Weekly Roundup: Gia Coppola, ‘Murphy Brown’ & a Media Internship
//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/488381047?et=2PeW3vM-R_1_VghSMDFcGA&sig=LZnMoBh1APTsZVOLw-lVbi9Nby6ktmJJfa3RgFZrY0c= Palo Alto director Gia Coppola is creating her own filmmaking buzz. A few theories behind NYT Executive Editor Jill Abramson’s firing. Portlandia star Carrie Brownstein has had success in three male-dominated areas of the entertainment industry…THREE! Kathryn Bigelow tackles another weighty post-9/11 theme. Women and Hollywood is looking for a summer intern. Deadline is May 23. Diane English tells...
READ MOREActing Up: Create the Space
“Acting is the ability to live truthfully under imaginary circumstances.” — Sanford Meisner Recently, I wrapped Melissa Rodwell’s upcoming film, and my “preparation” was the most abstract that I’ve ever worked with. I realized my job as an actor is to create the space for the work to show up. How did I do this? I took all...
READ MORERoad to Designing Women: Throwback 2012
Costume, Makeup and Hair design team of Boardwalk Empire We almost couldn’t fit everyone in the photograph! Designing Women 2012 was a fabulous year. We honored makeup artists Jenn Jorge Nelson (30 Rock, Baby Mama, Hope and Faith) and Julie Teel (30 Rock, Ugly Betty, In Treatment), hair stylist and wigmaker Amanda Miller (Inside Llewyn Davis, Smash,...
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: Boo
Photo via Go Into the Story. Does your conflict pass The Haunting Test? You’re a ghost. A traveler from another dimension who can be neither seen nor heard by the people around you, not even the person you seem to be glued to, whom you are compelled to shadow. Always. You have no choice but...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: ‘No Cannes Do’ and #readwomen2014
Love: the NO CANNES DO info graphic by Melissa Silverstein of Women and Hollywood showing the appalling lack of opportunities extended to women directors by the Cannes Film Festival—a reflection of the situation of the industry as a whole, but this does not excuse it. Checking Out: the report on women working in independent film by...
READ MORE7 Aha Moments from ‘Engaging the Feminine Heroic’
The magical lecture by author and script consultant Dara Marks began, appropriately enough, with a blustery downpour. A unique co-production between New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) and Writers Guild of America East, “Engaging the Feminine Heroic” was an invitation to honor our mythological heritage and explore the archetypal structures of our stories...
READ MORERoad to Designing Women 2014: Join Us on June 18 in NYC
Annie production still courtesy of Sony Pictures Publicity. When fashion meets film, the results are some of the silver screen’s most striking moments—the majestic dancers announcing Elizabeth Taylor’s arrival in Rome in Cleopatra, Ursula Andress rising from the ocean in Dr. No, Jimmy Stewart’s first glance of the mysterious Kim Novak in Vertigo. The costume...
READ MOREWeekly Roundup: Gabourey Sidibe, Director Kimberly Pierce & Oxygen Media
//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/487688169?et=cPqGSOaJQANxm9dho-6_lQ&sig=WUEG6AlUfgzcQ-dX4hK-lR36JRHm0BzXaCnDK0hh_5Y= Gabourey Sidibe says she’s “an a**hole!” It’s for a wonderful reason. Dawn Hudson will remain CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Director Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry, Carrie) gave a wonderful keynote speech at the AFI Directing Workshop for Women. (Video) Jovanka Vuckovic to direct Jacqueline Ess: Her Will & Testament. Clive Barker’s...
READ MOREFlix Not to Miss: ‘Enough Said’
Nicole Holofcener is one of those rare directors who consistently delivers solid films and Enough Said is one of her best. This is the first time she worked with iconic actors James Gandolfini and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and she brings them both to wonderful new places. The film is funny, awkward, uncomfortable and ultimately life-affirming, reminding us that...
