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.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More