Deadline reports that the show will focus on a “mostly happy”...
Trailer Watch: Natalie Dormer Searches for Her Twin in Spooky ‘The Forest’
The bond between identical twin sisters takes a supernatural and sinister turn in “The Forest,” starring “Game of Thrones” star Natalie Dormer and co-written by Sarah Cornwell. Dormer plays...
Apply for a Black List Mini-Lab at the 2016 Athena Film Festival
The Athena Film Festival is now accepting applications for its Black List mini-lab. The Manhattan-based festival has partnered with The Black List for the inaugural mini-lab. Four women...
Trailer Watch: ‘Marvel’s Jessica Jones’ Makes Sure Everyone Remembers Her in Teaser
‘Addicted to Fresno’ Director Jamie Babbit on Hiding Pregnancies and Embracing Diversity
There’s been a lot of talk lately about Judy Greer’s summer of tiny, thankless roles, in which she plays characters designed to be instantly forgettable in “Tomorrowland,” “Entourage,”...
Billboard Women In Music Event to Air on Lifetime; Lady Gaga Honored as Woman of the Year
Lifetime and Billboard have signed a three-year deal that will see the network airing the music brand’s Women in Music event for the first time in its decade-long history. Lady Gaga will be...
Julie Taymor Becomes First Woman Director to Win Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre
Julie Taymor, the first woman to win a Tony for directing a musical, will be adding yet another award to her mantel: She’s been named the 2015 recipient of the William Shakespeare Award for...
Chicago’s Goodman Theatre Announces All-Female Playwrights Unit
The Goodman Theatre has announced that its new playwrights unit will be comprised entirely of women. The writers selected for the Chicago-based theater’s 2015–16 season are Kristiana Rae Colón,...
‘The Second Mother’ Director Anna Muylaert Speaks Out About Film-Festival Sexism
“Men think it’s lovely if a woman makes a lovely film that nobody sees.” That’s the scathing highlight of the interview writer-director Anna Muylaert gave to Women and Hollywood when her...
Comedy About Nicki Minaj’s Trinidadian-American Childhood in Queens to Air on ABC Family
Hip hop’s reigning queen is getting her own TV show — kind of. Nicki Minaj’s childhood in ’90s Queens as the daughter of Trinidadian-immigrant parents will be the inspiration for a new...
Zoe Saldana and Cynthia Mort’s Nina Simone Biopic Finds Distribution
“Nina,” starring Zoe Saldana as singer, pianist and civil rights activist Nina Simone, will enjoy a December release. That development is the result of a new distribution deal for the biopic,...
Forgiveness and Ferguson: October 2015’s Crowdfunding Picks
This week’s women-centric crowdfunding picks could hardly be more different in subject and form: a personal documentary about a strained mother-daughter relationship, a comedic short about a baby...
Julie Schumacher Wins the 2015 Thurber Prize for American Humor
Julie Schumacher has been named the 2015 winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor. The University of Minnesota instructor was honored for her novel “Dear Committee Members,” a satire...
‘Agent Carter’ Showrunners Sell Latina-Led Supernatural Revenge Drama to ABC
“Marvel’s Agent Carter” showrunners and executive producers Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters have sold a new series, “The Death of Sofia Valdez,” to ABC. This is the first project to come...
October 2015 Film Preview
October sees the release of a number of women-centric films. The highly anticipated release of “Suffragette,” directed by Sarah Gavron and written by Abi Morgan — a partnership that first...
Jennifer Lopez Makes History as UN Advocate for Girls and Women
Multi-talented Jennifer Lopez can add an impressive new title to her stacked resume: The “American Idol” judge has been named the United Nations Foundation’s first-ever Global Advocate for...
A Guide to All the Queer Female Characters on TV This Fall
Welcome to fall, when you can smell the pumpkin spice lattes in the air and see all the shiny new shows longing for your approval and a full season pick-up. The new television season also brings...
Women and Hollywood to Submit Names for Fox Writers Intensive
Women and Hollywood has been given the opportunity to recommend five writers for the Fox Writers Intensive (FWI). This needs to happen very quickly, as the whole process needs to be completed by...
Erin Cressida Wilson to Adapt Art-Forgery Thriller ‘Maestra’ With Producer Amy Pascal
“Secretary” screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson has been tapped to pen the screen version of “Maestra,” the publishing industry’s latest sensation. That’s a second victory for Wilson this...
Trailer Watch: Dianna Agron Is Forever Changed by a Female Drifter in ‘Bare’
A trailer has been released for writer-director Natalia Leite’s “Bare,” which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year. Sarah (Dianna Argon, “Glee”) finds herself working...
Kate Winslet, Emma Stone and Olivia Colman in Talks to Star in Queen Anne Film
Formidable trio Kate Winslet, Emma Stone and Olivia Colman (“Broadchurch”) are in talks to star in “The Favourite,” a period piece exploring Queen Anne’s brief reign from 1702 to 1707....
Variety’s Power of Women Salutes Oprah, Salma Hayek, Anna Kendrick and More
Variety has named Oprah Winfrey, Salma Hayek Pinault Anna Kendrick, Gwyneth Paltrow and YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki as Lifetime Impact Honorees. They’ll be feted at an Variety-hosted luncheon...
Melissa Rosenberg Expands Her Producing Empire
Melissa Rosenberg, best known as the screenwriter behind “Twilight” and a head writer for Showtime’s “Dexter,” is making her Tall Girls Productions a busy place. Rosenberg has recently...
What I Learned From Finding My Lead Actress Through ‘Women and Hollywood’
In January 2013, I wrote a guest post forWomen and Hollywood about my difficulties casting a curvier woman for my low-budget indie film. I had decided to Kickstart my first feature, “Bread and...
The Contradictory Feminism of Nancy Meyers’ ‘The Intern’
I like Nancy Meyers movies. I have seen every single one. I have seen “Something’s Gotta Give” alone about a thousand times. When it is on TV, I will watch it. It is that good. I know exactly...