Too bad she was only on TV and lasted only one season. Sarah Palin is no Hillary Clinton (or even Mackenzie Allen)! Remember Commander in Chief?

With another storm bearing down on New Orleans, the amazing and very disturbing documentary Trouble the Water is beginning its roll out across the country. I hope that many people see this because it is tangible evidence of mismanagement and lack of leadership that George W. Bush has wrought upon this country.

I saw it last weekend in NY and the response was tremendous. Lots of the showings were sold out, and following the screening the filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal answered questions about the film (which is becoming more and more common here in NY especially for smaller films.)

One of the things that is so remarkable about the film is that this was not the film that Deal and Lessin set out to make. They were in the area two weeks after Katrina working on a story about the Louisiana National Guard troops, and into their camera frame walked this amazing force of energy Kimberly Rivers Roberts who told them she had a story to tell. And boy did she. She and her husband Scott lived in the 9th ward just barely getting by surviving by any means necessary. As the storm approached she took out her new video camera that she had used only once before, and this amateur filmmaker with only a single tape and battery was able to record images of Katrina right from the storm's center.

The footage of Kim and the people they took in is so hard to watch. It's shakey and brutal. I actually felt nauseous while watching it which just goes to show how well I'd fare in a hurricane.

Lessin and Deal also procured hours of 911 tapes of people (the phones still worked) stuck in their homes with no way to get out. The operators in Baton Rouge took calls from trapped folks and had to break the news that there was no assistance coming until the storm ended. One woman actually realized and said that she was going to die - and there was silence on the other end of the line from the operator. What can you say to that?

Kim and her husband Scott got themselves and others they assisted out of the devastated area in a truck driving by the convention center making us recall the images of people stranded in the heat with no water and no facilities which dominated the major news coverage of Katrina.

They made it to relatives in Memphis and spent six months there before heading back to New Orleans and trying to rebuild their lives. Kim is a rapper and her music is throughout the film and one song "I am Amazing" is an anthem to a young girl's survival against all the odds.

I sometimes can't believe that this actually happened, and this morning brought it home again with the announcement of a memorial service for 80 bodies still unclaimed. 80 bodies still unclaimed. How can that be? All other remembrances have been canceled due to the impending storm. One positive note is that for people without transportation, the state is providing buses for people to get out before Gustav hits. While the folks in New Orleans are evacuating again, go and see Trouble the Water (find out where it is playing here) and think about how lucky you are on this solemn anniversary.

Cause a-holes like Alex Castellanos (why does this dick have a job on CNN?) compares Hillary Clinton to a fictional character in a 20 year old movie made at the height of the backlash against women.

Just wondering- do you think Glenn Close would take on this part now? I know that fiction is not reality, but these films have a serious shelf life and affect the culture.



I'm also throwing in another video about Hillary Clinton and misogyny cause it made me cry.



Thanks to Joan Carr-Wiggin for the heads up.

The Alliance of Women Film Journalists president, Jennifer Merin put together a piece for the Women's Media Center expanding on the research by Dr. Martha Lauzen of San Diego State U on how few female film critics there are.

Here's the point I found most relevant:

The deeply entrenched disparity between the number of women who go to movies and the number of women who write about them rankles female film critics. But the issues extend far beyond a relatively small group of media professionals to directly affect moviegoers—especially women. Many, if not most, women look to mainstream media outlets for information, and it stands to reason that they'd find the perspective of perceptive, well-informed professional female critics useful. The relative paucity of female voices in film criticism is a manifestation of an industry that favors male-made, male-oriented movies despite the fact that women are avid moviegoers.

Everyone recognizes that for better or for worse, the blogosophere is the place where these conversations will be taking place in the future. It is imperative that we get more female film bloggers writing about films. Just like there are very few female film critics at papers, women film bloggers are still a minority, especially if you dedicate yourself to writing about women.

Alliance of Women Film Journalists

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuits!!!

"To my sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you because you never gave in and you never gave up,"

Did you know that Linda Bloodworth Thomason (Designing Women) did the introductory video?

photo: Ron Edmonds/AP

Anne Hathaway gave a great interview with the AP and showed how smart and articulate she is. Rock on.

AP: What issues are you most passionate about?

Hathaway: "That's a good question, and it should be a simple one. But right now I feel like there's so many aspects of our great nation which could use a little bit of help, or a lotta bit of help, that it's hard to pick just one. I think the most important thing is the economy. We need to figure out the housing crisis. We need to build up our middle class again. Right now, the disparity between the uber-rich and the uber-poor, it's worrying and it's not getting better. We need to focus on a way to just get our economy back, to get it back on track.

"Obviously the war is a very important issue to me. We need to get our troops home, and we need to get them home now. My own personal feelings about it is when the world is kind of perfect, and we have those two things — when we're at peace and everybody has a good job — although we should be working on these at the same time, I don't mean to imply otherwise, I'm really a big advocate for health care and of course my heart lies with education."

AP: What inspires you about Obama?

"I was kind of afraid of Obama the first time I saw him. I thought, I've been burned by guys like you before. I've been burned by politicians before that I wanted to believe in and just didn't live up to it. And I was afraid to trust him and I was afraid to have hope when I first kind of became aware of him. It was around the time that he gave his speech on race that I just said 'I can't deny how I feel about you, Barack Obama. I want you to be the president. I want you in the White House.'

"I think that not only can Barack cause change — because that's where his heart lies — as a true American success story, he understands how hard it is. And when he says that he will, when people come to him with problems, he's been there. I just heard the other day, he just paid off his student loans two years ago. And so when people talk about financial issues and the higher cost of education, he really gets it. So not only do I think he has the power, the temperment and the tremendous character that can cause change in the government, I think he's the sort of person that inspires us all to be our best selves.

"He inspires us to be the best Americans we can be. And I think if he's president — when he's president, I should say — we're going to find people changing on the inside. And once we all have hope for the future, I think you're going to find everyone's going to wake up and take control of this amazing moment where there's so many things that need help, and people will all be inspired to help."

AP: Do you think that the entertainment industry has a positive or negative effect on politics?

"I think the entertainment industry has all good intentions when we try to come out. The thing that is unfortunate is that some of us who are maybe a little recognizable, we've got to come out as private citizens and support our country in any way that we can ... .

"There's a media spin on it that we're all out of touch. How could we possibly have an awareness of what real Americans feel and think and need because we just ride around in limos and — I don't know — buy diamonds all day long? That's kind of the perception. But I don't know anyone like that. I'm certainly not like that. I'm a passionate American, and that's what I am first and foremost."

photo: Matt Sayles/AP

This report on why teens start smoking is interesting because it shows that films do have influence on people, especially young people.

The report found that even brief exposure to advertising influences adolescent attitudes. Three-quarters or more of hit movies depict cigarette smoking, and specific brands can be identified in about one third.

Last month, six major movie studios -- Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, News Corp's Twentieth Century Fox, General Electric Co's Universal Pictures, Walt Disney Co and Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros -- said they would place anti-smoking public service announcements on DVDs of all movies with youth ratings that depict smoking.

So if movies influence kids to start smoking cause it looks so cool, could it be that movies also influence young people in other areas? Like how they treat women? This might be something interesting to study.

Cigarettes in movies seen to cause teen smoking (Reuters)

Why can't films? It seems that women watched the Olympics more than men -- 49% to 41%. I watched the Olympics mostly the first week because of the swimming and Dara Torres, but I also watched every women's soccer game. NBC for all their stupidity in embracing the Chinese government to an ass kissing degree was able to lure women viewers to the TV sets in large, large numbers. Michael Phelp's mom is even about to get an endorsement deal with Chico's whose clothes she wore through all his races. Can we take any lessons from the success of the Olympics in reaching women?

