When women make movies, Hollywood pays attention, as scores of A-listers turned out to see Demi Moore, Courteney Cox and screenwriter Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith make their directorial debuts.
Jennifer Aniston, Lucy Liu, Sheryl Crow, Kirsten Dunst, Sacha Baron Cohen, Ashton Kutcher and David Arquette were among the stars who gathered at the Directors Guild headquarters Tuesday for Glamour magazine’s annual Reel Moments event, where Moore, Cox and Smith each showed a short film based on stories by Glamour readers.
“It’s a tremendous gift” to have the opportunity to direct, Moore said. “I realized, besides being completely terrified about taking this on, that people had faith in me far more than I had in myself, and that I will keep for the rest of my life.”
Moore’s 12-minute film, “Streak,” features her daughter Rumer Willis as a free spirit who inspires a calorie-counting college girl (Brittany Snow) to shed her restrictive lifestyle and have fun.
Cox showed “The Monday Before Thanksgiving,” a 19-minute drama about a woman who finds peace and acceptance on the anniversary of her mother’s death. Cox opened the program by announcing, “I’m available for directing.”
“I love it,” she said in an interview. “I would do it again in a heartbeat.”
Smith, whose writing credits include “Legally Blonde” and “The House Bunny,” showed “The Spleenectomy,” a surreal comedy starring Anna Faris as a community-theater actress who stumbles into a life-or-death audition.
Stars celebrated at a private after-party at the Chateau Marmont. Guests included Matthew Perry, David Spade, Paul Haggis and James Van Der Beek.
Reel Moments, now in its fourth year, invites actresses and other women in entertainment to adapt and direct films based on real women’s stories, said Glamour publisher Bill Wackermann. Past participants include Aniston, Dunst, Kate Hudson, Rita Wilson and Rosario Dawson.
A Similar But Different Take On A Feature Film Debut
Similar But Different is not only the moniker for the directorial duo of Dani Girdwood and Charlotte Fassler but also in some respects an apt description of their feature filmmaking debut, My Fault: London (Amazon MGM Studios). The movie, which premiered last week on Amazon Prime Video, has on one level some select elements similar to what we’re accustomed to in the young adult (YA) universe--which helps make it familiar, comfortable and relatable--yet at the same time My Fault: London brings a new, decidedly different dimension to YA entertainment, uniquely meshing action-adventure, mystery, music, romance and humor. The film captures the feel of the underground London culture, lending an authenticity and contemporary vibe that’s a departure from the norm when it comes to the adaptation of YA literature. This mesh of similar but different has served the film well in that there was some target audience skepticism initially over the notion of doing an English adaptation of the popular, fan-favorite Spanish-language novel “Culpa Mia,” the first of the “Culpables” trilogy. Thus it’s most gratifying for Girdwood and Fassler to see the social media response after the release of My Fault: London, with many viewers enthusiastically embracing the film. My Fault: London introduces us to Noah (portrayed by Asha Banks) who’s uprooted from her U.S. hometown, having to leave her boyfriend and friends behind to move with her mother (Eve Macklin) to London. Mom has a new rich husband (Ray Fearon) in London and their new residence is a mansion. There Noah meets Nick (Matthew Broome), her new stepbrother. They have an immediate mutual dislike for each other which blossoms into something quite different over time. Along the... Read More