December 6, 2007

Interview with Tamara Jenkins writer and director of The Savages

Women & Hollywood: What made you write this film?

Tamara Jenkins: Little impulses go into writing. People think there is a light bulb moment. When it comes to writing it is a slow accumulation of obsessions or repetetive thoughts and things that haunt you. I had my own personal experience with two family members with dementia who lived their last days in a nursing home. I also had a simultaneous desire and interest to write about grown up siblings and they merged into this screenplay.

W&H: Did you always intend to direct the screenplay?

TJ: Yes

W&H: What do you want people to walk out of the theatre thinking?

TJ: To feel a sense of connection with the subject matter. Once the film started screening I realized it was a subject lots of people are dealing with but also don't talk about -- it's sort of on the margins of discourse because its so uncomfortable almost taboo. An interesting by product has been that people have started sharing their experiences and that's been amazing. One of the things that is nice when you make a movie is that there is a sense of community, a sense of connection, that you are not alone out there.

W&H: Why did it take you 8 years between films? (her first film was the cult hit- The Slums of Beverly Hills)

TJ: It was a combination of things. My first film was the first time I had ever dealt with the world of commerce. Before that I was in film school and before that I did theatre. I was making art in an isolated way and entering the world of commerce was very strange for me. There was a huge learning curve in terms of holding onto your own intentions and getting enormous input, comments and pressure and negotiating that minefield is complicated and tricky. I personally don't think I am cut out for all this. It's not a natural fit. (Impressive that a director would actually admit this.) I'm older now and I've learned how to deal with it but its still not easy for me.

I made my movie and afterwards got sucked up into other projects that never transpired one of which was a film based on the life of Diane Arbus. I worked with a producer who ended up making a totally different movie with a totally different director on the subject matter. He owned the rights and I was invited to work on it and devoted many years to it. I call that period the Bermuda triangle period. But, in a kind of weird way it prepared me for this. The disappointment was very profound and made me very fierce. When I found my way to this story I was very protective in a way that was inspired by professional disappointment.

W&H: Do you and your fellow female directors ever talk about it being harder for women directors?

TJ: All the women I know bristle that every time we go to a film festival and if you wear a bra you are subjected to a women in film panel. They don't want to be a part of a ghetto or special Olympics. There is no denying if you look at the numbers it's pretty grim. What are we going to say? Yup it sucks- it's still depressing. I wonder if there is a weird post-feminist self loathing that occurs in regards to feminism & film making?

W&H: What advice would you offer a young woman who wants to be a director?

TJ: In a weird way I would tell her to learn how to write because I really think there is power there. Materials and scripts are gold and there is not a lot out there. If you can find your voice as a writer with the intention of making your own thing I think that's important and could create an environment where you could find yourself directing. I feel that writing has saved my life many times in all different ways. I think that personal storytelling is really interesting and hopefully you are interested in being a filmmaker not because they want to straddle a dolly and act macho but because you have something to say.

The Savages is currently in limited release. Here is W&H review:
The Savages

News
The National Board of Review handed out its awards yesterday. Female winner include: Best Actress, Julie Christie for Away from Her; Best Supporting Actress, Amy Ryan for Gone Baby Gone; best original screenplay, a tie between Diablo Cody for Juno and Nancy Oliver for Lars and the Real Girl and Ellen Page won the breakthrough actress award. Body of War co-directed by Ellen Spiro won best documentary. Award ceremony will be in January.

Diablo Cody: From Stripper to Screenwriter (LA Times)

December 5, 2007

Women in Entertainment - Hollywood Reporter/Lifetime Power Breakfast

The Hollywood Reporter publishes an annual issue about the status of women in the entertainment business to coincide with its annual power breakfast. While its great that women are celebrated and acknowledged once a year, what pisses me off is that there is no sense of history.

A USA Today story reports that women at the event were commenting on the lack of potential female Oscar nominees this year.

Last year, I felt there were so many phenomenal women's roles, like Helen Mirren (The Queen) and Penelope Cruz (Volver). That category was just overflowing," offered Grey's Anatomy's Elizabeth Reaser, a Spirit Award nominee for her role in Sweet Land. "I don't know about this year so much. Nothing's coming to mind, and that's just sad.

Strong roles for women in film is cyclical with an up year followed by a couple of down years. Last year was stronger than usual but even in a stronger than usual year, if you follow the prognosticators closely they had the same women on the list precisely because the list is always so short. This year potential nominees include: Julie Christie, Marion Cotillard, Helena Bnham Carter, Laura Linney, Ellen Page, Keira Knightley, Angeline Jolie, and Amy Adams.

There's no denying that this is a down year and it seems to be getting worse. So again I put forward the question- why is it so hard to make movies with female leads?

Here are a couple of my theories:

1- Women do not go to the theatres on opening night in big numbers, and since box office is the only thing that matters, why should a studios make movies that star, or are geared to women if they don't buy tickets on the opening weekend.

2- Movies with women leads are not easily transferable overseas. Films that do best overseas star men, are action films and have little dialogue. Also, Muslim countries won't see movies with women and those markets are growing.

For more theories, you'll have to wait for the book I am writing. (If you are interested in talking to me for my book drop me an email)

In case you're fuzzy last year the nominees were: Penelope Cruz; Judi Dench; Helen Mirren (winner); Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet. The year before the nominees included: Judi Dench, Charlize Theron, Felicity Huffman, Keira Knightley and the winner was Reese Witherspoon.

The USA Today story tries to wrap a nice bow on the piece:

Future female roles may prove more promising. Tilda Swinton revealed that she and the just-attached Jude Law will be taking on a retelling of the Macbeth saga (Come Like Shadows), most likely to be shot this spring in Iceland. And (Jodie) Foster is looking forward to the 2008 release of Nim's Island, a family adventure.

WTF?? Neither one of those interests me and neither one gives me any confidence that future films roles may prove more promising. Really stupid observation.

At the breakfast Sherry Lansing presented Jodie Foster with the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award. They both recalled the days when hardly any women worked in the business. Foster was as self-deprecating as usual denying her power (I'm starting to get tired of it- embrace it - you are the shit!)

For her part, Foster was modest about receiving the leadership award. "I'm not sure why I'm here today," she said. "I'm not powerful. I'm fragile, unsure, and I struggle to get there -- wherever there is. I've been in this business for 42 years; there's no way to do that and not be as nutty as a fruitcake," Foster quipped.

Queen Latifah and John Travolta (who played a woman this year) gave keynote addresses and the event's co-sponsor Lifetime put out a call to the women in the room to work more at the network.

Susanne Daniels, Lifetime's president of entertainment had a good quote:

Seeing how far we've come reminds us that we've got a way to go," she said, noting that there's "a celluloid ceiling," (thank you Martha Lauzen) not a glass ceiling. "The description is apt because it's not easy to see a dent.

Power Breakfast (Hollywood Reporter)

Building on the discussion above there is another interesting piece in the Hollywood Reporter package which takes a look at the lack of strong women in film and the growing strong women on TV.

Why women should be relegated to minor or cliched roles is puzzling, given that women are reaching new levels within society at large. As Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman Amy Pascal points out, "We could soon have a woman president. And wouldn't that be awesome?"

OK, Amy you are one of the only women who can actually make a difference. Step Up! Will Hillary Clinton in the White House help women in film? Hardly, her husband's presidency coincides with the rise of the "chick flick."

Nikki Rocco, president of distribution at Universal is at least honest:

Like it or not, she says, it is the males who go out to the movies on a Friday night, when all too often young females stay in with their friends -- as Rocco says she did when she was younger. Because of that, she says, "we are targeting mostly males and hoping females come along. But the films that open the biggest are, without a doubt, films that are driven by the male audience.

Here is one of the most important points which people are in denial of:

With women in retreat onscreen, it was perhaps inevitable there would be a parallel retreat behind the scenes. And that has been remarkable in an industry where, until just a couple of years ago, one could safely say women were on the rise and indeed appeared poised to share studio leadership on an equal basis with men.

Women are disappearing in front of and behind the scenes.

If this were true throughout Hollywood, one might believe there has been a "backlash" against women in Hollywood, to use the title of an earlier Faludi book. But what complicates this argument is that the very opposite seems to be true in television. If strong women are disappearing from movie screens and are in retreat within the studios, they are doing better than ever in television.

