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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Blog Roll

'Wish Me Away': Directed by Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf

Blogs

Wish Me Away is the incredibly moving coming out story of country music star Chely Wright. When I read a little over a year ago that Wright (who I did not know at the time) had come out my first reaction was "big deal." After you watch the film you realize how difficult this process was for Wright mostly because of where she worked -- Nashville. Don't forget how horribly the Dixie Chicks were treated in Nashville not too long ago for public statements they made about the rush to got to war with Iraq. It's a tough and very conservative town. Chely was the first high profile country performer to come out, something she had to do to save her life, and sadly, not for her, but for country music, she has now been forced to embark on a new life post Nashville. She's not getting the invites to the Grand Ole Opry House but she is showing up at gay and lesbian centers across the country standing up for herself and the gay community.

By Melissa Silverstein
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June 1, 2012 11:54 AM
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1 Comment

Blogs

This is a repost of the interview I did at the premiere of the film last summer at Newfest in NYC. The film opens in NYC today and is also available on demand. Info here.