GoldieBlox Demands Change With An Incredible New Music Video

GoldieBlox Demands Change With An Incredible New Music Video: GoldieBlox, the toy company founded by engineer Debbie Sterling, has been chanting about girl power for a year now, and they are only getting louder. The Oakland-based small business is slowly, but surely, hitting the big-time. (They are currently a finalist for a Super Bowl commercial spot.)

Guest Post: Gender Disparity and the Problem of Marketability | Women and Hollywood

Guest Post: Gender Disparity and the Problem of Marketability | Women and Hollywood: A couple years ago, I wrote a script that was made into a movie, and this summer it came out on DVD and VOD. It's called Red Line, and it's about the survivors of a subway crash who are trapped in the collapsed tunnel. For my first feature film, I'm pretty proud of how it turned out, especially considering that most of us were students when we made it -- we hired professionals for our key department heads, but the rest of the crew was almost completely made up of students.

Our Entire Belief System Must Change - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com

Our Entire Belief System Must Change - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com: I was raised to believe I was equal and discovered, working in movies, that this wasn’t true. I’ve spent my life trying to change that. Though female directors are now a small part of the industry, we are an invisible minority. Even in government, we lack representation. It feels like we’ve gone backward. The cultural dismissal of women is so ingrained that the public, including women, doesn’t seem to perceive a problem.

Cameron Russell: Looks aren't everything. Believe me, I'm a model. | Video on TED.com

Cameron Russell: Looks aren't everything. Believe me, I'm a model. | Video on TED.com: Cameron Russell admits she won “a genetic lottery”: she's tall, pretty and an underwear model. But don't judge her by her looks. In this fearless talk, she takes a wry look at the industry that had her looking highly seductive at barely 16-years-old. (Filmed at TEDxMidAtlantic.)

ESSENTIAL FILMS BY WOMEN - Movie List on mubi.com

ESSENTIAL FILMS BY WOMEN - Movie List on mubi.com: *The HIStory of cinema is still to be re-written. Alice Guy-Blach�was one of the great pioneers of cinema, made hundreds of films, the first in 1896 before M�li�s. Do check her out, there is skill and charm aplenty: I’ve done a list Alice Guy-Blach�, Queen of the Pioneers. In 1910s Hollywood, in films like Suspense, Lois Weber matched Griffith for panache. Lotte Reiniger was a pioneering feature film animator in the 1920s, with her silhouettes in The Adventures of Prince Achmed, while Germaine Dulac is widely credited with the first Surrealist film, The Seashell and the Clergyman (1928)

Eve Ensler: Suddenly, my body | Video on TED.com

Eve Ensler: Suddenly, my body | Video on TED.com: "Poet, writer, activist Eve Ensler lived in her head. In this powerful talk from TEDWomen, she talks about her lifelong disconnection from her body -- and how two shocking events helped her to connect with the reality, the physicality of being human."

The Misogyny Machine That Rules Hollywood Comedies > Women and Hollywood

The Misogyny Machine That Rules Hollywood Comedies > Women and Hollywood: "Some days I wake up thinking that things can’t be really as bad as I think they are, then, I see a story like Tad Friend’s piece in this week’s New Yorker on Anna Faris and the state of Hollywood comedies for women and I think, wow, it’s even worse that I thought it was."

IN HER OWN WORDS | Director Larysa Kondracki Shares an Exclusive Scene from 'The Whistleblower' - indieWIRE

IN HER OWN WORDS | Director Larysa Kondracki Shares an Exclusive Scene from 'The Whistleblower' - indieWIRE: "Below first-time feature filmmaker Larysa Kondracki shares an exclusive scene from her conspiracy thriller “The Whistleblower,” starring Rachel Weisz, Vanessa Redgrave, David Strathairn and Monica Bellucci. The film opens in limited release this Friday, August 5 through Samuel Goldwyn Films.
The Setting
“The Whistleblower” is the story of Kathryn Bolkovac, an American police officer who joined the UN as a peacekeeper in Bosnia. While there, she discovered that peacekeepers were complicit in sex-trafficking. She took every measure to report this to proper authorities, but evidence started to disappear, she was threatened and she felt her life was in danger. Let’s just say that it became very clear that her efforts were not appreciated."

