THE 2ND SEX &amp; THE 7TH ART: WOMEN DIRECTORS IN FILM

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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Bite-sized blog post: Nancy Meyers

NANCY MEYERS’ first job in Hollywood was as a production assistant on The Price is Right. She then started working as a story editor and wrote her first screenplay Private Benjamin (1980), starring Goldie Hawn.

The first film she wrote and directed was The Parent Trap (1998) – a remake of the 1961 film and she has gone on to make several Hollywood box office hits.

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Bite-sized blog post: Sofia Coppola

SOFIA COPPOLA began her career as a still photographer and actress in her famous father’s films, playing an infant in a christening scene in The Godfather (1972). She learned all about making movies first hand by growing up in the industry and after directing a few shorts made her first feature film The Virgin Suicides (1999) which premiered at Sundance.

She was the third woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director with her film Lost in Translation (2003) for which she won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

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Bite-sized blog post: Jan Eliasberg

After receiving an MFA from Yale’s drama program and directing for prominent theatre companies JAN ELIASBERG was well-equipped to direct character driven television shows with an emphasis on performance and started out directing for shows such as Cagney & Lacey and LA Law after attending the AFI Directing Workshop for Women.

She was then chosen by Michael Mann to be the first woman to direct an episode of the action packed TV series Miami Vice which allowed her to segue into directing action. She ended up directing three episodes for the series and then used those action skills to direct her feature film Past Midnight (1991).

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VIMEO

Bite-sized blog post: Catherine Hardwicke

CATHERINE HARDWICKE was the first woman to launch a billion dollar movie franchise when she directed Twilight, the first in the series of mega-successful films based on the book series about teenage vampires and werewolves. All sequels of the series have been directed by men.

Hardwicke began her career as a production designer where no doubt skills gained from her degree in architecture gave her insight that she was able to utilize when attending film school at UCLA and entering the professional arena. She continues to direct films and television.

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FANDOR

Bite-sized blog post: Tamra Davis

TAMRA DAVIS began her career directing music videos for popular bands in the eighties and nineties including the Bangles, Depeche Mode and NWA.

She has gone on to direct feature films including Chris Rock’s “rockumentary” spoof CB4 (1993) and Billy Madison (1995) starring Adam Sandler, direct for television and direct and produce a documentary about her friend, the renowned artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

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YOUTUBE

Bite-sized blog post: Mary Harron

MARY HARRON began her career as a music journalist after studying at Oxford. Her first feature film I Shot Andy Warhol (1996) screened at Cannes Film Festival.

Harron went on to direct American Psycho (2000)which brought both her and Christian Bale into the spotlight.

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FANDOR

Bite-sized blog post: Michelle MacLaren

MICHELLE MACLAREN began her career as a production manager and producer. While producing X-Files she directed an episode and then went on to direct for critically acclaimed series including Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead.

MacLaren was originally slated to direct the Warner Brothers feature film Wonder Woman.

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Bite-sized blog post: Penny Marshall

Penny Marshall began her career as an actress who became famous for her role as Laverne on Laverne & Shirley. She directed a couple of episodes of the long-running sitcom and then went on to direct the feature film Big (1988), the first film directed by a woman to gross over $100 million.

Her film Awakenings (1990) was nominated for Best Picture by the Academy, however she was not nominated for Best Director for the film.

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