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I am a big fan of TNT's Saving Grace. Some people don't get the show and feel put off by the behavior of Holly Hunter's character Grace Hanadarko. I like it precisely because her behavior is so unpredictable and unexpected especially for a female character. I think that Nancy Miller, the show's creator is a brilliant and bold visionary.



Most of Nancy's team (Nancy was sick) attended the Women in Film event in LA and I have to say they were an incredibly nice group of people. They love their show, they love their leader and they love each other. Some of these things you can fake, but this seemed really genuine. (Remember I am a jaded New Yorker.)


The people who attended were: Gary Randall (Exeuctive Prodcuer); Laura San Giacomo (Rhetta); Lorraine Toussaint (Kate); Bailey Chase (Butch); Leon Rippey (Earl). Lillah McCarthy (VP of Original Programming for TNT and TBS) also participated. Here are some tidbits I picked up from the conversation:

The second half of season 2 which was supposed to start around January will actually start in March.

• Gary Randall (the Executive Producer along with Miller) said that Miller set out to do a show about a female character who is challenged in her faith. Grace's character was initially written as a journalist but in collaboration with TNT she was transformed into a cop.
• The script was done for a while but couldn't move forward until they found the right lead actress.
• they relayed that Nancy Miller says that it's not a show with answers, it's a show with questions.
• Lillah- It's TV-MA so it can't air before 10pm. Advertisers were scared and Holly being part of it made a big difference. The (success) of The Closer allowed us to put Saving Grace on.
• Gary Randall in talking about Nancy Miller- "everything is subtext, everything is deepely layered, Grace's guilt informs every single reaction."

You must watch this show. Season 2.5 in March. Season 3 in July.

This is the fall that I started watching the news again with excitement because of the reemergence of Katie Couric and the swift ascendancy of Rachel Maddow. I never watch the news at 6:30. Who does? But when I am around, I turn on Katie. I even Tivoed all the debates on CBS cause I wanted to give her my eyeballs. Her kick ass interview with Sarah Palin helped seal the deal against Palin's competence.

And Maddow, what more can I say except now I'm more tired cause I stay up late watching her. She gets watched before John Stewart. She's just so good. And let me say that I noticed last week with all the talk about Larry Summer becoming Treasury chief she reminded us each night when his name came up that he didn't think girls were good at math. She just reminds us that this is a remark that cannot be excused. She just loves politics, she has fun talking about this stuff and it makes it fun for us too.


Welcome to the new world order. Maybe they should let Maddow take over for Tim Russert on Meet the Press. How cool would that be?

Here are some choice quotes from recent pieces.

But against the odds—she wasn’t allowed the opportunity, for instance, to anchor a single presidential or vice presidential debate for CBS—Ms. Couric has used the 2008 presidential elections to make herself a commodity again. Not the too expensive piece of furniture the Tiffany network had bought and regretted, but the game-changing political journalist she aspired to be when she first took the Evening News. Hers was the most memorable interview of the 2008 election. Über political blogger Mark Halperin named her one of the five most important people in politics not running for president.

Her rising star has not only made life comfortable enough at CBS for her to use an interview with a reporter to request an hour-long program. According to The New York Times, others are looking to steal her: NBC News executives are currently considering her for the most coveted job in political journalism, as the next moderator of Meet the Press. (NY Observer)

And from the ever reliable Rebecca Traister at Salon:

In the final weeks of October, days before what many consider the most crucial election of our lifetimes, the probing interviews, fine-boned analysis and buzzy commentary showing up on television screens and Internet browsers all over the country are often delivered not in the deep rumble of a wizened Uncle Walt but in a higher register belonging to one of several female newscasters to have kicked ass, taken names and otherwise owned the coverage of the 2008 election.

Call it historical accident or mere coincidence, but this election, built as it has been around two history-making female candidates, traditional "women's issues" like the economy and healthcare and the acknowledgment of the power of female voters, also happens to have been translated, interpreted and picked apart by women newscasters. And that's something new.

A Star is Reborn (NY Observer)
The New American Classic (The Advocate)
Ladies of the Nightly News (Salon)

I am a huge Kate Winslet fan. Really, has she ever been bad in anything she has been in? Can't think of one thing. She's got two movies with Oscar potential coming out this holiday season Revolutionary Road and The Reader and she appeared on the cover of this month's Vanity Fair.