Sarah Kay: If I should have a daughter ... | Video on TED.com

Sarah Kay: If I should have a daughter ... | Video on TED.com: "'If I should have a daughter, instead of Mom, she's gonna call me Point B ... ' began spoken word poet Sarah Kay, in a talk that inspired two standing ovations at TED2011. She tells the story of her metamorphosis -- from a wide-eyed teenager soaking in verse at New York's Bowery Poetry Club to a teacher connecting kids with the power of self-expression through Project V.O.I.C.E. -- and gives two breathtaking performances of 'B' and 'Hiroshima.'
About Sarah Kay
A performing poet since she was 14 years old, Sarah Kay is the founder of Project V.O.I.C.E, teaching poetry and self-expression at schools across the United States."

Liza Donnelly: Drawing upon humor for change | Video on TED.com

Liza Donnelly: Drawing upon humor for change | Video on TED.com

Trusting Women

Trusting Women: "Mike Leigh is in a category by himself regarding women. He writes and directs scripts about real people, doing real things, many of them just trying to get through the day, and they most always include strong female characters. He trusts women. I don’t use that term loosely because there are many people — especially politicians — who don’t trust women to make the right and best decisions for their lives."

Miwa Matreyek's glorious visions | Video on TED.com

Miwa Matreyek's glorious visions | Video on TED.com: "Using animation, projections and her own moving shadow, Miwa Matreyek performs a gorgeous, meditative piece about inner and outer discovery. Take a quiet 10 minutes and dive in. With music from Anna Oxygen, Mirah, Caroline Lufkin and Mileece."

Shocking News: There Are Too Many Good Females Performances On Screen This Year

Shocking News: There Are Too Many Good Females Performances On Screen This Year: "The pundits are shocked — just shocked — that this year there are just too many good female performances on screen that getting the list down to the five Oscar nominees will be much harder than usual. Tough life."

The Female Character Flowchart | Overthinking It

The Female Character Flowchart | Overthinking It: "At the risk of being called a penis-bashing dog-faced psycho feminazi* again, I’m going to talk about gender today!�(Woo! Gender!)�More precisely, I’m going to show off�this crazy infographic I made with Carlos A. Hann Commander.� Think of this piece as a visual aid for my strong female character article, my piece�about likability in fiction, Belinkie’s awesome piece about Chris Nolan’s women, or any of the other gender-related articles on this site.�"

Why Strong Female Characters Are Bad for Women | Overthinking It

Why Strong Female Characters Are Bad for Women | Overthinking It: "Last night I finally saw the 2007 Transformers movie.� It was OK, in a Michael Bay sort of way, but it was very clear that it was made for a very specific audience: young white nerdy men who wish they could bone models after watching them sexily fight robots so sweat cascades down their luscious tanned bodies.� All right, fine.� If you must, Michael Bay.� I’d prefer if you objectified some hot men every once in a while, but I also understand that you think that would make you gay, and you don’t want that, Michael Bay.� I understand."

Interview with Lynn Hershman Leeson Director of War!: Women Art Revolution

Interview with Lynn Hershman Leeson Director of War!: Women Art Revolution: "Lynn Hershman Lesson’s historic film WAR! Women Art Revolution about the feminist art movement had its world premiere premiered yesterday at the Toronto Film Festival.� It will come to the state by way of the Museum of Modern Art next spring."

All the Globe's a stage – even for women writers - News, Theatre & Dance - The Independent

All the Globe's a stage – even for women writers - News, Theatre & Dance - The Independent: "They aren't so much smashing through the glass ceiling as sweeping aside layers of dusty parchment; but it is progress. As the first play penned by a woman opens at Shakespeare's Globe today – breaking a 411-year tradition – top"

Sofia Coppola Wins Top Prize at Venice Film Festival

Sofia Coppola Wins Top Prize at Venice Film Festival: "This is why awards matter.

When Somewhere premiered at Venice to mostly indifferent reviews it was pretty much dismissed as not as good as Lost in Translation which earned Coppola an Oscar Nomination."

Control Your Image: Women Musicians Seize On Social Media : The Record : NPR

Control Your Image: Women Musicians Seize On Social Media : The Record : NPR: "This story is part of Hey Ladies, our ongoing series of radio and online reports about women musicians working today. Read stories, get advice and discover music here.

More women than men use social media, according to several studies. And more women musicians seem to be finding it a good way to connect with fans and sell records without having to resort to some of the old marketing cliches."