I do believe there is a backlash in film. TV is much more forward thinking than films. They have to deal with advertisers who know that women are customers and viewers. (which film people can't deal with).

Read the full piece. It's one of the best written this year.
Power Shift

Tube Tonight
The American Cinematheque Tribute to Julia Roberts airs. Seems to me she's a bit young for a tribute of this kind. (8pm, AMC)

December 4, 2007

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.

December 3, 2007

Juno- one of my favorite movies of the year
I have not been to a movie recently that immediately when it ended I wanted to see again because I missed too many lines laughing. I was pretty desperate to like this film and I am usually diappointed, but not this time. Make no mistake - this film is one of the best and freshest movies I've seen this year.

The film is about Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) who finds herself pregnant after an afterschool experiment with fellow outcast Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). In a star making performance Ellen Page, best known for a role in X-Men 3, shines as the quirky, smart girl who is caught up in every 16 year old girl's potential nightmare.

I really can't do justice by quoting any of the one-liners here but what makes this film so different is first, that it's about a girl, and second that it doesn't judge her for being pregnant. Yeah, it sucks and she knows it, but the film doesn't send her off to the school for pregnant girls or have her parents go crazy, it has them all deal with the issue. When she tells her father and step mom about the pregnancy her father says "I didn't think your were the kind of girl who would get pregnant" and she responds, "Dad, I don't know what kind of girl I am." Awesome.

Unlike in Knocked Up, the other pregnancy movie which is basically from the sperm's perspective, Juno does actually deal with abortion. As Juno looks at the ads in the phone book she calls the Women Now clinic "to procure a hasty abortion" because they "help women now."

She does back out out of the abortion and she and her best friend Leah decide to find a couple to adopt the baby from ads in the Pennysaver. They sit on a bench drinking huge blue slurpees looking at the pictures in the Pennysaver of couple looking for a baby.

I also loved how her stepmom, played by Allison Janney, goes with her to her sonogram and when the technician judges Juno, Janney just shuts her down and stands up for Juno.

I can't wait to see it again.

Here are a couple of stories about the film. The first on Ellen Page and the second on Diablo Cody. How refreshing to read film stories that feature female players.
Grounded in Indie Angst, Ellen Takes a Mainstream Comic Leap in Juno (LA Times)

The freshness and frankness of Diablo Cody continues to stun me. As a newcomer in Hollywood she quickly realized that women are treated like crap, and she is unafraid to point that out. I think that Juno is totally original she has become a flavor of the month because she is such an anomoly as a female screenwriter, but also for the fact that she used to be a stripper which every single article mentions.

Some quotes from the NY Times profile:

As with her history as a do-me feminist, she makes no apologies for what she said. “I actually think everything is prostitution. We’re kind of constantly bartering with our dignity in life,” she wrote in an e-mail message after the lunch, adding that she always thought it was hilarious when strippers would draw the line at certain activities. “Same goes for people’s ideas, talents, emotions, etc. There’s a price on everything.”

She said she would like to direct at some point, partly because she loathes the way women are portrayed in most contemporary films.

“The attitude toward women in this industry is nauseating,” she said. “There are all sorts of porcine executives who are uncomfortable with a woman doing anything subversive. They want the movie about the beautiful girl who trip and falls, the adorable klutz.”

Off the Stripper Pole and Into the Movies (NY Times)

Visibility Matters
The women over at After Ellen have taken a page out of the Speechless campaign and created their own set of videos reminding the writers and Hollywood in general how few queer women there are on TV.
Visibility Matters

European Film Awards
The 20th annual European Film Awards were handed out this weekend. The abortion drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days won for best picture and Helen Mirren won for The Queen (hasn't she gotten enough awards already for this?)

Other awards given out this weekend International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam include: Tamar Varom's To See If I'm Smiling, about women in the Israeli army, which won both the Silver Wolf competition and the festival's audience award; and Elizabeth Rocha Salgado Senses, Doors of the Soul won the won the Stimuleringsfonds Documentary Award 2007 for her film about obsessions. (Indiewire)

Lifetime Film Winners
Liliana Greenfield-Sanders of New York and Jessica Marie Sutherland of Berea,Ohio, have been named the inaugural winners of the Lifetime Movie Network Student Filmmaker Competition. The pair will be honored Tuesday in Los Angeles at the 2007 Women in Entertainment Power 100 Breakfast,hosted by Lifetime Networks and The Hollywood Reporter. Greenfield-Sanders’ first-place film,“Anna,”will premiere Dec. 11 on Lifetime Movie Network and also will be webcast on Lmn.tv. (Hollywood Reporter)


News
Eva Green plays the witch queen in The Golden Compass opening Friday.
All About Eva (The Guardian)

Olivia Williams had a Hollywood moment a decade ago- remember her in Rushmore? She's much happier on the stage in London.
No Regrets

Oscar winner Jessica Yu has a new film out - The Protagonist.
Jessica Yu's Protagonist Examines Extreme Obsession


Tube Tonight
The Closer offers a two hour episode where Brenda goes to Atlanta for the holidays. Anytime Kyra Sedgwick is on I am psyched. (8pm, TNT)

Saving Grace is back with four new episodes. (10pm, TNT)

November 30, 2007

Hollywood Actresses Paychecks
The Hollywood Reporter holds its annual Women in Entertainment breakfast next Tuesday. In anticipation of that event, they released an annual survey/accounting of how well (or not well) the top women in film are doing. While the money these women make is way more than any of us will ever see, they still don't rank in the same universe with the guys, and women will never get over the hump until they prove they can open movies in Hollywood's ass-backwards economic formula.

Interesting quote:
"But even though actress salaries seem to be bigger than ever, the news this year is not how large the paychecks of Hollywood's hottest female stars have become, it is how low they are prepared to go to fill in their schedules." (Do guys have to lower their salaries as much?)

Top 10 highest paid actresses:
1. Reese Witherspoon -- $15 million-$20 million
2. Angelina Jolie -- $15 million-$20 million
3. Cameron Diaz -- $15+ million
4. Nicole Kidman -- $10 million-$15 million
5. Renee Zellweger -- $10 million-$15 million
6. Sandra Bullock -- $10 million-$15 million
7. Julia Roberts -- $10 million-$15 million
8. Drew Barrymore -- $10 million-$12 million
9. Jodie Foster -- $10 million-$12 million
10. Halle Berry -- $10 million

Also note that the all the actresses are in their 30s to early 40s.

Sliding Scale: Salaries of Hollywood's Leading Ladies (Hollywood Reporter)

Movies This Weekend
It's the week after Thanksgiving and there are few wide releases opening. Those people in NY and LA should check out The Savages and Nina's Heavenly Delights. I liked the Savages, but loved Nina's Heavenly Delights. Very fun and light.

Also opening of interest is The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Julian Schnabel's meditation on Jean-Dominique Bauby, who suffered a catastrophic stroke at the age of 43 and suffered from lock-in syndrome where his brain was fully functional and nothing in his body worked except for one eye. This man was able to dictate a book by blinking out letters for months. An extraordinary film of courage and the power of imagination.

50 Smartest People in Hollywood
EW has thrown out the model of the power list and this year picks the 50 Smartest People in Hollywood. At number 1 is Judd Apatow, the man who makes it acceptable for young men to be schlubs and smoke pot all day, just as long as they get the girl who works to support their pathetic lives. I did find Knocked Up funny at times, but I think this trend of men acting like arrested teenagers in movies is sad and regressive and potentially dangerous.
Here is the criteria for getting on the list: 50 Smartest People in Movies (EW)

Women on the List
6. Meryl Streep, actor
15. Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment
26. Stacey Snider, CEO of DreamWorks SKG
30. Jodie Foster, actor/director
31. Kathleen Kennedy, producer
32. Thelma Schoonmaker, editor
33. Angelina Jolie, actor
38. Diablo Cody, screenwriter
39. Mary Zophres, costume designer
43. Beth Swofford, agent at CAA
45. Cate Blanchett, actor
47. Amy Powell, senior vice president of interactive marketing at Paramount
49. Sarah Polley, actor/writer/director

13 out of 50 - better than most lists from Hollywood. Interesting that Meryl Streep is higher than the most powerful woman in Hollywood, Amy Pascal.

