But digging deeper women are not widely nominated in lots of the categories.  Here are some things I noticed.

• The only women centric show nominated for best drama is Damages starring Glenn Close. 30 Rock and Weeds are nominated for the best comedy Emmy.

• Two women are nominated for directing a comedy series and two women are nominated for directing a miniseries or movie (both out of six) but NO women are nominated for directing a drama series or a variety, music or comedy series or special.  One woman out of four was nominated for directing a non-fiction special.

• Even though 30 Rock has the lion’s share of writing nominations not a single woman is nominated in the outstanding writing for a comedy series.

• Mad Men is nominated for most of the dramatic writing slots and there are two women included on that team.

• The outstanding writing for a variety, music or comedy series is one of the categories that makes me crazy.  It’s the one that features all the late night shows and those shows have very few women writers.  The nominees are: The Stephen Colbert Show (2 women out of 14 writers- but he does have a female executive producer); The Daily Show (1 woman out of 16); Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NO women out of 16); Late Show with David Letterman (NO women out of 14); SNL (5 women out of 22)

The good news.  The acting categories are beyond outstanding.

• Chandra Wilson scored two acting nominations.

• Veteran actresses like Gena Rowlands, Carol Burnett and Elaine Strich get noticed

• Elizabeth Moss, the heart of Mad Men gets invited to the big ball along with women like Holly Hunter and Glenn Close.

• Grey Gardens gets nods for the movie and for both Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange as well as Patricia Rozema for the script.

Nominees below:

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series

The New Adventures Of Old Christine – Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Christine
Samantha Who? – Christina Applegate as Samantha Newly
The Sarah Silverman Program – 
Sarah Silverman as Sarah Silverman
30 Rock – Tina Fey as Liz Lemon
United States Of Tara -Toni Collette as Tara Gregson
Weeds- Mary-Louise Parker as Nancy Botwin

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series

Brothers & Sisters-Sally Field as Nora Walker
The Closer – 
Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Leigh Johnson
Damages- Glenn Close as Patty Hewes
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit- Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson
Mad Men – 
Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson
Saving Grace – 
Holly Hunter as Grace Hanadarko

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie

Accidental Friendship – 
Chandra Wilson as Yvonne
Coco Chanel – 
Shirley MacLaine as Coco Chanel
Grey Gardens – Drew Barrymore as Little Edie
Grey Gardens – 
Jessica Lange as Big Edie
Prayers For Bobby- 
Sigourney Weaver as Mary Griffith

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series

Pushing Daisies- 
Kristin Chenoweth as Olive Snook
Saturday Night Live – 
Amy Poehler as Various Characters
Saturday Night Live – Kristin Wiig as Various Characters
30 Rock- 
Jane Krakowski as Jenna Maroney
Ugly Betty – 
Vanessa Williams as Wilhelmina Slater
Weeds – Elizabeth Perkins as Celia Hodes

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series

Damages – 
Rose Byrne as Ellen Parsons
Grey’s Anatomy – Sandra Oh as Dr. Christina Yang
Grey’s Anatomy – Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey
In Treatment – 
Dianne Wiest as Gina
In Treatment – Hope Davis as Mia
24 – Cherry Jones as President Allison Taylor

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

The Courageous Heart Of Irena Sendler – 
Marcia Gay Harden as Janina
Grey Gardens – 
Jeanne Tripplehorn as Jackie O.
House Of Saddam – 
Shohreh Aghdashloo as Sajida
Into The Storm – Janet McTeer as Clementine Churchill
Relative Stranger – Cicely Tyson as Pearl

Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series

The Big Bang Theory – Christine Baranski as Beverly Hofstadter
Monk – Gena Rowlands as Marge
My Name Is Earl- 
Betty White as Crazy Witch Lady
Saturday Night Live – 
Tina Fey as Governor Sarah Palin (Spoof)
30 Rock – 
Jennifer Aniston as Claire
30 Rock – 
Elaine Stritch as Colleen Donaghy

Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series

Grey’s Anatomy – Sharon Lawrence as Robbie Stevens
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit – 
Ellen Burstyn as Bernadette Stabler
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit- 
Brenda Blethyn as Linnie Malcolm/Caroline Cantwell
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit – Carol Burnett as Bridget “Birdie” Sulloway
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency – CCH Pounder as Mrs. Curtin

It looks like something bad is brewing over in Llanview, the home of One Life to Live and it has to do with actress Robin Strasser.

From what I can tell Strasser who left the soap in 2000 and returned in 2003 (with as she said a 63% pay cut)  is in contract negotiations and things are not going well.  They want her to take another pay cut and she refuses acknowledging that she already makes significantly less than other actors.

Soap opera fans are a pretty rabid and vocal group and they are pissed about the Strasser sitation and the attendant implications of how older people, particularly women are valued.  This is from the One Life to Live Examiner:

It is a feeling that reflects what fans of any daytime drama have been speculating about for quite some time, as they feel they have seen a pattern of removing veteran favorites in favor of younger characters; and a deeper issue that resonates through Hollywood, the movie industry, and even across the pond in Great Britain — that somehow actors – especially females – are less valuable the older they get.