Here's my problem with the pictures. Kate is one of the actresses who looks like a normal woman. She's beautiful and young, not a stick. She's respected for her work, not her looks. So, why does she need to pose naked? I'm getting really tired of the Vanity Fair and its obsession with the naked actresses. She looks beautiful in the pictures, they are tasteful...but still. I can kind of understand a former fat girl wanting to show off. What do you think?

Here are some quotes from the piece:

"I never had a desire to be famous, I was fat. I didn't know any fat famous actresses. I just did not see myself in that world at all, and I'm being very sincere. You know, once a fat kid, always a fat kid."

"How the hell did I get that lucky [to have two compelling roles] in the same 12-month period?," she says. "It's really rare and remarkable, and I don't take that position lightly. It might not happen like that again; I'm well aware of that. You know, the truth is, I'm just going to bloody well make the most of it."

Isn’t She Deneuvely?

I knew the numbers were bad in terms of women getting nominations in certain categories, but yikes, these numbers are pathetic. Looks like women can make documentaries and costumes but not much else. If they didn't give out acting awards to women, we'd probably never see women win anything.

Unacceptable.

BEST DIRECTOR
Nominees - 392 total, 2 women -- .5%; Winners - 80 total, 0 women -- 0%
BEST PICTURE (producers)
Nominees - 431 total, 32 women -- 7%; Winners - 92 total, 5 women -- 5%
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Nominees - 521 total, 0 women -- 0%; Winners - 80 total, 0 women -- 0%
BEST EDITOR
Nominees- 365 total, 53 women -- 15%; Winners- 98 total, 12 women -- 12%
BEST ART DIRECTION
Nominees- 1,324 total, 93 women -- 7%; Winners- 269 total, 17 women -- 6%
BEST WRITER
Nominees- 1,198 total, 96 women -- 8%; Winners- 226 total, 20 women -- 9%
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Nominees - 318 total, 81 women -- 25%; Winners- 88 total, 16 women -- 18%
BEST SCORE
Nominees- 654 total, 12 women -- 2%; Winners- 145 total, 5 women -- 3%
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Nominees- 448 total, 218 women -- 49%; Winners- 95 total, 49 women -- 52%

Numbers from Variety

So I've been doing some research for a piece I'm writing. In the last decade, aside from this year, there has only been one female centric movie in the top 10 of the year -- My Big Fat Greek Wedding in 2002. The good news is that this year, as of this week, two female centric films are in the top ten -- Sex and the City and Mamma Mia! This is big news, especially since both of those films skew older.

This weekend's story in Variety acknowledges, what we already know, women are a market. But the story also annoyed me because older women and girls are lumped into one category.

Hollywood has long relied on female pics to be dependable earners that open modestly and play long, rather than being big grossers right from the start.

Until this year. For the first time that anyone can remember, three femme-driven films -- High School Musical 3: Senior Year, Sex and the City, Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour -- opened to No. 1 at the B.O., making it abundantly clear that fangirls are every bit as important as fanboys.

I know there is the obsession of opening number 1, but to me, neither High School Musical nor Hannah Montana qualify as women's films. They are kids films. Why is a film about singing high school kids that is targeted at 12-year-olds compared in the same sentence with Sex and the City? Really?

For decades, more traditional romantic comedies have been a staple for studios looking to attract the distaff audience, with some of those females being counted on to drag their husbands or boyfriends along. What's distinct about films like "Sex and the City," or "Mamma Mia" is that they are more female-centric than a mainstream romantic comedy.

No one could believe it when "Sex and the City" grossed $20 million on its first Friday as women stormed theaters. That's an unheard of number for the typical chick pic, since the demo isn't known for rushing out on opening weekend.

"Females are galvanizing and turning out in huge numbers, just like young males," says 20th Century Fox prexy of distribution Bruce Snyder. "They are turning movies into event titles, making a pic's opening look more like a male actioner than a genteel female movie that would play out over a long period of time."

And we still haven't yet seen what's going to happen with Twilight which has are tons of fans out there both young and old. Nearly 100 shows are already sold out through Fandango and the film opens in two weeks. That's big.

Films playing mainly to women, rather than simply romantic comedies, have gradually been seeping into Hollywood's consciousness. In 2006, the runaway success of 20th Century Fox's The Devil Wears Prada was a wake-up call, since it wasn't a romantic comedy, but a comedy built around female characters. "Prada's" savvy writing and Meryl Streeps indelible portrayal set the bar high for the genre.

"There is no more loyal audience than the female audience," says Disney prexy of distribution Chuck Viane. "Females will go to a movie again and again. The number of repeat viewings is incredible. If you overlook females, you are ignoring a huge segment of the audience."

