Terry’s Picks: Suffragette, Effie Brown, Jeremy Renner
Go see Suffragette, if you haven’t already. It is well made with really good performances by Carey Mulligan and Helena Bonham Carter and is a part of women’s history that I didn’t know. But what was most eye-opening was the crawl at the end of the film showing in which years that women got the...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Jennifer Lawrence, Writing Room, Women Calling the Shots
Raising Hell: Jennifer Lawrence’s scathing take-down of the Hollywood gender pay gap is just what we need – high profile women who can command serious media attention need to bring this outrageous inequity to light. By the way, she wrote it for Lena Dunham’s new Lenny Letter e-newsletter. You should subscribe – only a few...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Gun Control, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Ashley Judd
Loved it: Watch out for NYWIFT member Abigail Disney’s amazing film The Armor Of Light, which I saw at the Hamptons International Film Festival. It brings the issue of gun control to a whole other level. Congrats, Gina: Gina Prince-Bythewood, one of the mentors from our Writers Lab, will write and executive produce an event...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Sara Bareilles, Male Privilege, Julie Schumacher
Sing it: The Sara Bareilles musical Waitress, based on the 2007 Adrienne Shelly indie film, will open on Broadway April 24th. NYWIFT partners with the Adrienne Shelly Foundation on grants for women filmmakers. It features the gorgeous and heartbreaking song “She Used to Be Mine”– give it a listen! Living proof: Yet another man with zero directing experience is helming a big...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Women Rule the Emmys, The Golden Age…Again, Reed Morano
Go, ladies!: Congratulations to Jill Soloway and Lisa Cholodenko, who won Emmy Awards for directing a Comedy Series and a Limited Series respectively! Despite being grossly outnumbered in nominations, exceptional women are still taking home top trophies. History Lesson: Nell Scovell wrote about another golden age for women in TV – 1990 – in The...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Uzo Aduba, Smart Girls, Wielding Your Media Power
Congrats, Uzo: Uzo Aduba, one of the presenters at this year’s NYWIFT Designing Women Awards, won Best Supporting Actress in a Drama the Emmy Awards this weekend. She thanked all those in her life who, she said, “let me be me.” Thanks, Amy: Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls asked thoughtful, hard-hitting questions on the Emmy’s red...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: A Powerhouse Trio: Nancy Meyers, Meryl Streep, Sienna Miller
A legend: In an interview with Vulture, filmmaker Nancy Meyers talks working moms, the stigma of “chick flicks,” Instagram and working with the greats. Preach, Meryl!: Meryl Streep, who funded the Writers Lab for women over 40, spoke to the LA Times about her new role in Suffragette and her ongoing support for women in...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Equal Rights, Angelina Jolie and Blockbuster Women Directors
#ERAnow: Contact your Congress members and insist they support the Equal Rights Amendment, which would expressly prohibit discrimination against girls and women on the basis of sex. Kudos: Angelina Jolie’s By the Sea will be the first woman-directed film to open AFI Fest in at least a decade. No laughing matter: Directors Catherine Hardwicke, Nicole...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Year of the Woman, CW Showrunners, Flip the Script
Finally: The groundbreaking 1973 documentary Year of the Woman, about the feminist movement, will be available for wide release after a 40-year disappearance. Thank you: At the TCA’s, eight of the CW’s 12 women showrunners discussed their effort to keep gratuitous sexual violence against women off the small screen. Flip the script: Funny or Die...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Indie Women, Revolution, Jill Soloway
Good news: Four of the top five highest grossing indie films of 2015 feature women leads. Even better? Three of them are over the age of 50. Revolution: 2013 NYWIFT Muse Honoree Robin Wright says “we need a female Che Guevara” to fight Hollywood sexism. “We need a revolution.” Important Read: The Moveable Fest printed...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: A Discrimination Primer, New Faces, Freeheld
Discrimination 101: Check out this informative primer on the ACLU investigation into Hollywood’s gender discrimination to learn about the cycle – and how to break it. Kudos: Filmmaker Magazine named its 25 New Faces of Independent Film – and 11 of them are women. #LoveIsLove: Looking forward to the timely film Freeheld, starring Julianne Moore...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Tatiana Maslany, Sci-Fi Women, Hiring Disparity
Congrats: Tatiana Maslany finally earned her first Emmy nomination this year for playing not one but six leading roles on Orphan Black, one of my favorite shows. Food for thought: Teo Bugbee points out in this piece for The Daily Beast that, with the exception of Amy Schumer in Trainwreck, most strong women making waves...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: #LikeAGirl, Facebook Friends, Ghostbusters
You go: Girls break down gender stereotypes – literally – in the latest edition of the #LikeAGirl campaign. Like it: Facebook finally gives the woman in the “Friends” icon equal standing, no longer in the man’s shadow. Who you gonna call? Loving the first look at the all-woman cast for Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters reboot.
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Equal Pay for Women’s Soccer, Michael Eisner, Blythe Danner Delivers
Unacceptable: The U.S. women’s soccer team received $2 million dollars after winning the World Cup for a third time. The men’s team earned $8 million for losing in the first round. Sign this petition and tell FIFA to pay women fairly. Laughable: Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner says that a woman who is beautiful and...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Doc on Industry Bias, Jessica Williams Talks Money, Meryl Streep Writes to Congress
Must-watch: This 26-minute documentary from Bloomberg Business sheds a harsh light on the institutional bias against women in the film industry. Good point: The Daily Show’s Jessica Williams reminds us that while it might be nice to see a woman’s face on a $10 bill, real change is measured by how much money women earn....
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Lauryn Hill Covers Nina Simone, Inside Out, Film Financing Follow Up
Can’t stop listening to Lauryn Hill’s cover of “Feeling Good,” one of many great Nina Simone covers that will be released along with the documentary What Happened, Miss Simone?, which hits Netflix on Friday. Well done: Another great film with a female lead breaks records! Inside Out, a coming-of-age tale that follows five anthropomorphic emotions...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Natalie Portman, Women Rule the Box Office & Bonnie Raitt
Good judgment: Natalie Portman insisted on hiring a woman director for the upcoming Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic. Not bad: This NPR piece points out that we’re only halfway through 2015, and already six of the top 10 box-office hits center on women characters. Something to talk about: Bonnie Raitt is the only woman selected for...
READ MORETERRY’S PICKS: FUN HOME, MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL & SPY LANDS AT THE TOP
Bravo! The Broadway production Fun Home made feminist history this week when Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron became the first all-female writing team to win Best Original Score. Oh, please: 37-year old Maggie Gyllenhaal was turned down for a movie because she’s “too old” to play the love interest of a 55-year-old man. “It made...
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