I know that the goal of advertising which basically funds soaps is to be the 18-49 demographic but seriously, who do they think is watching these soap operas?  Loyal fans who have invested many years and they are not surprisingly, aging.  Older women are doing so well in prime time especially on cable that I am kind of surprised that this seems to be such a big deal on daytime TV.

But Strasser refuses to quit and they will have to fire her and if they do hopefully she will be able to get another gig and that her fans will follow her.

Fans Speak Out for Strasser, Against Sexism and Ageism (The One Life to Live Examiner)

Women directed and women centric films include:

Bright Star -Jane Campion

Precious -Lee Daniels

Cracks- Jordan Scott

Vinter’s Luck- Niki Caro

Partir – Catherine Corsini starring Kristin Scott Thomas

Mother- Bong Joon-ho

Fish Tank- Andrea Arnold

Descriptions of the films can be found here (Indiewire)

Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut Whip-It starring Ellen Page looks awesome. It opens October 9. Think Juno on skates and without the pregnancy.

Fame was one of those movies I loved when I was a teen. it’s being remade and will be released this fall. I AM THERE.

An Education

I am excited for this one directed by Lone Scherfig starring Carey Mulligan that will open on October 2.

h/t Awards Daily

Coco Before Chanel directed by Anne Fontaine opens in the US on September 25

The Countess directed by Julie Delpy- doesn’t have a release date here yet in the US

When the site started almost two years ago in September of 2007 I had no idea where it would go and how it would propel me to my next phase in life.  But it has, and I am grateful to everyone.  Women & Hollywood has become a tool for writers, students and journalists as well as people working in the entertainment business.

But honestly, this site would be nowhere without the readers and the commenters (and all the people who send me emails and ideas and tips) so I want to thank you all for being a part of this.

As you can imagine a blog like this takes a significant amount of time to research and write and has many ancillary technical costs.  So in honor of the 1,000 posts I am hoping to raise $1,000 to help offset some of the costs of running the site.

I know that times are tough all around but anything you can do would be most appreciated. Click on the button below to donate:

Tax deductible donations are also accepted.  Please email me at melissa@womenandhollywood.com if you are interested in contributing in that way.

In honor of the 1,000 posts I took a couple of hours and scrolled through past posts and have put together a highlight reel.   I hope you enjoy.

Nora Ephron to Women Directors and Writers: Stop Whining and Just Do It- July 6, 2009

Memo to Hollywood- Women Do Go to Movies- June 9, 2009

Gender Bias in Theatre- Digging a Little Deeper- June 30, 2009

Star Trek’s Gender Problem- May 12, 2009

Sexism Watch: Date Rape Film Gets Mainstream Film Release- April 9, 2009

Fat Actors vs Skinny Actresses- April 20, 2009

The Double Standard for Women- March 18, 2009

When Going to a Movie Makes You Stupid- February 9, 2009

Moving Beyond the Niche- January 29, 2009

Marketing Movies to Discriminating Women- January 27, 2009

Blaming Nicole Kidman- December 9, 2008

Feminism and Revolutionary Road- December 26, 2008

Why the Firing of Brookle Smith is Bigger Than ABC Wants Us to Think- November 10, 2008

Women Are a Market- November 10, 2008

Emma Thompson is So Smart- November 20, 2008

Defending Katherine Heigl…Again- July 30, 2008

The Fascination of Celebrity Women in Crisis- June 30, 2008

A Women’s Cultural Moment- May 30, 2008

The Double Standard- May 28, 2008

Sex and the City- Will it be the Biggest Women’s Movie Ever? – May 6, 2008

Yes, Virginia We Live in a Sexist World- April 16, 2008

Pondering the Chick Flick- April 9, 2008

The Difference Between John Hughes and Judd Apatow- March 25, 2008

Who Says Women Aren’t Funny? – March 12, 2008

Some reminders and updates

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We’re going to do a reader survey in the coming weeks to find out what you like about the site and what you’d like to see.  We also want to find out a little more about each of you as the site continues to grow.

Again, I want to thank you all for your support.

I was kind of wrong about Fox.  She is clearly is trading on her sexuality to become a big movie star but she is far from stupid.  In fact, from this interview in Entertainment Weekly she comes off as a smart young woman who knows the rules of Hollywood and is using them to her advantage.  Lots and women and men play the Hollywood game but few are honest and vocal about how they go about it.

But, I am still conflicted.  Just by virtue of her platform and exposure to younger and impressionable girls and women the message she gives off if that you need to use your sexuality and sell yourself to be successful in Hollywood (especially big mainstream films.)  That’s not a great message.

But on the other hand she does call herself a feminist and is honest about what she is doing.  I guess that people are put off by her because he is confident in herself, comfortable in her sexuality and is gorgeous.  It also seems that the media plays up that aspect of her and she makes it easy because she is complicit and sells it big time.

Here are some of her quotes from the interview.

How did you feel about being sexualized like that when you were 15?

I thought it was awesome. I was going to a Christian high school and I wasn’t a feminist yet. I hadn’t sat back and analyzed society yet. I was 15! I just did what I was told to do.