Sundance unveiled the rest of its lineup - films to be screened out of competition.
Movies by and about women include:

"The Guitar" / USA, Director: Amy Redford; Screenwriter: Amos Poe
The life of a woman is transformed after she is diagnosed with a terminal disease, fired from her job and abandoned by her boyfriend. Given two months to live, she throws caution to the wind to pursue her dreams. Cast: Saffron Burrows, Isaach De Bankole, Paz De La Huerta. World Premiere

"Incendiary" / UK, Director and Screenwriter: Sharon Maguire
A spirited young mother juggles grief and love in the aftermath of a dramatic terrorist attack in London. Cast: Michelle Williams, Ewan McGregor, Matthew MacFadyen. World Premiere

"Merry Gentleman / USA, Director: Michael Keaton; Screenwriter: Ron Lazzeretti
After fleeing an abusive marriage, a young woman sets off to start a new life. When she finds herself an unwitting witness to a murder she stumbles into a curious friendship with a depressed hit man. Cast: Kelly Macdonald, Michael Keaton. World Premiere

"A Raisin in the Sun" / USA, Director: Kenny Leon; Screenwriter: Paris Qualles
After moving to Chicago's South Side in the 1950s, a black family struggles to deal with poverty, racism, and inner conflict as they strive for a better life. Adapted for the screen from Lorraine Hansberry's play, this is a moving portrait of dreams deferred. Cast: Sean Combs, Phylicia Rashad, Audra McDonald, Sean Patrick Thomas. World Premiere

"Savage Grace" / USA, Director: Tom Kalin, Screenwriter: Howard A. Rodman
The true story of the beautiful and charismatic Barbara Daly, who married above her class to Brooks Baekeland, heir to the Bakelite plastics fortune. Their only child is a failure in his father's eyes, and as he matures and becomes increasingly close to his lonely mother, the seeds for tragedy are sown. Cast: Julianne Moore, Stephen Dillane, Eddie Redmayne. U.S. Premiere

"Towelhead" (FKA "Nothing is Private") / USA, Director and Screenwriter: Alan Ball
The life of a 13-year-old Arab-American girl is illuminated as she navigates her way through the confusing and frightening path of adolescence and sexual awakening. Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Toni Collette, Summer Bishil. U.S. Premiere

"U2 3D" / USA, Directors: Catherine Owens, Mark Pellington
A 3-D presentation of U2's global "Vertigo" tour. Shot at seven different shows, this production employs the greatest number of 3-D cameras ever used for a single project. World Premiere (Editor's Note: A shorter version of "U2 3D" screened as a work-in-progress at the Cannes Film Festival in May.)

"Kicking It" / USA, Director and Screenwriter: Susan Koch
The lives of homeless people are changed forever through an international soccer competition. This film follows six players as they set off for Cape Town, South Africa to play in the Homeless World Cup. World Premiere

"Birds of America" / USA, Director: Craig Lucas; Screenwriter: Elyse Friedman
Three siblings couldn't be more different, or more neurotic. But when they find themselves converging at the family manse, they become surprisingly indispensable to one another. Cast: Matthew Perry, Ginnifer Goodwin, Ben Foster. World Premiere

"Half-Life" / USA, Director and Screenwriter: Jennifer Phang
As troubling signs of global cataclysms accelerate, a brother and sister react to their father's desertion and the powerful presence of their mother's new boyfriend. World Premiere

"Reversion" / USA, Director and Screenwriter: Mia Trachinger
In a world in which the past, present and future simultaneously unfold, a woman whose genetic mutation leaves her devoid of morality struggles to preserve her romance with the man she loves. World Premiere

"The Broken" / USA, Director and Screenwriter: Sean Ellis
On a busy London street a woman sees herself driving by in her own car. Stunned, she trails the mystery woman as events take an eerie turn into a living nightmare. Cast: Lena Heady, Richard Jenkins, Asier Newman. World Premiere

News
The case against using the Jane Austen paradigm for all female characters.
Jane Austen Must Die! (Sirens Magazine via Alternet)

The catfight bitchslap of Cashmere Mafia versus Lipstick Jungle will begin in earnest next year. (If they don't get this writers strike settled it will get way too much press cause there will be no new episodes of other shows around) Brooke Shields in doing press for the show says that women should not apologize for being successful and wanted it all. Do we really need Brooke Shields to remind us?
Shields says new show will remind women they need not apologize for their success (AP via Macleans)

Keira Knightley opens next week in Atonement
Keira Knightley shines in Atonement (AP via Yahoo)

A lot of pressure is on Dakota Blue Richards who toplines the $180 million The Golden Compass opening next week.
Dakota Blue Richards: The 13-year-old poised to conquer the world (The Telegraph)

Desperately Seeking Susan to shut (BBC)

Tube Tonight
Hidden Plague - Ashley Judd is very smart about using her celebrity for good. In this special she examine HIV/AIDS epidemic in India. (10pm, National Geographic)

Sunday
Tin Man- a six hour mini series spins a new take on the Wizard of Oz starring Zooey Deschanel

November 29, 2007

In Praise of Cold Case
I know I've said this before but its worthy of a repeat -- Cold Case, the CBS detective drama (Sunday, 9pm) is turning out to be the most feminist show on TV.

The episode this past weekend took place in 1982 and was about a serial date rapist; before the term date rape existed when women were dismissed by their family, friends and the police as having asked for it.

This episode was handled so well that after it was over I thought to myself that I bet a woman wrote and directed it. I was right. Episode was written by Executive Producer Veena Sud and directed by the highly esteemed film director Agnieszka Holland (Copying Beethoven, Europa, Europa). (Women film directors are becoming regular TV directors since there are so few opportunities in film for them- that's another story)

I decided to check out the other senior staff (thanks to tivo) and was shocked and delighted to discover that of the 9 people listed under producer, consulting producer, co-exec producer and exex producer (in TV terms that means the writing team) 7 of them are women. Yes yo read it right -- 7 out of 9 writers/producers are women. I have never seen that before. We need to support this show with all our might. And it's not just because they are women, it's because they write women so well.

Put This on the List
Just got some info on a film opening next March- Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day starring Frances McDormand and Amy Adams. Set in 1939 London, McDormand plays a fired governess who finds herself befriended by an American actress and singer played by Adams.

The Sundance Film Festival unveiled its lineup yesterday.
Fest will host 51 first time filmmakers. Women in the lineup include:

Documentary Competition:
"An American Soldier," Director and Screenwriter: Edet Belzberg
Uncle Sam wants you! A compelling exploration of army recruitment in the United States told through the story of Louisiana Sergeant, First Class Clay Usie, one of the most successful recruiters in the history of the U.S. Army. World Premiere

"American Teen," Director and Screenwriter: Nanette Burstein
This irreverent cinema verite chronicles four seniors at an Indiana high school and yields a surprising snapshot of Midwestern life. World Premiere

"Flow: For Love of Water," Director: Irena Salina
Water is the very essence of life, sustaining every being on the planet. FLOW confronts the disturbing reality that our crucial resource is dwindling and greed just may be the cause. World Premiere

"The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo," Director and Screenwriter: Lisa F. Jackson
Jackson travels to remote villages in the war zones of the Congo to meet rape survivors, providing a piercing, intimate look into the struggle of their lives. World Premiere

"Nerakhoon (The Betrayal)," Director: Ellen Kuras; Co-Director: Thavisouk Phrasavath; Screenwriters: Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath
The epic story of a family forced to emigrate from Laos after the chaos of the secret air war waged by the U.S. during the Vietnam War. Kuras has spent the last 23 years chronicling the family's extraordinary journey in this deeply personal, poetic, and emotional film. World Premiere

"The Order of Myths," Director: Margaret Brown
In 2007 Mobile, Alabama, Mardi Gras is celebrated...and complicated. Following a cast of characters, parades, and parties across an enduring color line, we see that beneath the surface of pageantry lies something else altogether. World Premiere

"Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired," Director: Marina Zenovich; Screenwriters: Marina Zenovich, Joe Bini, P.G. Morgan
This film examines the public scandal and private tragedy which led to legendary director Roman Polanski's sudden flight from the United States. World Premiere

"Slingshot Hip Hop," Director: Jackie Reem Salloum
The voice of a new generation rocks and rhymes as Palestinian rappers form alternative voices of resistance within the Israeli-Palestinian struggle. World Premiere

"Traces of the Trade: A Story From The Deep North," Director: Katrina Browne; Co-Directors: Alla Kovgan, Jude Ray; Screenwriters: Katrina Browne, Alla Kovgan
History finally gets rewritten as descendants of the largest slave-trading family in early America face their past, and present, as they explore their violent heritage across oceans and continents. World Premiere