READ MOREBettie Page: The Legend of a Pinup Queen
As a NYWIFT member, I’m proud to work on the publicity for the documentary Bettie Page Reveals All. Directed by Oscar-nominated director Mark Mori, the film explores the life of a female pop culture icon that undertook the risks, and paid the price, that opened the door for performers like Madonna and Lady Gaga to express themselves. ...
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: Speech Exhaustion
Photo via Go Into the Story. Speeches in early pages give readers creeping dread because they are weapons-grade tools and should not be brought out casually and waved around for piddly little tasks like exposition. Speeches put the brakes on. Is it more than three sentences long? Read it out loud. See how long it...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Science, Activism, and Hollywood Called Out, Again
Recently watched and recommending: Decoding Annie Parker, a film that happily recognizes women scientists, with the upside of being a thoughtful and well-made movie. Congratulations: to DP Jendra Jarnagin for gracing the cover of MovieMaker Magazine’s Activism in Film issue. A hat off: to The New York Times movie critics for calling out Hollywood by asking, “So …...
READ MOREAdvice from an Indie Producer: Budgets Line by Line
There are two major components to an indie film budget: above the line and below the line. Above the line typically includes the fees paid to the writer, director, producer and cast. Below the line is everything else you need to buy or rent to make your production run, including post-production. The largest expense on...
READ MOREWeekly Roundup: Disney’s Call for Writers & Broadway’s Gender Problem
Disney Channel launches a new screenwriting program. Hey, Broadway! Why weren’t any woman-written Broadway plays produced this season? Interview with Belle director Amma Asante (video) and Q&A with star GuGu Mbatha-Raw. Women (literally) rule at this year’s Cannes film festival. Fifteen of Time magazine’s “Top 100” are women in the arts. Happy 10th Anniversary, Mean Girls. #StopTryingToMakeFetchHappen
READ MORENotes from a Screenreader: The Same but What Now?
Photo via Go Into the Story. “The same but different” is the magic formula for a winning script. Does it mean anything or is it double speak for “I know it when I see it?” Patterns not formulas: Create familiar emotional patterns in new situations. The same is a recognizable tone with a recognizable build that...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: Majority Female Cannes Jury and Belle
COMMENDING THE NEWS: of the first majority female Cannes Film Festival jury since 2009. American director Sofia Coppola, French director/actor Carole Bouquet, South Korean actor Jeon Do-yeon and Iranian actor Leila Hatami will join jury president Jane Campion, who became the first woman director to win the Palme d’Or for her 1993 film The Piano. PLANNING...
READ MORENYWIFT’s May Events: Reality TV, Crowdfunding, and More
//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/132037876?et=icW4txOvQHdEavSB5nAJxA&SeoLinks=off&sig=xMCXtqKMEzUUksWEohaXF06lItNujTkOruxSvSGgjqw= Sign up for New York Women in Film & Television’s programs in May: Producing a Dynamite Sizzle Reel: The Key to the Sale Thursday, May 1, 6 pm Tribeca Film Center (375 Greenwich Street) TV and digital packaging agent Jim Arnoff will moderate an expert panel who will give you the insider’s take on how...
READ MOREWeekly Roundup: Lupita Nyong’o Wins Again & Universal’s Nikki Rocco Retires
//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/486363289?et=i-3vXGNAQ_1ma7_bFMgQ-w&SeoLinks=off&sig=YcRFzn7IhsUJvIjJyiPZZh7_9SFfZLMtZxobB6eSdsU= In case you hadn’t heard, Lupita Nyong’o is also “Most Beautiful.” Courtney Cox’s directorial film debut launches at Tribeca Film Festival. It’s a family affair! Brooklyn native Marisa Tomei discusses her latest project and losing friend Phillip Seymour Hoffman. 20-year-old Keke Palmer will make television history this summer. After 47 years, Universal Pictures distribution chief Nikki Rocco is retiring....
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