Dialogue Study: The Signal Analysis and Interpretation Laboratory at USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering recently released preliminary results of a study on the representation of gender, race, and age in a collection of about 1,000 films. One of the major goals of the study was to determine the extent to which female characters were essential to the plot of a given film by looking at language, tone and role.
Rachel Feldman: Rachel Feldman, who received the NYWIFT Ravenal Foundation Feature Film Grant for her Lily Ledbetter project Fair Fight, makes a compelling argument that there are already plenty of qualified women directors ready for prime time.
Dope Queens: I’m happy for comedian Phoebe Robinson, who brought down the house at last year’s NYWIFT Comedy Makers panel. Robinson’s WNYC podcast 2 Dope Queens, which she co-hosts with Jessica Williams, will be developed into four hour-long specials for HBO.
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