AWFJ Women On Film – 2011 Is Better For Women Pilot Writers – Nikki Finke reports

May 11, 2011 Nikki Finke 0 Comments awfj women on film, neely swanson, nikki finke, women in hollywood stats, women pilot writers, women screen writers

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2010 was the worst network pilot season for women writers and showrunners. So back then I asked Neely Swanson to analyze why. She is the former SVP of Development for David E. Kelley Productions, and presently an adjunct professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts in the writing division. Here, exclusive to Deadline. is her new analysis of the 2011 season for women pilot writers: Read more>>

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Nikki Finke

Nikki Finke has been the Deadline Hollywood columnist for LA Weekly since 2002, writing about the business, politics and culture of the infotainment industry. In March 2006, she began DeadlineHollywoodDaily.com which she writes and owns. She recently won Entertainment Journalist Of The Year from the 2007 Southern California Journalism Awards, with the judges commenting: "Reading Nikki Finke's salaciously candid coverage of Hollywood and its inhabitants almost feels like a guilty pleasure. She mixes the news with fearless finger-wagging that's just fun to read no matter the subject. She tackles the industry monoliths without the kiddy gloves and she seems to have command of the beat. She won first place in the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies' 2006 AltWeekly Awards for media criticism/reporting, and her DeadlineHollywoodDaily.com placed second in the 2007 AltWeekly Awards for blogs. She placed third in General Interest Column Writing in 2007's "Best Of The West" journalism competition, which draws entries from the 13 states west of the Rockies. Comments the judges: "Nikki Finke of LA Weekly brings home the back story so compellingly, writing so authoritatively, that I'm surprised some studio head hasn't had her knocked off. If you want to keep a secret in Hollywood, keep it far from this woman. There is dish and then there is deep dish. Nikki Finke serves up the latter." Los Angeles Magazine has praised her as "essential reading for those who follow the Industry. Week in and out, she's been writing a great Hollywood column. By going her own way, Finke has found fresh methods to describe Hollywood power, and from that she's found new ways to influence Hollywood power, which in the studio terrarium practically makes her a Hollywood power." Dow Jones' MarketWatch headlined a recent profile on her, "In-your-face Finke keeps Hollywood honest: Nobody writes tougher stuff than this LA Weekly scribe." The article said "Finke is a rarity at a time when many entertainment writers are either too awed, ill-informed or lazy to do serious reporting on Tinseltown. In fact, no writer relishes taking the rich and famous down a peg as much as this LA Weekly print columnist/Web journalist. While journalists pride themselves on having a natural skepticism for figures of authority, Finke's prickly distrust for many of them practically borders on disrespect, if not outright disdain. Nikki Finke's career in journalism has included years as an AP foreign correspondent in Moscow and London, Newsweek correspondent in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, and Los Angeles Times staff writer covering entertainment and features. From 1995 through 2000, she was West Coast Editor and Hollywood columnist first for the New York Observer and then for New York Magazine. She also has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, Esquire, and Salon. She has appeared often on radio and TV talking about the infotainment business.