The large female viewership for the Olympics and the spate of spots intended for women are anomalies in TV sports.

Although women do not generally watch as much sports on TV as men do, they do watch a lot of other programs that draw fewer male viewers, among them daytime soap operas and nighttime serialized dramas.

But the Olympics differs from more prosaic shows watched by women because it is “also the perfect family programming,” said Steve Sternberg, executive vice president for audience analysis at Magna, an Interpublic media agency in New York.

“The Olympics is a great educational venue for children,” said James Lou, managing director for strategy at the Chicago office of DDB Worldwide, part of the Omnicom Group, “which gives it such an appeal to especially moms.”

Olympics Draw High Percentage of Women Viewers, and Ads Intended for Them (NY Times)

Today is the 88th anniversary of women getting the vote, and it's chick day at the Democratic National Convention. In honor of women in politics, here are some thoughts on a film I came across a film on Netflix accidentally -- The Politician's Wife.

The Politician's Wife is a 12-year-old British miniseries (3 parts) that eerily feels like it could have been written last week. While we all know the image of the deceived political spouse is not new, the image feels more relevant in these last few years -- especially this year -- with the idiocies of Elliot Spitzer and John Edwards in the headlines.

The film tells the story of Flora Matlock (played by the awesome Juliet Stevenson) as the wife of the conservative Minister of the Family. I'm sure you can already guess the premise -- he gets caught sleeping with a younger woman, promises his wife that it was nothing and that it was over before it really started. Liar. As the story unfolds it is discovered that the affair lasted a year and that there are tapes of erotic phone calls that get into Flora's hands.

At first, Flora is the good girl and stands up for the party and her husband like a good wife is supposed to do. It made me sick how all the advisers and her husband spoke down to her, while they all knew that should she waver in her support all their lives would be destroyed. The tapes fuel Flora's anger and even though outwardly it seems like she is standing by her man, she secretly puts together a plot to exact revenge on her lyin' cheatin' no good husband.

While watching this film I couldn't help but think of the conversations that Elliot Spitzer and John Edwards must have had with their wives. The sense of impunity that Trevor Eve (as Duncan Matlock) shows is so unbecoming and familiar. Why do these guys think they can constantly gets away with it?

The mini-series was written by Paula Milne during the height of all the scandals in the conservative government in Britain in the 90s. Sadly, it seems like things have not changed much today.

Other political movies that I like are The Contender and Iron Jawed Angels. What are your favorites?

She's the producer of some great girl power flicks -- The Princess Diaries 1 and 2, and the Sistehood of the Traveling Pants 1 and 2. She is also the first African American woman to have a solo producing deal at a studio.

Here's a quote she gave to Gannett News Service:

"There are fewer studios and fewer movies being made...People are reluctant to make movies geared toward women. When I made 'The Princess Diaries' (in 2001), that was a breakthrough movie. What worries me now is that we're not providing opportunities for filmmakers with different voices and different backgrounds to be heard."

Producer connects with women's diversity

It's the week of the Democratic convention and in that spirit we are going to cover some political topics this week on Women & Hollywood. While I may still be smarting that Hillary Clinton's 18 million voters are relegated to just a roll call vote, I know that it's important to get excited about Obama and Biden. I 'm just having a hard time getting it up. Are you?

One of the reasons I think I'm feeling so bereft is that I just don't see who's coming next. The pipeline for future female political leaders seems so damn short. I mean, really, what other women is going to be able to get 18 million primary voters?

what's your point, honey? is an attempt to change that paradigm. It tells the story of several young women who participated in a program with The White House Project and CosmoGirl to start them on the road to the presidency so that we have will have a pipeline so that many women will be ready to run for the highest office in the land.

Check out the trailer:


Girl power fuels what's your point, honey?. It's co-directed by Amy Sewell (who also did the awesome Mad, Hot Ballroom) and Susan Toffler. Sewell took some time to answer some questions about the film.

Women & Hollywood: What made you decide to make this film?

Amy Sewell: My filmmaking partner, Susan Toffler, wanted to really start a conversation about gender inequalities. And at the very most, we wanted our movie to serve as a marker in time, during a year when a first for history was within our reach. In 20 years, if the statistics at the end of our movie do not change, we will have a much bigger problem than anyone thinks. We have a big problem now but getting young women to realize this is quite the feat! No one wants to talk about it – hence starting the conversation to give it a push.

We felt that young women do not know they are not equal. We felt it was time for younger women to realize where they will end up if they don’t wake up and take a stand. We are 69th in the world in women’s representation in government. I mean, you read these stats and you have to be embarrassed that we don’t demand equality now! It’s illogical that we are not equal. Completely ridiculous.

W&H: What do you want young women to get out of the film?

AS: In September of 2005, right after my first film, Mad Hot Ballroom, had its run, Toffler and I decided it was time to address this tough topic (one that Hollywood won’t touch with a 10-foot pole) – feminism – and wrap it up somehow, making it entertaining and heartfelt, to make it palatable to not only younger women but the masses. And so we wrapped it around the metaphor of a woman running for president. We got lucky when Senator Clinton ran, luckier when the press crucified her in ways they wouldn’t have a man, and luckiest (bittersweet luck) when she dropped out of the race, helping us drive our point (“honey”) home. The one top slot never even gotten close to by a woman until this year – and now we don’t know when we’ll ever see that again! It might take until 2024!

W&H: Now that Hillary Clinton has run for president do you think that girls and young women will see things differently?

AS: Well, that one is a tough question because while they saw a woman run for president and get pretty far, she still didn’t get the prize AND was subjected to extreme hate for it. Only time will tell whether women will have the guts to keep taking it on. I think we do. I hope we do.

W&H: You are distributing this film in a non traditional way? How are you getting the word out about the film?

AS: The first word out of a powerful female decision-maker in Hollywood about our film was “You have to understand….I’m one woman in a room with 10 men.” That said it all. We just decided to do it ourselves. Sell direct. We took cues from Radiohead in the music industry.

But this baby was different. We didn’t want it in theaters for a week up against Hulk, Hellboy, Iron Man and Batman and then put on a shelf. We are hand-holding it. It’s bigger than just the concept of a movie. This is a mission. Add to that, I can only say that we also tried to approach Michael Moore (he had given me a quote for my book two years ago and we are both Michigan “kids”) to put this feminism movie out under his name as a joke on the industry. We thought for sure if he would do it, he would be hailed a genius -- “bold and brave” -- to take on the topic of feminism in such an entertaining and subtly poignant way.

Regardless, we have a good movie about an important topic that all mothers and fathers, grandparents, young people – all ages, should see. We have the ages 8-80 crowd-pleasing social justice cause film of the year and you can order it right off our website. You can also download a crossword puzzle we had Will Shortz’ #2 person do for and about the film. Each DVD comes with a HONEY Viewers Guide (think Readers Guides for book clubs) to help start the conversation. We also have two Study Guides – one for College and one geared to middle and high school students; both written by kick-ass professors/teachers.

And, in order to pay it forward, 30% of our net DVD profits are split up equally among The White House Project, Ms. Foundation, and Girls Inc.

We’ve also partnered up with Women Count, anyone who signs up with them (it’s free) get a promo code to get 20% off our DVD.

W&H: Why does the title - what's your point, honey? work so well and make me want to beat someone up?

