Photo credit: Prix Sopadin 2009 – Left to right: Sabrina B. Karine, Yasmin Berber & Alice Vial
Hollywomen’s fourth news round up featuring Anne Fontaine, vampires, good deeds and film panels.
Summary: Anne Fontaine Takes Side With The Innocents | Ana Lily Amirpour & Debra Granik win Rooftop Grants | Lionsgate revives Twilight on Facebook | #GoodDeedFriday | Black Magic, Bad Buzz | New Models of Distribution Panel | Film & TV Panel at Bushwick
Developed by Sabrina B. Karine & Alice Vial and showcased at the Festival International des Scenaristes in 2011, the screenplay has received the support of the Torino Film Lab and the Groupe Ouest residency.
A former production assistant for Stargate SG-1, Sabrina B. Karine has directed actress Torri Higginson (Stargate Atlantis, The English Patient) on several short movies, from Save My Soul in 2006 to Smile of April in 2009. Back in France, she won the screenwriting award Prix Sopadin the same year for Elles Dansent Seules (They Dance Alone), where she met Alice Vial, winner for Les Immortelles (The Immortals), an event that led to the creation of the writing group Les Indelebiles. She has since then worked for features & TV, including the hit series Fais pas ci, Fais pas ça (Don’t do this, Don’t do that) and several episodes of the upcoming series 10%, whose pilot will be directed by Cedric Klapish (The Spanish Apartment Trilogy).
An actress who spent most of her teenage years on TV sets, Alice Vial has developed a strong voice as a writer and director, winning the Prix Sopadin and Beaumarchais Grant for her first screenplay Les Immortelles. She has worked for film & tv and shot her latest short movie Gueule de Loup during the summer. A member of the the writing collective Les Indelebiles, she is one of the 5 members of the female writer’s group La Mafia Princesse.
Alice Vial & Sabrina B. Karine are both represented by Fanny Mary at Agent Agitateur.
Watch the trailer of Gemma Bovery by Anne Fontaine on Trailers & Releases – No Honeymoon For Kelly & Cal
Find Anne Fontaine on the Hollywomen Directors Board
Find Alice Vial on the Hollywomen Screenwriters Board
Find Sabrina B.Karine on the Hollywomen Screenwriters Board
Follow the Mafia Princesse and other collectives on the Diversity Directory
Discover the TV movie Pilules Bleues (Blue Pills) written by MP member Charlotte Sanson on Transparence, Pills & Selfies
Director Ana Lily Amirpour is the latest recipient of the Rooftop Films & Piper-Heidsieck Feature Film Grant, which honored her with a $10,000 grant to help her finish her new feature film The Bad Batch, a post-apocalyptic love story set in a Texas wasteland.
Ten other awards and grants were also given by the Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund: Debra Garnik received the Adrienne Shelly Foundation Short Film Grant for Second Act while Christina Choe was the recipient of the Eastern Effects Equipment Grant for her feature film Nancy.
Discover the full list of grants on the website of the Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund
Watch the trailer of Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night on Trailers & Releases – Thrills & Empowerment
Use our comprehensive lists of Grants, Workshops & Festivals
Find Ana Lily Amirpour on the Hollywomen Directors Board
Find Debra Granik on the Hollywomen Directors Board
Follow the Adrienne Shelly Foundation on the Diversity Directory
Lionsgate is teaming up with Facebook, author Stephenie Meyer, the crowdsourcing platform Tongal and the organization Women In Film to create a series of five short films based on Twilight characters: The Storytellers – New Voices Of The Twilight Saga. Financed by Lionsgate/Summit and its partners and showcased on Facebook, the short movies will be helmed by five young female directors selected by a jury that includes Catherine Hardwicke, Frozen director Jennifer Lee, Kate Winslet, Octavia Spencer, producer Cathy Schulman and Julie Bowen.
The project will also receive the support of Stephenie Meyer’s production company, Fickle Fish Films. Established during the production of the two-parter Twilight: Breaking Dawn, the company co-run by Meghan Hibbett focuses on literature-related films and media. After releasing The Host and Austenland in 2013, it is currently developing adaptations of Mindy McGinnis’ survival story Not a Drop to Drink, Kendare Blake’s Anna Dressed in Blood and Lois Duncan’s Down a Dark Hall.
Follow updates about the project on the crowdsourcing website Tongal and the website of Fickle Fish Films
Follow the various chapters of Women in Film on the Diversity Directory
Find Catherine Hardwicke on the Hollywomen Directors Board
Find Jennifer Lee on the Hollywomen Screenwriters Board & Directors Board
Follow the footsteps of Jane Austen as she writes her novels in England on LibrAdventures – The Literary Atlas
What if, each Friday, you did one good thing towards someone else in the film industry? This is the motto of the new twitter-based #GoodDeedFriday initiative, started on September 26. The concept of the campaign is simple: to do each week one thing that could benefit someone less connected in the film industry, from recommendations to script reads & notes. Initiated by director Lexi Alexander, the hashtag caught on and several writers, directors and producers proposed their services: Doctor Who writer James Moran to Layover director Joshua Caldwell & cinematographer Cybel Martin among others.