What did your parents think?

My mom was with me! I was always übersexual, so she wasn’t shocked. I was always wearing the smallest clothes I could find. I would go to the mall like that — in a short, short skirt and a giant wedge heel. That’s what you do when you’re a teenage girl in a small town.

You up for a third Transformers?

Sure. I mean, I can’t s— on this movie because it did give me a career and open all these doors for me. But I don’t want to blow smoke up people’s ass. People are well aware that this is not a movie about acting. And once you realize that, it becomes almost fun because you can be in the moment and go, ”All right, I know that when he calls Action! I’m either going to be running or screaming, or both.”

Then why are people so obsessed with you and hiring you for movies?

I can’t figure that out. I mean, Transformers made $700 million and that opened a door to introduce this ”new girl,” and I happened to be such an outrageous personality that people wanted to start writing about me because it was deemed controversial. I think if I had been a typical Hollywood actress and I said all the right things and I had been a publicity android, it wouldn’t have escalated to this level.

You’ve only done a couple of movies, so you’re still mostly known as a sex symbol rather than an actress.

It doesn’t bother me. I don’t know why someone would complain about that. That just means that the bar has been set pretty low. People don’t expect me to do anything that’s worth watching. So I can only be an overachiever. I think all women in Hollywood are known as sex symbols. That’s what our purpose is in this business. You’re merchandised, you’re a product. You’re sold and it’s based on sex. But that’s okay. I think women should be empowered by that, not degraded.

You also said that when you go to Hollywood parties you feel like chum to these creepy older guys…

I notice them circling me and deciding what their plan of attack is going to be, and I think that’s because I have this image of this little sex kitten — this oversexed wild child. So they think that I’m ready to throw down. And so everybody wants to try and, like, get in there. And I’m actually not that way at all.

I love the comment about how older guys look at younger women.  I have to say that I am impressed with her honesty about the misogyny in Hollywood and how younger women are treated.  They are like bait being dangled in front of sharks.  I have never read another young woman in her position ever being this honest about her work and the business.  She gets points for that.

I hope she is given opportunities to act in ways that are not only focused on her looks.  I’d love to see if she can actually act cause as of right now, I have no clue.

Megan Fox: Fallen Angel (EW)

Megan Fox Q&A: Her comic-book obsession, her raging libido, and more... (EW)

New Line, which has been around for 40 years and has been known in the past  for The Nightmare on Elm Street flicks and lately for the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  It was subsumed last year under the Warner Brothers umbrella when the studios took all their smaller  entities under one roof.  There were questions at that time whether it would even exist at all in the future.

But according to the Hollywood Reporter under new president Toby Emmerich the studio is looking to make money off an underserved market — women.  Lynda Obst took her new pic What Was I Thinking with Elizabeth Banks and Leslie Mann there and they released the successful He’s Just Not That Into You.

But during the past year — while adjusting to the fact that it’s no longer an independent unit of Time Warner but a scaled-down production label within the Warner Bros. fold — New Line has softened its image so that it now comfortably nurtures female-skewing fare.

I’m all for more women’s pictures but I really hope that making women’s films includes a wide variety of films and not just the regressive chick flicks like He’s Just Not That Into You and Ghosts of Girlfriends past.  I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt for now because on the docket is August’s The Time Traveler’s Wife and of course next summer’s Sex and the City 2.

New Line has always been smartly budget conscious and women’s flicks (and women stars) are cheaper and people are discovering they actually do make money, maybe just not all of it on the first weekend.  Warner Brothers head of marketing Sue Kroll who also handles the New Line releases understands how to reach women:

Here’s a quote from Kroll:

“Most women want to know more info before they go,” she said. “Women tend to read a lot and listen to their friends’ opinions.”

Finally. Someone has acknowledged out loud that you need to market to women differently.  It’s not that it costs more, it’s just different.

Here’s a quote from Emmerich on why they are focusing on women:

“Women make up two quadrants and I think they are underserved in theatrical,” Emmerich said. “Maybe not on network or cable, but I’ve always felt that for theatrical, women are underserved. Movies tend to be made for the guys, and women kind of go along.”

It’s about time we stopped just going along for the ride.  Power to New Line and Warner Brothers for getting in the game of women.  Hopefully others will follow and make some good flicks.

New Line Find Its Feminine Side (Hollywood Reporter)

Well, the good news is that Berg is back, hopefully for good.  Aviva Kempner has put together the documentary Yoo-Hoo Mrs. Goldberg (disclaimer: I am consulting on outreach for the film) that restores Gertrude Berg to her rightful prominence as one of the leading figures of early TV.

Berg was the creator of the radio series The Goldbergs which morphed into the first family sitcom on TV The Goldbergs. The show introduced the country to a Jewish family in the years right after the Holocaust.  This very Jewish family was welcomed into homes all across America and probably introduced jewish customs and traditions to many people who had never heard of them before.

The thing about Gertrude Berg is that she did everything on the show.  She wrote the scripts, she produced the show, and she starred in the show.  EVERYTHING.  She worked her ass off and received the first Emmy for best actress ever.

