Women and Hollywood


Melissa Silverstein is the founder and editor of Women and Hollywood, one of the most respected sites for issues related to women and film as well as other areas of pop culture. Women and Hollywood educates, advocates, and agitates for gender parity across the entertainment industry.

She is also the co-founder and Artistic Director of The Athena Film Festival. The 4th annual festival will take place from February 6-9, 2014 at Barnard College in NYC.

Melissa recently published the first book from Women and Hollywood, In Her Voice: Women Directors Talk Directing, which is a compilation of over 40 interviews that have appeared on the site.

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Women and Hollywood

Women In Film, Los Angeles Announces Crystal + Lucy Awards Honorees

Women In Film, Los Angeles has announced their Crystal + Lucy Awards Honorees for 2013. It's an extremely impressive lineup. The awards, established in 1977, celebrate women and men in the entertainment industry who are doing groundbreaking, creative work to pave the way for others in the industry. 
  • By Kerensa Cadenas
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  • May 1, 2013 12:00 PM
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Thoughts on the Golden Globes - Girls Literally Ruled

Last night, I ended up watching the Golden Globes in real time (with the commercials too.) The reason why that was possible was because of twitter and because I was having such a good time watching the show.  It felt lighter than in years past.  I am guessing a lot of that had to do with the tone that Amy Poehler and Tina Fey in their terrific opening monologue (which you can see below and is worth another watch.)  They told some really funny jokes and the one I enjoyed most was their statement of support for Kathryn Bigelow.  "When it comes to torture I trust the lady that spent 3 years married to James Cameron."  Awesome.
  • By Melissa Silverstein
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  • January 14, 2013 11:00 AM
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  • 1 Comment

Canada Establishing Rosalind Prize for Women Fiction Writers

During the Vancouver Writers Fest, frustration turned into creation. A panel of five women, including the founder of the U.K.’s Orange Prize for fiction, discussed the current state of women’s representations in literature. And the statistics provided by panel member, novelist Susan Swan, were depressing.
  • By Kerensa Cadenas
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  • October 30, 2012 11:14 AM
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Australia Launches Literary Award for Women - The Stella Prize

Australia has launched its first major literary award for women writers inspired by the UK Women’s Prize for fiction. 
  • By Kerensa Cadenas
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  • October 24, 2012 9:34 AM
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The Academy Picks Family Guy Creator Seth MacFarlane to Host Oscars

I don't get it. Yes, the Academy wants to make people think that it is hip and young and I understand that, but Seth MacFarlane? The guy who directed Ted (which was a huge hit) and the creative genius behind Family Guy to host the Oscars? I read yesterday that he is only the second host after Ellen DeGeneres to get the gig having never appeared on the broadcast. 
  • By Melissa Silverstein
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  • October 2, 2012 12:57 PM
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  • 6 Comments

The Male Dominated Emmy Awards

Last week we posted a piece about the research that showed that women created 26% of the TV shows during the 2011-2012 season.  But, based on the lack of women visible onstage at last night's Emmy Awards in any category but acting, you could have gotten the impression that  women are basically invisible as creators, writers and directors of TV shows.  (I know that women won awards given at last weekend's Creative Emmy's but they were not on TV last night for the world to see.)
  • By Melissa Silverstein
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  • September 24, 2012 10:46 AM
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  • 3 Comments

Producer Janet Yang to Receive 2012 Asian American Media Award

Tonight, on the opening night of the 2012 Asian American International Film Festival, Asian CineVision will award Janet Yang with the 2012 Asian American Media Award.
  • By Kerensa Cadenas
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  • July 25, 2012 12:40 PM
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  • 3 Comments

Approaching Peak Vagina: Lena Dunham and Amy Poehler Score Rare Female Double Emmy Writing Nominations

The Emmy nominations were released yesterday.  There is a lot of good news to recognize most especially the fact that two women -- Lean Dunham and Amy Poehler -- were nominated for their comedy writing.  According to Nellie at Deadline having two women nominated for comedy writing is a big and not very frequent deal.  The last time it happened was a decade ago. 
  • By Melissa Silverstein
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  • July 20, 2012 11:43 AM
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  • 2 Comments

Inspirational Video of the Day: Pat Summitt Receiving the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at the ESPYs

What an amazing story.  P.S. -  the narrator is Reese Witherspoon
  • By Melissa Silverstein
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  • July 17, 2012 10:38 AM
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  • 1 Comment

Charlotte Rampling to Receive Honor at Locarno Film Festival

Legendary actress Charlotte Rampling will receive the festival's excellence award at the opening night of this year's festival on August 1st. 
  • By Melissa Silverstein
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  • July 11, 2012 10:27 AM
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  • 0 Comments

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