#Business
Naomi Denamur & Julie Billy Launch June Films, Slate Includes Pics from Clémence Poésy & Hafsia Herzi
French film industry execs Naomi Denamur and Julie Billy have launched their own firm. The duo have started Paris-based production company June Films, with features from actress-filmmakers Clémence...
Cannabis Queens Doc “Lady Buds” Spawns Feature and Series Spinoffs
There’s plenty more of “Lady Buds” to harvest. CJ Russo’s 2021 documentary about a group of women struggling to save their cannabis businesses in the wake of...
Lulu Wang & Dani Melia Set Up New Production Company, Ink First-Look TV Deal with Amazon
“The Farewell” filmmaker Lulu Wang and producer Dani Melia are setting up shop at Amazon. Deadline reports the duo have entered into a first-look TV deal with Amazon via their new...
WIF Study Finds “Severe Lack of Capital Investment” in Women-Owned Production Companies
Hollywood’s gender problem extends beyond on- and off-camera roles. According to a new study from WIF (Women In Film, Los Angeles), there is also a pronounced gender disparity among the...
EbonyLife Media CEO Mo Abudu Inks Development Deal with BBC Studios, Sets Heist Series “Reclaim”
EbonyLife Media founder and CEO Mosunmola “Mo” Abudu is bringing an adventure story about colonialism, history, and cultural repatriation to BBC Studios as part of a new development deal....
“Gentefied” Co-Creator Linda Yvette Chávez Inks Overall Deal with 20th Television
Linda Yvette Chávez is set to “create her own as well as supervise other writers’ dramas and comedies for all platforms” at 20th Television. Deadline reports the...
Lena Waithe Signs Overall Deal with Warner Bros. TV, First Project Will Be “Hoop Dreams” Series
Lena Waithe is heading to Warner Bros. Television Group (WBTVG). The mogul-in-the-making has inked “a big exclusive overall deal” with the studio, Deadline reports, which will see her and...
Emma Stone Signs On for “Cruella” Sequel
We haven’t seen the last of Emma Stone’s Cruella de Vil. According to Deadline, the Oscar winner has signed on to topline the sequel to this year’s “Cruella,” the origin...
Martha Stewart Doc Coming to Netflix
A documentary about Martha Stewart is heading to Netflix. From “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry” director R.J. Cutler, the doc will explore the “life and times”...
Chloé Zhao, Issa Rae, & Emerald Fennell Among THR’s 2021 Women in Entertainment Power 100
Recent Oscar-winners Chloé Zhao and Emerald Fennell, multi-hyphenates Issa Rae and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, activist and author Stacey Abrams, and moguls Oprah Winfrey and Shonda Rhimes are just a few...
Constance Wu Inks First-Look TV Production Deal with eOne
Constance Wu is expanding her repertoire. The star of “Fresh Off The Boat” and “Crazy Rich Asians” is starting her own production venture and has signed a first-look...
Katori Hall Signs Overall Deal with Lionsgate TV, Sets Up Mentorship Program for Black Playwrights
Katori Hall is sticking with Lionsgate Television. She has signed an overall deal with the studio, which produces her strip club-set Starz drama “P-Valley.” The pact will see Hall create...
Rebel Girls Brand to Develop Films, Series, and More Under Imagine Entertainment Deal
Get ready for more Rebel Girls. The media brand behind the “Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls” book series and “Rebel Podcast” is entering into a development pact with...
Robin Roberts Extends Partnership with Lifetime, Sets Mahalia Jackson Biopic Starring Danielle Brooks
Following her “Lifetime Presents Variety’s Power of Women: Frontline Heroes” hosting gig and her role as executive producer on TV movie “Stolen by My Mother: The Kamiyah Mobley...
Cate Blanchett Signs First-Look TV Deal with FX Productions
Cate Blanchett and FX Productions are taking their relationship to the next level. The “Mrs. America” star has inked a first-look TV production deal with its studio via Dirty Films, an...
