ALL POSTS
Heather Young’s “Murmur” Wins Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize at Slamdance
“Murmur” has been named as the winner of Slamdance Film Festival’s Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize. The fest’s awards were announced at a ceremony held Thursday, Deadline...
February 2020 Film Preview
From Sundance pics to blockbusters, there are a variety of films made by or about women to check out this February. Starting off the month is the highly anticipated “Birds of Prey (And the...
Apply Now: Everywoman Studios and Realscreen’s Propelle Accelerator Program
Everywoman Studios, a studio dedicated to women-created content and cause-related social campaigns, and Realscreen, an international magazine focused on non-fiction film and TV, have teamed up on a...
Trailer Watch: Erica Rivas Loses Touch with Reality in Berlinale Competition Title “The Intruder”
“I just ran into my ex-boyfriend — my dead ex-boyfriend,” says Erica Rivas (“Wild Tales”) in a new trailer for Berlinale Competition title “The Intruder”...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Ramona S. Diaz – “A Thousand Cuts”
Ramona S. Diaz’s award-winning films include “Imelda,” “The Learning,” “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey,” and...
Natasha Lyonne, Maya Rudolph, and Cirocco Dunlap Team Up for Amazon Animated Series “The Hospital”
“Russian Doll” fans have more to look forward to than Season 2 of the Emmy-winning Netflix dramedy. A new project is in the works from series co-creator and star Natasha Lyonne and writer...
Filmmaker Leya Hale Named 2020 Recipient of Sundance Institute Merata Mita Fellowship
Filmmaker and PBS producer Leya Hale has received the 2020 Sundance Institute Merata Mita Fellowship. Named in honor of the late groundbreaking Māori filmmaker Merata Mita, the annual fellowship...
HBO Max Lands Rights to YA Novel About Korean-American K-Pop Hopeful, Nahnatchka Khan May Direct
Lyla Lee’s YA novel “I’ll Be the One” hasn’t hit shelves yet, but Hollywood seems certain that the story about an aspiring K-Pop star will strike a chord with readers...
Sundance: ACLU Doc “The Fight” Goes to Magnolia Pictures, Elyse Steinberg Co-Directs
Another woman-directed film has secured distribution out of Sundance. “The Fight,” from Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, and Eli Despres, has been acquired by Magnolia Pictures in “a...
Jodie Foster Is Directing a Drama Inspired by the 1911 Theft of the Mona Lisa
Jodie Foster is already attached to topline and direct a remake of “Woman at War,” Iceland’s submission for 2019’s Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award, and now word comes that...
Women and Hollywood’s Picks of the Week for January 30
Picks of the Week offers Women and Hollywood’s top recommendations — women-driven and women-made movies, series, VOD releases, and more — and tells you why they are worth your time and...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Cristina Costantini – “Mucho Mucho Amor”
Cristina Costantini’s first feature documentary, “Science Fair,” won audience awards at both the Sundance and SXSW Film Festivals in 2018, as well as an Emmy and Critics’ Choice...
Submit Now: Breaking Through the Lens Financing Event at Cannes
Cannes Film Festival is notorious for its lack of women-directed programming, but Breaking Through the Lens is working towards making the fest, and the film industry, more inclusive. The grassroots...
SAG-AFTRA Publishes Standards for Use of Intimacy Coordinators
SAG-AFTRA is following HBO and Directors UK’s lead. Hollywood’s largest union has published a four-page guide on how best to utilize intimacy coordinators — i.e. professionals who...
Sundance Deals: “Identifying Features” and “I Carry You With Me” Find Homes
Two more women-directed films have secured distribution out of Sundance. Kino Lorber snagged North American rights to Fernanda Valadez’s “Identifying Features” and Sony Pictures...
Berlinale 2020: 33 Percent of Competition Titles Are Women-Directed
The Berlin International Film Festival has announced its 2020 Competition lineup. The program is composed of 18 titles, and six of them, or 33 percent, are directed or co-directed by women. Last...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Verónica Chen – “High Tide”
Verónica Chen was born in Buenos Aires and raised in Texas. Her films have screened at festivals such as Venice, Sundance, and San Sebastián, among others. Her films include “Smokers...
