March 17, 2016 by JENDEAN

Bite-sized blog post: Joyce Wu

JOYCE WU grew up in Detroit and directed theatre before heading to NYU for her MFA in film.

Her recent feature film She Lights Up Well (2014) reveals autobiographical elements focusing on an Asian American filmmaker who hails from Detroit. It is distributed via iTunes and Verizon on demand.

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Where to watch her films:

iTUNES

VIMEO

MR. RIGHT THE WEBSERIES

Bite-sized blog post: Kathleen Collins

KATHLEEN COLLINS has been recognized as the first African American woman to write and direct a feature length film.

Losing Ground (1982) was Collins’ second film and first feature (The Cruz Brothers and Miss Malloy was less than an hour so not quite a feature). Unfortunately, it was also her last. She died of cancer at 46.

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Where to watch her films:

AMAZON (DVDs/BluRays for PURCHASE)

PURCHASE FROM MILESTONE FILMS

Bite-sized blog post: Jane Ainbinder

JANE AINBINDER got her MFA at USC before directing her first feature film Nail Polish (2006) which screened at the Mill Valley Film Festival among other prestigious festivals.

She currently produces and directs corporate videos with her company Back Talk Productions based in San Francisco.

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Where to watch her films:

VIMEO

Bite-sized blog post: Desiree Akhavan

DESIREE AKHAVAN produced a television series The Slope after attending NYU for an MFA.

She then went on to make the feature film Appropriate Behavior (2014) which premiered at Sundance and garnered Akhavan a nomination for best debut script at the Independent Spirit Awards.

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Where to watch her films:

AMAZON (PRIME-STREAMING)

AMAZON (DVDs/BluRays for PURCHASE)

VIMEO

THE SLOPE ON VIMEO

Bite-sized blog post: Kimberly Pierce

KIMBERLY PEIRCE began working on her first feature Boys Don’t Cry (1999) while a graduate student at Columbia film school. She started by making a self-funded short catching the attention of producer Christine Vachon who would help her turn it into a feature.

The remake of the Stephen King classic Carrie (2013) directed by Peirce was only one of two female helmed films to be in the top 100 grossing films of that year.

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Where to watch her films:

AMAZON (PRIME STREAMING)

AMAZON (DVDs/BluRays for PURCHASE)

HULU

Bite-sized blog post: Jane Campion

The first woman to win the Palme d’Or was JANE CAMPION for her film The Piano (1993) which also made her the second woman nominated for an Oscar for Best Director (Lina Wertmüller was nominated before Campion in 1976 for her film Seven Beauties).

In 2013 Campion took over as Cannes Jury President, the year after a petition was circulated when no women directors were represented at the festival. As Campion said about the sexism in the industry, “Excuse me gentlemen, but the guys seem to eat all the cake. It’s not that I resent the male filmmakers. I love all of them. But there is something that women are thinking of doing that we don’t get to know enough about. It’s always a surprise when a woman filmmaker does come about.”

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Where to watch her films:

NETFLIX

AMAZON (PRIME-STREAMING)

AMAZON (DVDs/BluRays for PURCHASE)

Bite-sized blog post: Jodie Foster

JODIE FOSTER grew up in Hollywood and in 2013 she won the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for “outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment.” She went after directing with as much force and insight as she did in pursuit of acting roles. At one point she reached out to French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and expressed interesting in appearing in a film of his convincing him her French was up to par and she would play any size role despite her Hollywood status because she so admired his filmmaking.

In 1993 Jodie Foster started her own production company Egg Pictures after directing her first feature Little Man Tate (1993). She found out about the Netflix series Orange is the New Black and intrigued by the book it was based on and the show itself she reached out to get a directing gig on the show for which she was nominated for an Emmy.

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Where to watch her films:

NETFLIX

AMAZON (DVDs/BluRays for PURCHASE)

Bite-sized blog post: Kasi Lemmons

In 1997 Roger Ebert. wrote of KASI LEMMON’s first feature film, “There has been no more assured and powerful film debut this year than Eve’s Bayou.” She won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature that year.

Lemmons appeared as an actor in several films before her directorial debut and has gone on to direct several feature films with notable actors and in 2002 gave the tribute to Sidney Poitier at the 74th Academy Awards celebration.

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Where to watch her films:

AMAZON (PRIME STREAMING)

AMAZON (DVDs/BluRays for PURCHASE)

HULU

Bite-sized blog post: Lake Bell

LAKE BELL studied drama in England at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance and came back to the United States to start a successful career as an actress. She directed her first short film Worst Enemy (2010) shown at Sundance. Her feature In a World... (2013) also premiered at Sundance.

In an interview she said about her directing experience: “The first day I thought, ‘My god, I feel so at home. What a great comradery This quenches my thirst for something creative in a way I never knew was possible.’ I sort of loved the bustle of a thousand questions. Women are inherently kind of multitaskers.”

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Where to watch her films:

AMAZON (PRIME STREAMING)

Bite-sized blog post: Sarah Pirozek

SARAH PIROZEK comes from a fine arts background – studying at the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program early in her career, then going on to study at the Actors Studio and screenwriting at the New School.

Her first feature documentary Free Tibet (1998) documents the 1997 two day concert to benefit Tibet. Many prominent rock artists of the time took part – Smashing Pumpkins, De La Soul, Fugees among others. Pirozek has gone on to direct numerous music videos and commercials.

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Where to watch her films:

DVD on Netflix

BARNES & NOBLE DVD to PURCHASE

AMAZON (DVDs/BluRays for PURCHASE)

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