Power 100 List
Today out in Hollywood, The Hollywood Reporter in partnership with Lifetime, hosts its annual breakfast honoring women working in Hollywood. It's the one day of the year where Hollywood stops and recognizes the under appreciated, and underemployed women. I'm sure all the speeches will talk about how great everything is for women and how far women have come in the business - but we all know the real story- it sucks to be a woman in Hollywood, especially on the movie side of the equation.
The breakfast coincides with the release of the Power 100 list.
Here are the top 10:
1. Anne Sweeney, co-chairman, Disney Media Networks; president, Disney-ABC Television Group
2. Amy Pascal, chairman, Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group; co-chairman, Sony Pictures Entertainment
3. Nancy Tellem, president, CBS Paramount Network Television Entertainment Group
4. Stacey Snider, co-chairman and CEO, DreamWorks SKG
5. Judy McGrath, chairman and CEO, MTV Networks
6. Oprah Winfrey, chairman, Harpo Inc.
7. Dana Walden, chairman, 20th Century Fox Television
8. Nina Tassler, president, CBS Entertainment
9. Bonnie Hammer, president, USA Network and Sci Fi Channel
10. Shari Redstone, president, National Amusements; vice chairman, CBS Corp., Viacom and Midway Games
Read the rest of the list: Power 100 List
Katherine Heigl- Movie Star Feminist
Heigl best known as Dr. Izzie Stevens on the ABC hit Grey's Anatomy jumped to the top tier of female film actresses with her role in this past summer's smash hit, Knocked Up. As the cover girl of the January issue of Vanity Fair, she reveals that she thought that Knocked Up was
"a little sexist. It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys. It exaggerated the characters, and I had a hard time with it, on some days. I’m playing such a bitch; why is she being such a killjoy? Why is this how you’re portraying women? Ninety-eight percent of the time it was an amazing experience, but it was hard for me to love the movie.”Her pricetag has gone up from $300,000 for Knocked Up (Judd Apatow- don't you think you should give her a bonus or buy her a house or something since you have made millions off the film?)
Can't wait to read the full piece. The writer of the piece is feminist author Leslie Bennetts.
Early Hollywood Films Tackle Social Issues
The Museum of Modern Art in NY this week is featuring early Hollywood films that focused on social issues. This was the time in Hollywood when women writers and directors were plentiful. Several of the films feature screenplays by Jeane Macpherson who worked regularly with Cecil B. DeMille. Other women featured at MOMA include: Julia Crawford Ivers; Elizabeth Pickett; Helen Holmes.
Have you ever heard of any of these women? Probably not. We need to take back our history.
A four DVD boxset with even more films including a 1916 one by Lois Weber entitled Where Are My Children which was about abortion is now available.
Info on the MOMA screenings: Social Issues in American Film 1900-1934
Buy the box set: Social Issues in American Film 1900-1934
Listen to the Steven Higgins, curator of the film series at MOMA, on the Leonard Lopate Show:
Steven Higgins
News
Sucks to be bought by a multi-national corporation. 65 of Oxygen's employees are losing their jobs in the transition which is 25% of the employees.
DVDs Out This Week
I never heard of this film but it looks quite interesting.
Antonia- Wide-eyed with the collective dream of turning their all-girl rap group into a viable enterprise, four Sao Paulo friends (Negra Li, Cindy Mendes, Leilah Moreno and Jacqueline Simão) embark on an all-or-nothing quest to succeed in a cutthroat industry. Along the way, they sacrifice everything -- including their close friendship -- to overcome preconceived notions about their abilities, as well as the poverty, violence and sexism surrounding them. (Netflix)
Battlestar Galactica: Razor- if you missed it on Sci-Fi over the Thanksgiving weekend, you can now get it on DVD with added scenes and commentaries.
