ALL POSTS
Lily James-Starrer “Guernsey” and Augustine Frizzell’s “Never Goin’ Back” Get Distribution
Lily James-led period piece “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” and Augustine Frizzell’s coming-of-age pic “Never Goin’ Back” have both found homes. “Guernsey” will...
Sundance 2018 Women Directors: Meet Augustine Frizzell — “Never Goin’ Back”
Augustine Frizzell is the director of “I Was A Teenage Girl” and “Minor Setback,” both of which premiered at SXSW and screened at many other festivals worldwide. “Never Goin’ Back” is...
Trailer Watch: “Everlasting” Is on the Brink of Cancellation in “UnREAL’s” Third Season
Try as she might, Rachel (Shiri Appleby) can never leave “Everlasting” behind. A new trailer has dropped for Season 3 of “UnREAL,” and it’s clear that the troubled but gifted producer is...
Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi on Celebrating a “Badass Butch” in “Chavela”
Catherine Gund is an Emmy-nominated producer, director, writer, and activist. Her media work focuses on strategic and sustainable social transformation, arts and culture, HIV/AIDS and reproductive...
Tribeca’s First-Ever TV Festival Reflected Changing Tides for Women in TV
At least some women directors working on the small screen have packed slates. That good news came out at Tribeca’s first-ever, TV-only festival that ran from September 22–24 in New York City....
Author Erin Carlson on Her New Book “I’ll Have What She’s Having” and the Legacy of Nora Ephron
Nora Ephron died in 2012, at the age of 71, but she left an indelible mark on the world as one of the most influential voices of our time. She left behind a strong legacy and continues to inspire...
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Mila Turajlic — “The Other Side of Everything”
Mila Turajlic is a documentary filmmaker from Belgrade, Serbia. Her 2010 directorial debut, “Cinema Komunisto,” premiered at the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam and the Tribeca...
TIFF 2017 Women Directors: Meet Kathleen Hepburn — “Never Steady, Never Still”
Kathleen Hepburn is a Vancouver born writer and director. “Never Steady, Never Still” is an expansion on a short with the same name, which was selected as one of TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten. She...
Trailer Watch: Toni Collette and Molly Shannon Have an Epic “Fun Mom Dinner”
“Never have I ever had real mom friends,” says Kate (Toni Collette) in a new trailer for “Fun Mom Dinner.” She’s playing a drinking game with three new mom pals: Jamie (Molly Shannon),...
“Maudie” Director Aisling Walsh on Relationships, Perseverance, and Bringing Maud Lewis to Life
“Maudie” was such an unexpected delight. With terrific performances from Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke, “Maudie” brings us into the lives of Maud and Everett Lewis, two people who come...
Elisabeth Moss to Star in and Produce TV Adaptation of Mary Beth Keane’s “Fever”
Elisabeth Moss is set to topline another TV adaptation of a novel. Deadline reports that the Golden Globe winner will star in and executive produce “Fever,” a limited series based on Mary Beth...
Industry Double Standards: The Success of “Everything, Everything” and Failure of “King Arthur”
Stella Meghie’s “Everything, Everything” is beating box office expectations. Guy Ritchie’s “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” is bombing. But let’s be real, Ritchie will still get his...
Trailer Watch: Amandla Stenberg Finds Freedom in “Everything, Everything”
Adolescence can be really, really difficult. In fact, plenty of teens only manage to get through it by looking forward to the escape that comes after high school, particularly moving out of their...
Meryl Streep Vows Never to Return to the “Bad Old Days” in Speech
“All of us have the human right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Meryl Streep took this oft-quoted sentiment and made it feel revolutionary at a recent fundraiser for the Human...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Barbara Kopple — “This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous”
Barbara Kopple is a two-time Academy Award winning filmmaker. A director and producer of narrative films and documentaries, her two most recent projects are the documentaries “Miss Sharon...
Sundance 2017 Women Directors: Meet Rory Kennedy— “Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton”
An Academy Award nominated, Primetime Emmy Award winning director and producer, Rory Kennedy’s work deals with some of the world’s most pressing issues — poverty, political corruption,...
How Kristi Zea Pays Tribute to a Genius Painter in “Everybody Knows… Elizabeth Murray”
“Everybody Knows… Elizabeth Murray” is Kristi Zea’s documentary directorial debut. She’s a two-time Oscar-nominated production designer and producer. Her narrative directorial debut,...