AS: It’s funny. Good! It should! That is the collective way all of us women should feel, the way our souls should really feel, after 6,000 years, of being treated as less. I’m advocating the use of our minds and souls to finally stand up and demand what is rightfully ours – respect -- along equal pay, ownership of our bodies, and corporate or government consideration for child and elder care.

The title is actually from a Jim Borgman cartoon from the Cincinnati Enquirer. Hillary (Clinton) is pointing to a world chart where the names of the numerous other countries have had women leaders and Uncle Sam is saying “What’s your point, honey?” It kind of summed it all up for us for our film. Our logline is “It’s not about one…..” – which we think drives it all home – in many, many ways – both literal and figuratively.

W&H: Do you think we're going to have a woman president before 2024?

AS: No. Sorry. I wish I could say yes. I’d like to say yes, but I don’t think we’ve seen the beginning of this backlash yet from Senator Clinton running (it’s strong, invisible and deadly). But I do think we are on our way. I think more and more women will go into local, state and federal government to start feeding the pipeline of the choice we need to get there.

I don’t think we’ve seen even the tip of the next wave of feminism. It is coming and come hell or high water, I’m fighting all the way to my grave to see a day of equality. I used to say it was for my daughters – this fight in me – but you know what? It’s for me. They are learning (they are 10) but they will have to fight for what they think is right. Right now, I’m in it, I’m in it deep, and in it to win. I don’t know of any other way.

We’ve got to build the army. Women who have the time and privilege need to fight for our sisters who don’t have the time or maybe have to first fight racism and/or religious persecution. Look, I’m happy to hold at 77 cents to get my sisters of color caught up to that pay level – then we can all march on for the equal buck together. This is not a fight to get fragmented about – we are ALL women.

And overall, the goal is NOT just to have a woman president – what does that matter if she is not going to bring our issues to the table? The goal is to someday have just as many women as men run for president so we can PAST gender to agenda. That’s when the issues will be a given at the table. We are looking for equal representation at all levels.

W&H: Where can people see this film?

AS: We continue to have benefit screenings for women’s groups around the country and you can find out where by checking out the “now playing” section on our website.

But we emphasize buying the DVD and getting the Viewers Guide. Host a screening party – start the conversation! Pass it around! Show 100 people! Approach your local art house theater cut a deal and invite the community! Show it as a fundraiser a local women’s nonprofit you support! We own the rights and therefore, we advocate having everyone and anyone serve as screening “ambassadors.”

W&H: Women directors seem to do much better in the documentary world. Why do you think that is the case and why are there so few fictional female film directors?

AS: We don’t have to depend on Hollywood to help us with the money. I just read your column today – look, we have to take responsibility of where we are – not blame anyone. If that means giving box office to women directors, let’s do it. If that means “girlcotting” companies that don’t speak to us, let’s do it (god forbid, here comes the “she’s not a true-blue American capitalist” – know that I am – more than anyone knows!). If it means only doing business with other women or men who are pro-women, then so be it. There are ways we can show our power. We are 80% of the purchasing power in this wonderful democratic country of ours! But a true democracy means equality for all – so let’s get to that!

I’d love to see all the female directors get the key fiction films. I think we haven’t seen enough of they way we can deliver a movie to an audience. I’ll tell you another thing, I think our margin for error to fail is too great. Men seem to be allowed to fail in this industry with nine or more lives attached to them to come back and make more money. Women directors get one chance. That’s crazy. We get boxed into being the perfect girl, much like looking for the first female president – I fear we are only given room to look for the perfect girl. That perfection is killing us. Toffler and I joke that the day we are truly equal is the day when women can be gross-gut-bustin’, TV-watching, scratchy, “I’ll deal with the garbage later,” beer-drinking, crotch-itching, slacker guys and be revered for it! We are looking forward to that day!

Thanks to Salon and reader Lis Riba

Happy almost Labor Day. While Hollywood is dumping films these last two weekends before everyone gets back on track for fall (one, The House Bunny, is about a woman getting kicked out of the Playboy mansion because she is too old, please!), some of the rest of us are focused on the upcoming political conventions and the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

To commemorate that anniversary, opening this weekend in NY and LA, is Trouble the Water, a documentary that won the best documentary feature award at Sundance this year. I haven't seen it, but I am desperate to, and will be there this weekend. Anyone want to join me? Email me.

Here's the description: This astonishingly powerful documentary takes you inside Hurricane Katrina in a way never before seen on screen. Incorporating remarkable home video footage shot by Kimberly Rivers Roberts-an aspiring rap artist trapped with her husband in the 9th Ward-Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine producers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal weave this insider's view of Katrina with a devastating portrait of the hurricane's aftermath. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, TROUBLE THE WATER is a redemptive tale of self-described street hustlers who become heroes-two unforgettable people who survive the storm and then seize a chance for a new beginning.

Check out the trailer here: Trouble the Water. The film will be rolling out across the country in the coming weeks.

On a completely different note, for those of you with kids stuck between camp and school, The Longshots might be a good way to spend some time. Don't get me wrong, this is not a great sports movie, or even a great girls sports movie (my favorite is still Bend it Like Beckham), but it's the interesting true story about the first girl to play quarterback in the Pop Warner football league. Keke Palmer is adorable as Jasmine a shy, sad girl more into reading than socializing. Her single mom works long hours, and she winds up hanging out with her down on his luck uncle Curtis played by Ice Cube, a former football star. Turns out Jasmine is like her uncle and has a knack for football. She tries out for the town football team and winds up the starting quarterback and takes the team, and the depressed former mill town, on a great ride all the way to the Pop Warner Super Bowl.

I'm a sucker for feel good sports movies so I enjoyed it. It's pretty sappy and corny. But I have to say that I thought it showed just how far we have come for girls in sports because it didn't dwell too long on whether a girl could play. That was almost an afterthought. The guys on her team gave her some hazing but I liked the fact that the film didn't get stuck on that issue.

Other Women-Centric Films in Theatres
Frozen River is rolling out across the country. Find out where it is playing in your neighborhood here
American Teen
Mamma Mia!
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
Sex and the City
The Last Mistress (limited)
A Girl Cut in Two (limited)

Ellen Goodman's column. Her annual Equal Rites awards. The woman is so fuckin' brilliant I needed to publish the whole column here. It appears in today's Boston Globe.

One small step for women, one giant leap for sexism

ONCE MORE we prepare to honor our foremothers by celebrating the anniversary of the passage of women's suffrage. Each year, in advance of Aug. 26, our one-woman committee gathers to hand out the Equal Rites Awards to those stalwarts who have done the most in the past year to set back the cause of women.

What to say of the last 12 months? This is the year girls finally caught up with boys in math achievement. And the year women finally achieved equality with men in job losses. This year we had the first serious female contender for the White House. And all she will end up with at the convention is a roll call vote.

But enough of all that. The envelopes please.

We begin with the highly competitive Blind Justice Award. This usually goes to some worthy American, but a Russian judge swept ahead of the pack when he ruled against a woman's charge of sexual harassment. "If we had no sexual harassment," he said, "we would have no children." We send this judge the blindfold to use as a gag.

Can he lend it to a French colleague? In Lille, a judge granted an annulment to a Muslim groom because his bride was not a virgin, "single and chaste." For this, he wins the Taliban Wannabe Prix, with a side order of freedom fries and our hope that he will not permit stoning on the Champs-Élysées.

Back on this side of the Atlantic, the Fashion Victim Award goes to Wrangler Jeans for ads that display women as half-dressed corpses. Ah, yes, homicide is so chic! Dead is the new black! Our prize is a sword thrust through their profit margin.

