#Women Directors
Box Office Report: “On the Basis of Sex” Hits $10.6M, “Beale Street” $7.7M, & More
Ruth Bader Ginsburg continues to rule at the box office. Last year Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s doc about the Supreme Court Justice, “RBG,” became one of the highest-grossing...
Athina Rachel Tsangari to Helm “Trigonometry” TV Series for UK’s House Productions
Athina Rachel Tsangari is set to work on another small screen project. The award-winning director has signed on to direct BBC TV series “Trigonometry” for Tessa Ross and Juliette...
Weekly Update for January 11: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING Touch Me Not – Written and Directed by Adina Pintilie (Opens in NY) On the fluid border between reality and fiction, “Touch Me Not” follows the emotional journeys...
NYC’s Film Forum to Host Tribute to Elaine May
New York City cinema Film Forum will pay special tribute to actress-comedian-filmmaker Elaine May during its upcoming “FAR-OUT IN THE 70s: A New Wave of Comedy, 1969-1979” film series....
Diane Keaton Cheerleading Comedy “Poms” Gets a Release Date
If you’re looking for Mother’s Day plans, Diane Keaton’s got you covered. The Oscar winner’s latest, “Poms,” hits theaters May 10, Mother’s Day weekend....
Angela Robinson Signs Overall Deal with Paramount TV
Angela Robinson has inked an overall deal with Paramount TV, The Hollywood Reporter confirms. The two-year pact sees the multi-hyphenate developing new projects for the studio. Robinson’s most...
“On the Basis of Sex” Director Mimi Leder on Finding Inspiration and Common Ground with RBG
“On the Basis of Sex” is a movie that takes place in the 1950s but, sadly, feels like it could be set yesterday or tomorrow. The early years of the now-notorious RBG are basically a superhero...
Liesl Tommy to Direct Aretha Franklin Biopic, Jennifer Hudson Will Star
Liesl Tommy is making sure Aretha Franklin’s story gets the R-E-S-P-E-C-T it deserves on the big screen. The Tony Award-nominated stage director has been tapped to helm “Respect”...
Athena Fest 2019: “Fast Color,” “Knock Down the House,” & More to Screen
If you’re frustrated by awards season’s exclusion of women filmmakers and their stories, or if you’re encouraged by the growing number of film festivals committing to gender parity,...
Trailer Watch: Issa Rae Helps Regina Hall Through a Cursed Situation in “Little”
Jordan Sanders (Regina Hall) is the boss from hell in the new trailer for “Little” — but she gets her comeuppance. After years of bullying her assistant, terrorizing her staff, and...
Jennifer Kent’s Venice Winner “The Nightingale” Goes to IFC
“The Nightingale” will land in theaters this summer. IFC Films has secured U.S. rights to Jennifer Kent’s award-winning follow-up to “The Babadook,” Variety confirms. A...
“The Favourite” Leads 2019 BAFTA Nominations, Best Director Category Features No Women
The 2019 BAFTA film nominations are in and Olivia Colman-starrer “The Favourite” leads the back with 12 nominations. The dark comedy sees Colman playing a fragile queen at the center of a...
S.J. Clarkson to Direct “Game of Thrones” Prequel Pilot
“Game of Thrones” will return for its eighth and final season on HBO this April. Including its upcoming installment, the fantasy epic’s run is comprised of 73 episodes. Just four of...
Goteborg Film Fest to Sign Gender Parity Pledge, 2019 Lineup Is 41 Percent Women-Directed
Cannes, Venice, and Toronto were among the many film festivals to sign the 5050×2020 charter for gender parity and inclusion in 2018. It looks like more fests will commit to the initiative in...
Watch: Brie Larson Flaunts Her Skills in “Captain Marvel” Special Look
“I’ve never seen anything like her,” says Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) in a special look at “Captain Marvel.” This is coming from a guy who has spent considerable time...
Christine Lahti Discusses Playing Gloria Steinem in Off-Broadway’s “Gloria: A Life”
When Christine Lahti was offered the role of Gloria Steinem in the Off-Broadway play “Gloria: A Life,” she knew it would resonate on many levels. After all, she has known Steinem for...