Quote of the Day: Jessica Chastain’s Goal is to Work with a Female Director Every Year
Jessica Chastain is among the most vocal Hollywood A-Listers championing inclusivity in the industry, both onscreen and behind the scenes. In 2015, she published an essay via The Hollywood Reporter...
NYFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Natalia Almada — “Everything Else”
Natalia Almada is recipient of the 2012 MacArthur Genius Award and of the 2009 Sundance Documentary Directing Award for her film “El General.” Almada’s 2011 film “El Velador” premiered at...
TIFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Maya Zinshtein — “Forever Pure”
Maya Zinshtein is an Israeli filmmaker and journalist originally from Russia. She has worked as a producer of documentaries, including “Thieves by Law” (2010), and as an investigative...
Never Too Old to Dream Big: Going From Mom to Movie Maker with No Fear
Guest Post by Caytha Jentis As I’m about to complete “The Other F Word,” my fourth production since deciding to become a filmmaker in my early forties, I’ve decided to reflect on...
“UnREAL” Season 2: Happily Never After
“UnREAL”: Lifetime The new season of Lifetime’s caustic reality-TV satire “UnREAL” (premiering June 6 at 10 p.m.) kicks everything — and everyone — up a notch. Rachel (Shiri...
Jennifer Peedom Explains Why She Showed Everest from a Different Perspective in ‘Sherpa’
Jennifer Peedom is an Australian documentary filmmaker based in Sydney. Her television credits include high-altitude direction and cinematography on the Discovery Channel’s “Everest: Beyond the...
Jennifer Peedom Explains Why She Showed Everest from a Different Perspective in “Sherpa”
Jennifer Peedom is an Australian documentary filmmaker based in Sydney. Her television credits include high-altitude direction and cinematography on the Discovery Channel’s “Everest: Beyond the...
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Kristi Zea — ‘Everybody Knows… Elizabeth Murray’
“Everybody Knows… Elizabeth Murray” is the documentary directorial debut for Kristi Zea, a two time Oscar-nominated production designer and producer. Her narrative directorial debut...
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Kristi Zea — “Everybody Knows… Elizabeth Murray”
“Everybody Knows… Elizabeth Murray” is the documentary directorial debut for Kristi Zea, a two time Oscar-nominated production designer and producer. Her narrative directorial debut...
Tribeca 2016 Women Directors: Meet Amanda Micheli — ‘haveababy’
Amanda Micheli is an award-winning director and cinematographer. She earned an Oscar nomination for “La Corona,” which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival before airing on HBO. In 2004,...
Quote of the Day: Melissa McCarthy Says ‘It’s Incredibly Important’ To Have More Women Directing
At a press conference for her upcoming comedy, “The Boss,” actress Melissa McCarthy emphasized the need for more female filmmakers in Hollywood. “I think it’s incredibly important,” she...
Fierce, Funny and Feminist: Nora Ephron in ‘Everything is Copy’
The new HBO documentary about the inimitable Nora Ephron is a lovely, wide-ranging portrait, with as many high-profile talking heads as you could possibly want (Meryl Streep analyzes her; Rob Reiner...
Lifetime Guarantees a Job to Every AFI DWW Grad
Lifetime has been putting its money where its mouth is by investing in women — and being handsomely rewarded for it. Now, the female-targeted cable network is making one of its biggest steps...
LFF 2015 Women Directors: Meet Johanna Schwartz — ‘They Will Have to Kill Us First: Malian Music in Exile’
Johanna Schwartz is an award-winning, American-born, UK-based filmmaker. Working across the world — with a particular focus on Africa — she has produced and directed films for...
Katniss Everdeen, Art Heroines and Geek Fashion: Women and Hollywood’s 2015 Comic-Con Preview
Comic-Con is an unavoidable beast, and I use the word “beast” with great affection. Even if you’re not especially into geek-flavored pop culture, the convention is almost certainly on your...
Ava DuVernay’s SXSW Keynote: “I Have Had the F*cking Most Awesome Year”
“I’ve had the fucking most awesome year,” Ava DuVernay admitted in her keynote speech at this year’s SXSW festival. “I can’t even describe it.” The “Selma” director displayed...
