In Her Voice: A Women and Hollywood Podcast

Today's interview is with Molly Manning Walker who is making her directorial debut with How to Have Sex. Molly Manning Walker is a Cinematographer and Writer/Director based in London. She graduated from the NFTS Cinematography course in 2019. Molly’s first short film 'Good Thanks, You?' was included in the Semaine De La Critique program at Cannes and her debut feature, How To Have Sex...

Synopsis: From Academy Award® nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay, ORIGIN explores the mystery of history, the wonders of romance, and a fight for our future. While investigating the global phenomenon of caste and its dark influence on society, a journalist faces unfathomable personal loss and uncovers the beauty of human resilience.  Ava DuVernay | Director , Writer, Producer  Ava DuVernay is an Aca...

In this gentle meditation on fatherhood, brotherhood and manhood, five fathers of trans children join Dennis Shepard – the father of slain gay college student Matthew Shepard – for a weekend fishing trip in rural Oklahoma. As the men cast their lines into the river, they find common ground across racial, geographical and generational lines: their unconditional love for their children. Directed + P...

Kristi Jacobson is a director and producer and the Founder of Catalyst Films. Her films have premiered at the Sundance and Tribeca Film Festivals, have been released in theaters and screened on platforms including Netflix, and HBO,  Some of Her films include SOLITARY which took audiences deep inside a supermax prison in Western Virginia and A PLACE AT THE TABLE which won the International Document...

Today's guest is Maryam Keshavarz. She is an Iranian-American writer, director, and producer. Maryam was born in New York City but spent most summers, and some of her school years, in Shiraz, Iran. This bi-national childhood naturally made her a translator of cultures, two cultures often at odds with each other. Maryam initially was pursuing a PhD in Near Eastern Studies focusing on Iran and G...

Today’s guest is SHRUTI GANGULY an award-winning filmmaker and writer based in Oslo and New York City and we are talking about her feature length directorial debut Tripped Up which opens on October 20. Tripped Up synopsis: Aspiring chef Lizzy sets off with her three best friends in tow to compete in the prestigious Saucy Food Festival. What begins as a calculated career move quickly turns into a m...

Check out my interviews with Susanna Fogel, director of Cat Person and Tracy Droz Tragos, director of Plan C. Susanna Fogel is a director, screenwriter, and novelist.  She co wrote the great comedy Booksmart, for which she was nominated for a BAFTA and a WGA Award, and the pilot of the Amazon series The Wilds. Tracy Droz Tragos is a filmmaker drawn to issues involving women, inequality, and rural...

A discussion of films from TIFF including: How to Have Sex Back Spot The End We Start From Irena's Vow Lee Zone of Interest Origin Conversation with documentary director, Dawn Porter discussing her new Showtime miniseries Deadlocked which premieres on September 22.

Melissa discusses two documentaries from the Toronto International Film Festival Copa 71 https://www.tiff.net/events/copa-71 Sorry/Not Sorry https://www.tiff.net/events/sorry-not-sorry

Melissa gives a brief overview of the problematic men dominating the headlines and gives a preview of some TIFF titles directed by women. Show Notes: Problematic Men https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/woody-allen-venice-2023-very-lucky-my-whole-life-1235581412/ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/spanish-actor-gabriel-guevara-arrested-at-venice-film-festival-on-sex...

Emma Seligman is a Canadian writer/director and winner of the 2022 Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award. Her debut feature SHIVA BABY was selected to screen at SXSW and TIFF in 2020 and was named a New York Times Critics Pick. In 2020, Emma was named one of Variety’s 10 Screenwriters to Watch and one of Filmmaker Mag’s ‘25 New Faces of Independent Film. Her second feature, BOTTOMS, made with O...

Sasheer Zamata is a comedian, actress and writer who can be seen on ABC’s  Home Economics , Hulu’s  Woke , Comedy Central’s  Robbie , the horror comedy film  Spree , and Lionsgate’s romantic comedy  The Weekend . She was a cast member on  Saturday Night Live  for four seasons, and has appeared on  This American Life  and  Late Night with Stephen Colbert . Her stand up special  Pizza Mind   is avai...

Amy Redford's career in the creative arts spans over three decades as a director, producer, and actor in film, television, music videos and theatre. Her latest film, WHAT COMES AROUND, is out on August 4th, 2023. Directed by Amy Redford and written by Scott Organ based on his play, the movie charts the shifting power dynamics among a mother, her teenage daughter and the daughter's older bo...