2019 DGA Award Nominations: Amy Sherman-Palladino, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, & More
Awards season is heating up. With the Globes just one day behind us the Directors Guild of America (DGA) has announced nominees for the 71st edition of the DGA awards in the categories for TV and...
Debra Granik Wins Bonnie Award
Debra Granik is following in Chloe Zhaó’s footsteps. The “Leave No Trace” helmer has been named as the recipient of the 2019 Bonnie Award, a press release from the Film...
Chloé Zhao’s “The Rider” Named Best Picture by National Society of Film Critics
“The Rider” — and other women-directed offerings — have received little attention in awards conversations this year, but Chloé Zhao’s latest just scored a major honor....
Weekly Update for January 4: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING Rust Creek – Directed by Jen McGowan; Written by Julie Lipson (Also Available on VOD) An ordinary woman must summon extraordinary courage to survive a nightmare...
Apply Now: WhoHaha Spring Creator Lab
Attention creators: WhoHaha wants to nurture your talent. Launched to celebrate and elevate women in comedy, the creative community and digital content studio is now accepting applications for their...
Trailer Watch: Noomi Rapace Is a Badass Bodyguard in “Close”
The original “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is still kicking ass. A trailer has dropped for “Close,” a Netflix thriller that sees Noomi Rapace taking on the role of a...
Report: Black Male Directors Made Major Gains in 2018, Number of Women Plateaued Again
The good news: The number of black directors working on top-grossing films reached a 12-year high in 2018. Sixteen black helmers, including “Black Panther’s” Ryan Coogler and...
Women in Film LA and Women and Hollywood Launch Campaign in Support of Women Directors
On this weekend of the Golden Globes, where again not a single female has been nominated for best director, and as Academy Awards nominations open this Monday, January 7, Women and Hollywood and...
2018 Celluloid Ceiling Report: Number of Women Directors on Top 250 Films Falls to 8%
New year, same story. Dr. Martha Lauzen and the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film has released a new report, “The Celluloid Ceiling: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women on...
Apply Now: Stephanie Rothman Fellowship for Women Film Students
Applications for the Stephanie Rothman Fellowship are now open. Launched to “recognize and reward the creativity and passion of female film students with an innovative take on genre...
24 Most Anticipated Films By and About Women of 2019
By Keno Katsuda and Antora Majumdar As we close the book on 2018 and wonder what’s in store for the upcoming year, we do know we can at least look forward to some thrilling new women-centric and...
January 2019 Film Preview
By Antora Majumdar and Keno Katsuda If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to watch more movies, January’s film releases will help you reach your goal. With a solid mix of wholly original...
The Year in Women and Hollywood
Dear Friends, This has been quite a year. The reckoning that began in October 2017 has continued to push the industry in ways no one could have ever imagined. The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have...
Weekly Update for December 21: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
Season’s greetings from Women and Hollywood! Thank you so much for your continued support of our work. We’ll be taking some time off for the holidays, so this will be our last weekly...
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...
Lynne Ramsay’s “You Were Never Really Here” Tops Bechdel Test Fest’s Best Films of 2018
Loved by critics and a winner at Cannes, Lynne Ramsay’s “You Were Never Really Here” has been largely shut out of the Oscar conversation. The revenge thriller is, however, getting...
2018’s Best Films By and About Women
Many of our favorite films saw female characters claiming or reclaiming their power: Mary Stuart set her sights upon the English throne, and two ladies-in-waiting realized winning Queen Anne’s...
Trailer Watch: A Young Boxer Follows Her Dreams in “Float Like a Butterfly”
“You can live all your life on your knees if you want. But I can’t and I won’t,” says 15-year-old Frances (Hazel Doupe) in a a new trailer for Carmel Winters’...
Guest Post: Mira Nair’s Groundbreaking Career, from Bollywood to Hollywood
Guest Post by Amardeep Singh I’ve been fascinated by director Mira Nair since I first saw her 1991 film “Mississippi Masala,” a drama about the romance between an Indian immigrant (Sarita...