"Trouble the Water," Directors: Tia Lessin, Carl Deal
An aspiring rap artist and her streetwise husband, armed with a video camera, show what survival is all about when they are trapped in New Orleans by deadly floodwaters, and seize a chance for a new beginning. World Premiere

Dramatic Competition:
"Downloading Nancy," Director: Johan Renck; Screenwriters: Pamela Cuming, Lee Ross
The tale of an unhappy wife whose online search for someone to put her out of her misery results in a torturous love affair. Cast: Maria Bello, Jason Patric, Rufus Sewell, Amy Brenneman. World Premiere

"Frozen River," Director and Screenwriter: Courtney Hunt
Set in rural upstate New York on a Mohawk Reservation bordering Canada, a mother left to care for her teenage son finds herself lured into the world of illegal immigrant smuggling. Cast: Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Charlie McDermott, Michael O'Keefe, Mark Boone, Jr. World Premiere

"Good Dick," Director and Screenwriter: Marianna Palka
The tale of a lonely girl drawn from her isolated life and solitary apartment by a doting young video store clerk who strives to capture her affections. Cast: Jason Ritter, Marianna Palka, Tom Arnold, Mark Webber, Martin Starr, Eric Edelstein. World Premiere

"Phoebe in Wonderland," Director and Screenwriter: Daniel Barnz
Confounded by her clashes with the seemingly rule-obsessed world, a little girl takes her already dysfunctional family down the rabbit hole when she seeks enlightenment from her unconventional drama teacher. Cast: Elle Fanning, Felicity Huffman, Patricia Clarkson, Bill Pullman, Campbell Scott, Peter Gerety. World Premiere

"Sugar," Directors and Screenwriters: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who last teamed up for "Half Nelson," chronicle the journey of Dominican baseball star Miguel "Sugar" Santos recruited from his native country to play in the U.S. minor leagues. Cast: Algenis Perez Soto. World Premiere

"Sunshine Cleaning," Director Christine Jeffs; Screenwriter: Megan Holley
Struck by financial hardship, an ambitious mother and her unmotivated sister become entrepreneurs in the field of biohazard removal and crime scene clean-up. Cast: Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Steve Zahn, Alan Arkin. World Premiere

World Cinema Documentary Competition:
"Alone in Four Walls (Allein In Vier Wanden) / Germany, Director: Alexandra Westmeier
Adolescent boys struggle to grow up in a home for delinquents in rural Russia where life behind bars may be better than the release to freedom. North American Premiere

"The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins" / New Zealand, Director and Screenwriter: Pietra Brettkelly
Vanessa Beecroft is obsessively determined to adopt Sudanese twin orphans. Her consuming passion drives her marriage to a breaking point and fuels her controversial art, raising troubling questions about exploitation, culture clash, and the imposition of the West on Africa. World Premiere

"Dinner With The President" / Pakistan, Directors and Screenwriters: Sabiha Sumar and Sachithanandam Sathananthan
From on-the-street interviews to audiences with religious leaders to dinner with the President of Pakistan, the film takes the temperature of a culture on issues from politics to women's rights. U.S. Premiere

"pUUJEE" / Japan, Director and Screenwriter: Kazuya Yamada
Against the backdrop of a magnificent but harsh natural landscape, a Japanese photojournalist encounters Puujee, a young girl who tames wild horses on the Mongolian plains.

"The Women of Brukman" (Les Femmes de la Baukma) / Canada, Director and Screenwriter: Isaac Isitan
Amidst Argentina's financial collapse, workers take over a Buenos Aires men's clothing factory and continue producing clothing on a self-management model. As the formerly poor become business managers, their lives are changed forever. U.S. Premiere

World Cinema Dramatic Competition are:
"Megane" (Glasses)/ Japan, Director and Screenwriter: Naoko Ogigami
Taeko's southern vacation becomes a life-changing experience when she discovers a unique beach community unified by surprising and perhaps odd traditions in this comedic film. Cast: Satomi Kobayashi, Mikako Ichikawa, Ryo Kase, Ken Mitsuishi, Masako Motai. North American Premiere

"Mermaid" (Rusalka) / Russia, Director and Screenwriter: Anna Melikyan
The fanciful tale of an introverted little girl who grows up believing she has the power to make wishes come true. She must reconcile this belief with reality when, as a young woman, she journeys to Moscow and grapples with love, modernity and materialism. Cast: Masha Shalaeva, Evgeniy Ciganov, Maria Sokolova, Nastya Doncova. International Premiere

"Riprendimi" (Good Morning Heartache) / Italy, Director: Anna Negri; Screenwriters: Anna Negri, Giovanna Mori
A modern young couple with a new baby are forced to deal with the almost comedic pain of breaking up while being the subject of a documentary that quickly crosses professional lines into their private lives. Cast: Alba Rohrwacher, Marco Foschi, Valentina Lodovini, Stefano Fresi, Alessandro Averone. World Premiere

"Strangers" / Israel, Directors and Screenwriters: Erez Tadmor, Guy Nattiv
An Israeli man and a Palestinian woman meet serendipitously during the carefree atmosphere of the World Cup finals in Germany, drawing them out of the stark reality of their lives and into a passionate affair. Cast: Liron Levo, Lubna Azabal, Dominique Lollia, Patrick Albenque, Abdallah el Akal, Roger Dumas. International Premiere

News
Interview with Laura Linney
Anything but Typical (LA Times)

Can Enchanted beat the dreaded post Thanksgiving drop off? Disney is working to make sure this doesn't happen. Some quotes from how they sold the film upon its release:

"Disney worried that focusing on the fairy-tale romance between Giselle (Amy Adams) and Robert (Patrick Dempsey) would scare off male moviegoers, leaving "Enchanted" with an audience that skewed as heavily female as "Hairspray's." Early trailers and Internet promotions also steered clear of the film's musical numbers. Instead, the marketing focused on the film's Disney pedigree, its characters and physical comedy." (They really did not advertise that it was basically a musical with songs done by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz and it looked like it was ready to open on Broadway next week.)

"Once moviegoers started to see the movie, men and boys apparently didn't mind the music and romance; the opening weekend audience was 60% female and 40% male, the studio says. "It wasn't just moms and daughters coming to the movie -- it was the whole family," Lima says." (It's not rocket science, produce a film that is good, and women as well as men will come. People have much more free time over the long Thanksgiving weekend, the pressure of having to see a film on a Friday or Saturday night is just not realistic for most people, especially women.)

And how they will try and keep it going:

"And, for the time being, Disney will promote the movie it has, not the movie it feared. "It's first and foremost a romantic comedy," Lima says. "And we shouldn't be afraid of that." DUH

Disney Angles for Another Enchanted Weekend (LA Times)

November 28, 2007

Movie of the Week- The Savages- written and directed by Tamara Jenkins
Writer-director Tamara Jenkins used her own family drama as inspiration for her second biting film, The Savages.

The stellar cast toplines Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman as estranged siblings forced to come together to deal with the downward descent of their father into dementia.

Just like Margot at the Wedding these characters are incredibly flawed, not very likable, but they are real. Not a pretty movie both aesthetically (I have never seen Laura Linney look so bad) and topically, the film deals with a reality many people in our culture now face; what to do with an aging parent who becomes too incapacitated to deal with him or herself.

Neither of the Savage (family name is quite appropriate) siblings is really emotionally able to handle this type of adult decision especially because they were never parented properly and have been estranged from both their parents for decades.

But they handle it the best way they know how and it brings a reconciliation between the siblings. They had one of those cordial but distant relationships with the added layer of competitiveness and narcissism. Dealing with their father is humbling and forces these two together which helps each of them get over themselves.

Jenkins' humor is raw and at times humiliating just like her first cult feature, The Slums of Beverly Hills. In fact it was her humorous take that got her the deal for this film from producer Ted Hope who had signed her "to write whatever she wanted to write, provided it had some humor to it."

Here are some of Jenkins' comments on her characters: "They're terribly human and incredibly flawed and completely screwed up and I adore them for it. They're these two mismatched, damaged people who are both in a kind of arrested development. Even though they're in middle age, they really aren't finished people yet, and that makes them very interesting."

