#Women Writers
Trailer Watch: A Cancer Survivor Needs a New Identity in “Hope Springs Eternal”
Hope Gracin (Mia Rose Frampton, “Tammy”) is used to being known as “The Girl Dying of Cancer.” She’s popular at school, has a loving boyfriend, and her teachers...
Andrea Riseborough Creates Production Company to Support Women in the Industry
Looks like hanging out with Billie Jean King made a mark on Andrea Riseborough. The “Battle of the Sexes” actress is speaking out against sexism in her industry and taking a stand by...
Submit Now: “The Spy Who Dumped Me” Female Storyteller Contest
Attention female filmmakers with “meaningful, heartfelt, and hilarious stories” you want to share with the world: a new contest is inviting you to share your stories about “enduring...
Susanne Bier’s “A Second Chance” Secures Theatrical Release in the U.S.
U.S. audiences are finally getting the chance to see “A Second Chance” in theaters. Susanne Bier’s kidnapping drama debuted at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival and was released in...
Maria Melnik to Adapt Superhero Comic “Faith”
As amazing as it is to see women like Gal Gadot, Scarlett Johansson, and Tessa Thompson lighting up the big screen in superhero pics, the genre is sorely lacking in female characters who can’t...
Trailer Watch: Rose Byrne Falls for Her Boyfriend’s Hero in “Juliet, Naked”
“I may look like a nice English lady in a sensible cardigan, but these days it’s a thin veneer and it’s starting to crack,” says Rose Byrne in a new trailer for “Juliet,...
July 2018 Film Preview
By Beandrea July and Sophie Willard While the summer is often associated with big budget films, like the “Mamma Mia!” sequel (July 20), this July is defying expectations by releasing a...
Shana Feste Writing and Directing Feminist Horror Pic “Run Sweetheart Run”
Shana Feste is making her horror debut. The writer-director will follow up father-daughter dramedy “Boundaries” with “Run Sweetheart Run,” a feminist horror-thriller about a...
Trailer Watch: Emily Mortimer Fights to Keep Her Business Open in “The Bookshop”
Emily Mortimer refuses to kowtow to Patricia Clarkson in a new trailer for “The Bookshop.” “You have to succeed if you give everything you have,” says Florence (Mortimer). And...
Weekly Update for June 29: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING THIS WEEK Woman Walks Ahead – Directed by Susanna White (Also Available on DirecTV) Based on true events, “Woman Walks Ahead” tells the story of...
Three Women-Created YA Pilots in the Works at Amazon
Amazon Studios has given the green light to three YA pilots from women. As Deadline reports, the projects are “Panic” from Lauren Oliver, “The Wilds” from Sarah Streicher,...
Greta Gerwig May Direct “Little Women,” Meryl Streep, Emma Stone, Saoirse Ronan Circling
Greta Gerwig may be following up her new classic “Lady Bird” with an old classic. The Oscar-nominated helmer is eyeing “Little Women” as her next directing job, Variety...
Theater: Maisie Williams Lines Up First Play, Glenda Jackson to Star in “King Lear”
Maisie Williams and Glenda Jackson are both taking to the stage. “Game of Thrones” star and theater newbie Williams will make her drama debut in Lauren Gunderson’s “I And...
Christine Lahti to Play Gloria Steinem in Interactive Off Broadway Show
Christine Lahti is stepping into Gloria Steinem’s shoes, and you just might get a chance to chat with her while she’s in character. The Emmy-winning actress has signed on to star in...
Under the Radar: Motherhood Meets Magical Realism in Brazilian Fairy Tale “Good Manners”
Unsurprisingly for a film infused with magical realism, “Good Manners” was first conceived in a state of sleep: “the original image came from a dream of [co-director Marco Dutra’s]: two women...
Trailer Watch: Barbara Loden Leaves Her Domestic Prison Behind in “Wanda”
“Wanda” is back. The influential 1970 portrait of a housewife experiencing an existential crisis has been newly restored and will return to theaters in a limited run. Written, directed,...
Emma Thompson and Paul Feig Team Up for Christmas Romance
In what sounds like a creative match made in heaven, Emma Thompson and Paul Feig are joining forces. Universal Pictures has acquired a script from the Oscar-winning actress and writer and Feig is...
