#Women Writers
Carey Mulligan Teams Up with Emerald Fennell for “Promising Young Woman”
2019 is shaping up to be a banner year for Emerald Fennell. Best known for her role as Patsy on beloved BBC drama “Call the Midwife,” the multi-hyphenate plays Camilla Parker Bowles in...
Trailer Watch: Olivia Wilde Takes Down Abusers in Sarah Daggar-Nickson’s “A Vigilante”
We can only imagine what Olivia Wilde’s character in “A Vigilante” would do to get her hands on Perry from “Big Little Lies.” A trailer has dropped for Sarah...
Brie Larson Sets “Unicorn Store” and “Lady Business” at Netflix
Brie Larson’s feature directorial debut premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival and went on to screen at the 2018 Edinburgh International Film Festival, but after that the...
Elizabeth Banks Set to Direct and Produce “The Grace Year” for Universal
In news that suggests Elizabeth Banks may be the owner of a time-turner, the prolific multi-hyphenate has added yet another project to her slate. She’s signed on to direct and produce...
Apply Now: “Women Writing Competition” with Year-Long Development Deal
Kyra Sedgwick’s Big Swing Productions is teaming up with SeriesFest to broaden opportunities for women writers with the “Women Writing Competition,” which is seeking new series and...
Hannah Simone, Darlene Hunt, and More Land Pilot Orders
Three female-led comedies from women have received pilot orders in recent days. We’re one step closer to seeing Patricia Heaton-starrer “Carol’s Second Act,” an untitled...
“Jagged Little Pill” Musical Going to Broadway
“Jagged Little Pill” is going to have a whole new life on Broadway. The American Repertory Theater musical, based on Alanis Morissette’s 1995 album of the same name, will be opening...
Chinonye Chukwu to Direct Female-Led Black Panther Drama “A Taste of Power”
Chinonye Chukwu is having a dynamite week. She just premiered her latest film, “Clemency,” at Sundance over the weekend — where it received a standing ovation — and now word...
Apple Snags Global Rights to Minhal Baig’s Feature Debut “Hala”
“Hala” has found a home. Written and directed by Minhal Baig and based on her short of the same name, the coming-of-age story just premiered at Sundance. Apple scooped up worldwide rights...
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Samantha Buck and Marie Schlingmann – “Sister Aimee”
Samantha Buck and Marie Schlingmann are a married writing and directing duo. Their short films “The Mink Catcher” and “Canary” were screened at Telluride, SXSW, Palm Springs Shortsfest, and...
Gurinder Chadha’s “Blinded by the Light” Lands Biggest Deal of Sundance 2019
Gurinder Chadha and The Boss made magic. The British filmmaker’s tribute to Bruce Springsteen, fandom, and following your dreams is poised to secure the biggest deal out of Sundance 2019 so...
Mindy Kaling and Nisha Ganatra Score Record Deal for “Late Night” at Sundance
Mindy Kaling is making a major mark at Sundance 2019. The screenwriter, producer, and star of “Late Night” just landed a record deal for the comedy. Amazon Studios came out of an...
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Sophie Hyde – “Animals”
Sophie Hyde’s debut fiction film “52 Tuesdays” won the directing award in the World Cinema Dramatic section at Sundance and the Crystal Bear at the Berlin International Film...
Weekly Update for January 25: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING Ánimas – Written and Directed by Laura Alvea and Jose F. Ortuño (Available on Netflix) When her best friend Abraham’s father is killed in a mysterious accident, a...
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Minhal Baig – “Hala”
Minhal Baig is a writer and director. In 2017, she was chosen as a directing mentee for Ryan Murphy’s Half Foundation Directing Mentorship. Currently, she is a story editor on Netflix’s...
Sundance Pic “Hala” Adopted the Inclusion Rider
Written and directed by Minhal Baig, “Hala” is a coming-of-age story centering around a 17-year-old girl (Geraldine Viswanathan) raised in a conservative Muslim household. The film is...
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Mirrah Foulkes – “Judy and Punch”
Mirrah Foulkes is an award-winning Australian actor, writer, and director. Foulkes has directed three short films: “Dumpy Goes to the Big Smoke,” “Florence Has Left The...
Trailer Watch: Patricia Clarkson Investigates a Murder, Time, & Space in “Out of Blue”
“Do you know your place in the universe?” A new trailer for “Out of Blue” doesn’t shy away from the big questions. Far from a typical police procedural, Carol...
Joanna Hogg Lands Distribution for “The Souvenir – Part 2” Before “Part 1’s” Sundance Premiere
Another installment of “The Souvenir” is in the works. Ahead of the film’s world premiere at Sundance 2019, A24 has snagged North American rights for its sequel, Deadline confirms....
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe – “Greener Grass”
Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe are an award-winning writing and directing team. DeBoer and Luebbe recently directed two episodes of TruTV’s “Adam Ruins Everything,” and in 2017, they sold a...
Lilly Wachowski to Co-Write & Co-Direct “Work in Progress” Series Starring Abby McEnany
Abby McEnany and Tim Mason’s pilot, “Work in Progress,” won’t be premiering at Sundance until Tuesday but it’s becoming a series — and a big name has already come...
Trailer Watch: Abbi and Ilana Say Goodbye in “Broad City’s” Final Season
The broads are back to say goodbye. A new trailer has landed for the fifth and final season of “Broad City,” and it looks like Abbi (Abbi Jacobson) and Ilana’s (Ilana Glazer) swan...