Sex and violence sell in the virtual world as well. The makers of "Grand Theft Auto IV" win the Raging Hormonal Imbalance Trophy for training men how to have interactive intimacy with prostitutes and then murder them. They call this a game.

Meanwhile, in the online girlworld, the Post-Feminist Booby Prize goes to those wondrous creators of "Miss Bimbo." This game encourages bimbos-in-training to buy their avatars everything from sexy lingerie to face lifts and breast implants, thereby producing "the hottest, coolest, most famous bimbo in the whole world." You go, bimbo!

Do I hear the sound of a backlash? The Backlash Award goes to Washington University, which gave an honorary degree to Phyllis Schlafly for leading the charge against women's rights. What's next, honoraries for segregationists?

Alas, we hoped to retire the Tammy Wynette Stand by Your Man Award. But there was Silda standing by Eliot Spitzer when New York's then-governor had his taste in prostitutes revealed. And what to say about the admired Elizabeth Edwards? She didn't do the perp's wife's walk, but didn't she enable John to think he could still be president? We send these wives our disappointment.

This leads us to the Dubious Equality Award for the person who wins the most suspect equal right. Our winner is Thomas Beatie, nee Tracy, who gave birth after a sex-change operation, thereby dubbing himself the first man to have a baby. This is not what we mean by shared parenting.

What's next on the baby front? Tarted-up tots? The Our Bodies, Our Daughters Citation goes to those fetishists selling stilettos for baby girls. Hey guys, they're babies, not babes. Get thee to the foot binder.

Or the football field. Our Superstars of Sexism Prize goes to those Jets fans - you know who you are - who spend halftime lined up, whistling and demanding that women display their breasts. For this brain malfunction you get a chauvinist pigskin.

Which reminds us of the Media Ms.-Adventure Award. With Hillary-misogyny all around, we picked our winners from opposite ends of the radio dial. The right-wing Rush Limbaugh insisted that Americans wouldn't want to watch a woman aging in the White House. The left-wing Randi Rhodes called the senator a "big [expletive] whore." Their prize is spending the rest of the election locked together in one studio.

Finally, dishonorable mention to all those with bumper stickers reading "Life's a Bitch, Don't Elect One." We cover them with the final words of Susan B. Anthony: "Failure Is Impossible."

Ellen- I love you!

The man has always gotten it. Many of his movies have starred women in interesting and substantive roles. His newest and most upbeat, Happy Go Lucky opens in October.

"I'm a feminist, though that's not where I came from,"

"As a film-maker, I feel I have to make good parts for women because there aren't many in the world, parts that are not just male fantasies."

Wouldn't it be great if other male filmmakers thought the same way?
Mike Leigh: portraying women as "not just male fantasies" (AFP)
photo: Simon Mein courtesy of Miramax Films

I am so sick of how often David Mamet's misogynistic plays get revived. Most women can't even get a single production, but his shit keeps getting revived over and over. According to today's the NY Times two productions of Mamet's shows are coming to Broadway this season: American Buffalo and Speed-the-Plow.

How is a woman playwright supposed to get a production mounted when she has to compete with this?

Enough of the David Mamet revivals!

Crazy stuff. Golshifteh Farahani was recently prevented from leaving Iran for meetings in LA with Hollywood agents after she had previously taken a part in an upcoming Hollywood film Body of Lies (starring Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio and opening on October 10) without permission.

Permission to act? Detained? Scary.
Actress banned from leaving Iran (BBC)

This whole post comes from reader Carol Morrison-

"Although this relates to areas other than the film industry, the point is valid -- until the ranks of leadership in every industry reflect the diversity of the country (and especially the diversity of college and professional grads), there is something other than meritocracy defining who gets the top jobs.

The question is, are the underprivileged unconsciously colluding with the privileged in buying into their formulas for success? Big house, fancy car, etc., in other words, employing the same toys to designate power? Do powerful women need to create their own power symbols and offer a different perspective on how power can express itself?"

This is from the Columbia Journal on Gender and Law (2007)

The statistics are sobering. In the United States, women are a majority of the electorate but hold only a quarter of upper-level state governmental positions and sixteen percent of congressional seats. (2) More than half of college graduates but less than a quarter of full professors and a fifth of college presidents are female. (3) In management, women account for about a third of M.B.A. classes, but only two percent of Fortune 500 CEOs, six percent of top earners, eight percent of top leadership positions, and sixteen percent of board directors and corporate officers. (4) In law, women constitute about half of new entrants to the profession, but less than a fifth of law firm partners and Fortune 500 general counsels, and less than a third of federal judges and law school deans. (5) The gap widens for women of color, who account for only about four percent of congressional legislators, three percent of full professors, and one to two percent of corporate officers, top earners, law firm partners, and general counsels. (6) The leadership pipeline plainly leaks; women are lost at every stage.

"Change begins with protest but expands by taking initiatives to create change.

Another point to add -- Why don't women create their own list of the top women in Hollywood and put up their own list of criteria for being at the top. Maybe begin by holding a debate among women leaders themselves as to what criteria should be used?

As long as women surrender to men the power to anoint them with recognition, they reinforce men's stature as the judges of, and power-givers to, women."

Awesome piece Carol- how about it- should we create our own list?

• Artistic License Films has acquired theatrical rights to director Pamela Tanner Boll's documentary "Who Does She Think She Is?" The film looks at the "mothering-versus-working choice" faced particularly by American women artists. (IndieWire)

• Balcony Releasing has announced its acquisition of the U.S. distribution of Abigail Disney and Gini Reticker's doc "Pray The Devil Back To Hell." The film, which was awarded Best Documentary Feature at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, tells the story of a small band of Liberian women who came together in the midst of a horrific civil war and successfully (and peacefully) took on the Charles Taylor regime. This Fork Films produced the film in association with Wide Angle 13/WNET. Balcony will release the film this fall. (Indiewire)

• Kimberly Johnson, writer of Benderspink's upcoming woman-in-peril screenplay "Curve," is set to pen another female-led thriller for Capacity Pictures. (HR)

• Hilary Swank's production company has picked up the rights to the best-seller "French Women Don't Get Fat," and the actress is eyeing the project as a potential starring vehicle. (HR)

• Natalie Portman's directorial debut will open the Venice International Film Festival's short-film sidebar. Portman's 17-minute "Eve," which Venice organizers called "a civilized comedy," stars Lauren Bacall and Ben Gazzara. It will screen in an out-of-competition slot. (HR)

• Mimi Leder will direct "Remember Their Names," a film about a young merchant marine's tour of duty in WWII alongside Woody Guthrie. (Variety)

• Sarah Jessica Parker's art competition reality show has found a home at Bravo. The show is a "Project Runway"-style competition series that takes on the art world. Aspiring artists compete to produce various styles of artwork (painting, sculpting, etc.), which is then judged by a panel of experts. (HR)
  

My subscription to US magazine just ran out and I am not renewing it. I made that decision for a variety of reasons but mostly because I don't want to encourage the paparazzi fueled world we live in where stars are made based on your underwear (or lack of underwear).

But I miss it. Oh boy do I miss it. I know it will get easier after I go through the withdrawal and stop thinking of having it. But this is tough. Tougher than I thought it would be.

Today I caught myself swiping a magazine from my local muffin joint (I will return it) just so I could get a fix. A couple of days ago at the gym I saw an issue lying on the ground and almost pounced on it (glad no one else went for it before me cause they would have been hurt.)