Film will have legs through the awards season and opens today in NY at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and Angelika; and in LA at Pacific Arclight and The Landmark
For further release information: The Savages

Awards Watch
The awards season has kicked off! Women & Hollywood will continue to highlight the women getting nominating and winning throughout the season.

Independent Spirit Award nominations which will be handed out the day before the Oscars were announced yesterday. (To qualify for the Spirits the film budget needs to be under 20 million)

Women nominated include:
Best Feature: "Juno" and "A Mighty Heart"
Best First Feature- "2 Days in Paris"- Julie Delpy
Best Director: Tamara Jenkins- "The Savages"
Best Screenplay: Tamara Jenkins- "The Savages"; Adrienne Shelly, "Waitress"; Mike White, "Year of the Dog" (film is about a woman)
Best First Screenplay: Zoe Cassavetes, "Broken English" and Diablo Cody, "Juno"
Best Female Lead: Angelina Jolie, "A Mighty Heart"; Sienna Miller, "Interview"; Ellen Page, "Juno"; Parker Posey, "Broken English"; Tang Wei, "Lust, Caution"
Best Supporting Female: Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"; Anna Kendrick, "Rocket Science"; Jennifer Jason Leigh, "Margot at the Wedding"; Tamara Podemski, "Four Sheets to the Wind"; Marisa Tomei, "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"
Best Documentary: "Lake of Fire," Director: Tony Kaye (about abortion); "Manufactured Landscapes," Director: Jennifer Baichwal
Best Foreign Film: "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," Director: Cristian Mungiu (Romania) (about abortion); "Lady Chatterley," Director: Pascale Ferran (France); "Persepolis," Directors: Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi (France)
Producers Award: Anne Clements, producer of Ping Pong Playa and Quinceañera; Alexis Ferris, producer of Cthulhu and Police Beat

Gotham Awards were handed out last night in NYC
Breakthrough Award- Ellen Page for playing the pregnant teen in Juno (can't wait to see this later today). She said: "I'm so proud that there is a teenage character like her going out into the world."
Tribute award: Mira Nair

News
Barbra Streisand gets into the presidential race with an endorsement of Hillary Clinton. I think its a given that Oprah's endorsement of Obama might have a more far reaching effect. But one can always hope.
Streisand Endorses Hillary Clinton (AP via USA Today)

Even though Amy Adams has been working for years, she's become a star at 33. While that's not too old, it's also not 19. She's got a slew of films coming up including Charlie Wilson's War.
Uber Focus Propels Amy Adams (AP via Miami Herald)

November 27, 2007

Being a Sexist in Hollywood = Promotion
Jeff Robinov who you might remember from a month ago as the man who said he would no longer be making movies starring women, has now been given a huge promotion to be president of the newly restructured Warner Brother Picture Group. He will be in charge of film production, marketing, distribution as well as WB's Indie label - Warner Independent. COO, Alan Horn still retains greenlighting rights, but other than that the kingdon is now Robinov's.
Read the earlier story: Do Women Matter to Hollywood?

__________
The sharks are out already for The Golden Compass and in turn Nicole Kidman. The Guardian loved it- comparing Kidman's villaness Mrs. Coulter to Darth Vader. Can't wait to see it.
The Golden Compass (The Guardian)

Yesterday, Kidman also launched a new campaign against domestic violence with UNIFEM.
Kidman Launches U.N. Campaign (Reuters)


News
Documentaries seem to run in the Maysles Family. Celia Maysles debuted her documentary on her family at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
Daughter's Personal Search for Her Father (indieWIRE)

EW has named J.K. Rowling its Entertainer of the Year
Entertainer of the Year (EW)


DVDs This Week
Waitress- directed by Adrienne Shelly
"Written by director and co-star Adrienne Shelly (who was murdered shortly before the film's selection for the Sundance Film Festival), Waitress is a frank and funny examination of the fears brought on by impending motherhood. Keri Russell plays Jenna, a waitress whose fabulous pies are about the only sweet ingredient in an otherwise dreary existence. An unwanted pregnancy, however, brings unexpected romance in this film co-starring Cheryl Hines." (Netflix)
Check out W&H interview about the Adrienne Shelly Foundation:
Remembering Adrienne Shelly and Supporting Women Directors

The Namesake- directed by Mira Nair
"While he respects his immigrant parents (Irfan Khan and Tabu) and their decision to rear him in his United States birthplace, Gogol Ganguli (Kal Penn) is torn between Indian traditions and the modern Bostonian lifestyle. Jacinda Barrett and Zuleikha Robinson also star in director Mira Nair's thought-provoking coming-of-age drama, which explores first-generation Americans' delicate dance between culture and identity." (Netflix)


Tube Tonight
Sisters in Law- 10pm, PBS
"In the little town of Kumba, Cameroon, there have been no convictions in spousal abuse cases for 17 years. But two women determined to change their community are making progress that could change their country. This fascinating, often hilarious doc follows the work of State Prosecutor Vera Ngassa and Court President Beatrice Ntuba as they help women fight often-difficult cases of abuse, despite pressures from family and their community to remain silent. Six-year-old Manka is covered in scars and has run away from an abusive aunt, Amina is seeking a divorce to put an end to brutal beatings by her husband, the pre-teen Sonita has daringly accused her neighbor of rape."
Sisters in Law

November 26, 2007

Enchanted won the box office race this weekend. Box office take for the Amy Adams starrer was about $50 million making it one of the best Thanksgiving weekends ever. I was able to see the film this weekend. Thought it was cute. There were a couple of very funny lines. Interestingly, the guy in my group actually liked it better than the women did. Women thought it was too sappy. At the theatre I attended in upstate NY, the audience was varied; girls as well as adult couples. Film was able to crossover into all hit quadrants. This film clearly has legs.

The African-American targeted This Christmas shocked the Hollywood box office prognosticators by raking in $27 million over the five day weekend. These box office predictors must have their heads under a rock. Why is it always shocking that movies targeted at a particular film-going audience does well? More than 22 year old white boys go to the movies. This Christmas was made for $13 million so it is already hugely profitable.
___________
Women Makes Movies (organization that supports women making independent films and videos) announces 12 new films chosen for its fiscal sponsorship program:

Akaken the Dragon - How the ancient Chinese sport of dragon boating is transforming the lives of a group of individuals searching for life after cancer. Dir. Liz Oakley

Changing My Mind About Palestine - An American woman takes a rollercoaster road trip through the West Bank that challenges her internalized stereotypes and perceptions of the Israeli-Palestine conflict. Dir. Nora Malone

I Was Raped - Highlights the prevalence of rape in our culture and breaks the silence that surrounds it. Dir. Jennifer Baumgardner

I Wish I Was A Mango Tree - A powerful saga shared by millions of immigrants torn from their families by grinding poverty and a search for work. Dir. Irene Rial Bou

Semper Fi: Always Faithful - The troubling story of a massive water contamination at Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base, in which toxic water flowed for thirty years and exposed thousands of Marines to high levels of carcinogens. Dir. Rachel Libert

Someone Else's War - Three Filipino workers travel thousands of miles from home to work for the US military in Iraq. Dir. Lee Wang

South Africa's Women Judges - The personal struggles of six South African women judges, born and raised during apartheid, mirrors the larger struggle to establish a human rights-based constitutional democracy in that country. Exec. Prod. Ruth B. Cowan, Dir. Jane Thandi Lipman

Strong! - U.S. Olympic weightlifter Cheryl Haworth works to become the strongest woman in the world. Dir. Julie Wyman

The Girls Of Rajasthan follows several students through an experimental school for girls who have had no education. Dir. Jennifer Dworkin

Watching - Profile of Eileen Clancy, founder of I-Witness video, a grassroots organization that networks and trains media activist in counter-surveillance tactics. Dir. Elizabeth Press

When Clouds Clear - A reflection of the history and culture of one small town that could vanish before it is even put on the map due to a corporate power structure that wishes to strip the land away from the local people. Dir. Anne Slick and Danielle Bernstein

U People upholds the vision that camaraderie and sisterhood is vibrant and sustaining, though not always easy among straight and gay and gender nonconformists in the African Diaspora. Dir. Hanifah Walidah

Learn More: Women Make Movies
________________
Attention all female filmmakers who needs funds to finish their films. Women in Film Foundation is seeking applicants for their film finishing fund.
More details:
Women in Film Finishing Fund

________________
SAG in support of the writers strike with a series of on-line videos: Speechless hosted exclusively on Nikki Finke's site Deadline Hollywood. make sure to scroll down. Also the NYTimes writes today about Finke and her importance in the writer's strike.
Alternative Journalist’s Web Site Is Scrutinized for Writers’ Strike News

News
Article on Natalie Portman
More Than Meet the Eye (The Guardian)

Most of the articles on the new regime at UA seem to focus on the Tom Cruise side of the partnership. Here is a piece from an Australian paper no less that focuses on Tom's better half, Paula Wagner.

