Women in Hollywood and Television

"From a leading cultural journalist, a definitive look at the rise of the female showrunner--and a new golden era of television. Female writers, directors, and producers have radically transformed the television industry in recent years. Shonda Rhimes, Lena Dunham, Tina Fey, Amy Schumer, Mindy Kaling: These extraordinary women have shaken up the entertainment landscape, making it look like an equal opportunity dream factory. But things weren't always...

In this memoir, Agnes Nixon--the television pioneer who wrote and produced the award-winning soap operas All my children and One life to live--outlines her own dramatic life and how she broke network taboos about controversial issues and began a long line of female showrunners.

Women and men attend film schools in equal numbers, but women direct only four percent of top grossing feature films in the US. Why are women largely shut out of this prestigious, lucrative and culturally influential profession? High profile women directors including Ava DuVernay (A Wrinkle In Time), Lena Dunham (Girls), Jill Soloway (Transparent), offer candid, unfiltered and often humorous tales of their careers in Hollywood.

"The definitive biography of movie executive and philanthropist Sherry Lansing traces her groundbreaking journey to become the first female head of a major motion picture studio, shares behind-the-scenes tales from movie sets and Hollywood boardrooms, and explains what inspired her to walk away from it all to start the Sherry Lansing Foundation. When Sherry Lansing became the first woman ever to be named president of a major studio, the news ricocheted...

"Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother's dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called "calorie restriction," eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, "Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn't tint hers?"...

"A collection of personal and powerful stories by an influential actress exploring her experiences dealing with representation, sexism, and advocacy. Through stories that are raw, fascinating, and revealing, she describes the expectations, pressures, and feelings--both negative and positive--that women, fairly and unfairly, experience while navigating the world"--

"Sagal takes you through the highs and lows of her life, from the tragic deaths of her parents to her long years in the Los Angeles rock scene, from being diagnosed with cancer at the age of twenty-eight to getting her big break on the fledgling FOX network as the wise-cracking Peggy Bundy on the beloved sitcom Married with Children. Sparse and poetic, Grace Notes is an emotionally riveting tale of struggle and success, both professional and personal:...

From the Pulitzer-prize winning reporters who broke the news of Harvey Weinstein's sexual harassment and abuse comes the thrilling untold story of their investigation and its consequences for the #MeToo movement.

The best-selling author of Seinfeldia documents the lesser-known story of how four trailblazing women from the radio era, including Irna Phillips, Gertrude Berg, Hazel Scott and Betty White, helped establish the foundation of the modern television industry.