Wanting to read this crap so badly makes me feel like an idiot. Why am I so addicted? And why is it women that are more into it than guys?

Well, I guess I just answered my own question. Crap is the stuff we covet that's bad for us. So US magazine has joined yodels on the growing list of crap I have given up.

One point for me.

I know that breast cancer is all the rage, but for all the talk and races and charities it is still rare for people -- especially those in Hollywood -- to talk about the disease and how it effects them personally. It's even rarer to see a young woman's face on this disease.

Christina Applegate has put a face to this disease in a very powerful way. She has been so brave in talking about her double mastectomy (at 36) and her positive test for the breast cancer gene and her family's struggle with this disease since her mother's diagnosis.

While many women get fake boobs in Hollywood this is one woman who got fake boobs to save her life instead of trying to get a job. She's impressed me.

Christina Applegate cancer free after double mastectomy (Reuters)
photo: Chris Hatcher/ PR Photos

Rachel Maddow is awesome. She is not the typical female TV commentator. Firstly, she's not blonde, secondly she's a dyke, and thirdly she's a lefty. She's also so frickin smart (a Rhodes scholar), interesting, and most important of all doesn't sound exactly like every other TV pundit.

She filled in for Keith Olbermann on MSNBC this summer and was great. Now they are recognizing her talent and popularity and she's getting her own show on MSNBC starting on September 8.

It's a whole new world now. Rachel Maddow at 9 and the AC 360 at 10. What a great political season it will be.

Check out Rebecca Traister's profile of Maddow from earlier this summer.

Taking a break. Sporadic blogging for the next couple of weeks.

Hope you understand.

Melissa

Paula Wagner partial co-owner (with Tom Cruise) and CEO of UA is leaving the studio. She will reportedly be returning to producing and will no longer be partnered with Tom Cruise who also recently left his long time agent Rick Nicita who happens to be Paula's husband.

Here's Wagner's statement.

"I’ve truly relished working with my longtime partner Tom Cruise to revitalize United Artists, and I am proud of all that we’ve accomplished in the past two years, reinvigorating the brand and developing such a strong slate of films," she said. "But I always tell my sons, ‘Follow your passion’ — and I’ve got to follow that advice myself. As much as I’ve enjoyed my time as an executive, I have longed to return to my true love, which is making movies, so that’s what I’ve decided to do. I still believe in our vision for UA, and I am confident that Harry Sloan and our colleagues at MGM will see that vision through to reality."

Here's the reporting on the issue

Paula Wagner leaves UA (Variety)
Paula Wagner departs United Artists studio (Hollywood Reporter via Reuters)

Am I surprised that there is a woman on Judd Apatow's team who has produced most of his successful comedies? No. Those guys clearly need someone who can get shit done cause they seem totally stoned the whole time. She's a "guys girl", cute and seeming non-confrontational. (We all know those women and girls)

Shauna Robertson seems to be the perfect enabler for Judd Apatow's juvenile comedy team. She takes care of all the details as illuminated in Rachel Abramowitz' recent LA Times piece. (BTW Abramowitz doesn't do her any favors with her condescending tone describing her as "tiny and looking 12.")

Here's how Judd describes her value:

"She is the rare woman who always wants to take the joke farther than any man wants to go. All nudity in my films is a result of Shauna pushing me and calling me a wimp. If it wasn't for her I would be making 'Bratz 2.'"

I think that Judd would do great making Bratz 2.

Her thoughts on whether Knocked Up was sexist. (Why bother asking her the question, she works with Apatow.)

"I don't share that opinion. I feel like we have very strong women in our movies."

Has she seen any of these movies?

But it's this last quote that troubles me the most and illustrates why we need to continue to push for more women directors. (If I were a female producer I would give her smack down about she has completely demeaned the role of the producer.)

Robertson appears relatively ego-free about what she does except to say that it's essentially an extension of how she started out, as a director's assistant. The title has changed; the function has not. "I always do the same job. I don't always remember what the credit is."

It's great, now every director's assistant can dream of being a producer of misogynistic comedies.

Scarlett Johansson has criticised Hollywood's treatment of older women.

The 23-year-old actress and singer said that the movie industry was harder on women than men.

Johansson told Hello! magazine: "Women kind of wilt as men sort of achieve as they get older, like wine or whatever. It's like, 'Oh, she's past her prime and she can't play a sex symbol'."

The Girl With A Pearl Earring star, who is engaged to Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds, 31, added: "It's just a preconceived notion about women in general and particularly in this industry. It's a very vain, vain industry."

via The Press Association

Penelope Cruz is a dynamic, exciting young actress. She's got fire in her, probably because she is not a cookie cutter American actress. But I must note with disdain that her two most recent films are written or based on material by narcissistic old white Jewish guys.

The first, Elegy, intrigued me because it is directed by the Spanish director Isabelle Coixet. It stars Ben Kingsley as a professor who loses it when he meets a young woman played by Cruz. But, as I read more about the film, I discovered that it was based on The Dying Animal a novel by Phillip Roth, and if I saw the film I would have to break one of my basic tenents -- I don't do Phillip Roth. I tried years ago but just couldn't do it. My ban on Roth was further confirmed when I read actress Claire Bloom's account of her marriage to him and it made me sick.

Penelope also stars in the new Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona which is about two women obsessed with the same man (not Allen, thank goodness) and then to make it more titilating to the guys Woody throws a third woman into the mix. Sounds like a guy's fantasy -- not that I would expect any less from Woody Allen. Since Allen is basically a has been he threw in a girl on girl kiss between Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz which is enough to get the film some buzz.

Woody is another one on my banned list since way back when he screwed Mia (and her daughter). I'm too young to revere Allen for his 1970s movies. I like Annie Hall (and I still can't believe WTF Diane Keaton saw in him) and Hannah and Her Sisters, but the fact that Woody Allen gets the money to make his narcissistic films each year makes my blood boil. Aren't they are all about the same thing?

Give me a break.

Why Can't the Hollywood Suits?

Quote from filmmaker Benh Zeitlin (via Spout Blog) who was named on of Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Indie Film.

Female characters in general have to be the most gaping disparity between life and cinema. Women are amazing, how come not in movies? I’m mean, look around you, women are friends with each other, I can count the number of believable female friendships I’ve seen on screen on one hand, and I’m not talking about that hackneyed faux-feminist Thelma and Louise shit. Minnie and Moskowitz has a great friendship, Days of Heaven has one, Rosie and Madonna in A League of their Own totally make it happen, Fucking Amal by Moodyson has one, and then I draw a blank.

I think the easiest way to make a good film is just to write three dimensional women, you’ll already be way ahead of 98% of movies these days. And it’s not just talking about art films, 10 or 15 years ago, in big movies you had great women, Die Hard, great, Point Break, Aliens, and its not like these ladies are such brilliantly rounded figures, but they at least have some spunk, some personality, a sense of humor, and a degree of humanity to them, unlike the cardboard cut outs they’re serving up today. Even in the better blockbusters, Spiderman, Pirates of the Caribbean, these women are total nonsense, even if you’re just going to write a damsel in distress to motivate your dude hero, you got to give him something to fight for with a little personality.

Love the quote but totally disagree with his thoughts on Thelma and Louise.

I guess I should be thanking Peter Bart for his short-sighted, sexist, petty, pathetic editorial exposing a supposedly dirty secret about women in Hollywood - that they are competitive for jobs and recognition.