What was also so great about Gertrude is that she stood up for her co-star Philip Loeb who was named as a communist.  Sadly, standing up for her convictions and her friend doomed the show.  She lost her sponsors and couldn’t get any more until she fired Loeb which she refused to do for over a year.  During the McCarthy insanity there were not many people who stood up for others and Berg was one of those few.  The show never really recovered and when they moved the family from the Bronx to the suburbs it was doomed.

This film is a great history lesson about a woman who was a feminist before the word was used.  At the height of her popularity she was the second most admired woman in America after Eleanor Roosevelt.  I’m so glad that her life has been preserved for generations to see.

Aviva Kempner has been working for many years to bring Gertrude’s story to the screen.  She answered some questions about the film.

Women & Hollywood: Why did you want to tell Gertrude Berg’s story?

Aviva Kempner: For the past 30 years I have done films about Jewish heroes–men and women who fought the Nazis and baseball slugger Hank Greenberg.  This time  I wanted to concentrate on a heroine who had such a positive influence on American culture.

W&H: Gertude accomplished so many things in her life and was truly famous in her time yet she is completely unknown especially to younger audiences. How did she get to be: the most famous woman in America you’ve never heard of?

AK: Her shows were not syndicated, she suffered from her co-star Philip Loeb’s blacklist, and she was on TV so long ago that she is not duly remembered.

W&H: Gertrude was in charge of all facets of her show from writing to producing to casting…everything. What lessons can we take from Gertude and use today?

AK: Use every minute of the day.  She would write from 6 to 9 in the morning, and her husband Lewis would type her scripts, and then she would go to the studio and produce and then without much effort slide into her role as Molly Goldberg.

W&H: Why have you made it your life’s work to make documentaries about under known Jews?

AK: As a child of a Holocaust survivor who lost three grandparents and an aunt to the Holocaust, I consider it my life’s mission to make films about Jewish heroes and heroines that contradict negative stereotypes about Jews.

W&H: Gertrude was so big and important in the industry that she was able to fend off the “blacklist” for some time and protect her lead actor Philip Loeb. Yet she could not hold them off and she was forced to remove Loeb and the show suffered and her career suffered. Can you talk about what it meant for a woman to do what she did at that time?

AK: I think for any man or woman at that time it was heroic to stand up to the blacklist, and it makes me proud one of the most courageous stories emulated from a Jewish woman.

W&H: What is your most favorite thing you discovered about Gertrude Berg?

AK: She wrote in the bathtub and every morning at 6 am.  Now I wake up that early to work.

W&H: You really want younger women to learn about Gertrude. Why is that so important to you?

AK: Our tagline is the most famous woman in America you never heard of and that alone makes it an important film for younger women to see the film.  Also we want Americans to know the first inspiration for the domestic sitcom was Berg, and that you can funny and poignant without having to be gross.  Wonder what movie I could be talking about?

W&H: What story are you thinking of working on next?

AK: I co-wrote a dramatic script about a Navajo activist which I want to produce as well as documentaries on labor leader Samuel Gompers and the establishment of the  Rosenwald schools.

Yoo-Hoo Mrs. Goldberg opens in NYC this weekend, Washington Dc on July 17th and will roll out across the country over the summer and fall.  Check here for info on where the film is playing.

Kempner will be in NY this weekend conducting Q&As:

She will be at Lincoln Plaza cinema at the Fri & Sat 7:10 & 9:25 and will be at the Quad Cinema at the Sat & Sun 2:50 & 4:40 shows.

Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg

A couple of years ago they premiered Army Wives and while there are many things that annoy me about the show I am strangely addicted to it in a big way.  Now it seems they have found a solid partner for the show in the new drama Drop Dead Diva.  Created by Josh Berman who was a consulting producer at Bones for Fox the show ended up at Lifetime after Fox passed on it.  God forbid a network TV show should have a woman who is not a size 2.

Here’s the premise.  Vapid blonde model Deb (who is about to audition for The Price is Right) is killed in car accident and her soul is by accident sent into the body of a not so skinny lawyer Jane who has just been shot by a gunman at her firm.

When Deb wakes up in the hospital she discovers she is Jane and freaks out.  Here is a woman who doesn’t eat in the body of a woman who stares at donuts with lust.  I love the fact that the show takes on all the stereotypes that we deal with all day every day and blows them all up.  One of my favorite moments was when Deb discovered that she was now smart and it really took her breath away.

The show works so well because of Brooke Elliot as Jane.  She rocks.  She has to play two different people now inhabiting one body and she pulls it off with aplomb.  Show also stars the awesome Margaret Cho as Jane’s assistant who helps her navigate her life.

Add this to your Sunday night viewing starting this Sunday at 9pm.

This year there are a ton of lesbians and women filmmakers on the agenda.  There are usually way more pics by and about guys but this year the festival is highlighting the women. Kim Yutani, Director of Programming for the Festiva says that this year it seems that there are more stronger films by women.

“It’s a balancing act,” Yutani says. “We want the highest quality films possible and also ones that will appeal to our very diverse audience. And it’s not easy to do. I think there were a good number of lesbian films that were just stronger this year, especially the storytelling.”

