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

Sundance Interview: Concussion – Directed by Stacie Passon, Produced by Rose Troche, Starring Robin Weigert

  • By Melissa Silverstein
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  • February 1, 2013 2:00 PM
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  • 0 Comments

Sundance Deals: Jerusha Hess and Stacie Passon Get Distribution Deals

Jerusha Hess’s directorial debut, Austenland, was picked up by Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions for around $4 million. The film, which stars Keri Russell and Jennifer Coolidge, follows a woman who is obsessed with a BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice to a Jane Austen themed resort to see if she can find her own personal Mr. Darcy. Hess co-wrote the script with Shannon Hale. Hess had previously co-written cult hit Napoleon Dynamite with her husband, Jared Hess.
  • By Kerensa Cadenas
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  • January 22, 2013 11:30 AM
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Stacie Passon Wins Two Women Directing Awards

Stacie Passon has had a big couple of weeks.  First on November 20 she won this year’s IFP Labs/Adrienne Shelly Foundation Director’s Grant for her film Concussion at the Foundation's second annual Woman of Vision Salute which also honored Lena Dunham.
  • By Melissa Silverstein and Marian Evans
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  • November 29, 2012 9:50 AM
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  • 0 Comments

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