POPCHANGE

Will you be watching Amy’s new show? Hope so!

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:20:26 -0400

Will you be watching Amy’s new show? Hope so!

"Rhimes, at 43, is often described as the most powerful African-American female show runner in..."

Thu, 09 May 2013 20:04:00 -0400

“Rhimes, at 43, is often described as the most powerful African-American female show runner in television — which is too many adjectives. She is one of the most powerful show runners in the business, full stop.”

- NYT’s Shonda Rhimes profile

"When we did Ocean’s Thirteen the casino set used $60,000 of electricity every week. How do you..."

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:56:48 -0400

“When we did Ocean’s Thirteen the casino set used $60,000 of electricity every week. How do you justify that? Do you justify that by saying, the people who could’ve had that electricity are going to watch the movie for two hours and be entertained – except they probably can’t, because they don’t have any electricity, because we used it.”

- Steven Soderbergh’s State Of Cinema Talk

Have you seen Blancanieves yet? Don’t miss it. Snow White...

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 14:27:00 -0400

Have you seen Blancanieves yet? Don’t miss it. Snow White as a female bullfighter in 1920s Spain. Playing in these cities.

JLaw = Best Choice for Young Han Solo (how awesome would that...

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 23:23:24 -0400

JLaw = Best Choice for Young Han Solo (how awesome would that be?!)

"It’s changed in Hollywood, but only so much. You can’t get Asians cast in leads yet. Maybe as a..."

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 13:01:34 -0400

“It’s changed in Hollywood, but only so much. You can’t get Asians cast in leads yet. Maybe as a second lead, but the lead is still going to be Caucasian or African-American. But Hollywood is fickle, it follows trends. If a show or a film did well with an Asian lead, then it would take off.”

- actor Masi Oka from Heroes (read more here)

"at the current rate of growth it would take women 42 years to catch up with men in terms of TV..."

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 14:19:06 -0400

“at the current rate of growth it would take women 42 years to catch up with men in terms of TV writing staff jobs”

- “2013 WGA TV Staff Diversity Report Finds Little Progress,” Deadline

'Downton Abbey' Adds Black Character

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 12:55:38 -0400

'Downton Abbey' Adds Black Character

participantmedia: A Place at the Table opens TODAY in theaters...

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 01:13:00 -0500

participantmedia:

A Place at the Table opens TODAY in theaters nationwide, on iTunes and On Demand everywhere.

Good Day was shot using traditional stop-motion animation, and incorporated over 2,500 individual frames. Different than traditional 2D animation, the piece was shot on a live set, utilizing hand-made paper cutouts. The process was a true labor of love. Every bit of movement, expression and transition required an intense amount of planning and preparation. As a result, the filmmakers were only able to capture 2 seconds of screen-time per day.

Take a Stand Against Hunger: http://bit.ly/placeattable

50 million people in the U.S.—one in four children—don’t know where their next meal is coming from, despite our having the means to provide nutritious, affordable food for all Americans. Directors Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush examine this issue through the lens of three people who are struggling with food insecurity: Barbie, a single Philadelphia mother who grew up in poverty and is trying to provide a better life for her two kids; Rosie, a Colorado fifth-grader who often has to depend on friends and neighbors to feed her and has trouble concentrating in school; and Tremonica, a Mississippi second-grader whose asthma and health issues are exacerbated by the largely empty calories her hardworking mother can afford.

Their stories are interwoven with insights from experts including sociologist Janet Poppendieck, author Raj Patel and nutrition policy leader Marion Nestle; ordinary citizens like Pastor Bob Wilson and teachers Leslie Nichols and Odessa Cherry; and activists such as Witness to Hunger’s Mariana Chilton, Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio and Oscar®-winning actor Jeff Bridges.

Ultimately, A Place at the Table shows us how hunger poses serious economic, social and cultural implications for our nation, and that it could be solved once and for all, if the American public decides—as they have in the past—that making healthy food available and affordable is in the best interest of us all.

From NYTimes: “Black Characters are Still Too Good, Too...

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 16:00:53 -0500

From NYTimes: “Black Characters are Still Too Good, Too Bad or Invisible”

Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles Study Examines Gender Disparity in Independent Film

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 20:38:03 -0500

Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles Study Examines Gender Disparity in Independent Film:

Findings include:

Of U.S. films selected for the Sundance Film Festival from 2002-2012, 29.8% of filmmakers (directors, writers, producers, cinematographers and editors) were female.

Across all behind-the-camera positions, females were most likely to be producers. As the prestige of the producing post increased, the percentage of female participation decreased. This trend was observed in both narrative and documentary filmmaking. Fewer than one third of all narrative producers but just over 40% of associate producers were female. In documentaries, 42.5% of producers and 59.5% of associate producers were female.

When compared to films directed by males, those directed by females feature more women filmmakers behind the camera (writers, producers, cinematographers, editors). This is true in both narratives (21% increase) and documentaries (24% increase).

Females were half as likely to be directors of narrative films than documentaries (16.9% vs. 34.5%).

