#Women Writers
Tina Gordon to Direct Youth Choir Comedy “Praise This” for Universal
“Sister Act” fans, take note: another musical comedy about a choir is on the way. “Little” helmer and co-writer Tina Gordon has been tapped to direct Universal Pictures’...
“Russian Doll” Renewed for Season 2
Prepare for “Gotta Get Up” to get stuck in your head again: “Russian Doll” is coming back. Netflix has renewed the critically acclaimed Natasha Lyonne-starrer for a second...
Trailer Watch: Elsa and Anna Go North in “Frozen 2”
Elsa is following in Arya Stark’s footsteps and embarking on an epic mission into the unknown. A trailer has dropped for “Frozen 2,” and sees Disney’s game-changing sisters,...
Sophia Lillis to Topline Netflix High School Drama “I Am Not Okay With This”
“Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase” star Sophia Lillis has a new case to crack — the mysterious superpowers growing inside her. The “Stranger Things” and...
Marti Noxon and Jessica Rhoades Option YA Novel “Like A Love Story”
Two of the women behind HBO’s award-winning adaptation of Gillan Flynn’s “Sharp Objects” are teaming up on another project based on a novel. Marti Noxon and Jessica Rhoades,...
Ali Stroker, “Hadestown” Team, and More Make History at the 2019 Tony Awards
Last night’s 73rd Annual Tony Awards marked many firsts for women who are paving the way on Broadway, both onstage and off. The show was indicative that post-#MeToo, the course of history for...
Angela Chen Receives Inaugural AGBO/AFI Conservatory Development Grant
Angela Chen’s next project just received a major boost. The writer, director, editor, and producer has been named as the inaugural recipient of the AGBO/AFI Conservatory Development Grant, a...
“Bunny” Adaptation in the Works at AMC with Megan Mostyn-Brown Attached to Write
“Bunny” won’t hit shelves until June 11, but the novel is already being developed for the small screen. AMC Networks acquired the rights to Mona Awad’s book about a creative...
Weekly Update for June 7: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING Late Night – Directed by Nisha Ganatra; Written by Mindy Kaling (Opens in Select Theaters; Opens Wide June 14) “Late Night” is the movie I have been...
Public Theater’s 2019-20 Season Includes “For Colored Girls” and Hillary Clinton Musical
Hillary Clinton, Ntozake Shange, Leigh Silverman, and Jeanine Tesori are just a few of the names that will be featured at the Public Theater next season. Per The New York Times, the Off Broadway...
Kay Cannon Will Direct Treasure-Hunt Comedy “79ers” for Lionsgate
Only two months after news broke that Kay Cannon would direct Sony Pictures’ retelling of “Cinderella” comes word that the “Blockers” filmmaker will helm yet another...
Kat Wood’s Action Pitch “Diplomatic Courier” Snagged by Skydance
Former Earth scientist and BBC journalist Kat Wood has another feature in the works. The screenwriter sold Jason Bourne-style action pitch “Diplomatic Courier” to Skydance in a...
Trailer Watch: Jillian Bell & Michaela Watkins Inherit a “Sword of Trust” in New Lynn Shelton Pic
In Lynn Shelton’s latest film, Cynthia (Jillian Bell) inherits a very unique object when her grandfather dies: a sword with an apparent connection to the Civil War. “What you are looking...
Trailer Watch: Alice Englert Questions Her Faith and Faces a Snake in “Them That Follow”
Set deep in Appalachia, “Them That Follow” tells the story of Mara (Alice Englert), a young woman preparing for her wedding day. Mara’s got a lot more than floral arrangements and...
Tayari Jones Wins the Women’s Prize for Fiction
American novelist Tayari Jones is this year’s recipient of the Women’s Prize for Fiction. She’s being recognized for “An American Marriage,” described by chair of judges...
Kristina Lauren Anderson Will Adapt Eliza Griswold’s “Amity and Prosperity” for TV
Eliza Griswold’s exposé on fracking’s devastating effects on the community of Amity, Pennsylvania is coming to television. According to Deadline, Film 44 is producing a limited series based...
Sandi Tan to Write and Direct Adaptation of Elif Batuman’s “The Idiot”
Sandi Tan is set to tell another autobiographical coming-of-age story, but this time she’s working with someone else’s source material. The “Shirkers” helmer will write and...