Director Ulrike Ottinger Will Be Honored at Berlinale 2020
Ulrike Ottinger will soon have another Berlinale award to go with Special Teddy she won at the film festival in 2012. The filmmaker and artist is set to receive the Berlinale Camera at the...
Netflix Commissions British Figuring Skating Drama “Zero Chill”
Kat Baker isn’t the only figure skater on Netflix’s radar. The streamer, which is home to “Spinning Out,” has commissioned “Zero Chill,” a YA figure skating drama...
“Zola” Secures International Distribution via Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions
Florida was just the first stop on Zola’s epic adventure. A24 has sold international distribution rights to “Zola” to Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA). SPWA will...
Trailer Watch: Haley Bennett Is Harboring a Dangerous Secret in “Swallow”
Haley Bennett can’t seem to distinguish the difference between being happy and pretending to be happy in a new trailer for “Swallow.” The thriller sees the “Girl on the...
Ashley Williams to Topline Adaptation of Female Butcher Memoir “Killing It,” Pamela Fryman to Direct
“How I Met Your Mother” alumni Ashley Williams and Pamela Fryman are teaming up for a new project. The former portrayed recurring fan favorite Victoria and the latter directed almost...
“Rafiki” Writer-Director Wanuri Kahiu Will Helm Gotham Group’s Adaptation of “The Black Kids”
“Rafiki” writer-director Wanuri Kahiu is revisiting an important chapter in American history. The Gotham Group has tapped the Kenyan filmmaker to direct “The Black Kids,” a...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Kim A. Snyder – “Us Kids”
Kim A. Snyder directed the Peabody Award–winning documentary “Newtown,” which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival before screening at festivals worldwide, being released...
Phyllida Lloyd’s “Herself” Acquired by Amazon Studios
“Herself” has found a home. Phyllida Lloyd’s latest made its world premiere at Sundance to strong reviews just days ago, and now word comes that Amazon Studios has snagged North...
Zawan Mahmoud & Viviane Charlestin Receive Horizon Award for Emerging Women Directors at Sundance
Zawan Mahmoud and Viviane Charlestin are the winners of the 2020 Horizon Award for rising female filmmakers. Prize founders Christine Vachon, Lynette Howell Taylor, and Cassian Elwes presented the...
“Ammonite” Lands at Neon, Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan Star
A love story starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan is one step closer to hitting the screen. Neon has secured North American rights to Francis Lee’s “Ammonite,” a press release...
Research: More WOC Festival Programmers Means More WOC Directors Screening Films
We’re smack dab in the middle of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, where 46 percent of competition directors are women and 38 percent are people of color. Given that Sundance is ongoing and that...
“Little Women” and “Fleabag” Score USC Scripter Awards
Women claimed the top prizes at the 32nd annual USC Libraries Scripter Awards. A celebration of the best adaptations from literary materials, the event was held Saturday night in Los...
Celine Song Will Write and Direct A24’s Korean Romance “Past Lives”
Celine Song is set to make her feature directorial debut. The “Endings” playwright will write and direct Korean romance “Past Lives” for A24. Collider broke the...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Liz Garbus – “Lost Girls”
Liz Garbus is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning filmmaker whose film “What Happened, Miss Simone?” opened the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, received a Peabody Award, and was nominated for an...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Zeina Durra – “Luxor”
Zeina Durra’s directorial debut, “The Imperialists Are Still Alive!,” premiered in US Dramatic Competition at Sundance 2010. A British born of...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Shana Feste – “Run Sweetheart Run”
Shana Feste’s first feature, “The Greatest,” premiered at Sundance 2009 and went on to be nominated for a Humanitas Prize. Her second writing and directing effort, “Country...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Kirsten Johnson – “Dick Johnson Is Dead”
Kirsten Johnson’s most recent film “Cameraperson” premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and was shortlisted for an Academy Award. Her short “The Above” premiered at...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Amanda Kernell – “Charter”
Amanda Kernell has made several award-winning short films as a writer and director. “Sami Blood,” her feature film debut, premiered at the 2016 Venice Film Festival and won the Europa...
