#HireTheseWomen

I'd #HireTheseWomen. I just hope that someday they #hireme.

Shonda Rhimes, Kinda Pissed there Needs to be an Award for the Award She Just Won

I love Shonda Rhime's work and (at least in print) personality. She seems like a great person to have on your team. That's why I loved that not only did she win a Diversity Award from the DGA, she also said this, "“When I heard I was getting a Diversity Award, I was really, truly, profoundly honored ... but I was also a little pissed off.... So was Betsy. So over many, many, many bottles of wine we discussed this.” “We’re a little pissed off because there still needs to be an award. Like, there’s such a lack of people hiring women and minorities that when someone does it on a regular basis, they are given an award.”

Lizzy & Wendy: Awesome 'Bob's Burgers' Sister Writing Duo!

This interview with sisters Lizzy and Wendy Molyneux makes me really want to be a writer on Bob's Burgers - not only is the show super funny (which I already knew), but also the workplace environment seems like a blast!

[via VideoGum]

'Catching Fire' and 'Frozen' Kick Box Office Ass + Thoughts on 'Frozen'

'Hunger Games: Catching Fire' and Disney's new 'Frozen' have proven (for the billionth time) that having well-rounded female protagonists in big studio movies pays off. Both are on track to break all kinds of records - Catching Fire is the third movie ever to break $250 million on or under eight days (the other two: The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers - so basically, Katniss is equal to the entire Avengers team) and Frozen may pull in $100 million in its first five days, shattering Thanksgiving weekend records.

What makes me even more happy about this is that both films are really good! I've already commented on Catching Fire (though I could go into further detail: I haven't even mentioned Jena Malone's perfect depiction of Johanna!). I just saw Frozen this afternoon, and I really loved the strong story of sisterhood, the delightful takedown of traditional Disney princess romances, and the way the hero, Anna, completely leads the film. She is not a passive protagonist: She constantly makes bold choices and gets herself into and out of trouble. Without spoiling anything, the ending proves this point to the nth degree. An extra perk? The movie passes the Bechdel Test within the first five minutes.

Bonus! Jennifer Lee, the screenwriter/animator behind Wreck-It Ralph wrote and co-directed Frozen. She's the first female director of a Disney animated movie, and I think the influence is both clear and welcome. I say this not to take away from Ms. Lee's individuality as a writer/director (I'm sure Kathryn Bigelow would HATE it if someone said that her directing clearly had a "female influence"), but simply as a woman who has experienced a lot of the same emotions, relationships, and thought-processes that I saw onscreen today that have not been present in any previous Disney features, which makes me think (logically) that Ms. Lee may have had something to do with that.

Sidenote to anyone else who saw Frozen: how much did you love the "You fell in love in one day!?" takedown (yes, I realize Anna and Kristoff kiss at the end of the film, but they have a very different "one day" than Anna and Hans, plus they only kiss and aren't getting married or anything rash like that)? And Anna telling Kristoff, most assuredly, that the way to end the eternal winter was simply to talk to her sister (and work things out like two normal human beings, instead of blowing the whole thing out of proportion like they'd do in another movie)? Loved it.

Oh! And I'm SO HAPPY that Kristen Bell is finally in a good movie. That lady deserves it!! Way to go, Woman Formerly Known as V-Mars!

So Much Writing Advice, So Little Time

Haven't had a chance to read this Buzzfeed article about how to write an awesome movie because I'm too busy writing a shitty one. Hmm... maybe I should I rethink my strategy...

Comedic Hurdles

Another perspective on Kenan Thompson's comments.

As for me, I generally blame the system. From not enough encouragement, support (financially, emotionally, etc-ally) when women and people of color (and women of color) are starting out, to bad management and guidance when the lucky few finally breach the system, to executives just plain not caring all that much because if your friend or friend of a friend is a talented white guy, why not just hire him? It's way easier, and you know you'll get along well.

Shonda Rhimes Gets New Gig on Kennedy Center's Board of Trustees

President Obama tapped Ms. Rhimes, along with Alexandra Stanton and David Rubenstein, to the board last week. What an important, influential position for such a powerful entertainment force. Not a whole lot of description about what the position entails, but if it can do anything, Ms. Rhimes will make it do something big. Pretty cool!

"What Teachers Make" by Taylor Mali

Here's an awesome slam poem by Taylor Mali called "What Teachers Make" illustrated in comic form by Zen Pencils (you can see it big there):

and spoken here:



This really hit home for me. I loved LOVED loved my teachers growing up. I really feel for Mr. Mali here and appreciate how dedicated he is to the profession. It does "make a GD difference."

I Heart the Superamazing Shonda Rhimes

Don't know who she is or why you love her (you do!) - check out this NY Times profile on the creator of "Scandal" and "Grey's Anatomy" - i.e. ABC's Thursday nights.

Getting your MRSMBA Degree?

Some confusing data out of Vanderbilt University suggests that women from elite ("snooty") universities work less than women from non-elite ("regular") universities. What's the deal? Do these women, possibly more likely to have been born into privilege, decide to continue to live in luxury off their parents' or spouses' money? Effectively earning their 21st century MRS degree? Or are they making work work for them, by choosing positions that allow them flexible hours and a more leisurely lifestyle because they'd rather spend more time travelling the world or taking care of their kids? Or are they getting pushed out of their jobs by latent sexism, and get too frustrated to press through? Choosing instead to focus on other pursuits? And what's the difference between the women from the elites who decide to work full-time vs those who do not (aside from kids)? Or is this research full of bull (and admittedly, I have not read the entire paper so it very well might be - or it might be the most insightful and well-researched paper in years. I have no idea!)

Ideas?

[via Neatorama]

We Need More Women Comedy Directors (and also directors in general, duh)!

