#Representation
“Fleabag,” “GLOW,” “When They See Us,” and More Receive ReFrame’s TV Stamp
Twenty-one television series from the 2018-2019 season have received the ReFrame Stamp — “Fleabag” and “When They See Us” among them. As Variety reports, 10 of those...
ReFrame Teams Up with Delta Airlines for Women-Driven In-Flight Entertainment Channels
ReFrame, the coalition dedicated to improving gender representation across all areas of the film industry, is bringing women-led and -made entertainment to Delta Airlines. The two organizations have...
40 Percent of Last Year’s Top Films Featured a Female Protagonist, New Study Finds
Turns out 2019 wasn’t just a historic year for women behind the scenes. Women also fared very well on-screen last year, according to the latest “It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World”...
Guest Post: What TV Commissioning Data Can Tell Us About the Longevity of the “#MeToo Moment”
Guest Post by Alice Thorpe By now, we are used to hearing the gains made by women in the U.S. film and TV industries in recent years described as a “moment.” We are still regularly assured that...
Jennifer Lopez, Renée Zellweger, and More Talk Inclusion and Imposter Syndrome in THR Roundtable
Amidst the major buzz they’re generating this awards season, Jennifer Lopez, Scarlett Johansson, Lupita Nyong’o, Awkwafina, Laura Dern, and Renée Zellweger recently sat down with The...
Quotes of the Day: Julie Delpy and Marjane Satrapi on the Constraints Women Filmmakers Face
Between them, Julie Delpy and Marjane Satrapi have helmed 12 features and netted three Oscar nominations — they obviously know what they’re doing. Yet, as the filmmakers recently revealed...
GLAAD Report: Number of LGBTQ Series Regulars on Broadcast TV Reaches All-Time High
The LGBTQ presence on broadcast TV is growing. Per Variety, GLAAD has released its annual “Where We Are on TV” report and found that the number of LGBTQ characters represent 10.2 percent of...
Elizabeth Banks Is the Head of Center for Reproductive Rights’ New Creative Council
You can catch Elizabeth Banks fighting for human rights around the globe as Bosley in the “Charlie’s Angels” reboot in theaters next month. Offscreen, the multi-hyphenate is...
Women of Color Led or Co-Led 11 of 2018’s Top 100 Films, According to New Research
As we’re all well aware, women are very much underrepresented on the big screen. However, according to new research from Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, there is...
Latina Characters Missing from 70 of 2018’s Top 100 Films, Study Finds
New research from Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative — in partnership with the National Association of Latino Independent Producers and Wise Entertainment — has...
Guest Post: How I’m Honoring Women in Space — and Music — at the Hollywood Bowl
Guest Post by Penka Kouneva On August 15, Los Angeles Philharmonic will present a concert titled “America in Space” at the Hollywood Bowl. This one-night-only event will celebrate the...
Academy Invites 842 New Members, 50% Are Women and 29% POC
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the organization behind the Oscars, has invited 842 people from 59 countries to join as members. According to the Academy’s website, 50...
Shonda Rhimes and Dove Launch Inclusive Image Database #ShowUs
Seventy percent of women don’t see themselves reflected in media images. “Grey’s Anatomy” creator Shonda Rhimes revealed this startling statistic at the the 2019 edition of...
Banff Fest 2019: Fund Launched for Women in TV, Paul Feig Talks Equality & Representation
Gender equality and inclusion have been among the main topics of conversation at this year’s Banff World Media Festival. The Canadian fest saw the announcement of the Banff Accelerator for...
Cannes 2019 Women Directors: Meet Danielle Lessovitz – “Port Authority”
Danielle Lessovitz is a New York-based writer and director in film and advertising. Her most recent screenwriting effort, “Mobile Homes,” which she co-wrote with Vladimir de Fontenay,...
Quote of the Day: “Abby’s” Natalie Morales on Making History & the Power of LGBTQ Representation
Yesterday marked a landmark moment in television history: “Abby’s” premiered on NBC. The sitcom about a woman who runs an unlicensed bar in her backyard stars Natalie Morales...
Survey: 64% of Diverse TV Writers Have Encountered Discrimination on the Job
A new survey findings’ reveal that diverse writers are routinely isolated, tokenized, and mistreated in contemporary writers rooms. The Think Tank for Inclusion & Equity (TTIE) interviewed...
Jessica Frances Dukes On Portraying a Fictional Starlet in “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark”
Jessica Frances Dukes takes on the titular role in the revival “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark,” an aspiring actress working for a fading star during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Written by...
“A Wrinkle in Time,” “Widows,” “Hate U Give,” and More Receive ReFrame Stamp
Time to plan a feminist movie night. ReFame, a coalition working to advance women’s representation on and off-screen, has awarded its gender equality stamp to 20 of the top-grossing films of...
New App Lets Users Rate a Film Based on Its Feminism (or Lack Thereof)
Do you think movies should be evaluated by their portrayal of women? What about their depictions of race or class? Whether they are intersectional? Well, now there’s an app for that. World...
