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.

Email Melissa

Women and Hollywood

Weekly Update May 24: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You

  • By Kerensa Cadenas
  • |
  • May 24, 2013 3:00 PM
  • |
  • 0 Comments

Females Make Up Only 22% of Top Film Critics

In a new study released today by the Center for Study of Women in Television and Film, the stats about female critics at the top sites, newspapers and outlets shows that the business is still very male centric.  
  • By Melissa Silverstein
  • |
  • May 24, 2013 11:38 AM
  • |
  • 0 Comments

Fill The Void- Written and Directed by Rama Burshtein

I saw Fill the Void back in September at the Toronto Film Festival. It's been making its way around the country on the film festival circuit before opening in limited release this weekend.
  • By Melissa Silverstein
  • |
  • May 24, 2013 10:30 AM
  • |
  • 0 Comments

The Importance of Changing Perspective

Since I write on the web, I spend a lot of time, as you can imagine, in front of my computer. Most days all day (except for a couple of dog walking breaks.) But this spring due to the fact that I had a book to promote...BTW, have you gotten your copy of In Her Voice: Women Directors Talk Directing yet?
  • By Melissa Silverstein
  • |
  • May 23, 2013 2:27 PM
  • |
  • 1 Comment

Interview with Tassie Cameron - Creator and Executive Producer of Rookie Blue

The summer used to be a void of new TV shows. No more. Now summer has a bunch of series -- many that star women like Rizzoli & Isles and Covert Affairs. Another one of those summer shows is Rookie Blue. Women and Hollywood got the chance to do an email interview with Tassie Cameron, the creator and executive producer of Rookie Blue.
  • By Melissa Silverstein
  • |
  • May 22, 2013 12:00 PM
  • |
  • 1 Comment

Tribeca: Interview with Jane Weinstock - Co-Writer/Director of The Moment

I was traveling a lot during this year's Tribeca Film Festival but thanks to technology I was able to catch some of the movies that I really wanted to see. One of those was the Jennifer Jason Leigh starrer, The Moment, written and directed by Jane Weinstock. It was a prototype Jennifer Jason Leigh film. Broody, moody, fucked up and confused. She plays a war photographer suffering PTSD not knowing what is real and what is imagined.
  • By Melissa Silverstein
  • |
  • May 21, 2013 10:15 AM
  • |
  • 0 Comments

Quote of the Day: Michelle Rodriguez on Female Writers

  • By Kerensa Cadenas
  • |
  • May 20, 2013 2:25 PM
  • |
  • 1 Comment

Weekly Update May 17: Women Centric, Directed and Written Films Playing Near You

  • By Kerensa Cadenas
  • |
  • May 17, 2013 3:00 PM
  • |
  • 1 Comment

Odes to Female Friendships Rule The Weekend with Katie Aselton's Black Rock and Frances Ha

This weekend, two very different films that explore the intricacies of female friendships are hitting theaters (and VOD) near you: Katie Aselton's thriller Black Rock and Noah Baumbach's wry Frances Ha.
  • By Melissa Silverstein and Kerensa Cadenas
  • |
  • May 17, 2013 2:30 PM
  • |
  • 1 Comment

Trailer Roundup: Women Created Fall TV Shows

We've been reporting quite a bit about the Fall TV pick ups recently. Only 8 women created shows were picked up among all the networks which is a really depressing number.
  • By Kerensa Cadenas
  • |
  • May 17, 2013 1:15 PM
  • |
  • 1 Comment

Email Updates