Female directors of Sundance Film Festival films exceed those of the top 100 box office films. 23.9% of directors at the Sundance Film Festival from 2002-2012 were female, compared to 4.4% of directors across the top 100 box office films each year from 2002 to 2012 that were female.

41.5% of the female directors across 1,100 top-grossing movies of the past ten years had been supported by Sundance Institute.

Five major areas were identified as hampering women’s career development in film:
Gendered financial barriers (43.1%)

Male-dominated industry networking (39.2%)

Stereotyping on set (15.7%)

Work and family balance (19.6%)

Exclusionary hiring decisions (13.7%)

Opportunities exist to improve the situation for women in independent film. Individuals mentioned three key ways to change the status quo:
Mentoring and encouragement for early career women (36.7%)

Improving access to finance (26.5%)

Raising awareness of the problem (20.4%)

what up inauguration day

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:47:23 -0500

what up inauguration day

"AWARDSLINE: Callie Khouri has been involved in many projects, but I think many women associate her..."

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 21:16:00 -0500

“AWARDSLINE: Callie Khouri has been involved in many projects, but I think many women associate her with writing Thelma & Louise, about two women literally on the road to self-empowerment. Are there any parallels here?
BRITTON: I am, and was, and always will be an enormous fan of Thelma & Louise. I really grew up with that being a seminal movie for me. So I’ve always known who Callie Khouri was; that’s why I was so excited when I got this script. Hers is an interesting kind of feminism. It’s not in your face. (In Nashville), it’s dealing with the complexities of being a woman in a society that really isn’t built for feminism. That’s what I’ve always liked about playing Southern women; some of the most fierce women I’ve known were women from the South, yet they are coming from a world that is not very welcoming to their fierceness. I think Callie really confronts those aspects of feminism in a really unique way. It’s a little subversive, actually.”

- an interview with Connie Britton (aka Coach’s wife on Friday Night Lights) about her new show (ABC’s Nashville) and its writer (Callie Khouri)

NY Times: ‘Scandal’ on ABC Is Breaking Barriers

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:56:14 -0500

NY Times: ‘Scandal’ on ABC Is Breaking Barriers

"There’s too much cheesecake out there that is sold, or at least marketed, as a ‘strong female’..."

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 19:11:44 -0500

“There’s too much cheesecake out there that is sold, or at least marketed, as a ‘strong female’ character or book when it’s anything but, it just reinforces the worst opinions of the most sexist fans, and we gain no new ground. We probably lose ground. I’m not approaching this new X-Men as a ‘female book,’ but I’m writing it as a high action X-Men comic, and with some luck that will nullify some of these poisonous critics who go looking for something to feel angry/uncomfortable/threatened by.”

- Brian Wood, writer of the new all-female X-Men comic (more on that here)

DirecTV’s upcoming first original series, Rogue, stars...

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:17:00 -0500

DirecTV’s upcoming first original series, Rogue, stars Thandie Newton as an undercover detective. Great to see a woman of color featured in that lead role!

You may know Newton best as Dr. Carter’s love interest on ER, or as the woman targeted by a racist cop in the film Crash. Interesting fact: Newton once gave a TED talk on otherness. Among her comments, she shared this — “From about the age of 5, I was aware that I didn’t fit. I was the black, atheist kid in the all-white, Catholic school run by nuns. I was an anomaly.”

It is a good moment for woman of color on TV. Kerry Washington is killing it as the focus of ABC’s Scandal, and Meagan Good stars in NBC’s new Deception. Creators of Deception have stated that there was no specific intent to cast an African-American, Good simply read the part the best. Here’s hoping this kind of diversity in casting leads continues to increase…

"I already did my coming out a thousand years ago, in the Stone Age. Those very quaint days when a..."

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 15:09:09 -0500

“I already did my coming out a thousand years ago, in the Stone Age. Those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to friends and family and co-workers then gradually to everyone that knew her, everyone she actually met. But now apparently I’m told that every celebrity is to honor the details of their private life with a press conference, a fragrance and a primetime reality show.”

- Jodie Foster at the 2013 Golden Globes (more here)

Actress Considers Run for Senate

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 20:01:05 -0500

Actress Considers Run for Senate:

Ashley Judd is considering running against the GOP’s Mitch McConnell in 2014

"Women’s bodies in films are either highly objectified and sexualised or, past a certain age, made..."

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 14:18:09 -0500

“Women’s bodies in films are either highly objectified and sexualised or, past a certain age, made fun of. In North American films, there’s no sort of routine nudity so I wanted something that wasn’t particularly eventful for them in that moment.”

- Sarah Polley talking about a scene in her new film Take This Waltz, featuring Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen. More here

"Nobody would make it. We went to everybody in town. We needed $5 million. Nobody would do it…..."

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 22:02:55 -0500

“Nobody would make it. We went to everybody in town. We needed $5 million. Nobody would do it… They said it was too gay. Everybody. This was after ‘Brokeback Mountain,’ by the way. Which is not as funny as this movie. I was stunned. It made no sense to any of us.”

- Steven Soderbergh on why the Liberace movie ended up on HBO. Read more here