Some interesting quotes:

She says that she refuses to think of herself as a woman in a man's world, but instead tries to capitalise on her "female qualities". "Females are traditionally more verbal, more articulate, more communicative, more empathetic, more concerned about people's feelings, more collegiate in a way, so I think that makes for great managerial qualities. Women also can be remarkably tough.

Of course times have changed. When I went to CAA in the talent department, I was one of three women there. Even in the early 1980s it was unusual, a female agent was an anomaly. And I will be honest, in my very lengthy career, I felt earlier on that I had to work really hard - that may just be my nature, but sometimes I felt I'm going to work harder, I'm going to run faster.

Hollywood's Leading Lady (The Age)

Q&A with Lili Taylor (Nerve)

November 21, 2007

Taking a couple of days off for Thanksgiving but want to leave you with some tidbits for your holiday weekend. See you next week.

Films for the Holiday Weekend
August Rush
In a depressing fall dominated by Iraq war movies that have underperformed at the box office, August Rush is a much lighter family drama/tearjerker that feels like a breath of fresh air. Story centers around a young orphan (Freddie Highmore- this kid is really good) who will not give up hope that his parents are coming for him. Turns out he is a musical genius (as are both his parents played by Keri Russell and Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and he believes if he could just make the music loud enough his parents will know it is him and come find him. Since this is a Hollywood film, you can probably guess the ending.

On his travels he meets a dedicated social worker (Terence Howard) who takes a liking to him, and is taken in by Wizard a Fagin like figure played by Robin Williams. He is den dad to a group of homeless kids and keeps them safe but makes them work for him. He borderlines on creepy but the film thankfully never goes there

How August Rush (the name given to him by Wizard) ends up as an orphan is tragic. Russell (a brilliant cellist) gets pregnant after a night with Meyers (singer in a rock band) and her overprotective father makes sure they never see each other again. When Russell is in an accident close to her due date her father tells her the baby died and sends him off to an orphanage.

Russell's Lyla is devastated by the loss and gives up her music as does Rhys Meyers' Louis. Lyla and Louis both rediscover their music on the way to discovering their child. As you can probably tell music is a crucial element in the film and the climax concert in Central Park is very well done and quite moving. Tears were flowing all through the audience.

Film is skillfully directed by Kirsten Sheridan daughter of Jim Sheridan who was nominated for a writing Oscar for In America. Film opens wide in over 2300 theatres today.

Other films this weekend
The weekend juggernaut will be Disney's Enchanted (which I have not yet seen). It's going to be big. Opens in over 3700 theatres. Very excited to see Amy Adams and Dr. McDreamy back on the big screen in a romantic role. And those of you in LA take yourself to see Nina's Heavenly Delights. We interviewed director Pratibha Parmar earlier this week.
________
The writers and the studios are supposedly going back to negotiations next week. I read that the studios are starting to get pissed off that regular folks like us are calling their offices demanding that they settle the strike so that the TV season can be salvaged. Link below lists all the relevant phone numbers for you to make a harassing call to your most hated studio exec.
Bring Back TV!


TV this weekend
Thursday
Out of Africa- Robert Redford and Meryl Streep in Africa. What more do you need? (7:15am, MAX)

Saturday
Battlestar Galactica: Razor- for those of you who are not experienced in the updated Battlestar, this show is all about women in leadership roles. It's what I call a post-gender sci-fi show. This self contained film stars Michelle Forbes as the commander of the Pegasus on the eve on the Cylon attack against the colonies. (Sci-Fi, 9pm)

November 20, 2007

Watched Sunday Night's episode of Cold Case and if you don't have this show on your weekly watch list, you should. (Just keep in mind if you TIVO it, the show sometimes starts late because of football so I add an extra hour just to be sure.)

The episode entitled Boy Crazy was written by Joanna Lovinger and directed by Holly Dale. From what I can tell from the credits, Cold Case (detectives try to solve cold cases) is a really woman friendly show created by Meredith Stiehm. The lead is Detective Lily Rush (played by Kathryn Morris) and is the most woman centric show in the Jerry Bruckheimer TV slate, and on CBS which seems to be the station dedicated to showing as many dismembered women it can get away with each week.

The show was about trying to solve the murder of a young woman from 1963 who "dressed like a boy." There were many issues raised like gender identity disorder and roles assigned to women, and how it sucks not to fit in the world around you. Don't want to give it away, but I thought it was handled very well. Check you listings because sometimes the show reruns the next Saturday. Kudos the the whole team.

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The Academy released the list of the 15 films shortlisted for the documentary Oscar. As usual, women are prominent in this category. Female nominees include:
Ellen Spiro (co-director Phil Donahaue): Body of War
Bonni Cohen (co-director Richard Berge): The Rape of Europa
Andrea Nix Fine (co-director Sean Fine): War/Dance
Tricia Regan: Autism: The Musical

Final five nominees will be announced on Jan 22 with all the rest of the Oscar nominations.

Filmmaker Alert
"The Tribeca Film Institute and fashion designer Gucci announced the joint launch of the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund. The fund will offer finishing funds and post production guidance to independent filmmakers in need of finances to complete documentaries that promote social change and illuminate issues in need of comprehensive coverage currently missing from mainstream media. " (Indiewire)

News
Julie Christie has a good shot at getting a nomination for Away from Her.
Julie Christie is Good at Being Picky (LA Times)

Amy Adams on Enchanted (which will do some serious money this weekend) (EW)

Q&A with Charlotte Gainsbourg on the new Bob Dylan movie
Charlotte Gainsbourg Was Totally There for Dylan Film

Tube Tonight
Mia Farrow is featured in the Frontline documentary on Darfur (9pm, PBS)

November 19, 2007

Nina's Heavenly Delights, an uplifting film about following your heart, opens this Wednesday, November 21 in LA, and November 30th in NY. Director, Pratibha Parmar spoke with Women & Hollywood about the film and the struggles women directors go through to get their projects made.

W&H: Why was it important for you to tell this story?

Pratibha Parmar: Many reasons. One of the received wisdoms in the film industry is that you should always make your first film about something personal. So I chose to write a story that was based on my own experience of falling in love in a way and with a person that was a complete surprise! I wanted to tell a story that has at its heart a non traditional ‘forbidden love’ but using a traditional genre like romantic comedy.

W&H: It took seven years from writing the story until production. How did you persevere in your vision throughout that time?

PP: Now I know why they say make your first film about something you feel passionate about, because in that long seven year journey to get this film onto the screen, it really was sheer blind passion and determination that helped me to keep going. You hear so many more ‘No’s’ then you ever hear ‘maybe’ or ‘yes.’ It was also pride and sometimes anger that kept me going. I could see male directors with half the experience that I have making their debut features without the kind of intense struggle that I was going through, without having to ‘prove’ that they were ready to make a feature.

By the time I had come to make Nina’s Heavenly Delights, I had already made award winning documentaries and also directed a number of short dramas. So it was frustrating to say the least when I kept being asked by potential financiers if ‘I was confident enough to direct drama’ and ‘work with a big crew.’ I don’t think the majority of men in the film industry internationally have an innate sense of confidence in women directors in the way they do with male directors.

W&H: Did you write the film knowing that you would direct it? Do you think that more women directors are writing their own scripts because so few scripts are available to them to direct?

PP: Oh yes, when I wrote the story it was very much with a view to directing it. I am a director first and foremost and want to tell stories that I don’t often see on the cinema screens. I think first we have to be SEEN as directors to be even sent scripts for consideration. I am always having to generate my own work and that can often mean that you have to wait so many more years until you make your next feature. So it would be lovely to be sent scripts that have already gone through ‘development hell’ and are ready to go into production.

W&H: Music is a very important element in the film and brings life to many of the scenes especially in Bobbi's scenes. Talk a little about the importance of music in telling this story.