So thank you Peter Bart for illuminating the misogyny in Hollywood that women feel and sense but isn't always laid out in such clear fashion. I'm sure he thought it was cute making fun of the women who have fought their way to power, but what he has succeeded in doing is pissing women off. It might have taken a week (this is August after all) but in the last two days Bart's editorial has been ping ponging around town and hopefully the anger will create a call to action.

Here are some of his "brilliant" thoughts (my thoughts not indented):

Publications love to publish lists of power women, to be sure, not because publishers necessarily admire women but because women's lists spout money -- big money.

And here's the other dirty little secret about them: There is more competition -- ferocious competition -- among women to gain placement on these power lists than for any other feature in Variety. I'm talking petulant phone calls, veiled pleas (and threats) from male bosses, bottles of expensive wine -- and yes, yelling and screaming.

So it's not the men not the women making the threats -- shocker!

Sure, there's also some nudging and elbowing for placement on male power lists, but it's nothing compared to the women's issues.

Why do these women's lists generate so much "heat"? Here's one theory:

The "glass ceiling" preventing women from attaining top jobs has all but vanished -- especially in the media and entertainment business.

Can the editor in chief of Variety really believe that the glass ceiling has all but vanished when all the top decision makers except Amy Pascal at Sony are men? Doesn't he know who runs the studios?

As a result, the competitiveness of women has now surpassed that of their masculine counterparts. The guys these days have suddenly awakened to their "sensitive," huggy side. The women are keenly aware that they can compete with the guys, and win. And, by god, they're going for it.

The upshot: It's rough out there. And the prepping of the lists reflects it.

"You've got to include X on your power list," the esteemed chief of one top talent agency told me. "She's deserving. And if she's not included, she'll cut my balls off."

How can you ignore that urgent a request?

"I'm the one who made this network tick," urged one woman programmer. "What criteria are you using if I'm not on that list?"

Of course, lists are always dicey in the criteria department. Variety's list is intended to recognize women who have had a significant impact on the business during the past year. Forbes, to be sure, has it easier: They just add up the bucks. (J.K. Rowling had the biggest stash thanks to the "Potter" factory.)

Madelyn Hammond, Variety's chief marketing officer, who has presided over myriad women's events, both agrees and disagrees with these theories.

"Women are attaining more power these days, but the achievements of women over 40 still tend to be taken for granted. They become invisible. That's why a little recognition goes a long way."

Maybe she's right. We all suffer our moments of invisibility, male or female. Come to think of it, I haven't been on a power list lately.

It's hysterical that Bart is put in his place by his own own chief marketing officer clarifying for him the realities of women. I think he should be embarrassed. Here's my advice to Peter -- shut up and write about something you know, cause clearly you have no clue what's going on with women.

Dr. Martha Lauzen (the one who started the chain of sending this around) wrote a response that says it so much better than I ever could.

Letter to the Editor:

In last week's column (Variety, Aug 4-10) , Peter Bart described the "ferocious competition" among women seeking to gain a place on Variety's annual list of female power players. The column included a quotation from an unnamed talent agency chief who claimed that if his female client were not included on the list, she'd "cut (his) balls off." Hmmm, powerful women as cat fighting, castrating shrews. Not an original stereotype but certainly one with staying power.

Mr. Bart's characterization belies a worldview that categorizes ambitious women as overly competitive and puts women in a classic double bind. These observations smack of sexism just as those who criticize Barack Obama for his confidence and arrogance reek of racism. ... A woman willing and able to compete in a highly competitive business is a ballbuster, whereas a man exhibiting similar behavior is simply playing the game. It's a double standard, clear and simple. If women don't express an interest in being on the list, they don't gain the recognition they likely deserve. If they do lobby for a position as one of the most powerful women, they're ballbusters. Luckily, the women who occupy powerful positions aren't naïve enough to be cowed by this type of name-calling.

In addition, Mr. Bart surmised that the reason women have become more competitive is that the glass ceiling that once prevented them from attaining top positions has "vanished -- especially in the media and entertainment business." Sadly, this reasoning is simply inconsistent with reality. Do women hold high-profile positions in television and film? Absolutely. Is there any evidence that women have shattered the glass ceiling by achieving employment parity with their male counterparts? Not a shred.

Let's consider the facts. Only one woman, Amy Pascal, currently serves as chairman of a major film studio. Two women hold the position of president of entertainment at the broadcast networks, Dawn Ostroff at the CW and Nina Tassler at CBS. ...According to the latest Boxed In study, women comprised only 22% of executive producers working on primetime television programs airing on the broadcast networks during the 2007-08 season. According to the latest Celluloid Ceiling study, women comprised a scant 6% of directors working on the top 250 domestic grossing films of 2007.

Perhaps a more accurate explanation for women's competitiveness regarding inclusion on the power list is that they know the glass ceiling remains firmly in place -- especially in the media and entertainment industries. I suspect that the women Mr. Bart hears from recognize that the Hollywood myth-making machinery continues to lionize the careers of men who direct and produce films or reside in executive suites at the studios and networks. Positive press helps enable men who perform at even average levels to get booted up the corporate ladder or get their next directing deal. In contrast, when women perform well they are considered somewhat unattractive exceptions in a world still dominated by men.

In the business of show, the visibility-creating apparatus of power lists -- and even talkshows focusing on the film industry ("Shootout," for example) --can be integral to one's success. If women contact Variety regarding inclusion on the power list, they simply recognize the importance of being seen in a business that rewards such recognition.

-- Dr. Martha M. Lauzen, executive director, Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, School of Theatre, Television and Film, San Diego State U.

This comes off of a Jessica Alba fan site, the Jessica Alba Story but looks real. Can't tell where the quotes are from though.

photo: Chris Hatcher/ PR Photos

Gina Ravera is an anomaly in Hollywood today, a woman of color who stars in not one, but two hit TV series -- ER and The Closer. Her film credits, among many others, include The Great Debators opposite Denzel Washington, director George Tillman’s award-winning Soul Food, Kiss The Girls with Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd, Spike Lee’s Get On The Bus and Paul Verhoeven’s cult classic Showgirls. She also is the founder of Project Reina, which educates young African American and Latina girls about HIV/AIDS prevention.

Women & Hollywood: Most actresses have trouble getting one job on a TV series and you have two. How is that possible?

Gina Ravera: Both shows are done by Warner Brothers. It's a real blessing to have two jobs. The character I play on ER (Bettina DeJesus) is a lot closer to me. She's a lot of fun. The development of Detective Daniels on The Closer has been fascinating. Her character didn't really exist in the pilot. She's been evolving as the years go on.

W&H: I think it's fascinating that Daniels is the only other woman on the squad except for Deputy Chief Brenda Lee Johnson (played by Kyra Sedgwick).

GR: People wonder why there isn't more solidarity between Daniels and Brenda and the truth from the writer's perspective is that it is difficult for a woman in any industry, especially something as male dominated as the LAPD to be seen as an equal to men. The women have to prove that they are not going to come together just because they are women. It's not that the women aren't threatened, but if you align yourself with a woman in a male dominated profession, the men are suspicious. They want to be perceived as a legitimate cops, as tough and as strong as their male counterparts.

W&H: The first couple of seasons of The Closer were spent trying to get the men of the squad to trust Brenda as their leader. Now that trust has been established the show is moving into a whole new area where personal lives are revealed, especially with your character who happens to be dating a person on the squad.

GR: Having a relationship at work is sticky. If it doesn't work out how do you come back and not have that color how effective you are. That was Brenda's main concern about Daniels and Sgt. Gabriel (Corey Reynolds). The relationship has been pretty quiet onscreen but in the episode that aired last week all of Brenda's fears came to pass. This season is about power, the loss of power, the acquisition of power and also about finding out how little power one has.