2019 Diversity Report: Women & POC Make Progress But Are Still Largely Underrepresented
UCLA’s College of Social Sciences has released its latest Diversity Report. Once again, the study reveals women and people of color are making strides on both sides of the camera, but overall,...
Study: 31 Percent of 2018’s Top-Grossing Films Featured a Female Protagonist
“2018 may be remembered as the year in which things were not quite as they appeared for female characters,” Dr. Martha Lauzen said of her analysis of women’s representation in last...
Research: 2018 Marked Major Improvement for On-Screen Inclusion in Top Films
Finally, some encouraging stats for women and people of color in film. After concluding, in an earlier 2019 report, that the number of women directors hadn’t budged in 12 years, Dr. Stacy L....
Subject, Not Object: The Revelatory Sex Scenes in “If Beale Street Could Talk”
In November 2016 in Washington, D.C., I caught a preview of Barry Jenkins’ soon-to-be Oscar-winning film “Moonlight.” This was way before White audiences had caught on to the movie, and those...
Time’s Up Rings in New Year by Launching Campaign to Double Number of Women in Leadership
Time’s Up is officially one year old. Since it kicked off on New Year’s Day 2018, the movement to make workplaces safer and more equitable for women and other underrepresented communities...
Guest Post: How Making a Doc Series Helped Me Preserve My Identity
Guest Post by Oluwaseun Babalola Creative content, like film or television, is integral to identity and cultural preservation. Have you ever heard of “Cool Japan”? It’s a reference to...
Jocelyn Bioh on “School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play” & Its Exploration of Colorism
If you haven’t heard of Off-Broadway’s “School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play,” by Jocelyn Bioh, it is only a matter of time before you do. The play, directed by Tony...
Writer Ngozi Anyanwu and Director Awoye Timpo Talk Reuniting for “Good Grief”
Writer-actor Ngozi Anyanwu and director Awoye Timpo paired up for the current run of Anyanwu’s play “Good Grief” at the Vineyard Theatre. This isn’t the first time the pair has worked...
Guest Post: How I Branched Out from “Ethnic Friend” to Leading Lady in “Unlovable”
Guest Post by Charlene deGuzman Growing up Filipino-American in the ‘80s and ‘90s, I never saw any movie stars that looked like me. I rarely saw anyone Filipino on-screen, and if I did, they...
Playwright Jaclyn Backhaus Chats About Her New Show “India Pale Ale”
Jaclyn Backhaus, a playwright of Punjabi and German descent, is skilled at giving women a voice in her work. Her last play, “Men on Boats,” told the story of the 1869 Powell Expedition...
New Study Finds Women-Driven Superhero and Sci-Fi Stories Empower Girls
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: representation matters. A major reason — if not the major reason — “Wonder Woman” and “Hidden Figures” are...
Guest Post: How I Sought to Improve Black Representation with My First Feature “Solace”
Guest Post by Tchaiko Omawale Being a Black female filmmaker, I carry the privilege and responsibility of creating the things I wish I had seen when I was growing up. My two favorite movie genres...
Growing Pains: Crowdfunding Picks
Flip through one of your old photo albums. How does it feel? Regardless of the time period you are looking back on, you’re probably experiencing a fairly strong emotional response. Maybe it’s...
Quote of the Day: “Crazy Rich Asians'” Awkwafina on the Power of Representation
“Representation starts both in front of and behind the camera,” Awkwafina tells Variety in a new interview. Asked what the industry can do to make improvements in representing Asians...
Guest Post: “Crazy Rich Asians” and Sandra Oh’s Emmy Nod Are Major Milestones for Asian-Americans
Guest Post by Kathy Huynh-Phan It’s been a month since Emmy nominations were announced, and I’m still reeling. Sandra Oh received a nod for her role as Eve Polastri in “Killing...
Quote of the Day: Nicole Maines on Playing TV’s First Trans Superhero in “Supergirl”
“I haven’t really wrapped my head around being a superhero, first of all, and being the first trans superhero on television,” Nicole Maines tells Variety in a new interview. The...
The Bonds Between Us: Crowdfunding Picks
Our entire lives are defined by relationships. From a young age, we are taught to identify ourselves relative to someone else; daughter, sister, partner, friend. And whether these bonds are defined...
“Transparent’s” Trace Lysette to Star in and Exec Produce “Colors of Ava”
Trace Lysette is stepping into the limelight. Best known for her supporting role as Shea in “Transparent,” the recent “Pose” guest star will topline and exec produce...
Laverne Cox Exec Producing Doc About Trans Representation On-Screen
Laverne Cox made history last year when she became the first transgender actress cast as a series regular on a broadcast show, CBS’ legal drama “Doubt.” It was a major feat for...
“Fresh Off the Boat’s” Constance Wu to Star in “Crazy Rich Asians”
Constance Wu is in talks to topline Warner Bros.’ memorably titled “Crazy Rich Asians,” The Hollywood Reporter confirms. The “Fresh Off the Boat” actress would lead an all-Asian cast. An...