PP: Music has always been a key story telling device for me. I had chosen some of the songs in the film very early on. I wanted the texture of the music to reflect the world of the film which is a cross-cultural and cross everything else kind of world. The few Bollywood songs in the film have lyrics which help to advance the narrative. And then there are also contemporary pop songs like The Monkees’ ‘ Day Dream Believer’ and tracks from some great female singer/songwriters like Alex Parkes, Shelley Poole and Holly Vallance, whom many people will recognize. Music can trigger so many different emotional responses and you don’t always need dialogue when a lyric or a musical refrain can evoke the mood or story so much more effectively.

W&H: What do you want people to get out of this film?

PP: I want people to leave the cinema feeling happy, hungry and horny. No seriously – I want people to see the characters beyond their sexuality or culture. The film showed on British Airways long haul flights last Christmas and a friend was traveling from London to Delhi when it was screening. He got his whole cabin to watch the movie and at first a few of the Indian mothers were saying, ’oh dear, we didn’t know this happened in our communities,’ i.e., a woman falling in love with another woman, but then half way through the film, he said everyone forgot that Nina is gay and were rooting for her to win the cooking competition. It was great to hear that.

W&H: There are so few films released in the states that feature female leads and you not only have a woman lead in you piece, she is Asian and realizing she is gay. How is the film being marketed so that the widest audience possible will be exposed to the story? Do you think that the audience will be gay people, Asian people, Scottish people, women or all of the above?

PP: I hope that the audience will be people of every color, sexuality, musical tastes and everyone who enjoys a feel good movie! So far the film has screened at over 50 international film festivals – many of them mainstream festivals and some for niche markets. But across the board, the audiences have loved it. From Hong Kong to India to Paris to Turin, people have responded very positively.

The US distributors, Regent Releasing/hereFilms have been fantastic so far! They totally get that the movie has great potential to break out into the mainstream and so they are trying (with their limited resources) to get the word out there. Ultimately with films that are not ‘star’ led or have some kind of celebrity marketing push, it’s the WORD OF MOUTH that is crucial. So I really hope people who have seen it and like it blog about it, get onto Rotten Tomatoes and other sites and write or vote for it and help spread a buzz.

W&H: What does it mean to be a woman director in a world where so few women are directors? Do you feel an added responsibility?

PP: The main responsibility I feel is to myself as a story teller and to make films with truthfulness, honesty and integrity. In doing so, if the work inspires other women to want to become directors, then that’s terrific but I am not into carrying that ‘burden of responsibility’ for all women or all minorities for that matter. Having said that, I am an Associate of the Birds Eye Women’s Film Festival in the UK and have been their supporter since they first formed. As an active member of Women in Film & Television in the UK, I helped to initiate the Women Directing Change program where less experienced women directors get the opportunity to shadow more experienced film directors, both men and women. The abysmally low number of women directors is appalling- so I am supportive of anything that helps to change that.

Keep watch as to when the film will open in your city. More info: Nina's Heavenly Delights

News
Box Office- Margot at the Wedding playing in only two venues brought in over $82,000. Film expands to 35 venues in the top 12 markets, Wednesday.

Jennifer Jason Leigh stars with Nicole Kidman in husband Noah Baumbach's Margot at the Wedding
Jennifer Jason Leigh Brings Home to Work With Her (LA Times)

Emmanuelle Seigner on Movies and Rocking Out (LA Times)

Linda Cardellini talks about ER's 300th episode
Nurse Role Gives Linda Cardelini a Nice Health Run on ER (NY Daily News

German director Doris Dorrie talks about her new film, How to Cook Your Life (indiewire)

Anne Thompson talks up Laura Linney's performance in Tamara Jenkins' The Savages.
Oscarwatch: The Savages Jenkins and Linney (Variety)

Not all young actresses get lured into the tabloid world. Why don't we hear more about them?
Young Actresses Focused on Careers (Variety)

A story about the International Women's Film Festival in Israel
Israel's female filmmakers get big boost with 'Women in the Picture' (Israel21c)

Tube Tonight
Friends with Money- Nicole Holofcener's look at how money gets in the way of friendships. (12:45pm and 8pm, ENCORE)

Grey Gardens- the cult documentary that spawned a Broadway show and now a movie starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore (7:15pm, SUNDANCE)

Weeds- season finale (10pm, SHOWTIME)

November 16, 2007

Review- Margot at the Wedding
Noah Baumbach is not afraid to write unlikable characters. I admire that. I liked The Squid and the Whale, his semi-autobiographical look at the demise of his parents marriage. His new movie, Margot at the Wedding, is at its core the story between two estranged sisters both on the brink of big life changes. The sisters are played by Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh (Baumbach's wife) who admirable take on Baumbach's complex script.

Neither one of them gives a false note, and it is important to note especially on Kidman's part, her continual risk taking movie choices. Looking at her roles you can see that this is a woman interested in growing as an actress, rather than being focused on box office. It turns out that some of the roles she played were in successful movies that made money, and then she was pigeon holed on the box office take for the rest of her films. It's the studios fault that they offered her millions of dollars for films they knew stunk and then blamed it on her for not being able to "open a movie." From my assessment of her career, I don't think she cares about being able to open a movie.

The sisters come together to celebrate Pauline's (Leigh) wedding to Malcolm (Jack Black) an unemployed musician/artist. The fireworks start immediately when Margot (Kidman) questions and judges Pauline's decision. They go at it and even they they say they are each others best friend, you know that they aren't, and that quite possibly they don't really like each other. Family is tough stuff and Baumbach is not shy. Margot, in judging Pauline, is deflecting her own downward spiral seen through self-medicating and told through rude comments.

Movie opens on two screens and will hopefully go wider soon.

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I am very angry at the folks at Criminal Minds right now. Here's why. I am a big fan of procedurals and have really enjoyed Minds especially when Mandy Patankin was on it, but I am getting tired of this whole mutilating and killing women theme which this show seems to relish. Then, on this last episode (which did great in the ratings) the one female character who actually has character, who is not stick thin, and plays the techie, got shot by a guy after their dinner date. The show totally played into the stereotype of if it seems too good it probably is, and perpetuates the bullshit that only skinny hot girls get the cute boys. They better resolve it well next week or else they will incure my wrath.

News
Jodie Foster will receive the Sherry Lansing Leadership award at the 16th annual Hollywood Reporter Women in Entertainment Power 100 Breakfast to be held in Hollywood on December 4th.

The movie 9 to 5 is now a stage play. It will be performed in LA and will star Allison Janney (CJ from the West Wing) in the Tomlin role.
9to 5 Set its World Stage Premiere (AP via Miami Herald)

Kristen Stewart will star in Catherine Hardwicke's Twilight (Variety)

Grey's Anatomy's Katherine Heigl is taking advantage of her star status by signing to star in Columbia's romantic comedy The Ugly Truth from the writers and director of Legally Blonde.
Katherine Heigl Set for Truth (Variety)

A Stuntwoman in Hollywood
Stuntwoman still Loves Her Occupation (Christian Science Monitor)

Rosie O'Donnell Returns to Nip/Tuck (Seattle Post Intelligencer)

I love America Ferrara from Ugly Betty. She is a breath of fresh air in a world of young women gone wild in Hollywood.
American Ferrara Relates to Her Ugly Betty Role

The fantastic Imelda Staunton talks about the roles for older women, and society's ridiculous obsession with youth.
Imelda Staunton on Her New BBC Drama


Tube to Watch

Tonight
Sunset Boulevard - 8am, HBOS
Bull Durham - 8pm, AMC

Tommorow
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle- 3pm, IFC
Born Yesterday (the version with Judy Holliday)- 10pm, TCM

Molly Shannon stars in the Lifetime movie More of Me where the busy mom divides into four separate women to deal with her busy life. Rent Year of the Dog instead. Shannon is much more interesting in that.

