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

Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 Crushes the Box Office

News

Unsurprisingly, Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 killed it at the box office this weekend.

By Kerensa Cadenas
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November 19, 2012 3:32 PM
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1 Comment

Features

This weekend, the fifth and final installment of the Twilight franchise opened, and to no one’s surprise, killed at the box office. Conversations about the film will undoubtedly focus on the business it did (massive), whether or not it was any good (it wasn’t, really, but I had a great time), and what the fans were like opening night (enthusiastic, as always), but there’s a much smaller, more personal story to be told by each individual fan, and that’s what three fully grown women talked about on their way to see Breaking Dawn, Part 2 this weekend in a Midwestern suburb.

By Emilie Spiegel
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November 19, 2012 2:00 PM
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6 Comments

Video

Looks like Bella finally got some energy. I guess once she became a vampire it was ok for her to run outside and not fall over her own two feet. Becoming a vampire clearly makes you less clumsy. Film opens November 16.

By Melissa Silverstein
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June 20, 2012 2:20 PM
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0 Comments

Women dominated the box office this weekend. Breaking Dawn grossed $139.5 million here in the US and another $144 million overseas making it the 5th highest opening domestic weekend EVER. It was only a couple of million off the opening of New Moon which holds the 4th largest opening weekend. It's great overseas number makes it number 10 on the list of opening weekends worlwide.

By Melissa Silverstein
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November 21, 2011 9:51 AM
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3 Comments

Reviews

While the first Twilight film was directed by a woman, all subsequent adaptations have had males at the helm. The first adaptation, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, featured a Bella that was stronger than her book counterpart. Alas, the subsequent films have not similarly strengthened Bella’s character, and, in various instances, have made her weaker, clumsier, and even more lovestruck than she is in the books.

By Melissa Silverstein
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November 18, 2011 10:26 AM
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4 Comments

Blogs

Well it looks like the Twilight phenomenon has corrupted one who I thought was immune -- Manohla Dargis of the NY Times who wrote in her review today that she "had surrendered." She also called the love story "ridiculously appealing." I can't say I got on board in the same way, I thought the film was really cheesy, but then I expected it to be really cheesy. Taylor Lautner can't act. The makeup annoys me.

By Melissa Silverstein
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November 17, 2011 12:29 PM
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4 Comments