Kelly Sallaway, Meghan Duffy, and Sharon Houston Named Propelle Accelerator Finalists
Propelle, the new female-focused accelerator program from Everywoman Studios and Realscreen magazine, has announced the three finalists for its inaugural edition. A press release confirmed that Kelly...
Danai Gurira Signs Two-Year Overall Deal with ABC Studios
Danai Gurira may be leaving “The Walking Dead,” but she’ll be sticking around the small screen. Variety confirms the “Black Panther” actress has entered into a two-year...
Stephanie Allain Signs Multi-Year First-Look Deal with Warner Horizon Scripted Television
Stephanie Allain is coming off her Oscars producing gig with her first TV studio deal. According to Deadline, the veteran producer has inked a multi-year first-look pact with Warner Horizon Scripted...
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...
Elisabeth Murdoch, Stacey Snider, & Jane Featherstone Team Up for New Content Company
Media mogul Elisabeth Murdoch, seasoned exec Stacey Snider, and television producer Jane Featherstone have joined forces and launched a new global content company. According to The Hollywood...
Sarah Adina Smith Signs First-Look Deal with Amazon Studios
“Hanna” was just the beginning of Sarah Adina Smith’s career at Amazon. According to Deadline, she’s inked a first-look deal with Amazon Studios. Under the pact, Smith, who...
Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith Launch New Business Venture Westbrook Inc.
Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith are expanding their media empire. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the spouses and business partners have announced the launch of Westbrook Inc., a “studio and...
With Jacqueline Lyanga’s Hiring, Three Film Independent Creative Divisions Are Women-Run
Former AFI FEST Director Jacqueline Lyanga recently joined Film Independent, the org behind the Film Independent Spirit Awards, as its new Artistic Director. A press release confirmed the...
WIF LA & Pepperdine University to Boost Funding for Women-Run Businesses in Film Industry
Women In Film, Los Angeles (WIF LA) and Pepperdine University are working together to address the entertainment industry’s gender gap in business funding. A press release has announced that the...
Rachel Brosnahan Signs First-Look Deal with Amazon Studios
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is just the beginning of Rachel Brosnahan’s career at Amazon. The Emmy-winning actress has inked a first-look deal with Amazon Studios, Deadline reports....
Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Starting a Prod. Company Focused on Stories By/About Women
Hillary Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea, are taking Barack and Michelle Obama’s lead. Like the former President and First Lady, the Clintons are launching their own production company....
Jen and Sylvia Soska Sign First-Look Deal with Prospero Pictures
Cult movie filmmakers and twins Jen and Sylvia Soska have entered into a first-look deal with Prospero Pictures (“A Dangerous Method”). The Hollywood Reporter confirms the Soskas’...
Liz Meriwether Signs Big Overall Deal with 20th Century Fox TV
Liz Meriwether is sticking with 20th Century Fox TV. Deadline confirms the prolific TV writer, creator, EP, and showrunner has inked a “rich four-year overall deal” with the studio,...
Amy Adams Inks First-Look Deal with HBO, Will Exec Produce “Poisonwood Bible” Adaptation
It’s unclear whether we’ll actually get another season of “Sharp Objects,” but Amy Adams is definitely sticking around HBO. The six-time Oscar nominee has signed a first-look...
Trailer Watch: HBO Doc “The Inventor” Exposes Elizabeth Holmes’ Fake Medical Revolution
Elizabeth Holmes’ dream is that “less people have to say goodbye too soon to people they love.” She reveals this aspiration in the new trailer for “The Inventor: Out for Blood...
Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino Sign Overall Deal with Amazon Studios
The Palladinos are all in on Amazon. Variety reports that Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino have extended their overall pact with Amazon Studios, the home of their award-winning dramedy...
“Black-ish’s” Marsai Martin Signs First-Look Deal with Universal
It’s starting to look like Marsai Martin may be a mogul in the making. Best known for playing Diane, AKA Dolly, on “Black-ish,” the actress is set to co-star with...
“Grey’s Anatomy” Showrunner Krista Vernoff Signs Overall Deal with ABC Studios
Krista Vernoff is sticking with ABC and “Grey’s Anatomy.” The Hollywood Reporter confirms the “Grey’s” showrunner has inked a multi-year overall deal with ABC...