“Dead to Me” Is Coming Back for Season 2
Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini have plenty of laughing, crying, and screaming sessions in store. Netflix has renewed “Dead to Me” for a second season, Variety confirms. Created...
Karen Moncrieff to Write and Direct Adaptation of Alice Sebold Memoir “Lucky”
Another Alice Sebold adaptation is in the works. Ten years after Saoirse Ronan-starrer “The Lovely Bones” hit theaters comes word that Sebold’s award-winning memoir...
Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” Acquired by Netflix
Netflix has snagged most worldwide rights to Jane Campion’s latest, “The Power of the Dog.” The streamer is planning a 2021 theatrical and streaming premiere for the adaptation of...
June 2019 Film Preview
The summer movie season is kicking off with dozens of films helmed by and centered on women. From Sundance pics to mega blockbusters, June promises to be a month chock-full of exciting...
Sally Rooney’s “Normal People” Heading to Hulu
“Normal People” is coming to the small screen. Hulu handed out a straight to series order on a 12-episode, half-hour drama based on Irish author Sally Rooney’s buzzy best-selling...
Weekly Update for May 31: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING Too Late to Die Young – Written and Directed by Dominga Sotomayor (Opens in NY; Opens in LA June 7) “Too Late To Die Young” Set in post-Pinochet Chile in...
Debra Granik to Receive Honor from Boston Society of Film Critics
Writer-director Debra Granik has been named as the inaugural receipt of the Boston Society of Film Critics’ (BSFC) Career Spotlight Award, an honor celebrating mid-career filmmakers. “Debra...
Trailer Watch: Alia Shawkat and Holliday Grainger Are “Animals” in Sophie Hyde’s Latest
Alia Shawkat’s not ready for the party to end in a new UK trailer for “Animals.” An adaptation of Emma Jane Unsworth’s novel of the same name, the dramedy tells the story of...
Naomi Kawase Begins Filming “Comes Morning”
Cannes darling Naomi Kawase has kicked off filming on her latest project, “Asa ga Kuru,” or “Comes Morning.” Inspired by a 2015 Mizuki Tsujimura novel, the Japanese...
Thumbs Down Report 2019: Women Critics Still Outnumbered by Men Two to One
The gender gap in film criticism is, unfortunately, holding firm. Dr. Martha Lauzen and the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film have released their annual “Thumbs Down”...
Trailer Watch: Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, and Elisabeth Moss Run “The Kitchen”
“Pretty doesn’t matter. It’s just a tool that women use,” says Melissa McCarthy in the first trailer for “The Kitchen.” Set in the ’70s, Andrea...
Mindy Kaling Has a New Essay Collection on the Way
Mindy Kaling and Amazon’s lovefest continues. Amazon Studios is dropping Kaling-starrer “Late Night” in theaters next week, and Kaling recently announced that she has a new essay...
Sarah Streicher’s Amazon Pilot “The Wilds” Ordered to Series, Amy B. Harris Will Showrun
Amazon’s newest show will be “Mean Girls” meets “Lost” or more specifically, “part survival drama, part dystopic slumber party.” According to The Hollywood...
Our Bodies, Our Choice: VOD and Web Series Picks
Reproductive rights are under attack across the country. And while women throughout Hollywood are making their own efforts to defend access to safe abortion nationwide, there is still work to be done...
Sally Wainwright’s “Last Tango in Halifax” Will Return in 2020
“Gentleman Jack” is in good company. Just a few days after HBO and BBC renewed the period drama about “first modern lesbian” Anne Lister, there’s news another Sally Wainwright...
Trailer Watch: Ava DuVernay’s “When They See Us” Follows Central Park Five Before & After Conviction
In the latest trailer for “When They See Us,” Ava DuVernay’s Netflix miniseries about the Central Park Five, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and...
British MP Jess Phillips’ Book “Everywoman” Will Be Adapted for TV
Jess Phillips is about to have her “Shrill” moment. The self-described “gobby MP,” who “has a tendency to shout about the stuff I care about,” will have her story told on TV....
Weekly Update for May 24: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING Booksmart – Directed by Olivia Wilde; Written by Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, Katie Silberman, and Emily Halpern “Booksmart” is one of the best movies I...