Sunday
The final chapter of The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard - 9pm, PBS
The Philadelphia Story- 10pm, TCM

November 15, 2007

Slooow News Day

Ellen Degeneres is in a really hot spot. She was planning on coming to NY to tape her show, but the Writer's Guild threatened to picket since she has basically been back at work since the writers struck. She stayed out the first day and twice didn't do a monologue, but she's at work. Her problem is that she is a syndicated show with WGA writers on the staff. Ellen is also a member of the guild. Most syndicated shows don't employ guild members. I don't envy her. Screwed if she does work, and screwed if she doesn't.
Ellen Under Fire

News
Renee Zellweger talks to Bazaar Magazine about remaining sane in Hollywood. It's sad when being able to be sane is not the norm.
Zellweger Says She's Proud of Her Sanity (USA Today)

Women's Murder Club- On the set, there's a lot of murder, but not any girl fighting
For Cast and Crew it Isn't a Club So Much as a Clan (USA Today)

Abbie Cornish soon to be big star on her role in Elizabeth
Abbie Cornish Found a Character in Her Corset (Sydney Morning Herald)

Tube Tonight
Cybill Shepherd is TCM's guest programmer with Ninotchka, Notorious and His Girl Friday. TCM, 8pm
30 Rock- Edie Falco guest stars as a democratic political operative who falls for Alec Baldwin's Jack.

November 14, 2007

Women's Murder Club - My Favorite New Show This Season
I have been looking for an excuse to talk up the Women's Murder Club, and an email from Sarah Fain, creator and showrunner is just that excuse. I know that critics kept falling over themselves to promote Pushing Daisies, which I find quite boring and I haven't watched my saved episodes for several weeks.

She emailed to clarify (guess that she has some time during the strike, fortunately for me) that she and her writing partner Liz Craft created the show and they run the show with R. Scott Gemmill. They are all executive producers along with Joe Simpson, Brett Ratner and James Patterson who wrote the book the show is based upon.

The show stars Angie Harmon who is so much better here than she was on Law & Order. I also especially like Paula Newsome as the medical examiner.

Show airs on ABC at 10pm on Fridays. This week's episode features Harmon's real husband, Jason Seahorn.

Variety has a series of stories on Women in Showbiz: The Politics of Change
One focuses on politics about how women in Hollywood are not all rallying behind Hillary Clinton (doesn't make them any different than women across the country). Story also mentions the HWPC (Hollywood Women's Political Caucus, disbanded ten years ago, which gave women in the biz a united political voice. I think we need to bring back HWPC!
Hollywood Women Split Political Loyalties (Variety)

Another focuses on the growing influence of lesbians. "These days, the war in Iraq looms large for lesbians, trumping even gay marriage and adoption rights as a front-burner issue." Well, duh. Ilene Chaiken, creator of the L Word and de-facto lesbian spokesperson adds: "Our voice is louder and stronger, and we have more potent meaning in the political conversation than we had in the past, when we were less visible." (Variety)
Lesbian Politics More Than Marriage

Pieces also include: How Hollywood Women are Speaking Against the Iraq War
Women Join Voices Against Iraq War
Stars Battle Violence Against Women
The Darfur Crisis
Hollywood Puts Spotlight on Darfur
AIDS
AIDS Awareness Goes Global
Animal Rights
Stars Speak Out About Animal Rights
Immigration
Hollywood Part of Immigration Debate

Good package, but I get annoyed when Variety dumbs down its pieces.

November 13, 2007

Remembering Adrienne Shelly and Supporting Women Directors

Last night the Adrienne Shelly Foundation, founded in memory of the murdered director, (director of this year's sleeper hit Waitress which could potentially get Keri Russell some nominations) had its inaugural gala with a reading of Adrienne's screenplay The Morgan Stories. Celebs scheduled to appear included: Alanis Morissette, Edie Falco, Mary-Louise Parker, Gina Gershon, Jason Patric, Leelee Sobieski, Nathan Dean, Jake Hoffman and Maria Tucci.

Women & Hollywood posed some questions to Adrienne's husband, and foundation founder, Andy Ostroy, about why he started the Foundation in his late wife's name.

Women & Hollywood: Why did you start the Adrienne Shelly Foundation?

Andy Ostroy: Following Adrienne's death, I was asked by many people where they could donate money in her name. Once I was able to think clearly about this, and consider Adrienne's passion for filmmaking, especially as a woman, the idea for the Foundation was born. I knew that it would be a very worthwhile cause that we could champion in her honor.

W&H: Why is it important to support female filmmakers?

AO: Overall, women are the true underdogs in filmmaking. Perhaps just 7% or so of all features are directed by women. This is an embarrassing statistic. Female filmmakers have a strong passion and a distinct message...and that voice needs to be heard more loudly. The Adrienne Shelly Foundation exists to help support these incredibly talented women as they strive to produce their work.

W&H: What type of grants will the foundation be giving out?

AO: We've provide a variety of financial awards that include film school scholarships, production grants, finishing funds and living stipends, ranging from $5000-$10,000.

W&H: What do you want people who are interested in women and film know about Adrienne Shelly?

AO: Adrienne was a one-of-a-kind human being with a unique voice that sadly is no longer with us. She brought a rare, magical blend of comedy, drama and unpredictability to her writing, all of which had ass-kicking female empowerment as its ultimate central theme. Had she lived, she would've undoubtedly gone on to become one of America's most prolific filmmakers. "Waitress" proved that.

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Variety is running one of their regular features, this one is on comedy. As you can imagine, since there are hardly any comedies written by or about women, the section skews male. No actresses are featured, only one writer (Diablo Cody- guess if this was one year ago there would have been no female writers- how about Nancy Meyers?), and they have a section on Judd and His Merry Men. Several women -- Jenna Fischer, Tina Fey, Sarah Silverman, Jamie Pressly and Amy Poehler are feauted in the Tube Titans story. I'm not even linking to it, I'm so disgusted by the whole package.

______
Since women are so infrequently honored and acknowledged in Hollywood, the Paley Center's "She Made It: Women Creating Television and Radio" which honors 50 women for their contributions to TV and radio deserves note. Here is the list of this year's honorees:
Perry Miller Adato
Gracie Allen
Jay Presson Allen
Candice Bergen
Frances Buss
Peggy Charren
May Chidiac
Betty Cohen
Judy Crichton
Nancy Dickerson
Margaret Drain
Rebecca Eaton
Linda Ellerbee
Betty Furness
Amy Goodman
Lee Grant
Bonnie Hammer
Salma Hayek
Maria Hinojosa
Gwen Ifill
Marta Kauffman
Barbara Kopple
Claire Labine
Lynda La Plante
Margaret Loesch
Nancy Malone
Caryn Mandabach
Mary Margaret McBride
Beth McCarthy Miller
Marilyn Suzanne Miller
Andrea Mitchell
Gloria Monty
Christine Ockrent
Suze Orman
Rosie O'Donnell
Abbe Raven
Shonda Rhimes
Martha Rountree
Radhika Roy
Lucie Salhany
Jennifer Saunders
Martha Stewart
Hannah Storm
Nina Totenberg
Ellen M. Violett
Meredith Vieira
Judith Cary Waller
Dr. Ruth Westheimer
Yang Lan
Paula Zahn

The women will all be honored at a ceremony on December 6.
She Made It (Hollywood Reporter)

News
Jada Pinkett Smith will make her directing debut with her script for the film The Human Contract. Hubby Will Smith will executive produce. (Variety)

I'm kind of getting tired of writing about Diablo Cody like she is the only female screenwriter in Hollywood. It was cute for a while, but now its getting old. Cody and her Juno director (out December 5) Jason Reitman are reteaming for her new script, Jennifer's Body starring Megan Fox. "The film tells the story of a cheerleader who is possessed by a demon and starts feeding off the boys in a Minnesota farming town. Her "plain Jane" best friend must kill her, then escape from a correctional facility to go after the Satan-worshiping rock band responsible for the transformation." Sounds dreadful (Hollywood Reporter)

Damages has been renewed for two more seasons of 13 episodes each. Glenn Close, Rose Byrne and Tate Donovan are all signed on.

Gilmore Girl Alexis Bledel has signed on to star in Ticket to Rise to be directed by Vicky Jenson. "Ryden Malby, a college grad who is forced to move back into her childhood home with her eccentric family while she attempts to find a job, the right guy and some direction for her life." Screenplay is by Kelly Fremon (I would venture a guess that she is a woman based on the film description) (Variety)

Sarah Michelle Gellar, hero to young women and former star of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, appears on the cover of Maxim wearing just her bra. Why do young women in Hollywood feel they need to get naked to promote their movies? They never ask young men to do that.

Portia de Rossi, Ellen Degeneres' partner, is taking on her first gay role on Nip/Tuck.
De Rossi Nips at Challenges (USA Today)

Warner Bros TV and Telepictures are launching Mom Logic a website targeted at women with children. (Variety)