W&H: One of the things I've noticed is how few women of color we see in positions of power and as characters on TV shows and here you are you playing a detective and a doctor.

GR: I was talking to a friend of mine and said (whatever your politics are) I look forward to seeing the Condoleeza Rices on TV. I hope that she exists in Hollywood. I want to see the Michelle Obamas in Hollywood because until this day we have yet to see her. I think those images are important because not every young kid reads the paper, but seeing that it is a possibility is of the utmost importance. I think that it is from fiction that we learn to dream, and if we don't have images in fiction that we aspire to be then we're robbed. It's sad when fiction fails to embrace reality. I too look forward to seeing those images of women in power. I feel so fortunate to be able to play a doctor and a detective - there are so many powerful women of color. I hope to see Hollywood embrace real women and characters.

W&H: Can you give a hint about what's going to happen to Betttina this season on ER?

GR: The power of love is mighty. Bettina rejected Pratt (Mekhi Phifer) through so much for their relationship because he didn't stand up. He didn't come to her in the way that she needed which was to really cherish and adore her. She demanded that because she felt she deserved nothing less and she gets that.

W&H: Any last thoughts?

GR: It is absolutely our responsibility to create more opportunities for ourselves and we only get that by tuning in and by speaking up.

The Closer airs Monday nights on TNT. ER returns for its final season this fall on NBC.

USA Today has several great stories featuring women's power in film. The first, Hollywood's power women shed light on movies this summer, talks about the successes of Sex and the City and Mamma Mia and what that could mean for the future.

For these two pictures, having female talent calling at least some of the shots made all the difference.

"It absolutely matters who's behind the scenes," says Martha Lauzen, executive director of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University. "When you have at least one woman in a position of power, such as an executive producer or director, you not only get more female characters, but more dimensional and powerful female characters."

If Sex and the City and Mamma Mia! have proved anything, it's that it makes no difference to the bottom line if most men decide to steer clear. Women did it all by themselves.

And if female moviegoers want more of the same, they will have to continue to take a break from their busy routines and buy a ticket again.

"Go see a movie about women on the opening weekend, that is what matters to Hollywood," says Melissa Silverstein, who blogs on the Women & Hollywood site and contributes to the Huffington Post. "We need to build our economic power and prove we're a market."

Cash, at least, doesn't have a gender bias.

"The only thing that makes anyone pay attention is money," says Diane English, the creator of TV's Murphy Brown whose update of the 1939 Joan Crawford-Norma Shear classic The Women arrives Sept. 12.

"Anyone who thinks otherwise shouldn't be in this business. Young men under 25 keep seeing comic-book and slasher films, and that's why Hollywood makes them. If women want to change things, they can't wait for the DVD."

Ok, how cool is it that they have my quote and then Diane English's quote. Could I be any more psyched? It's true that we have to build a market but the only way we can build the market is that if there are quality movies out there for us to see.

Women won't go see a piece a shit movie like a 25-year-old boy, its just not going to happen, so the quality of films and the marketing of these films is key. Hollywood really needs to figure out how to market to women. They spend so much money on research but can't figure out how to get our butts in the seats except for the biggest, most high profile films. I think that even the smaller films could find an audience if Hollywood cared enough to market to us properly. Their marketing kind of reminds me of not too long ago when all medical testing was done on men and then all the findings were extrapolated to include women. Women are not just smaller men, we are different. Why is that so hard to understand?

Fashioning a future for women in Hollywood
These ladies got the moves at the box office

Indie film director Allison Anders (Gas, Food, Lodging) and her daughter musician Tiffany Anders co-created and co-curate the Don't Knock the Rock Film and Music Festival in LA. The festival continues through this month.

Women & Hollywood: Why did you start the Don't Knock the Rock Film and Music Festival and how long has it been in existence?

Allison Anders: This is our 4th year! I had created a class at UCSB where I teach one quarter a year called "Don't Knock The Rock" which was a history of rock n roll told through movies. I enjoyed teaching it so much, that I wanted to create a festival. I had also been inspired by a short-lived festival like this in Sheffield England back in 1999, when I was an honored guest there. They screened several of my music based movies and I had the best time, cause I was surrounded by music films, which – when they're good, for me there's nothing better!

But I wanted to add a live music element to our festival, so I asked Tiffany who was about to move back to LA from living in New York, if she'd be into curating the music for the festival. So we have been doing it that way ever since – I curate the films, she puts together the music line-ups. The very first year her LINE-UPS were reviewed, beautifully I might add – I had never seen line-ups reviewed!

Tiffany always has her ear to the ground for new music, and she is a master at predicting who will take off. She also has great love and rich knowledge of often more obscure artists who are on the verge of re-discovery.

We work together pairing the movies with live music (and DJs!). We have very similar sensibilities, and we don't shy away from stuff that may seem too marginal – cause somehow between the two of us we know how to reach the people who are avid fans of some obscure artist and get them out to see a movie about them!

We moved this year to our new home The Silent Movie Theater and it's a partnership made in movie and music nerd heaven!

W&H: What films and bands are you most proud of from this year?

AA: Well of course, we are thrilled with ALL of our films and bands! But we have been pretty stunned by how many films this year were directed or co-directed by women! Over HALF – that's quite a record! Last month we screened an incredible film by Ava DuVernay, our very first hip hop movie called "This Is The Life", and the week before that a film by Pamela Valente called Rock 'N' Tokyo about the punk and rockabilly scene in Japan.

Tiffany Anders: I have been very pleased with every performance we've had this year.One of my happy moments was 2 years ago when I received an email from Gary Wilson who said he had read about DKTR and was interested in it and that he currently had a film being made about him and that he would love to be involved. I didn't miss a beat and asked if he would like to "cover" (and I certainly knew Gary Wilson would not deliver a straight version) of a Daniel Johnston song to play after the dvd release party of " The Devil and Daniel Johnston". He agreed and since then we kept in touch. It was great to have him come back with the completed film and play live, and needless to say the audience was just as ecstatic as I was.

W&H: What's coming up that you want people to know about?

AA: Yesterday, we had 2 Punk Rock Premieres – one about the Chicago punk scene (You Weren't There) and one about the Dallas Fort Worth scene (DFW PUNK) – one directed by a woman and one co-directed by a woman. These are both fabulous looks at regional punk scenes during the same block of years.

August 14 we have a BBC documentary on Stiff Records, with an amazing Stiff Tribute Concert by the cream of the local crop of music talent after the movie with some special treats for Stiff fans!

TA: August 14th is going to be amazing fun. I have put together a Stiff tribute band that includes myself on guitar, Jessica Espeleta (ESPS) on guitar, Chet Bently on Bass and Terry Graham ( Gun Club, The Bags) on drums.

We also have amazing guest vocalists Dante ( Starlight Desperation), Jade Gordon (from art performance troop "My Barbarian", and Ian Marshall.

We have been rehearsing for that and it has been SO fun. It really makes you appreciate Stiff Records, they just had so many great artists who wrote such fun songs!

AA: On August 16 we have a Sonic Youth Concert film shot entirely by high school students called "Sleeping Nights Awake". We also have a BMI sponsored roundtable chat on getting your music into Films, TV And New Media and on clearing music for your work.

On August 21 we have a film called "Under The Covers" a fascinating look at the collaboration between photographer Henry Diltz and artist Gary Burden who created some of the most iconic album covers of the classic rock era. And after that a look at the eccentric world and music of one man bands!