Trailer Watch: Jodie Whittaker Needs to Grow Up in “Adult Life Skills”
“If I can’t communicate with people I love, what does that mean?” asks Jodie Whittaker in a new trailer for “Adult Life Skills.” The “Doctor Who” star...
“Downstairs” Director Adrienne Campbell-Holt on Why She Tends to Prefer Working with Women
Talking to theater director Adrienne Campbell-Holt is a breath of fresh air for any avid theater goer or film buff. She’s a big believer in not only working primarily with women on the projects she...
Female Skateboarding Comedy in the Works at HBO from Crystal Moselle and Lesley Arfin
“Skate Kitchen” director Crystal Moselle and “Love” co-creator Lesley Arfin are teaming up to bring a female-led skateboarding comedy to the small screen. HBO is developing...
2018’s Best Documentaries By and About Women
Women and Hollywood’s top documentaries of 2018 feature a Nobel-winning activist, a filmmaker investigating her stolen project, and a world-renowned pop singer. Inspiring, heartbreaking, and...
Berlinale 2019’s Panorama Program Is 23% Women-Helmed So Far
The Berlin International Film Festival has unveiled the first half of its 2019 Panorama program. Unfortunately, its initial numbers aren’t as encouraging as the Competition lineup’s...
Over 50 Percent of Documentary Features in the Oscar Race are Women-Directed
The Oscar race is heating up. Just 15 films remain in the running for the Documentary Feature category for the 91st Academy Awards. Over 160 films were originally submitted for consideration. Eight...
Brown Girls Doc Mafia Appoints Board of Directors, Receives $105K MacArthur Grant
Big things are happening at Brown Girls Doc Mafia (BGDM), an org advocating for women and non-binary people of color in documentary filmmaking. According to Filmmaker Magazine, BGDM has announced...
Tyne Daly Chats About Collaborating with Her Brother and Theresa Rebeck on “Downstairs”
Tyne Daly is certainly no stranger to the New York stage. She has appeared in a plethora of work both on and off Broadway and has collaborated with some of the most pivotal creators of our time,...
2018’s Best TV Created By and About Women
2018 offered plenty of buzzy, zeitgeist-y television series about and from women. Dark and stylish, “Killing Eve” and “Sharp Objects” were among the year’s must-sees,...
Weekly Update for December 14: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING Mary Poppins Returns (Opens December 19) “Mary Poppins Returns” “Mary Poppins Returns” is set in 1930s, Depression-era London — the time period of the...
“Mary Queen of Scots” Director Josie Rourke on Transitioning from Stage to Screen
Josie Rourke might just be directing her first movie, but “Mary Queen of Scots” is the first of what will be many. It’s a little crazy to say that Mary is the perfect role for Saoirse...
Actress Daphne Zuniga to Make Feature Directorial Debut
No stranger to twisty drama, “Melrose Place” veteran Daphne Zuniga will be making her feature directorial debut with a thriller. Deadline confirms the actress has signed on to helm...
Berlinale 2019 Competition Section Is Currently 43 Percent Women-Directed
The Berlin International Film Festival’s upcoming 2019 Competition lineup is looking decidedly more female-friendly than the fest’s 2018 edition. As previously announced, Lone...
Lake Bell and Liz Meriwether’s “Bless This Mess” Gets Series Order at ABC
Lake Bell and Liz Meriwether’s “Bless This Mess” has nabbed a series order at ABC, Variety reports. A co-production between 20th Century Fox Television and ABC Studios, the...
Kathreen Khavari to Co-Write and Star in Refinery29 Pilot “Embrace”
Best known for her roles as Samantha on “Big Little Lies” and Patricia on “Insecure,” Kathreen Khavari is set to topline “Embrace,” a pilot for Refinery29....
Trailer Watch: Sandra Bullock Is Up Against Pure Evil in “Bird Box”
Sandra Bullock proved she was capable of pulling off the heist of the century in this summer’s “Ocean’s Eight,” but the Oscar winner may have found her match in “Bird...