Women and Hollywood

Cannes Watch: Why We Need Films Directed By Women AND Films About Women

Melissa Silverstein — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:07:03 GMT

Cannes is kicking off right now. I've spent the last two days putting together a petition that will be sent to the festival about the lack of female directors in competition. You can...

Cannes Watch: The First Female Saudia Arabian Director Hits Cannes

Melissa Silverstein — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:13:24 GMT

Haifaa Al Mansour may not be able to drive in her country but she seems to have accomplished something no other woman -- or man -- has done in Saudia Arabia -- directing the first feature film shot...

Females Grossly Underrepresented and Misrepresented in Top Grossing Films of 2011

Melissa Silverstein — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:03:12 GMT

New stats are out from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film. This time the research takes a look at the amount of female characters onscreen in the top grossing 100 films of...

Cannes Film Festival Slammed By Feminist Group La Barbe For Excluding Women Directors

Melissa Silverstein — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:00:00 GMT

The French feminist group La Barbe which was started several years ago in response to the sexist media treatment of Segolene Royal in her race against Nicholas Sarkozy, has taken on one of the most...

Julie Delpy and Her Love/Hate Relationship with Hollywood

Melissa Silverstein — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:04:00 GMT

Julie Delpy is no a shrinking violet. She has many awesome opinions about how Hollywood treats women, which could be one of the reasons why, according to her, she has been fired by every agency...

New TV Shows Created by Women for 2012-2013

Melissa Silverstein — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:45:01 GMT

It's that tme of the year again. When your favorite shows get cancelled, and shows that you have no idea why they exist get renewed again for another year. For renewals, one...

Women's Films Opening - May 11, 2012

Melissa Silverstein — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:12:00 GMT

Where Do We Go Now? - written and directed by Nadine Labaki Where Do We Go Now? is about how the women in a Lebanese village come together across religious differences to make peace in their town....

Guest Post: What It Feels Like for a Girl

Andrea Portes — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:00:01 GMT

I really never thought I'd hear a sentence like this in 2012: “I can see making a coming-of-age story about a boy. But when it's a girl... it's just creepy.” And yet,...

Interview with Lisa Robinson and Annie J. Howell - Directors of Small, Beautifully Moving Parts

Melissa Silverstein — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:03:00 GMT

Women and Hollywood: How was it directing a movie together? How did you divide the work? Lisa Robinson and Annie J. Howell: In short, it was a very satisfying experience. We found that two brains...

Repost: Interview with Nadine Labaki - Writer and Director of Where Do We Go Now?

Melissa Silverstein — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:01:01 GMT

Here's the repost of the interview I did with Nadine Labaki in September at the Toronto Film Festival. The film opens in the US today. Women and Hollywood: Congratulations. I read your...

Trailer Watch: Forbidden Voices - Directed by Barbara Miller

Melissa Silverstein — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:16:08 GMT

An incredibly moving story of three women bloggers fighting to keep telling the truth. As First Lady Michelle Obama says: "courage can actually be contagious." This film...

Jessica Chastain Passes on a Part in Iron Man 3

Melissa Silverstein — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:10:01 GMT

When the news surfaced last week that Jessica Chastain was circling a part in Iron Man 3 I was a bit surprised. I just doesn't seem to be her type of film. She does not scream big...

First Feature on Hollywood Legend Mary Pickford to Go Into Production Next Year

Melissa Silverstein — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:00:00 GMT

It's always good news when a woman whose contributions to our culture have receded from contemporary knowledge gets brought back into mainstream culture. Producers Julie Pacino and Jennifer...

Hollywood Feminist Couple of the Day: Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs

Melissa Silverstein — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:11:40 GMT

The singing and acting couple (did you know they met while performing in the original company of Rent?) have started A Broader Way Foundation which created a camp for girls focusing on the creative...

Tribeca Watch: Speaking With Writer/Director Jenny Deller and Producer Kristin Fairweather of Future Weather

Melissa Silverstein — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:36:00 GMT

I didn't get to see many Tribeca Fest films in the theatre this year due to my travel schedule at the beginning of the festival, but I was so glad to be able to catch the film and post screening...

Guest Post: Highlighting New Directing Talent

AFI — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:45:00 GMT

Tonight, AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women will have its 2012 showcase at the DGA. Each year this highly selective program offers eight talented women a tuition-free training program and the...

Chicken & Egg Pictures Call for Entries

Melissa Silverstein — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:15:00 GMT

For all female filmmakers- Chicken & Egg Pictures is looking for talented and amazing women filmmakers. They have only ONE open call in 2012. The deadline is June 29th 2012! ...

Lady Filmmakers at the LA Fest

Melissa Silverstein — Tue, 08 May 2012 13:37:00 GMT

The LA Film Festival runs from June 14-24. Here are the female directed films. Galas Middle of Nowhere, Ava DuVernay Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Lorene Scafaria ...

Funny or Die: Don't You Want Your Dad in Your Vagina?

Melissa Silverstein — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:08:00 GMT

These people at Funny or Die are really doing a great job of keeping this issue in focus and making sure we see how absurd it is. This one stars Kate Beckinsale, Judy Greer, Andrea Savage. ...

The Marginalization of Women's Stories During The Summer Movie Season

Melissa Silverstein — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:00:00 GMT

The summer movie season kicked off this weekend with gusto with the record breaking $200 million opening of The Avengers. I joined the throngs on Friday afternoon for a showing and there...

Hollywood Feminist of the Day: Julia Bluhm

Melissa Silverstein — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:10:00 GMT

Maybe it will take an awesome girl to get people to think differently about how absurd and damaging it is that we live in a world dominated by photoshopped pictures. We never get to see anyone...

Women Director Watch: Debra Granik and Nicole Holofcener

Melissa Silverstein — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:20:00 GMT

Some news on two of the top tier female directors- Nicole Holofcener will be directing Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini in a film for Fox Searchlight according to the Playlist. ...

Another Missed Opportunity - Francis Lawrence Hired to Direct Catching Fire

Melissa Silverstein — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:59:11 GMT

There are not many times where people have enough juice to make change in a lumbering system that is so resistant to it. But the gig of directing Catching Fire, the second film in The Hunger...

Women's Films Opening - May 4, 2012

Melissa Silverstein — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:24:55 GMT

The Perfect Family - directed by Anne Renton, written by Paula Goldberg and Claire V. Reily The Perfect Family written by Paula Goldberg and Claire V. Reily and directed by Anne Renton and...

Interview with Anne Renton - Director of The Perfect Family

Melissa Silverstein — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:33:21 GMT

The Perfect Family written by Paula Goldberg and Claire V. Reily and directed by Anne Renton and produced by Cora Olson and Jen Dubin hits theatres and VOD today. It tells the story of Eileen...