If you are in the LA area here are some of the films that looks interesting to check out and the guide (all descriptions are from the guide)

And Then Came Lola: Directed and written by Ellen Seidler and Megan Siler

In this fast-paced, femme-filled romantic comedy inspired by RUN LOLA RUN, Lola is a talented photographer but completely unreliable. When her beautiful girlfriend needs her to deliver some crucial photos, can Lola do it? On time? Lola has three chances to make good, but obstacles lurks…namely in the form of gorgeous women, nutty dog owners and stalwart meter maids. Put on your running shoes and tank top and get ready for this mad dash through the streets of San Francisco

The Baby Formula: Directed by Alison Reid

Athena and Lilith want to have a baby…and they’re looking to do it without a man! The ladies employ an experimental procedure that turns stem cells into sperm, allowing them to have a biological child. But when their relatives and a documentary crew find out, the couple’s domestic bliss is put to the test. Pregnant with humor and warmth, THE BABY FORMULA is a fresh take on what makes a family.

Drool written and directed by Nancy Kissam

Part THELMA & LOUISE and part LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, DROOL is an irreverent dark comedy with delightful performances from bombshells Laura Harring (MULHOLLAND DR.) and Jill Marie Jones (”Girlfriends”). With an abusive husband, ungrateful kids and nothing else going for her, Anora’s life is rough. Things start looking up when she gets very friendly with her new neighbor, Imogene…until Anora’s husband walks in on them and ends up dead in a freak, yet karmically just, accident. The ladies hit the open road with two kids, one body and no plan.

Fiona’s Script written and directed by Florencia Manovil

A sexy dreamer unaware of her own beauty, Fiona lives her life hoping for the perfect love. Struggling from her last breakup, she throws her energy toward getting her unfinished script completed. Juggling a cute tomboy, complicated friendships and writer’s block, Fiona is confronted with hard decisions, her past and the chance to step into herself. A wonderfully diverse mix of young women rounds out the sweetly penned FIONA’S SCRIPT.

Ghosted directed by Monika Treut and written by Astrid Stroner & Monika Treut

Legendary filmmaker Monika Treut (SEDUCTION: THE CRUEL WOMAN, FEMALE MISBEHAVIOR) returns to Outfest with a deftly crafted, mysterious love story. Sophie, a Hamburg-based visual artist, is haunted by the unexplained death of her beautiful Taiwanese girlfriend, Ai-ling. As Sophie attempts to come to terms with her grief, she encounters new intrigue when she meets Mei-Li, a relentless journalist who seems just as obsessed with uncovering the truth about Ai-ling as she is with seducing Sophie.

Lady Trojans and Training Day

Women’s basketball is an exciting game notable for its charismatic athletes and disciplined play on the court, and in this documentary doubleheader, we get the behind-the-scenes scoop. TRAINING RULES examines the prestigious Penn State program and the disturbing lifelong effects head coach Rene Portland has had on her players, while the intimate and often hilarious LADY TROJANS reminisces about the shenanigans, drama and heartbreak of a 1990s Tucson high school team.

Motherland written and directed by Doris Yeung

After a long absence abroad, young Asian American woman Raffi Tang (Francoise Yip) is called home when her estranged mother is murdered. She becomes increasingly drawn into a web of deception and incompetence while at the same time dealing with her own grief. Equal parts noir thriller and dysfunctional family drama, Doris Yeung’s bold debut feature is a sobering tale of the pursuit of the American Dream.

The Fish Child written and directed by Ludia Puenzo

Writer-director Lucía Puenzo won awards – including two prizes at Cannes – and critical acclaim all over the world for XXY, and now the Argentine filmmaker returns with a lesbian romance that’s also a Chabrol-esque mystery thriller and a scathing examination of class differences in the South American nation.

Lala (Inés Efron, whose performance has inspired comparisons to the early film roles of both Sissy Spacek and Chloë Sevigny), the privileged daughter of a powerful judge, wants to run off with her Paraguayan lover La Guayi (Mariela Vitale), a maid who works for Lala’s family. As the two prepare for their imminent escape from Buenos Aires to Paraguay – to live in a dream house that Lala has already sketched out on paper – Lala’s cruel father is murdered, and circumstantial evidence appears that makes La Guayi look guilty. With the help of the shady Pulido (Carlos Bardem, brother of Javier), will Lala make the ultimate sacrifice for true love? And can the mythical, titular water-child protect these amour fou lesbians?

Straightlaced — How Gender’s Got Us All Tied Up directed by Debra Chasnoff

Academy Award-winning director Debra Chasnoff crafted this powerful documentary about the lives of teens and young adults as seen through the gender lens. Approaching society’s ideas and ideals of gender through clothes, sexuality, sports, dance, safety, consumerism and emotion, the film addresses the complexities of conceptions of masculinity and femininity for Generation Z. STRAIGHTLACED is a striking and diverse film for all ages, genders and sexualities.

Hannah Free which was written about before is also screening.

