women rocking hollywood – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

Women Rocking Hollywood at WonderCon – Leslie Combemale reports

April 2, 2025 Leslie Combemale #metoo, Aeysha Carr, Carla Ching, Chandra Jackson, Dara Resnik, reFrame stamp, rosemary rodriguez, women in film, women rocking hollywood, wondercon

AWFJ had the opportunity to amplify female filmmakers at the latest WonderCon convention, which took place in Anaheim, California the last weekend in March with the 11th annual Women Rocking Hollywood panel. This year’s focus was on surviving and thriving in a changing landscape, and featured executive producers, writers, a director and an advocate for parity in the screen industries. As always, the panel was on Saturday, the most attended day of the convention, and for the first time, it was presented in the largest venue at the Anaheim Convention Center, with over a thousands seats.

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My Comic Con International Film Festival 2024 Juror Diary – Leslie Combemale reports

August 15, 2024August 15, 2024 Leslie Combemale Adam Neese, Comic Con International Film Festival 2024, Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival, Juliet Landau, Phil Lamarr, Thaba Ye, women rocking hollywood, wondercon

When Adam Neese, the program coordinator for Comic-Con International and director of the Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival (CCI IFF) invited me to be one of three jurors for the 2024 film fest, I was floored. I’d been going to San Diego Comic-Con for almost 30 years, and had just made the hard decision that 2023 would be my last time. By 2023, I had played almost every role one could at the con. Every one except “special guest”, which I assumed, as film journalist, wasn’t for me.

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WonderCon: Women Rocking Hollywood Panel – Jennifer Merin reports

April 4, 2024August 6, 2024 Jennifer Merin Amy Greene, Andria Wilson Mirza, Anna Biller, Anna Halberg, Apple TV+, Erica Tremblay, Famale film makers, leslie combemale, netflix, reframe, women in film, women rocking hollywood, wondercon, WonderCon2024

AWFJ member and senior contributor Leslie Combemale recently brought her 10th Women Rocking Hollywood panel to WonderCon in Los Angeles, on Saturday, March 30th, just in time to celebrate Women’s History Month. Hundreds of convention attendees who are fans of cinema and women in film were present to hear this year’s cohort of female filmmakers discuss their careers and latest projects. The panel included Anna Halberg, Amy Greene, Anna Biller, Erica Tremblay, and Andria Wilson Mirza, with Leslie Combemale moderating. Leslie is premiering the video from the panel here on AWFJ.org. Read on to learn more about each panelist and their contributions to the conversation. There is a link to the video of the panel at the end of this overview.

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WOMEN ROCKING HOLLYWOOD at San Diego ComicCon 2022 – Leslie Combemale reports

August 4, 2022August 6, 2024 Leslie Combemale Andria Wilson Mirza, Haifaa Al Mansou, Hanelle M. Culpepper, Martina Mossel Lee, rosemary rodriguez, san diego comic con 2022, SDCC, Shaz Bennet, women rocking hollywood, Women Rocking Hollywood: Multi-hyphenate Female Filmmakers 2022

It’s very strange and a little disconcerting that five months of work is distilled into a panel event that takes less than an hour, but that’s how it goes planning the Women Rocking Hollywood panel for San Diego Comic-Con every year. What borders on surreal is that in 2022, I was working around an ongoing pandemic to do so. In some ways, 2022 was the best event yet, this being the seventh year of the female filmmaker-focused panel. The seven years includes the last two, in which we showed up virtually. Although there were some challenges unique to 2022, “Women Rocking Hollywood: Multi-hyphenate Female Filmmakers” as this permutation was called, featured several exclusive reveals, as well as a worldwide exclusive clip presented by the women participants, and that made this SDCC particularly special.

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WonderCon@Home: Women Rock Hollywood Panel – Leslie Combemale reports

May 22, 2020August 6, 2024 Leslie Combemale 0 Comments c fitz, hannalee culpepper, jen mcgowan, rosemary rodriguez, san diego comic con, women rock hollywood, women rocking hollywood, wondercon

Things are changing in Hollywood, albeit slowly. I’d like to think that the annual Women Rocking Hollywood all-female panel at San Diego Comic Con has contributed to the change. Like all 2020 con events, this year’s edition of the live panel fell victim to the coronavirus pandemic. But opportunity to go virtual came from Comic-Con International organizers whey they decided to stage a virtual con, presenting panels that were filmed remotely.

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SD Comic-Con 2018: Support for Women in Film — Leslie Combemale

August 15, 2018August 6, 2024 Leslie Combemale 0 Comments Ava DuVernay, CATHERINE hARDWICK, comic con, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Kat Candler, SDCC, WOMEN KICK ASS, women rocking hollywood

For many years, there have been symposiums, panels, and gatherings at many of the world’s film festivals to educate and support women both in front of and behind the camera. This has always made sense. There are far more opportunities for female filmmakers and stories in the independent space. Recently, another study announced the continued bleak percentages of women being hired to helm films at the major studios. What reason then, would there be for expanding representation of women on panels and at events surrounding San Diego Comic-Con, or SDCC as it’s known to fans? It is the convention that celebrates the most popular, most promoted, and studio-driven projects in Hollywood. As it turns out, every reason in the world.

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From Comic-Con: #FemaleFilmmakerFunko for #FemaleFilmmakerFriday — Leslie Combemale comments

July 26, 2018August 6, 2024 Leslie Combemale 0 Comments angnes varda, ava duverny, catherine hardwicke, female directors, funko pops, Patty Jenkins, sanddiego comic con, women rocking hollywood

As an avid supporter of women in film, producing the annual Women Rocking Hollywoodpanel at Comic-Con is the highlight of my professional year, especially because I’ve found Comic-Con to be receptive and progressive about recognizing women in film. Comic-Con has pushed me to become a better critic and a bigger fan. Over the years, I’ve become an obsessive collector of Funko Pops, those wonderful figures that memorialize the movie icons I love. Continue reading…