Mary Laws Is Taking “North American Lake Monsters” to Hulu
Mary Laws is bringing werewolves and fallen angels to Hulu. The streamer just picked up a new genre anthology series from the “Preacher” alumna and “Neon Demon” scribe. A...
Cannes: “Bull” Director Annie Silverstein on Rodeo Culture and the Realities of On-Set Childcare
Interview by Becca Harrison Annie Silverstein won the Cinéfondation jury prize at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival for “Skunk,” a short about a 14-year-old girl whose pit bull is stolen by...
“Gentleman Jack” Renewed for Season 2 at HBO and BBC
The Yorkshire lady of renown, the one who has the fairer sex under her spell, is sticking around. Deadline confirms “Gentleman Jack,” the HBO and BBC period drama about “first...
Series Adaptation of Akwaeke Emezi’s “Freshwater” in the Works at FX, Tamara P. Carter On Board
“Freshwater” may be heading to the small screen. A series inspired by Akwaeke Emezi’s celebrated debut novel is in “early development” at FX, Variety reports. The 2018 book...
Trailer Watch: Laura Linney and Ellen Page Have a Tense Reunion in “Tales of the City”
Living at Barbary Lane is a life-changing experience for its queer residents. A new trailer for Netflix’s “Tales of the City” revival emphasizes how the house in San Francisco is...
Maria Schrader Will Direct Netflix Miniseries Based on Deborah Feldman’s “Unorthodox”
Another woman-centric international series is in the works at Netflix. Production on “Unorthodox,” a miniseries inspired by Deborah Feldman’s best-selling memoir, has kicked off in...
Trailer Watch: A Writer Loses Her Mother and Gains a Double in Patricia Rozema’s “Mouthpiece”
Cass, a woman who has recently and unexpectedly lost her mother, is told “grief can manifest itself in unexpected ways” in a new trailer for Patricia Rozema’s latest....
Cannes: Annabelle Attanasio’s “Mickey and the Bear” Lands at Utopia
Father-daughter story “Mickey and the Bear” has found a home. Utopia acquired worldwide rights to Annabelle Attanasio’s feature debut just after it screened in Cannes’ ACID...
Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah’s “Party Girls” Film Pitch Nabbed by Paramount
Paramount Pictures has snagged “Party Girls,” an original film pitch from”Legally Blonde” screenwriters Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith and Karen McCullah. Deadline confirmed the...
Cannes: Céline Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” Sold to Neon and Hulu
Buzz is growing for Céline Sciamma’s Palme d’Or contender ‘”Portrait of a Lady on Fire.” The pic has been acquired following its well-received world premiere at Cannes. Neon and...
Jokha Alharthi Makes History as the First Arabic Winner of the Man Booker International Prize
Jokha Alharthi is the recipient of this year’s Man Booker International Prize, making her the first Arab writer to collect the honor. BBC confirmed the news. The author already made history as...
Trailer Watch: Aisling Franciosi Is on a Quest for Revenge in Jennifer Kent’s “The Nightingale”
“You know what it’s like to have a white fella take everything you have, don’t ya?” Clare (Aisling Franciosi) asks her traveling companion, Billy (Baykali Ganambarr), in the...
“The Farewell” Writer-Director Lulu Wang to Receive Sundance’s Vanguard Award
Lulu Wang and “The Farewell” are collecting another honor in advance of the film’s release. Wang is set to receive Sundance Institute’s 2019 Vanguard Award, the Los Angeles...
Women Dominate Off-Broadway’s Obie Awards
Last night the American Theatre Wing and The Village Voice celebrated the best of Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway, at the 64th Annual Obie Awards held at Terminal 5 in New York City. The Obies...
Sharon Maguire in Talks to Direct Hailee Steinfeld-Starrer “Voicemails for Isabelle”
Hailee Steinfeld may be teaming up with the director behind one of the most beloved romantic comedies of all time. “Bridget Jones’s Diary” helmer Sharon Maguire is in talks to...
Trailer Watch: Beanie Feldstein & Kaitlyn Dever Have All the Fun in Olivia Wilde’s “Booksmart”
“Tonight is your night,” says Jessica Williams in a new NSFW “Booksmart” trailer. The “Daily Show” alumna is addressing college-bound BFFs Molly (Beanie Feldstein)...