Quote of the Day: Mindy Kaling & Nisha Ganatra on the Importance of Opening Doors for Others
A timely tale of inclusivity and women trying to make it in a male-dominated field, “Late Night” is among our most anticipated films screening at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Written...
“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...
“Mystic Pizza” Musical in the Works from Melissa Etheridge
Good news, ’80s movie fans and lovers of esoteric “30 Rock” references: a “Mystic Pizza” musical is on the way. According to Deadline, Melissa Etheridge will be writing...
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Nisha Ganatra – “Late Night”
Nisha Ganatra is a director and producer of “Transparent,” which won a Golden Globe for best television series, musical or comedy, and received numerous Emmy nominations. She recently...
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Lulu Wang – “The Farewell”
Lulu Wang is a classical-pianist-turned-filmmaker. Born in Beijing, raised in Miami, and educated in Boston, Wang is a recipient of the 2014 Chaz and Roger Ebert Directing Fellowship, awarded at the...
Exclusive: Women Take the Lead in Trailer for the 2019 Athena Film Festival
“The key to success is to look into the future and visualize what you want to become,” says Geena Davis in an exclusive new trailer for the 2019 Athena Film Festival. The actress and...
Sundance 2019 Women Directors: Meet Martha Stephens – “To the Stars”
Martha Stephens is a writer and director. Her micro-budget feature films “Passenger Pigeons” and “Pilgrim Song” premiered at the SXSW Film Festival. She co-wrote and co-directed “Land...
Oscar Noms 2019: Another All-Male Directing Category
The 2019 Oscar nominations have been announced, and we can still count every woman who has ever been nominated for Best Director on one hand: Lina Wertmüller, Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola, Kathryn...
Sundance 2019 Preview: Films About Late Night Writers, Cliques, Toni Morrison, and More
Sundance 2019 begins this Thursday, January 24, and will be screening plenty of buzzy women-driven and women made films. As always, Women and Hollywood has put together some of the festival...
Trailer Watch: Two Mothers Collide in Laura Bispuri’s “Daughter of Mine”
A 10-year-old girl is torn between two mothers in a newly released trailer for “Daughter of Mine,” Laura Bispuri’s follow-up to her award-winning debut, “Sworn...
Trailer Watch: A Stepmother Crosses the Line in Sundance Pic “Queen of Hearts”
Sundance drama “Queen of Hearts” sees Anne (Trine Dyrholm), a happy lawyer, wife, and mother, upending her life and entering into an affair — with her husband’s troubled son,...
Weekly Update for January 18: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING Adult Life Skills – Written and Directed by Rachel Tunnard (Also Available on VOD) Anna (Jodie Whittaker) is stuck: she’s approaching 30, living like a hermit in her...
Trailer Watch: A Super-Powered Gugu Mbatha-Raw Can’t Save the World in “Fast Color”
Julia Hart’s new film sees Gugu Mbatha-Raw playing a woman with superhuman capabilities without superhuman ambitions. As someone in “Fast Color’s” trailer phrases...
Flipping the Script: Crowdfunding Picks
Creating change in any field requires flipping the script — that is, upending the status quo and redefining expectations. Fortunately, there are countless women who do just that every day,...
Jenji Kohan Will Be Honored with WGA West Laurel Award for TV Writing
“Orange Is the New Black” creator Jenji Kohan will be this year’s recipient of the WGA West’s Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award, Deadline confirms. Given in recognition of a guild member...
Trailer Watch: Pamela Adlon Has a Lot to Stress Over in Season 3 of “Better Things”
Pamela Adlon is on her knees puking in a toilet in a new trailer for “Better Things'” third season, and that’s the least of her problems. “Did you drink too much last night?...
Trailer Watch: Juliette Binoche Is a Mad Scientist in Space in Claire Denis’ “High Life”
“There’s nothing to fear. Everything’s going to be fine,” says Juliette Binoche in a new trailer for “High Life,” Claire Denis’ English-language debut....
Sofia Coppola to Direct Apple and A24’s First Film, “On the Rocks”
Sofia Coppola is set to team up with Bill Murray for a third time. The frequent collaborators are joining forces for “On the Rocks,” Apple and A24’s first film partnership, and...
Book Excerpt: “Writing the TV Drama Series”
The following is excerpted from the 4th edition of Pamela Douglas’ “Writing the TV Drama Series,” which is available now. Recently, a student on the verge of graduating asked me...
Heidi Schreck’s “What the Constitution Means to Me” Heading to Broadway
Is the longest government shutdown in U.S. history getting you down? Well, here’s some encouraging (no, really!) civics-related news for you: Heidi Schreck’s play “What the...
Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Recognizes Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Heidi Thomas, & More
A megahit among critics and the public, spy thriller “Killing Eve” also resonated with the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB). The 2019 Writers Guild Awards were held last night in...
Writer to Watch: Marquita Robinson of “GLOW” and “You’re the Worst”
Think about the zeitgeist-y shows from the past five years or so. Whatever series pop into your head, chances are Marquita Robinson has worked on at least one of them. “Black-ish,”...
Trailer Watch: Tessa Thompson and Lily James Are Desperate and Broke in “Little Woods”
“Everything’s a mess and I’m always the one who has to clean it up,” says Tessa Thompson in the first trailer for “Little Woods.” The well-received Tribeca pic...
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....
Maxine Peake to Topline Crime Drama “Reasonable Doubt”
Maxine Peake has signed on to fight for justice in “Reasonable Doubt,” a crime drama that sees her playing a mother on a mission to get an 800-year-old law revoked. Deadline broke the...
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...