Outfest Leans Lesbian (Variety)

Women make a difference

Female ticket buyers made up nearly half of the audience for the supposedly male-appeal titles “The Hangover” and “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” At the same time, women moviegoers helped give Sandra Bullock’s Disney romantic comedy “The Proposal” the actress’ best opening weekend by a wide margin: $33.6 million, compared with her previous best debut, $17.6 million for “Premonition.” If women turn out for July 24’s and “Julie & Julia,” they could leave an even bigger mark on the summer season.

Of course the LA Times put this point as the last point but at least women were acknowledged.  We buy half the tickets to the mainstream movies and more than half the tickets to the movies targeted at women SO women actually turn out in bigger numbers for women’s films and help propel them to success.  (I’m not saying that this means every movie that stars a woman will be a success because ones there are many that aren’t very good, but ones that are good and have decent word of mouth will be successful.)

Other points:

Films are on average are dropping about 52% on the second weekend because word of mouth sucks on many of them.  Word of mouth is something that really propels women’s films because there is usually less marketing money spent.  The Proposal which had good word of mouth dropped about 45%, but My Sister’s Keeper which had bad word of mouth dropped 53%.

Adult and star driven dramas are in serious peril.  Julia Roberts flopped in the spring and John Travolta and Denzel Washington along with Russell Crowe have had a hard summer.  Movies (especially from the studios) are moving more and more towards being kid focused that it makes me really nervous.  I want to go to the movies too!

Also for another news flash critics don’t matter

Summer Movie Season Cooling Off (LA Times)

Why do we need a movie based on Asteroids the game I played on my Atari when I was a kid? What kind of story can they make up to go with it?

Other stupid ass movie ideas in development: Candyland, Battleship and a movie about the Viewmaster. Yes, it’s that same device where you inserted a round card and it showed pictures of I don’t remember what. But I guess if you can make a movie out of transformer toys and gross hundreds of millions of dollars on it, everything is up for grabs.

Now I read they are making a live-action/animated movie about smurfs.

Ugh.

This movie (which opens Friday) is anything but stupid.  Shelton takes on some of the biggest taboo issues in a way that really makes you think.  She takes of sexuality — male sexuality — and while the idea of making the film might have started as a joke in a drunken haze it takes on a lot of loaded issues which I found brilliant.  These guys ask themselves if they could really have sex with each other and if they are even thinking about it does that mean they could be gay?  The film layers on other life issues like am I on the right path? Did I just settle? And the ultimate question do I know who I am?  The third player in the film is Ben’s wife Anna (Alycia Delmore) a woman who thought she knew her husband but when she finds out about the film is forced to look at her husband and herself differently.

This is a really good movie.  I love that here is a woman exploring issues about guys in such a funny, smart and respectful way that it will hopefully continue to dispel the fallacy that women can only direct films about women.

Lynn Shelton answered some questions about the film:

Women & Hollywood: Why did you want to tell this story?

Lynn Shelton: Good drama (and comedy) often comes from the simple act of placing characters in a situation that is not usual nor comfortable for them. That’s what HUMPDAY does, at its most basic level. And I knew that placing these particular characters into this particular uncomfortable situation was going to allow for an exploration of all kinds of things that interest me: the limitations of friendship (specifically male friendship), the nuances of marital relationships, the various guises we don depending on the context (at home with our mates vs. flying solo at a wild swinging party for example), coming to grips with the fact that the image we have of ourselves doesn’t necessarily jibe with who we are in actuality…not to mention issues of sexual politics: the low grade homophobia of the average, well-meaning straight guy, the rigidity/fluidity of the boundaries of our sexual identity.

W&H: Your film is so funny yet really touches on some important cultural issues like masculinity and sexuality.  How important was keeping it funny and light?

LS: Although humor is present in every one of my films, it has always been used as a way to make the darker, heavier stuff in my stories more palatable. I never set out to make HUMPDAY a comedy. We played every scene straight. I mean, we were not unaware of the potential for laughter, but we really didn’t think about it on set. We were never playing for laughs nor looking for opportunities for jokes. The scene in which Ben’s wife Anna finds out the true nature of the “art project” gets a huge amount of laughter in the theater (albeit awkward, anxiety-ridden laughter), but shooting that scene was incredibly intense; it was by far the hardest, most serious day on set.

W&H: This summer both you and Kathryn Bigelow are directing films that we don’t see women direct very often.  Stories about guys.  Why do you think that is such an issue when it is never an issue when men direct women?

LS: Hmm, can I be obvious and say there is probably a double standard for male vs. female directors? Sadly, I think that’s actually the case. And it probably stems from the fact that there are proportionately so many fewer women directors than men ones that each project is perhaps more closely scrutinized for its content. But maybe it’s more equal than we realize…I’ve read that Mike Leigh gets asked all the time about why he makes movies about women (and very good ones at that) and his very apt answer is that he doesn’t make movies about women or about men…he makes movies about people.

W&H: I have described your film as a bromance without the typical misogyny since there is no overt hatred towards women in the film.  How important was it to you that Anna be an important piece of the story?

