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San Diego Comic-Con 2019 Countdown

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Women Rocking Hollywood 2019: Women-Powered Projects and the Push Towards Parity

There have been positive developments in the last year for women in television and film. Initiatives like the 4% challenge are making news, movies and tv identified as gender-balanced are getting ReFrame stamps, and companies like OWN, Annapurna, Netflix, & Sundance continue to expand opportunities for intersectional women, supporting great content in the process. Changes are happening, but are they happening fast enough, and how can industry insiders and fans help the forward momentum?

The inspired, talented powerhouse panelists of this year’s Women Rocking Hollywood give their thoughts on that & share their perspective. They also talk about their exciting new projects. Scheduled to appear: Kirsten Schaffer (exec director: Women in Film: LA), Liesl Tommy (director: The Walking Dead, Respect), Cheryl Dunye (producing director: Queen Sugar, director: David Makes Man), Jen McGowan (director: Rust Creek, founder: Glass Elevator), Gloria Calderon Kellett (supervising producer: iZombie, co-creator/writer/director One Day at a Time), Catherine Hardwicke (director: Twilight, The Lost Boys), and C Fitz (director: Jewel's Catch One, Queen Sugar).

Moderated by Leslie Combemale (CinemaSiren.com, TheCredits.org) Room 7AB

Kirsten Schaffer

Liesl Tommy

Cheryl Dunye

Jen McGowan

Gloria Calderon Kallett

Catherine Hardwicke

C Fitz

Leslie Combermale

Crazy Rich Asians movie review: Represention Matters but Charisma Sells

Coming to theaters is the much anticipated movie Crazy Rich Asians, the first all-Asian cast film sent into wide release since 1993’s Joy Luck Club has taken over the entertainment news, which may mean impressive box office numbers. Great. It deserves them. Based on the best-selling Kevin Kwan novel, this Cinderella tale is filled with frothy …

The Miseducation of Cameron Post Review and Interviews: Real Life Horror with a Splash of John Hughes

The Miseducation of Cameron Post, a film based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Emily Danforth, is directed and co-written by queer American-Iranian filmmaker Desiree Akhavan. This Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning indie tells a story that takes place in 1993 chronicling the misadventures of Cameron (Chloe Grace Moretz), a teen placed in a gay …

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Half the Picture Documentary Review: The Struggle and Commitment of Female Filmmakers Beautifully Revealed

Documentarian Amy Adrion has created what amounts to a love letter to female filmmakers in her new film, Half the Picture, which supporters of women in film will love to know is now available on demand*. I was at San Diego Comic-Con last week preparing for and conducting the panel Women Rocking Hollywood, that features women …

Tatum Hall and Dominque Fishback appear in <i>Night Comes On</i> by Jordana Spiro, an official selection of the NEXT program at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Christopher Waggoner. All photos are copyrighted and may be used by press only for the purpose of news or editorial coverage of Sundance Institute programs. Photos must be accompanied by a credit to the photographer and/or 'Courtesy of Sundance Institute.' Unauthorized use, alteration, reproduction or sale of logos and/or photos is strictly prohibited.

Night Comes On Review: A gorgeous study in loss and sisterhood

This weekend you can see the new release Night Comes On on demand. The directorial debut of actress/writer/director Jordana Spiro (of the show Ozarks) is co-written by The Shade Room’s Angelica Nwandu partly based on the experiences of Nwandu’s childhood. It would never had come to fruition without the Sundance Institute’s Directors Lab and other grants, showing once again …

Female Filmmakers at the movies: Leave No Trace & Boundaries

This week in movies sees the release of two films directed by women that focus on family. More specifically, they focus on father/daughter relationships. Leave No Trace and Boundaries are both road films, albeit of different sorts. Cinema Siren reviews them here, revealing who might enjoy them and who might want to avoid them. REVIEW: Leave No Trace I …

Nancy & Ocean’s 8 Movie Reviews: Women Rule these June Joints

Complicated, multi-dimensional female characters are rarely portrayed onscreen. It is even less common to see one that leaves the audience conflicted. Those making decisions in Hollywood think surprises in the form of complicated women can be bad for business. The result is that the 51% of filmgoers, aka WOMEN, are mostly treated to some version of 3 or …

RBG Review: This Doc Shows Ruth Bader Ginsburg Giving Superhero Realness

I’m sure you all have heard about how audiences assembled for Avengers: Infinity War. The Marvel superhero movie has broken the record for the biggest opening weekend ever. This weekend, another film, which features the closest thing to a real superhero we have in the US, is opening, and will make a great companion piece, especially if …

The Rider: Art Exposing Life’s Heartache and Resilience

Sometimes there are films that remind us how grateful we are that independent films are released. With my focus being female filmmakers, that is the world in which I largely dwell, since so few movies put out by the studios are woman-directed. In fact, only 3% of studio films released in 2018 have a woman at …