On August 28, a beautiful film by New Zealand director Briget Sutherland on musician David Kilgour.

TA: David Kilgour was also in one of my favorite bands The Clean. Also we screened Steve Hanfts film "Return of the Rub a Dub style" and there was a scene where someone was being interviewed in a club and there was a flyer for a David Kilgour show in the background. I got a real kick out of that!

And we come back on Sept 6 for the DVD release party for riot girl favorite "Ladies And Gentlemen The Fabulous Stains" starring a young Diane Lane and Laura Dern from 1982.

W&H: What makes this festival unique?

AA: We show music movies that are for the informed and music savvy. We don't try to get the huge music films because they are really better served by the big festivals. Consequently, we cooperate with other festivals rather than compete. It's so great having that kind of support, cause these bigger festivals can sometimes alert us to films they can't take, but that would be better served by us.

And because we're an intimate, niche hand-made festival, we can take the time to find the obsessive fans and music nerds. And I think we do things in a personal way that is hard for larger festivals to do. And no one programs music line-ups the way Tiffany can – she just KNOWS!

TA: I feel strongly that both underground film and music does not get the support it needs to flourish and clearly from the success of DKTR it is obvious that people are very much interested in these films and these bands.

I think since my mother and I are both non- commercial, non corporate artists we are very sensitive to this. I have a lot of friends who are visual artists and it always blows my mind how much support there is for the arts, people get flown to different countries, get residencies, get grants.....and yet film and music is still sorta looked down upon, even if it is not exploring commercial avenues, so I'm happy that we are creating a place for these films and musicians to get their voices heard and people are listening.

W&H: Tiffany, what are you working on?

TA: I just finished an album that will be released in the UK through Poppydisc, which is run by the great Joe Foster who also does the AMAZING re-issue label Rev- Ola, so I'm very happy that I will be in such great company. As for the U.S., I am still searching for someone to release it.

W&H: Allison, we haven't seen a film from you in a while. What are you working on?

AA: I've been developing a western with my partner Terry Graham and we're also about to embark on a documentary film on 60s garage music with another filmmaker Ian Marshall.

W&H: You've been at the forefront of the movement to raise awareness of the lack of opportunities for women directors. The situation has not been improving in fact its getting worse. Do you have any theories? Do you have any advice for women who want to be directors?

AA: Well I think there was more room for everyone when the economy was better, and the indie world wasn't over-saturated and dead. Movies are hard for everyone right now. And in lean times, women will always be the first sent back home and out of the work force.

But now more than ever it's possible to make your films and get them seen without waiting for permission from the movie studio gods. Keep writing, keep focused and don't for a second lose the faith. We're here to stay.

More Info: Don't Knock the Rock Festival

Seth Rogen on The Daily Show promoting his new stoner action movie Pineapple Express



He actually said that kids should drop out of high school smoke a lot of pot and write a movie about it. Aside from that being the stupidest advice EVER, I don't think if a young female actress said this it would be looked at as funny. I think she would get her ass kicked. Me thinks I smell the "double standard."

Variety is reporting that Meryl Streep is in advanced negotiations to star in the next Nancy Meyers film as a professor caught in a romantic triangle. Meyers has written the script and will direct. Scott Rudin will produce. Filming starts in February. This pairing is so exciting. Meyers is the best female wirter/director and Meryl, well, is Meryl.

I CAN'T WAIT.
Streep in deep with Meyers (Variety)
photo credit: Sylvain Gaboury/PR Photos

A few days before my 12-year-old son left for sleep-away camp, we wanted to do something special so we treated ourselves to a double feature of Journey To The Center Of The Earth and The Mummy - Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

As a professional filmmaker, I absorb a film with a complex set of eyes, but when I watch with my son, the feminist mom in me dominates, and I can’t help but evaluate the experience as a woman raising a boy who will become a man.

There is a lot of talk in our culture about the impact of sex and violence in the media on our children. For me, issues of vulgarity and misogyny are far more important. The way a woman is depicted in a story and how men treat her are more relevant to me than the wielding of guns or the expression of desire. I want my son to grow up with an image of women as powerful creatures who are equals, not side-kicks, enablers or fluff girls.

I didn’t have high expectations for either film, so I was surprised to see that both films depicted women in extraordinary ways, without nary a bimbo in sight.

In Journey, the character of Hannah, played by Anita Briem, is smart and tough. She is the physically adept one; the powerful one who guides the journey. She rows the boat, she runs the train, she knows the way, and the guys trust her confidence absolutely. She wears little make-up has un-enhanced body parts and is beautiful in a completely organic, natural way.

Of course, my son’s pleasure of the film focused on the action and adventure, but I was delighted to see a woman depicted in a mainstream Hollywood film characterized in such an enlightened fashion. I would imagine that having a writer like Jennifer Flackett would have helpful in creating such a progressive character, but however she got there, I was happy.

Overall, I didn’t think The Mummy was as good as Journey but I was thrilled to see three solid female characters who play characters pivotal to the plot in the genre where women traditionally play secondary roles.

Maria Bello plays Brendan Fraser’s wife. There are a few moments where she used her feminine whiles in a clichéd manner, but by in large, this talented woman is multifaceted with a successful career, marriage and family life. She is the model of a woman I approve of. I very much enjoyed my son seeing a marriage that was full of fun and fire.

Michelle Yeoh plays an ancient wise-woman whose power ultimately vanquished the evil force of the Dragon Emperor. She sacrifices her immortality for supreme good, and is another example of an older woman full of grace, dignity and strength.

Isabella Leong plays her dutiful, warrior daughter. She is a great fighter who can wield a sword while falling in love. She does not suffer fools gladly, and fights demons fearlessly.

All in all for an afternoon of popcorn fluff, these two films surprisingly, showed my son some strong female characters. My son enjoyed them, and so did his feminist mom.

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Rachel Feldman is a screenwriter and film director who lives and works in Hollywood. She has lived with her college boyfriend for 30 years and is the mother of a 20 year old daughter and a 12 year old son.

Neilsen is a woman who could probably play any part she wants cause she's so tall and gorgeous. But that doesn't interest her. (Could this be something about women who grow up outside the US?) She rejects fame and money. Her films choices remind me a bit of Nicole Kidman - brave and not always commercial.

It's much harder for women to be brave and outside the box in their film choices because they have shorter careers than their male peers because of ageism and sexism. Two films of Neilsen's the I recommend checking out are The Situation where she plays a reporter in Iraq, and Brothers a Danish film directed by Susanne Bier. She co-stars in the upcoming Battle in Seattle.

"I absolutely refuse the fame part of my business," she says. "I refuse even the money side of my business. I try to do as good work as I can do, I try to grow in my art and reach for truth," she says.

Nielsen has in the past been critical of Hollywood for its lack of female roles, saying "you think once you've shown what you can do, and your movies have been successful, that snap, you work. So to discover the difference between guys' roles and girls' roles made me plain mad. It's unjust."

Neilsen proves she's no Hollywood eye candy (CNN)
photo credit: Glenn Harris/Photorazzi

Keke Palmer starred in the the under seen Akeelah and the Bee and now will have her own show on Nickelodeon where she plays a high schooler running the youth division of a major fashion label. This young woman clearly has her head on straight knowing that young girls look up to her. Impressive.

She's always wanted to do inspirational projects and be a beacon for other kids.

Her priority now is being a role model.

Look for the show later in 2008.

Keke Palmer stars in True Jackson, VP (NY Daily News)
photo credit: Nickelodeon