LS: It was vitally, VITALLY important to me. It was also vitally important to me that this film not be a homophobic one, by the way. But yes, back to Anna: I am as proud of her character and her role in the film as I am of any other element in it. She so easily could have been a cipher, or a character only there to serve Ben’s character. I didn’t want her to be that, and I didn’t want her to be a harpie or a doormat either. I wanted her to be smart and sympathetic and as fully fleshed out and complicated as the two guys in the film, even though she doesn’t get the same amount of screen time. It was important to me as a matter of principle (how sick am I of the cardboard cut-out ancillary “girlfriend” or “wife” character in male-driven movies?) but also because if you don’t care about Anna and the relationship between she and Ben, the movie simply wouldn’t work. There would be no stakes, no tension, no emotional investment as to whether or not the boys do it and how the whole story unfolds.

W&H: Explain to people what the “upside-down” model of filmmaking is and why it works so well for you.

LS: After experiencing the traditional model of filmmaking with my first feature, I wanted to try creating a totally actor-centered atmosphere on set with my second feature film. It was really an experiment to see if I could capture a level of naturalism that would be so high, it would almost feel like a documentary. So instead of writing predetermined dialogue for characters that I thought up in my head, I decided to start with the people I wanted to work with and then hand-craft characters custom designed just for them. I invite the actors in very early on in the process, when the film is still a loose story, because the actors will be heavily involved in the development of their own characters and I need to know who those characters are before I can cement how they will behave in each scene of the film. The film organically evolves from that point on. By the time we get to the set, everyone has a detailed backstory and they are all intimately acquainted with their own characters. Instead of a proper script, we have a detailed outline of all the scenes. We know the point of every scene, and the emotional map of every scene, but the actors come up with the actual words on their own. With the right casting (as well as a very high skill level in the editing room), I have found that this kind of highly structured, highly directed improvisation can give me both the naturalism that I crave as well as the structure that I love.

W&H: What are you working on next?

LS: I’m shooting “$5 Cover Seattle”, a music-based web series being produced by MTV. It was the brainchild of another independent filmmaker, Craig Brewer, whose original version, “$5 Cover Memphis”, can be seen on MTV.com right now. I’m very excited about the project because it’s a great fit for my creative style, plus I get to work intimately a bunch of sexy rockstars..pretty much a dream come true.

The film opens in NY and Seattle this weekend and rolls out across the country over the summer.  Here’s info on where the film is playing.

Judith Ivey as Ann Landers

Judith Ivey has had a long TV career, but lately I haven’t seen her in many things.  The good news is that it looks like she’ll be quite visible here in NY  as she follows the path of many female actors as they get older — hitting the stage.

Firstly, she’s directing the current musical Vanities at Second Stage Theatre.  Next, in October she will play Ann Landers in the one-woman show The Lady With All the Answers at the Cherry Lane Theatre.  Ivey has been working on the show since 2005.

Lastly, next spring she will play Amanda Wingfield in a revival of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie at the Roundabout.

Very exciting.

They are teaming up with the Sundance Institute and will invest $1.5m over three years to help fund projects that the Institute has already been working with that are in need of emergency funding.

The project will also establish a Fellowship for emerging documentary and narrative directors committed to global cultural exchange and social impact. Fellows will be selected from existing Sundance Institute lab projects as well as projects specifically recruited by both organizations.

Here’s why this is important: Cinereach funds women.  Taking a quick look at their list of grantees women are everywhere as directors and as subjects.  And because their mission is to fund socially conscious cinema it makes sense that they would fund women because women are doing some great work raising awareness about important issues throughout the world.

This organization has only been around since 2006 and they are making a difference.

Cinereach and Sundance Unveil Three-year Grant Program (Indiewire)

Cinereach

Since I do read lots of news each day I was thinking that instead holding links (to good articles and news) and posting them once a week, I will be posting them regularly through twitter.  So if you have not yet joined twitter you should.  Here’s the info: twitter.  Once you sign up here’s how to find me.

Have no fear this site is not going anywhere just thinking about how to take it to the next level.

Also, make sure you are signed up for the Friday newsletter because that is the way you get the info about films opening each weekend.

To me, Julie & Julia is the biggest film of the summer for women.  It’s got everything– Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Nora Ephron as writer and director.  What more can you need?   I bet it’s going to be big.

I’ve always been fascinated with Ephron.  I loved the script for Silkwood with she co-wrote with Alice Arlen.  I also think her directorial debut This is My Life (which she also wrote) starring Julie Kavner (where is she now- I know she is Marge Simpson’s voice, but where is she?) is an under appreciated feminist gem.

Ephron has had some serious hits in her life.  Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally (which she wrote) are two of the movies that will live on forever.  Not many people have a single movie that has made such an impact and she has had several.

She’s a commercial director with a feminist bent who grew up in a Hollywood writing family.  When you think of female directors whose films actually make money there are only a couple — Ephron, Nancy Meyers and now Anne Fletcher and Catherine Hardwicke.  That’s pretty much it.  Both Ephron and Meyers have movies this year that star Meryl Streep, so this it a very fine year.  (Meyers’ movie just wrapped last week so let’s hope she can make the December 25 release date.)

Having grown up in Hollywood Ephron saw how women were treated:

Female screenwriters, like Ephron’s mother, Phoebe, almost always had a husband they collaborated with, and “woman director” was an oxymoron.

