On its face, Martin Scorsese's open letter to his 14-year-old daughter Francesca is a sweet, if random one. He wants his daughter to derive joy from cinema just like he did, and maybe, even make a career of it. Too bad that when he lists the directors that are shaping cinema today, he neglects to mention a single…
Ms. in the Biz put together a list of ten lady filmmakers making scary-ass films after Marcy Boyle and Rachel Holzman of Nobody Can Cool wrote to her with these intriguing (and very spooky!) (okay, not really) points:
Despite the fact that women only directed fifteen-percent of the shows on TV last season — and were also cursed with debilitating cases of non-dickus-havus — they still received half of the Emmy nods for directing. Way to overcome, ladies.
It's called Susan Cooper, and since it's from the funny feminist
Lake Bell, one of the triumvirs starring in the new cabin-in-the-woods thriller Black Rock, had an interesting take on the difficulties female filmmakers face when trying to break into the Hollywood mainstream. Though the gender disparity in the ranks of Hollywood scribes and directors is pretty glaring
Sundance Film Festival is underway, meaning lots of fresh, ground breaking indie narrative and documentary films — ones that might not normally get tons of buzz otherwise — are thrust into the spotlight. Along with the movie madness, a new study examining the gender disparity female directors face in the film industry…
"Actresses nabbed only 29.9% of the 4,379 speaking parts in the 100 top-grossing films of 2007...83% of all directors, writers, and producers on those films were male." In women-directed films, "the number of female characters grew dramatically." [LAT]
The lengthy profile of James Cameron in the latest New Yorker confirms a long-held and heretofore unjustified suspicion that James Cameron is, in fact, a complete and total ass.
The New York Times' Michael Cieply scanned the big studio schedules and reports that "Hollywood directors are pretty much what they have always been." White. And male. Women & Hollywood's Melissa Silverstein says: "No shit, Sherlock."
The director, producer and writer responsible for hugely popular movies like National Lampoon's Vacation, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Weird Science, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink died today in New York. More to come. [TMZ, Wikipedia]
• Christie Glissmeyer has set a new record for tallest waterfall kayaked. On Sunday, she beat the record of 78-feet by kayaking over the 82-foot Metlako Falls. •