Weekly Update for January 24: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING The Turning – Directed by Floria Sigismondi Inspired by Henry James’ landmark novel, “The Turning” takes us to a mysterious estate in the Maine countryside,...
“Congratulations To Those Men” Film Series Spotlighting Women Directors to Screen at Nitehawk Cinema
“Congratulations to those men,” said Issa Rae after announcing the 2020 Oscar nominees for Best Director on a live telecast. The “Insecure” co-creator and star was emphasizing...
Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s “The Friend” Snagged by Roadside Attractions and Gravitas Ventures
Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s latest has found a home. Roadside Attractions and Gravitas Ventures are joining forces on the U.S. distribution of “The Friend,” a tearjerker inspired by a...
Trailer Watch: Truth Is the Only Agenda in Agnieszka Holland’s “Mr. Jones”
A Welsh journalist travels to Soviet Russia to interview Stalin and cover “the story no one is talking about” in “Mr. Jones.” A trailer for Agnieszka Holland’s new film...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Romola Garai – “Amulet”
Romola Garai is a writer, director, and actor, whose directorial debut, “Scrubber,” was nominated for Sundance Best Short Film in 2013. As a performer, her extensive film, TV, and stage...
Eímear Noone Will Make History as the First Woman to Conduct at the Oscars
Eímear Noone will be conducting at the 92nd Academy Awards, cementing her place in history as the first woman to ever do so at the ceremony. The Irish-born composer “will conduct excerpts from...
Tina Fey Is Adapting the “Mean Girls” Musical for the Big Screen
Gretchen Wieners is getting yet another shot to make fetch happen. A film adaptation of the “Mean Girls” musical is in the works, a press release has announced. Based on the 2004 cult...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Tara Miele – “Wander Darkly”
Tara Miele is a writer and director in both film and television. Her directorial work includes the backdoor pilot “Green Arrow and The Canaries,” episodes of “Arrow,”...
Former Teen Vogue Editor Elaine Welteroth’s Memoir Is Getting the TV Treatment
Elaine Welteroth is a judge and associate producer on “Project Runway,” has appeared as herself on “Black-ish” and “Grown-ish,” and penned an episode of the...
Apply Now: Boyish’s #RaiseYourVoice Female Filmmaker Competition
Boyish, a digital media company spotlighting content created by women, is teaming up with In The Know and Malka Media for a female filmmaker contest. Boyish will award five women-identifying...
Trailer Watch: Anne Hathaway Is a Journalist in Peril in Dee Rees’ “The Last Thing He Wanted”
“In a perfect world, we make perfect choices. In the real world, we make real choices,” says Anne Hathaway in a new trailer for “The Last Thing He Wanted.” Dee Rees’...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Ekwa Msangi – “Farewell Amor”
Ekwa Msangi is a Tanzanian-American filmmaker who has written and directed several drama series for mainstream broadcasters in Kenya and South Africa, including “The Agency,” MNET’s...
Women Directors Call On DGA to Update Parental Leave Policy in Open Letter
Ava DuVernay, Greta Gerwig, Reese Witherspoon, Brie Larson, and Lena Waithe are among the Hollywood heavyweights joining filmmaker Jessica Dimmock in urging the Directors Guild of America (DGA) to...
Megan McDonnell to Write “Captain Marvel 2,” Marvel Looking to Hire a Female Filmmaker to Direct
Megan McDonnell is writing the next chapter of Carol Danvers’ epic journey, taking Brie Larson “higher, further, faster” than ever before. Already part of the Marvel family, the...
Sundance 2020 Women Directors: Meet Eleanor Wilson – “Save Yourselves!”
Eleanor Wilson is a writer, director, and producer from Adelaide, Australia. Her award-winning short films have played at festivals throughout the world, with her first, “Possum,” winning...
Issa López Will Write and Direct “Lost Souls” for Fox Searchlight
Issa López’s profile continues to rise. The award-winning “Tigers Are Not Afraid” filmmaker has been tapped to write and direct “Lost Souls” for Fox Searchlight....