So when does a fluke become a trend? Everyone knows that The Devil Wars Prada did well as did Nancy Meyer's Something's Gotta Give yet female filmmakers keep getting told by the Hollywood suits think those films are flukes. Could it be that we are finally moving beyond the fluke excuse?

Studios like to claim their releases are four-quadrant films. But the latest crop of chick pics have shown there's nothing wrong with a high-profile two quadrant title, playing to tween and teen girls, older women -- or all of them.

Let's just hope that women's success at the box office this year doesn't only translate into more High School Musical type films but also acknowledges that women over 25 also go to the movies.
Femme-driven films score at B.O. (Variety)

I have loved Grey's Anatomy since it started but things have not been going well lately at Seattle Grace. Things need to get back on track because the competition on Thursdays at 9 is fierce. CSI is still going strong on CBS, and on NBC, 30 Rock with Tina Fey is so rocking good and timely that it has risen to the top of my must see list.

So here's my gripe, and it still focuses on the firing of Brooke Smith. The episode last week which was Smith's last was a big disappointment and while ABC wants this story to go away, I'm not yet quite ready to let it go.

If you haven't watched the episode and still want to - stop reading here.

Dr. Hahn, played by Smith was right about calling UNOS (the national organ donor bank) to report the shady behavior of Seattle Grace regarding the heart transplant of Denny Duckett two seasons ago. The fact that her lover, Callie Torres, (Sara Ramirez) defended Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) who by the way, she hates because Izzie slept with her husband, is just pathetic.

It just seems to me that the folks at ABC got skittish about Brooke Smith playing a strong, normal looking woman who happened to be a lesbian (who you made a full time cast member last season to great fanfare. Also, didn't you know that Smith is a fantastic character actress and not a bimbette?) Her exit was so disappointing (first time writer Bill Harper got the credit according to the Grey writers blog which did not touch on the controversy at all.) The timing of her departure really sucked since she was kicked out the week that California and three other states voted against gay marriage. Timing is everything and you blew it here.

The forced statement that Shonda Rhimes released last week mentioned that Smith was not fired because she played a lesbian and that the show still has lesbian on it -- Callie Torres -- rings false. On the episode, Callie denied she was a lesbian which is what led to Dr. Hahn walking away into TV nowhereland. And her constant on the job sexual exploits with Dr. McSteamy proves her sexual confusion. It's like she needs to prove she's not gay. For a show that prides itself on diversity, this doesn't cut it.

So was Smith fired because she is not "pretty enough" to play gay on TV? On mainstream TV girl on girl sex is seen as hot; yet a relationship between two normal looking women is what, scary?

I remember clearly two years ago the big controversy when Isiah Washington called T.R. Knight a "fag" and he was ultimately fired for uttering that slur. The cast mostly united behind Knight, yet I see no one stepping up to talk about this issue except for Patrick Dempsey who when he appeared on Ellen last week hysterically read ABC's talking points (which he actually pulled out of his pocket to show how pathetic it was)

We’ve had a great time working with her and that the conclusion of her [role] has been orgasmic’—I’m sorry, I’m dyslexic—’organic ending to the storyline.

Dempsey's statement:


After watching Dempsey I am more convinced that this is gaywashing and that ABC just got really nervous that the show was becoming too gay. But, how can ABC have this reaction to Grey's when Kevin on Brothers & Sisters is so gay all the time. He is even got married on the show. Is it that we are more accepting of gay men in normal relationships than gay women?

And where is the rest of the Grey's cast? Where's T.R. Knight? Couldn't this be a great time for them to stand up for tolerance? I'm waiting.

The Guitar is a tour de force for English actress Saffron Burrows. She plays Melody Wilder, an unhappy woman who is invisible to most around her and is given a month to live with advanced cancer of the larynx. She abandons her life as she knew it, rents a loft and prepares for her demise by running up her credit cards and learning to play the guitar she had been dreaming about her whole life. Turns out that in changing everything about herself and her life she tricked her cancer into a full remission. Melody now how to deal with the consequences of her spending as well as the new life she has created for herself, full of creativity and on her own terms.

The film is a true character study. Burrows is alone for most of the film. She begins the film literally and figuratively with no voice as a person and as a woman and at the conclusion she is reborn and finds her true authentic voice.

The film opens today in NY and depending on box office the film could open in other cities. Both director Amy Redford and lead actress Saffron Burrows will be at the Sunshine Theatre for a Q&A following the 7:15pm shows tonight and tomorrow night.