Here’s what Nora said about women and directing:

Most directors, I have discovered, need to be convinced that the screenplay they’re going to direct has something to do with them, and this is a tricky thing if you write screenplays where women have parts that are equal to or greater that the male part…You look at a list of directors and it’s all boys; it certinaly was when I started as a screenwriter.  So I thought, I’m just going to become a director and that’ll make it easier.”

I wonder if a guy director would say the same thing.  Do guys who are directing horror films think that those types of movies have something to do with them?

Ephron detests whining: you can acknowledge a problem, but only in the service of solving it.  “nobody really has an easy time getting a movie made,” she said.  “And furthermore I can’t stand people complaining.  So it’s not a conversation that interests me, do you know?  Those endless women-in-film panels.  It’s like, just do it!  Just do it.  Write something else if this one didn’t get made.  It’s my ongoing argument with a whole part of the women’s movement.”

Ok  people.  Nora Ephron is tired of the complaining.  She’s tired of being asked to be on any more panels where the topic is why aren’t there more women directors and why is it so hard for women to get a film made.

Geez Nora.  Don’t you think after 25 or 30 years we’re all tired of these panels?  Isn’t everybody tired of asking the same question for 30 years?  Wouldn’t it be great to never need to have a panel that focused on the lack of women directors anymore?    But since there are so few female directors that are successful isn’t it all of our jobs to keep pushing and hounding and asking the questions?  Yes there is complaining, frustration and whining at times.  But there are also legitimate conversations about box office issues, the lack of interest in scripts about women and the ongoing SEXISM in the business.  If we didn’t have these panels and agitate and complain and pushed — where would we be?

I am all for solutions.  I try never to do a panel without talking about next steps and solutions but to blame the women’s movement (which by the without which you never would have had a career) seems a bit extreme.

And I wonder.  Does Nora mentor younger women directors?  Does she make sure to have up and comers on the set?  The only way we will get past the whining to solutions is for women who have made it to help the ones behind.

Nora Ephron is lucky.  She’s made money for her studio.  She also has a champion in Amy Pascal at Sony.

I cannot wait for Julie & Julia (although from the article it sounds like we will love all the Julia parts and be bored with the Julie parts.)  I will be there for anything Ephron does cause she’s a vital, singular mainstream women’s voice that we so desperately need.

Women of the futurists- Galvanised by the violent energy of the futurist movement, women artists of the early 20th century wielded their brushes, needles and pens with unprecedented vigour (The Telegraph)

Sitcom actresses juggle family, careers (Hollywood Reporter)

Female playwrights set to take the West End by storm (The Guardian)

Do The Right Thing celebrates its 20th anniversary.  The Root looks at the film’s woman problem. Spike’s Woman Problem (The Root)

Director Jennifer Lynch Grilled (The Warp)

Stars are no longer a guarantee for box office success.  What does that mean for women? Little Love This Summer for A List Actors.  (LA Times)

We should all be so lucky to look like her at 50.  For Michelle Pfeiffer, Aging Gracefully Is Her Role (LA Times)

Looped: TV’s Rhoda Takes on the Trials of Tallulah (NPR)

Julie White in Transformers and Shakespeare in the Park: A Stage to Screen Transformation (NY Daily News)

The top female earner was Angelina Jolie with $27 million.  The top male earner was Harrison Ford at $65 million.  The top 10 actors earner earned $393 million compared with $183 million for actresses.

Right behind Jolie is Jennifer Aniston at $25 million, and surprisingly and happily Meryl Streep is third with $24 million.  I’m going to say that again.  Meryl Streep made $24 million last year.  A 60 year old female actress made $24 million.  How cool.  Even though Meryl has always been on top with nominations she has never been a big earner and now at 60 she is making some serious bucks.  It definitely helps that Mamma Mia! has earned over $603 million worldwide.

The only woman of color in the top 20 is Halle Berry who earned $7 million.

The list:

Angelina Jolie- $27 m

Jennifer Aniston- $25 m

Meryl Streep- $24 m

Sarah Jessica Parker- $23 m

Cameron Diaz- $20 m

Sandra Bullock and Reese Witherspoon- $15 m

Nicole Kidman and Drew Barrymore- $12 m

Renee Zellweger- $10m

Cate Blanchett- $8m

Anne Hathaway and Halle Berry – $7m

Scarlett Johansson- $5.5m

Kate Winslet- $2m

Hollywood’s Top Earning Actresses (Forbes.com)

Lisa Cholodenko

Just read about two new movies where two sets of women play lovers.

Annette Bening and Julianne Moore star as partners and mothers in The Kids Are Alright.  The film is about their kids’ search for their sperm donor (played by Mark Ruffalo) altering the family dynamic forever.  Film is directed and co-written by Lisa Cholodenko and started shooting this week.

Cloudburst stars Brenda Fricker and Olympia Dukakis as long time lovers who break out of a nursing home and take a road trip.  The comedy starts filming this month in Nova Scotia.

Indie Kids Adopts Cast (Variety)

Dukakis, Fricker Set for Cloudburst (Variety)