A question remains unanswered: what are you gonna do next Friday for your fellow filmmakers?
Check out #GoodDeedFriday on Twitter
Read our interview with Lexi Alexander, winner of the Inspiration Award at the Etheria Film Night
Find Lexi Alexander on the Hollywomen Directors Board
Find Cybel Martin on the Hollywomen Cinematographers Board
How to lose customers and alienate filmmakers: the latest ad campaign by camera maker Black Magic was met with strong reactions and funny jabs in the filmmaking community. If some publicity shots from the company depicted women in active roles, the new ad for the highly-anticipated URSA camera promoted everywhere from billboards to digital communication depicts an all-male set and for some reason a woman in bikini… not even in the frame.
More than a detail given the current under-representation of women in the film industry and the recent batch of bad statistics, the unfortunate picture made some directors and cinematographers think twice about working with the rising company.
As it turns out, we’ve got it all wrong: it doesn’t have to be a glass or celluloid ceiling that keeps talented people from reaching the top, sometimes a glass wall do the work just fine.
This ad for @Blackmagic_News is so terrible on so many levels pic.twitter.com/BSnrGPiBlw
— Freddie Wong (@fwong) September 26, 2014
@BrionyKidd I can't imagine using @Blackmagic_News cameras on any of my productions when this is how they portray women in the industry.
— Karen Lam (@opiatepix) September 25, 2014
@bstepansky wait, why is there a girl in a bikini in a pool outside? this is so dumb on so many levels.
— miss alix (@hello_alix) September 25, 2014
Sorry, @Blackmagic_News, I work with women behind the camera, not in the pool. Guess I’ll stick to RED.
— Jeff Richards (@jeffrichards) October 8, 2014
@Blackmagic_News: take a clue from @digitalbolex re: your new advert. Women exist on film sets, and not just as props in bikinis! #HeforShe
— Katie Carman-Lehach (@katiecarman) September 25, 2014
@Blackmagic_News However, KUDOS on the perfect visual metaphor for how women are treated in Hollywood. CC @elleschneider @Joshua_Caldwell
— Emily Best (@emilybest) September 25, 2014
@AxelleCarolyn @Blackmagic_News Clearly they think nothing has changed in 40yrs. pic.twitter.com/5ZZj9MoNw0
— Elric (@Elrickane) September 29, 2014
@Pippsta @opiatepix @Blackmagic_News "I think the problem here is that you're focusing on my rack. I clearly said RACK FOCUS, guys."
— Jenna Wright (@AceJenna) September 25, 2014
Read That Old (White) Magic of men making movies on the website of writer/director Briony KiddCome on, @Blackmagic_News, can you change that cover pic? Let’s get the woman out of the pool & behind the camera! #indiefilm #scriptchat
— Kim Garland (@kim_garland) October 8, 2014
The Alliance of Women Directors board member Hilari Scarl and Sarah Moshman, director of The Empowerment Project, organized a panel on film distribution in Los Angeles on October 7. Hosted by the former and featuring the latter, the panel counted Sheri Candler (Film Collective) and Seed&Spark CEO Emily Best as guests.
An enlightening evening on the #AWDpanel @GA_LA w/ @shericandler @HilariScarl @EmpowermentDocu @emilybest pic.twitter.com/01yOq879iS
— Sarah Moshman (@SarahMosh) October 8, 2014
Watch the trailer of The Empowerment Project on Trailers & Releases – Thrills & EmpowermentInspiring, empowered women @emilybest @SarahMosh @shericandler @HilariScarl on the #awdpanel! #knowyouraudience pic.twitter.com/ApEbcVuKoi
— Alexis O. Korycinski (@aokorycinski) October 8, 2014
Follow The Alliance of Women Directors & The Empowerment Project on The Diversity Directory
Find Hilari Scarl & Sarah Moshman and hundreds of directors on our Twitter Lists
Discover film projects financed through Seed&Spark on our Kick It! crowdfunding showcases
We enjoyed speaking on today's panel about gender equality @BushwickFilm with @MagnoliaPics and @womenmakemovies pic.twitter.com/MUndK7WlHf
— Film Fatales (@FilmFatalesNYC) October 6, 2014
The #WomeninFilm panel was an inspiration. Thank you @shack6324 @LeahMeyerhoff @debzim @JessicaVale for sharing wisdom! #BushwickFilmFest
— BushwickFilmFestival (@BushwickFilm) October 5, 2014
Founded by female entrepreneurs and established in Brooklyn, the Bushwick Film Festival organized its annual Women in Film and TV Panel & Reception event on October 5.
The 2014 edition of the panel featured interventions on film business by Sarah Hack from Magnolia Pictures, documentary films by Jessica Vale, distribution by Maya Jakubowicz from Women Make Movies, feature films by director & Film Fatales founder Leah Meyerhoff.
Find Leah Meyerhoff on the Hollywomen Directors Board
Discover our comprehensive List of Women’s Film Festivals
[easy-social-share buttons=”facebook,twitter,google,pinterest,linkedin,tumblr,mail,reddit,buffer,pocket” counters=0 hide_names=”force” template=”metro-retina” fullwidth=”yes”]