Comedian and writer Diana Wright gathered the data and discovered that of the top 10 highest-grossing comedies each year for the last ten years, only 4.5% of them were directed by women. Pretty abysmal if you ask me. I assume the number of women who wrote those comedies was higher, but I can't imagine by too much. Funny ladies, we've got to break through - I don't know how, I don't know when, I probably know where (Hollywood?) - but we've got to. Clearly, no one's going to do it for us (or, honestly, probably even cares all that much that the current state of affairs is the worst).

Challenge accepted.

[via ThinkProgress]

If At First You Don't Succeed, Fall Over Backwards

This is how I feel most days.

Mainly because I am physically uncoordinated and I think perhaps my fine motor skills never quite fully developed, but sometimes because I am intellectually or emotionally uncoordinated, as well.

[via A Place to Love Dogs via Buzzfeed]

Shows that Need to Get Their Act Together

This could also have been titled, "Shows That Need To Get Their Act Together" or "A Couple of Shows I Love But Mostly A Ton that I Don't and Now I Know Why"

The WGA 2013 Staffing Brief contains a breakdown of all the writers working in TV this year.

Alyssa Rosenberg broke it down even further for us:


"The list of shows that didn’t hire women writers or writers of color in the 2011-2012 season should provide a pretty clear guide to which writers are rising above their own life experiences—and which ones are badly in need of new perspectives in their writers’ rooms:

Television Shows That Hired No Women Writers During The 2011-2012 Season
America’s Funniest Home Videos
Big Time Rush
Californication
Comedy Bang! Bang!
Dancing With The Stars
Eagleheart
Enlightened (Creator Mike White wrote all the episodes)
Futurama
Geniuses
Gurland On Gurland
The Insider
Kickin’ It
Locke & Key
Magic City
Psych
Teen Wolf
Veep
Workaholics I
Workaholics II

Television Shows That Hired No People Of Color As Writers During The 2011-2012 Season
America’s Funniest Home Videos
Anger Management
Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader
Baby Daddy
Best Friends Forever
Big Time Rush
Blue Mountain State
Boss
Breaking Bad
Californication
The Client List
Comedy Bang! Bang!
Dancing With The Stars
Eastbound and Down
Enlightened (Creator Mike White wrote all the episodes)
The Firm
Free Agents
Futurama
Game of Thrones
Free Agents
Geniuses
A Gifted Man
Glee
Good Luck, Charlie
Gossip Girl
Gurland On Gurland
Happily Divorced
Hart of Dixie
Homeland
How To Be A Gentleman
The Insider
Jane By Design
Kickin’ It
Lab Rats
Last Man Standing
The League
Longmire
Make It Or Break It
Man Up
Mike and Molly
Napoleon Dynamite
Once Upon A Time
One Tree Hill
The Protector
Ray Donovan
Revenge
State of Georgia
Stevie TV
Two And A Half Men
Veep
Web Therapy
Weeds
Workaholics I
Workaholics II"

We've still got a long way to go, baby.

[via ThinkProgress]

Smart Girls at the Party: Irma Kalish

Someday this will be be freaking out with joy while I talk to Amy Poehler... (I hope!)



[via Vulture]

Go, DreamWorks!

Keep it going, DreamWorks, hiring and promoting excellent women to chief roles! Lead the pack (and keep making great movies like How to Train Your Dragon and everyone will want to copy your success)!

PS. (That's a hint, Pixar!)

[via /Film]

Climate Change: Still a BFD!

Let's hope that after the "fiscal cliff" negotiations, Obama can finally focus on tackling climate change (and let's also hope they use ThinkProgress' tips to get started). New York City cannot handle a hurricane or superstorm every year (Seriously, it's awful out there).

Ladies Don't Be Princess'ing

In addition to Sonia Sotomayor's definition of a career, I think it should also include "must be a word that has both a noun and verb form, i.e. judge, writer, worker." Of course, in addition to "princess" this would knock "lawyer" (law'ing? I don't think so) out of the running, but would that be such a bad thing?



Also, a counterpoint:

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Wow, that writing was extremely acute. I bet the writer who wrote it is also totally a cute!

[via HuffPo TV]

This is Why I'm SO Productive

Yes, staring at adorable puppies HELPS me work! That's why I'm such an awesome worker who's always working hard and getting work done and... other work-related things...

But seriously... Puppies!

[Puppy via The Daily Puppy, Article via Neatorama]

Pete Doctor Teaches Us to Work Hard!

Pete Doctor's got the right lesson: word hard and you can overcome any (probably minor) talent deficiency!

In this letter to middle school students, he talks about how, as much as he loved drawing, he wasn't as good as a lot of the other artists he went to school with. However, his passion for it and determination to get better made him a stronger artist and attracted attention from Pixar, which led him to do all of the great work he's done, and, of course, give the world Monsters, Inc and Up! I love the picture of Mike in the letter, because even though Scully may be the more talented scare-er, Mike certainly is a hard worker and gets rewarded for it!

[/Film]

How to Help Women and Men Have At Least Some of It All

First, read the Atlantic article, "Why Women Still Can't Have It All" and then come on back if you're super frustrated because it's nuts that women have fought for so long to achieve equality and yet we're still so far behind on having fulfilling careers and families at the same time. While the article's author has some clues and ideas about how we can begin to change the workplace to better suit a higher percentage of women in higher percentages of power, this ThinkProgress article cites four policies that would start to make that change:

1) Paid family and medical leave insurance
2) Paid sick days
3) Right to request workplace flexibility
4) Equal pay

The fact that these are not already in place in the States is absurd. I'm sure if you live in Europe and are reading this, you're like - seriously? We did all this twenty years ago. Unfortunately, the US is not so progressive in that way. Let's hope we can begin to make these changes soon.