Shonda Rhimes Pays Tribute to Hollywood’s Female Pioneers: “I Haven’t Broken Through Any Glass Ceilings”
It’s an unlikely statement, even a confusing one. “I haven’t broken through any glass ceilings,” announced Shonda Rhimes upon receiving the Hollywood Reporter’s Sherry Lansing Award,...
Author Eleanor Catton Establishes Grant So Writers Have “Time to Read”
Eleanor Catton, the youngest ever winner of the Booker Prize for her period saga The Luminaries, has established a grant to provide the next generation of writers with “time to read.” Catton has...
Trailer Watch: Keira Knightley As You’ve Never Seen Her Before in Lynn Shelton’s Laggies
Keira Knightley recently swore off the corsets and wigs that have made her a star in period films like Pride and Prejudice and Anna Karenina. Not all her forays into playing people born in the 20th...
Guest Post: “No One Would Ever Say That to Larry David”: Female Showrunners and the Hypocritical Critical Edge
It’s tough out there for female showrunners. Women and Hollywood has been documentingthis for years, and it remains true that the women working in these roles — incomedy and drama, on...
The Big O: Between Ellen and Everyone’s Mom, Oscar Night Turned Into Ladies Night
For a year with no female talent represented in the director’s category and only three of the nine best-picture candidates featuring women in lead roles, the Oscar show was a regular femme fest....
Wonder Woman Casting Suggests Hollywood’s Never Giving Diana Prince Her Own Movie
I don’t want to see a Wonder Woman movie, but I desperately want one to exist. As a child of the eighties and nineties who grew up on TV rather than comic books and only knew Lynda Carter from...
The LA Femme Film Festival: By Women, For Everyone
Leslie LaPage launched the LAFemme Film Festival in 2005 after a dispiriting trip to the Sundance Film Festival, where she saw precious few films directed or written bywomen. The first LA Femme...
Kimberly Peirce: “How Many More Movies Could I Have Made?”
Yesterday, the NY Times Magazine featured a profile of director Kimberly Peirce as she readies the release of the remake of Carrie starring Chloe Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore. This is a highly...
Cross Post: Chastain, “Roles for Women Have Taken a Step Back”
It’s refreshing to read a quote from an actress working today willing to criticize the kinds of roles offered to women now in Hollywood. Sure, it’s easy to get attention if you put on a...
Anticipating Sundance: Sundance Lineup is a Win for Women Directors and for Everybody Who Cares About Movies
This post was originally published on November 29, 2012. For the last couple of years (the time that I have written this blog) I have lived in a world full of disappointment when it comes to...
Women Severely Underrepresented in British Theatre
Last month the Guardian, building on earlier research of Elizabeth Freestone, artistic director of Pentabus theatre, took a look at the status of women in British Theatre and found some disturbing...
Sundance Lineup is a Win for Women Directors and for Everybody Who Cares About Movies
For the last couple of years (the time that I have written this blog) I have lived in a world full of disappointment when it comes to film festivals which you can also extrapolate to a world full of...
Wish Me Away: Interview with Directors Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf
This is a repost of the interview I did at the premiere of the film last summer at Newfest in NYC. The film opens in NYC today and is also available on demand. Info here. Women and Hollywood: How...
What Angelina Jolie and Meryl Streep Have in Common
I know I am lucky. I get to watch and think about movies and write about them and talk about them. But being a blogger, I don’t very often get to see the people in the movies or those who make the...
Guest Post: 10 Things I Have Learned Having Our Film CONNECTED In Theaters by Tiffany Shlain
1. CUTTING YOUR OWN TRAILERDon’t try this. Very dangerous. When you are running at full speed to complete your film on your way to your premiere, don’t fool yourself that you have the perspective...
Book Excerpt: Where Have All the Girl Bands Gone by Courtney E. Smith
In junior high I joined the school band because I wanted to play the drums. I had several years of piano lessons under my belt, which made me qualified to play instruments like the marimba or...
Guest Post: Why I Write and the Top 10 Things Men Have Said in Pitch Meetings By Dani Faith Leonard
I write because I am a woman, and I am a woman because I write. Obviously, I write because I feel like I have stories that I must tell, but when I write, I discover my opinions about things. I form...
Interview with Bobbie Birleffi and and Beverly Kopf: Directors of Wish Me Away
Wish Me Away is the incredibly moving coming out story of country music star Chely Wright. When I read a little over a year ago that Wright had come out my first reaction was “so what”. After you...