Trailer Watch: The Lines Between Reality and Art Blur in “Madeline’s Madeline”
“’Madeline’s Madeline’ is about a young woman whose interior life is so big and glorious that it can eat anyone,” writer-director Josephine Decker told us before the...
YouTube Premium Orders Comedy About the Birth of a Female Friendship
A platonic love story is headed to YouTube Premium. Variety reports that the streaming service snagged a half-hour comedy series from AwesomenessTV that charts the birth of a female...
Trailer Watch: An Aspiring DJ Lives in Minsk But Dreams of Chicago in “Crystal Swan”
Twenty-two-year-old Evelina (Alina Nasibullina), also known as Velya, is a law school grad who enjoys living in her native Minsk, Belarus. But, as Velya proudly announces in a trailer for...
Bruna Papandrea Is Bringing Jessica Knoll’s “The Favorite Sister” to TV
Jessica Knoll’s novel “The Favorite Sister” is getting a television adaptation. “Big Littles Lies” producer Bruna Papandrea’s Made Up Stories obtained the rights...
Trailer Watch: Teresa Palmer Unlocks the Magic in Her Blood in “A Discovery of Witches”
“Once the world was full of wonders. But it belongs to humans now,” a 1,500 year-old vampire explains in a new trailer for “A Discovery of Witches.” “We have all but...
Toni Collette, Lisa Cholodenko, and More Join Netflix’s “Unbelievable Story of Rape”
Netflix limited series “An Unbelievable Story of Rape” has lined up a cast and director. The Hollywood Reporter confirms Toni Collette, Merritt Wever, and Kaitlyn Dever will star in the...
Trailer Watch: A Friend’s Murder Spurs Amandla Stenberg to Activism in “The Hate U Give”
Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg) loves her family and her neighborhood, Garden Heights. She goes to predominantly white high school, but is fine with being the non-“ghetto” “Starr,...
Weekly Update for June 22: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING THIS WEEK Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts – Co-Written and Directed by Mouly Surya (Opens in NY; Opens in LA July 6) In the windswept uplands of the Indonesian...
Lifetime Orders Three Movies Based on Jane Green Novels, Kim Raver to Co-Direct the First
Lifetime is partnering up with Jane Green. The author of 17 New York Times best-sellers, Green has been published in over 30 languages around the world. Looking to capitalize on that popularity,...
Laura Dern and Jayme Lemons’ Jaywalker Signs First-Look Deal with Platform One Media
Laura Dern is following in the footsteps of her “Big Little Lies” co-star Nicole Kidman. Dern and Jayme Lemons’ Jaywalker Pictures has signed a first-look deal with Platform One Media,...
Céline Sciamma Will Start Shooting Her Next Film This Fall
Céline Sciamma’s fourth feature is in the works. The French filmmaker will follow up “Girlhood” with “Portrait de la jeune fille en feu,” which roughly translates to...
In Search of Self: Crowdfunding Picks
Almost every woman can relate to the pressure to conform or compromise oneself — the struggle to be heard and seen, valued and understood. Yet so few stories accurately or realistically...
Angie Wang’s “MDMA” Acquired by Shout! Studios
Shout! Studios has snagged North American rights to MDMA, Angie Wang’s semi-autobiographical crime drama. Variety broke the news. Set in 1984, the pic tells the story of a student (Annie Q.,...
Trailer Watch: A Girl Finds Her Crew in Crystal Moselle’s “Skate Kitchen”
“For a while I was feeling really lonely — that loneliness that you have even in a crowded room. But I don’t feel it anymore,” says Camille (newcomer Rachelle Vinberg) in a...
“Sweat” Playwright Lynn Nottage Will Pen Michael Jackson Broadway Musical
Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage is taking on the King of Pop for her next gig. The New York Times confirms the “Sweat” writer will pen the book for a Broadway...
MTV Is Rebooting “Daria”
Daria Morgendorffer will deadpan once more. According to Variety, the iconic ’90s cartoon “Daria” will receive a reboot at MTV’s new production unit, MTV Studios....
Trailer Watch: A Teen’s Love Letters Are Leaked in “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”
Meet Lara Jean, the teen at the center of Susan Johnson’s “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.” When she gets super intense crushes, the high schooler writes letters to the...