ICM’s Lorrie Bartlett Becomes First Black Board Member of a Major Talent Agency
ICM talent agent Lorrie Bartlett has made a historical career move. She has been brought on to her agency’s board of directors, the Los Angeles Times reports. Per ICM, this makes Bartlett the...
Ava DuVernay Signs $100 Million Overall Deal with Warner Bros. Television
It’s official: Ava DuVernay is now a mogul. The award-winning multi-hyphenate has inked her first studio pact and it’s massive. DuVernay signed a $100 million production and development...
Marti Noxon Signs Multi-Year Overall Deal with Netflix
Marti Noxon’s landmark year — which saw her launching two zeitgeist-y shows, “Sharp Objects” and “Dietland” — just got better. Variety confirms the TV...
Women and Hollywood Is Here for Your Consulting Needs
Over the last decade Women and Hollywood has created a community of people dedicated to supporting content created by and about women. Our community includes press, influencers, activists,...
Guest Post: How I Founded an Art House Cinema and Made Supporting Women a Priority
Guest Post by Lawren Desai My son was still in diapers when I founded an art house cinema. I wrote my business plan during nap time and showed up to construction with a stroller. This was in 2010:...
Melissa Rosenberg and Kay Cannon Score TV Deals
“Jessica Jones” showrunner Melissa Rosenberg and “Blockers” director Kay Cannon have both inked deals with indie television studios. According to The Hollywood Reporter,...
Laurene Powell Jobs Investing in Documentary Film Studio Startup
Businesswoman Laurene Powell Jobs is using her fortune to produce and finance documentary filmmaking. According to Bloomberg, the world’s sixth-richest woman is backing a documentary studio...
Today in #TimesUp and #MeToo: “Crown” Producers Apologize to Foy, Updates on Weinstein
#MeToo and #TimesUp are showing no signs of slowing down. In the wake of public outcry over the disparity between Claire Foy and Matt Smith’s pay on “The Crown,” the Netflix series’...
Female-Led Bids Vie to Buy Weinstein Company, Support Women
In the seven weeks or so since The New York Times published an exposé on Harvey Weinstein, Weinstein has fallen swiftly and rightfully from grace, and other industry predators like Brett Ratner,...
Stephanie Laing’s Online Network PYPO Teaming Up with Norwegian Air
PYPO, the multi-platform comedy network for women founded by Emmy winner Stephanie Laing, has partnered with Norwegian Air. According to a press release, the airline’s flights will feature...
Carolyn McCall to Be ITV’s First Female CEO
Carolyn McCall is ITV’s new CEO effective January 8, 2018. According to The Hollywood Reporter, McCall will soon leave her post as easyJet’s CEO and take over the UK TV corporation. With this...
BRITDOC CEO Jess Search Joins Kickstarter Board
With more than a decade of funding documentaries under her belt, BRITDOC CEO Jess Search is poised to join Kickstarter, the crowdfunding organization that helps all kinds of projects find financing....
“Generation Startup” Directors on Pushing Boundaries and Starting Companies
“Generation Startup” directors Cynthia Wade and Cheryl Miller Houser shared their thoughts on starting their own companies, why it’s important for young people to pursue their business dreams,...
Forbes 2011 List of the Highest Paid Actresses
It’s that time of year when we get to see who is scoring in the pay department in Hollywood. It’s no surprise to anyone that the highest paid actress in Hollywood is Angelina Jolie. She’s...
Riding the Bridesmaids Wave
Women in Hollywood are finally feeling a little love after the unexpected success of Bridesmaids. The film has now grossed $140 million and counting and for the first time in a long time women’s...
Mr. Dodd Goes to Las Vegas
Chris Dodd, former Senator from Connecticut, took over as Hollywood’s chief lobbyist as the head of the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) about 10 days ago. Keep in mind that the former...
Natalie Portman Focuses on Producing
Now that Portman is going to take some time off from being in front of the screen for her pregnancy, she is not going to just disappear. She’s ramped up her producing business handsomecharlie with...