Aisha Harris, co-host of NPR’s beloved ⁠ Pop Culture Happy Hour⁠ podcast, chats to Melissa about her new book "Wannabe, Reckonings with the Pop Culture that Shapes Me". “Aisha Harris is one of our smartest, most entertaining modern cultural critics. The nine pieces offer insight on Stevie Wonder, the Spice Girls, Pen15, and New Girl—among many other pop artifacts, of course—which might a...

Melissa's weekly round up of all industry news dedicated to highlighting the voices of women who work in the global entertainment business. Show Notes Bob Iger Strike News Orange is the New Black SAG AFTRA press conference (start at the hour mark) Diversity in Hollywood: John Ridley: Diversity Exec Exits Spark Fear That Hollywood Inclusion Pledges Were Just PR & More Broken Promises To Peo...

Writer Maureen Ryan blows the lid on patterns of harassment and bias in Hollywood, the grassroots reforms under way, and the labor and activist revolutions that recent scandals have ignited in her book BURN IT DOWN. Maureen “Mo” Ryan is a Contributing Editor at Vanity Fair and has written for EW, the New York Times, Salon, GQ, Vulture, Variety and the Chicago Tribune. Her reporting on bias in Holl...

Melissa chats with Inkoo Kang, television critic at The New Yorker. They discuss some of the TV shows they have been watching recently, including QUEEN CHARLOTTE, HAPPY VALLEY, DEAD RINGERS and documentary STOLEN YOUTH. Please note there is a trigger warning for this episode. Show Notes The End of “Happy Valley,” an Unusually Intimate Crime Drama - The New Yorker (pay wall) QUEEN CHARLOTTE - Trail...

Melissa chats with director Numa Perrier , the director of THE PERFECT FIND starring Gabrielle Union, which will be released on Netflix on June 23rd 2023.  Numa Perrier is an actor, director, writer and visual artist who has emerged as a provocative voice in the film and television landscape. Perrier’s first feature, JEZEBEL, which she wrote, directed and co-starred, premiered at SXSW and was rele...

Melissa's weekly round up of all industry news dedicated to highlighting the voices of women who work in the global entertainment business. Please note there is a trigger warning for this episode (time code 09:50) Show Notes Emmy Rossum/Tom Holland Prima Facie Joanna Arnow CHASING CHASING AMY In Her Voice is a Woman and Hollywood Podcast, hosted by Melissa Silverstein (Founder of  ⁠Women and H...

FLAMIN’ HOT is the inspiring true story of Richard Montañez, the Frito Lay janitor who channeled his Mexican American heritage and upbringing to turn the iconic Flamin’ Hot Cheetos into a snack that disrupted the food industry and became a global pop culture phenomenon. Directed by Eva Longoria Screenplay by Lewis Colick and Linda Yvette Chávez Produced by DeVon Franklin Starring Jesse Garcia as R...

No news brief this week rather a focus on the Tribeca Film Festival. Melissa highlights some of the fantastic women-made films selected for the festival. She also interviews Jennifer Esposito, writer/director/actor of FRESH KILLS and Academy Award®-nominated director Waad al-Kateab (WE DARE TO DREAM). The daughters of the Larusso family struggle to break the unspoken code of the women behind the m...

Melissa chats with Georgia Oakley, writer/director of BLUE JEAN. In Georgia's stunning directorial debut BLUE JEAN, it’s 1988 England and Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government is about to pass a law stigmatizing gays and lesbians, forcing Jean (Rosy McEwen, in a powerhouse performance), a gym teacher, to live a double life. As pressure mounts from all sides, the arrival of a new student...

Melissa's weekly round up of all industry news dedicated to highlighting the voices of women who work in the global entertainment business. Show Notes Justine Triet’s ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ Wins Palme d’Or at 2023 Cannes Film Festival - Hollywood Reporter Cannes Palme d’Or winner criticises Macron’s ‘repression’ of protests - The Guardian (paywall) The Understated Pleasures of HBO’s “Somebody Som...

Melissa interviews Erica Saleh (ONE OF US IS LYING) in a great conversation about the current writers strike, what it means to be a TV writer and how they work their way up the career ladder. This episode has a lot of excellent information about why this strike is so important at this moment in the entertainment business. Erica Saleh is a New York City based TV writer, screenwriter, and playwright...

Melissa's weekly round up of all industry news dedicated to highlighting the voices of women who work in the global entertainment business. Show Notes Catherine Corsini was “maybe a bit too proud and pretentious” to use intimacy coaches on ‘Homecoming’ set - Screen Daily Jennifer Lawrence brings documentary about Afghan women to Cannes - The Guardian (paywall) Eva Longoria Calls Out Hollywood:...