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

Guest Post: Damages Returns by Serena Donadoni

The relationship between Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) and Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) on Damages has typically been described as that of a mentor and protégé, but itʼs even deeper and thornier. The FX series created by Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman explores one of the most complex female partnerships on television: an almost maternal bond super-charged by ambition. From the first episode, itʼs clear that as an attorney, Ellen wants to be Patty – she tries to emulate her ferocity and single-minded devotion to that all- important case – but doesnʼt literally want to step into her shoes (this isnʼt All About Eve). Despite fissures that would have separated most people, Ellen maintained her fierce loyalty through the third season, while Patty exuded the regal devotion of a proud but distant parental figure.

By Melissa Silverstein
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July 15, 2011 2:45 AM
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2 Comments

Trailer Alert: Damages Season Four

Last time I checked this show stars Glenn Close. Can't tell from this video. Show will air only on Direct TV (no network crossover like there was with Friday Night Lights), Show returns on July 13th.

By Melissa Silverstein
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June 15, 2011 1:12 AM
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1 Comment

Bridesmaids is a Big Fat Hit!

Women took up the mantle and went to see the film. The gross was about $24.5 (UPDATE - $26.2) million about $10 million more than predicted. I don't know who does the predicting on these types of films but they missed the boat on this one big time. I know they wanted to keep expectations down because the mantra was (and seems always is with a film about women) that this is unprecedented and there is nothing to compare it to. I'd like to now retire these delusional thoughts. Women have starred in successful franchises, action movies and comedies. Maybe we just need to start keeping our own statistics to help people out. (Who wants to work with me on this project?)

By Melissa Silverstein
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May 16, 2011 3:17 AM
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6 Comments

Save the Future for Women in Comedy - See Bridesmaids

How did we get to a place in 2011 where the female Hollywood comedian is on the endangered species list? My god we have three female Supreme Court justices, we've had three female secretaries of state, we have several just as crazy as the dudes women in the running for the Republican nomination for the presidency, YET for some reason funny women in Hollywood films are on a missing poster.

By Melissa Silverstein
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May 13, 2011 4:00 AM
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10 Comments

More Good News on Bridesmaids

This film is shaping up to be the one of the movies I am most looking forward to seeing this year. Now I know that it is a movie about a wedding, and I have said that I would be perfectly fine with my life never seeing another wedding movie EVER, but this report from Jen Yamato at Cinematical/Moviefone has pretty much sealed the deal for me. And, I watched the trailer again and laughed again.

By Melissa Silverstein
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March 3, 2011 3:42 AM
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2 Comments