THE WEEK IN WOMEN: Hollywood’s ‘pink razor remakes’ shave women directors, SUPERGIRL in OK, RIP Melissa Mathieson and more – Brandy McDonnell reports
Hollywood green lights remakes for their relative ease, low risk and built-in audiences, but we don’t need more of them — and we especially don’t need them as a quick fix for Hollywood’s ongoing gender issues. Instead of forcing audiences to settle for remakes, how about the studios invest money on projects initiated by the more than 100 women directors who’ve already proven their skills with box office successes. When are women creatives going to get equal opportunity to share their original stories instead of just doing “the female-version” of “insert big franchise title”? 20th Century Fox, Sony, Paramount, and the Weinstein Company have all failed to put out even a single film this year that was directed by a woman! Plus RIP screenwriter Melissa Mathieson, whose brilliant and beloved E.T will live forever, Oklahoma super girls welcome Supergirl Melissa Benoist, Chloe Sevigny cast as Lizzie Borden, and Essence is launching its Third Annual Black Women In Hollywood Short Film Contest, with submissions due by December 14. Read more in this week’s THE WEEK IN WOMEN