Actress Amy Redford (yes, Robert's daughter) makes her directorial debut with The Guitar which premiered at the 2008 Sundance film festival. She answered questions for Women & Hollywood the morning after the Obama election.

W&H: In the beginning people just talk at Melody and the words seem to bounce off her. When she's alone and sick she finds her voice. It struck me that she found her voice with barely any words.

Amy Redford: I went through a period in my life in my 20s when I had chronic laryngitis for three years and I realize now that I was not my authentic self. I was shut off so I totally related to the condition of the character. There is a quality of the physical manifestation that I thought was fascinating. It was also important to me for the character that it's the scariest when she is left to be on her own without even the devices she brings in to the room. She goes through this journey of buying the things but ultimately it's an appetite that will never be sated because what it's really about is not what you buy, it's really about the quiet. So that moment when she found her voice is like a rebirth, powerful and joyous.

W&H: How did you get the script?

AR: I was introduced to Amos Poe (the screenwriter) by a friend who thought I would be right for the lead role. I heard the story that inspired the script and I was haunted by the premise. I kept firing myself from the part and hiring other actors in my head. I had been looking for a project to direct for while, I knew this was the one when the images started coming to me naturally.

W&H: Do you still want to act?

AR: My passion lies in directing but I don't want to totally quit acting because its important to stay flexible. It's easy to be dismissive about actors because sometimes they are high maintenance. But being able to use all my faculties is really satisfying so directing feel like an evolution for me.

W&H: Lots of women director also write their own stories. Are you a writer?

AR: I really love the collaborative process and working with writers. I think there is a bigger window for stories about women that there have been. The next project I am working on is called Face Value about the actress Hedy Lamar. It's an inspiring story about a multi faceted woman. The black page is daunting to me.

W&H: What's the message of this film?

AR: It's funny, I should be so good at answering this question. What you take away from it is such a personal experience. It's really about questioning whether you are using the currency of your life to the fullest capacity. That's different for everybody and what they would do in the face of mortality is different for everybody. This movie isn't meant to be a prescription, it's meant to be a conversation. It can be literal when you are facing an illness, or metaphorical when you hit a road block or a turning point in your life. I hope people take their own conclusions. I don't want to tell someone what to feel.

W&H: Do you think that women have a hard time finding their voice?

AR: I think it's easier for women to submerge their voice. I think that women innately have wonderful things to say but to accomodate others it's easier for us to put our own voice aside. Even the loudest women are loud for a reason because they can't be heard. I just had a daughter two months ago and I hope that whatever I do has positive influence on her chances of not having to fight so hard. This election has shown us a lot of different ways to be a woman. Like her or not, Sarah Palin made it to the table and there is something to be said for that. There is something to be said that the conversation was not that she was a woman but what kind of woman she was. On the other hand we have Hillary Clinton who is beloved by so many. It's an interesting time and the conversation is steering more towards substance.

W&H: This film was a real departure for Saffron Burrows. Were you nervous about having to make her look not as beautiful as she really is?

AR: I think it speaks to her sophistication emotionally. I learned a lot because I felt she was too beautiful and was worried that people were going to be alienated by her beauty. But then I realized I was perpetuating the same thing and I had to give myself a spanking. It was the realization that it's really about the light that you have inside and what you project. You can be a beautiful person but if you are shut down inside you are not going to attract people, and you can be unconventional looking and be projecting a kind of life force that people can't get enough of. She so completely understood what I meant that I knew she was right for the part. She was at the perfect moment in her life and her career. She had a lack of vanity that allowed her to be truthful which I appreciated. We shot the film chronologically so my job was to start her off in the right place, to begin the film in the right pitch and then go for the ride and see what happens.

W&H: Was it a small budget?

AR: The shoot was 21 days and the budget was really small. I can't even talk about it, but as it goes in the independent film business, one second you have the money and the next the union guys are knocking on your door and you come to work and people are like hello where's my paycheck which is horrifying. But at the same time people are generous.

W&H: This movie is really coming in under the radar screen with very little publicity. Is that frustrating?

AR: It can be frustrating but one of the things that makes it worth it is the letters I have received from people knowing I have made a difference. People struggling with cancer, people who had their own emotional rebirth. People are hungry for these kind of things. I can't control the other stuff. I just need to stay focused on what my job is. I learned a lot about film finance on this movie and I implore people, especially women filmmakers, to really go to school on budgets and money because that's the protection around the creative. You empower yourself. It's like the big lesson for women everywhere - money is your freedom.