“Coroner” Adaptation Coming to CBC, Serinda Swan Will Star
Jenny Cooper is coming to TV, and “Inhumans” alumna Serinda Swan will play her. Deadline reports that Swan will topline CBC’s adaptation of M.R. Hall’s best-selling book series...
WGA East Survey: There Are “Significant Barriers” to Reporting Sexual Harassment
The Writers Guild of America, East (WGA East) has announced the findings from a sexual harassment survey given to its members in January and February — and the results are not encouraging. Per...
Apple Orders Immigrant Anthology Series Co-Created by Emily V. Gordon
Emily V. Gordon has booked another gig. Apple just ordered a timely half-hour anthology series inspired by immigrant stories co-written by “The Big Sick” scribe, Deadline reports....
Trailer Watch: A Peasant Travels Through Time in Alice Rohrwacher’s “Happy as Lazzaro”
A newly released trailer for Alice Rohrwacher’s Cannes winner “Happy as Lazzaro” begins and ends with the titular character’s name being whispered. This odd intro and book-end...
Study Shows Wide Gender Gap Persists on Telefilm Canada’s Big Budget Pics
The good news: Telefilm Canada’s goal of closing its movies’ off-screen gender gap by 2020 has resulted in tangible change. The bad news: the gap is still stubbornly wide on...
Guest Post: When I Stopped Asking for Permission and Started Giving It
Guest Post by Katy-May Hudson It’s mid-2016. I’m an experimental artist writing, performing, and creating new work, mostly with the NY Neo Futurists. We have a normal president in the White House...
Netflix Orders Female-Led Heroin Drama “Hache”
Netflix has another Spanish-language original series on the way, Variety confirms. Created and written by Verónica Fernández, “Hache” is drug thriller based on real events and takes...
Coming Out, Dialing In: June’s VOD and Web Series Picks
Each of our three web series and VOD picks this month includes a scene with two women walking in nature: friends Isobel and Cam hiking and letting out primal screams in the comedic web series...
Sundance Now Snags University-Set Psychological Thriller “Cheat”
Sundance Now has become the U.S. partner for “Cheat,” an upcoming psychological thriller from British network ITV. Deadline reports that the SVOD platform will bring the four-part series...
Trailer Watch: A Teen Avenges Her Mother’s Death in Sundance Winner “Night Comes On”
A trailer has landed for “Night Comes On,” Jordana Spiro’s award-winning feature debut about a 17-year-old on a mission. Recently released from juvenile detention, Angel (Dominique...
Heather Graham to Topline Aisling Chin-Yee’s Family Dramedy “The Rest of Us”
Babe Nation Creation’s first feature has begun filming, Deadline confirms. The female-driven production company is behind “The Rest of Us,” Aisling Chin-Yee’s directorial debut....
Trailer Watch: Kristen Bell and Kelsey Grammer Go on a Cruise in “Like Father”
Kristen Bell takes to the sea with unexpected company in a new trailer for Lauren Miller Rogen’s “Like Father.” She and her fiancé planned to go on a cruise to celebrate their...
Weekly Update for June 15: Women Centric, Directed, and Written Films Playing Near You
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN OPENING THIS WEEK The Year of Spectacular Men – Directed by Lea Thompson; Written by Madelyn Deutch “The Year of Spectacular Men” follows...
Tribeca Winner “Little Woods” Lands Distribution, Tessa Thompson and Lily James Star
Nia DaCosta’s feature directorial debut has secured North American distribution. Neon acquired the rights to the Tribeca winner, The Hollywood Reporter confirms.Tessa Thompson and Lily James...
Pinar Toprak Will Score “Captain Marvel,” Marking a Major Milestone
Pinar Toprak is about to make history alongside Brie Larson and Anna Boden. “Captain Marvel” marks Marvel’s first female-centric release, with Oscar-winning “Room” star...
Hilde Lysiak-Inspired Mystery Gets Series Order at Apple
A real-life Nancy Drew story is coming to Apple. The streamer has given a 10-episode straight-to-series order to a project inspired by Hilde Lysiak, a pre-teen investigative reporter, The Hollywood...
Sally Potter to Be Honored with FIPRESCI 93 Platinum Award
Sally Potter will receive the FIPRESCI 93 Platinum award at the Transatlantyk Festival, ScreenDaily confirms. The Polish fest will also screen five of the British writer-director’s films in its...