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Variety's Women's Impact Report: Bjork

BuzzSugar — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 06:30:00 -0700

For the past few Wednesdays I've sung the praises of filmmaker Adrienne Shelly, Tina Fey, and J.K. Rowling. For the final installment of the Women's Impact Report series, I'm spotlighting the quirky and beloved Bjork.

Some people may find the Iceland native's music too bizarre for their tastes, but if nothing else Bjork always dances to the beat of her own drum, figuratively and literally speaking. If all you know of Bjork is that she wore a swan dress to the Oscars you should check out some of her crazy inventive tunes.

She also rejects over-marketing her music and embraces the fans who support her. As it says in the Variety profile:

Bjork is an incessant touring artist because she enjoys the fan contact. She continues to be a sought-after festival headliner - she recently topped Coachella - in addition to her solo dates.

Bjork also works closely with UNICEF and will donate a portion of ticket sales off her current tour to the org's work with babies who have HIV. The gesture continues the relationship she began after the 2004 Indonesia tsunami when she donated proceeds of an album of fans' remixes of her hit "Army of Me." Her 2006 visit sparked the "Earth Intruders" track.

"(The song) just came like a tsunami out of my mouth," she says.

"Like a tsunami out of my mouth" is one of the many reasons I love Bjork and am glad she's getting some recognition as one of the most intriguing and influential women in entertainment.

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Variety's Women's Impact Report: J.K. Rowling

BuzzSugar — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 08:30:00 -0700

For the next few Wednesdays I'll focus on some of the women who I find particularly noteworthy as well. I've already sung the praises of filmmaker Adrienne Shelly and Tina Fey, and today I'm turning my attention to one of the world's most beloved authors: J.K. Rowling.

Rowling is responsible for bringing Harry Potter into the world, which turned out not only to have a far-reaching effect on readers of all ages, but also proved financially lucrative.

As her Variety profile points out:

J.K. Rowling's ability to astound in the marketplace has become a given. Barnes & Noble reported pre-orders for the new book at 1.2 million in the U.S., the largest in the chain's history. In its first 24 hours on sale, 8.3 million copies were purchased, topping the previous record (also held by Rowling).

The author already had sold more than 325 million books worldwide and is, according to Forbes magazine, one of just five self-made female billionaires - and the first billionaire author.

Getting to this place of success, however, is truly an inspiring story. To find out what I mean, read more

As a single mother on welfare, Rowling wrote her first novel whenever she could get her small daughter, Jessica, to sleep. She obtained a literary agent in 1995 who sent the manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to twelve publishing houses, all of whom rejected it. After a year, a small publisher decided to print a run of 1,000 copies of the book, and then in 1998 Scholastic distributed it in the U.S. with the title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. From there, everything started to snowball - what with all the awards and outstanding sales and films. Now, of course, the the seventh and final installment of the Harry Potter series has been printed and devoured by obsessed fans everywhere, and Rowling is quite a wealthy lady.

The end of Harry Potter is certainly not the end of J.K. Rowling, however. Rowling told Variety what's next on her agenda: "A thank-you tour in October, where she'll visit schools in New York, Los Angeles and New Orleans; and a new children's book, a 'political fairy story' for readers younger than her usual Harry Potter fans."

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Variety Women's Impact Report: Tina Fey

BuzzSugar — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 08:30:41 -0700

Every year, Variety issues their Women's Impact Report in which they highlight women in the entertainment industry that they think deserve some praise. From industry executives (like United Artists bigwig Paula Wagner) to household names (like Angelina Jolie), the list spotlights some strong, smart, intriguing ladies. For the next few Wednesdays I'll focus on some of the women who I find particularly noteworthy as well. Last week I told you about filmmaker Adrienne Shelly, and today I'm spotlighting Tina Fey.

Frankly, I'm always looking for an excuse to write about Tina Fey, one of my favorite funny ladies. It's no accident that she turns up in Variety's report in the "multitaskers" category, because she's made her mark as a writer, as a producer, and now - with her Emmy-nominated role in "30 Rock" - as an actress as well. But she doesn't just multitask professionally; she's also a mother of an almost-2-year-old, and she lists her vocation in her Variety profile as "writer/performer/diaper-removal expert." For more about Fey, read more

One of the things I respect most about Fey is that she always seems to be looking for her next challenge. As the Variety profile states, moving from "Saturday Night Live" to scripted comedy has forced Fey to develop a whole new sense for what's funny:

So just when she has the entire routine down pat and acts as a stabilizing force on a show that's constantly in flux, Fey leaves 30 Rock for "30 Rock," moving over to primetime and forcing herself to rethink everything she's worked so hard to learn.

Fey has also tackled comedy in yet another form: feature film. She wrote and performed in the adaptation of 2004's Mean Girls - still one of my go-to movies when I need a pick-me-up - and now she's starring in the upcoming Baby Mama. I've always found Fey refreshingly relatable as a performer, and she clearly wants more funny women in the spotlight; as she states in the Variety profile: "Women are always asking themselves, 'Should I act or am I just a writer?' But I'm sure Ray Romano and Jerry Seinfeld aren't questioning themselves."

It's a rare thing, even now, to have a network sitcom helmed by a woman; it's rarer still to have that woman be a mother. But Fey does all that - and more - with style and humor to spare.

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Variety's Women's Impact Report: Adrienne Shelley

BuzzSugar — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 05:30:00 -0700

Listed under the "Filmmakers" category, Adrienne Shelly was the driving force behind the funny, heartwarming romantic comedy Waitress, which I loved. Not only writing and directing it, Shelly also played the role of Dawn, who ultimately finds love with an unusual man. As Dawn, Shelly's adorable, goofy and endearing, sensitive, cute and honest. On-screen she's completely lovable. Off-screen, she created one of my favorite films of 2007 so far. To find out why, and more about Adrienne Shelly, read more

The movie achieves a delicate balance of dark humor and real pathos. Keri Russell's character is a very realistic kind of gal, and I daresay Shelley got a performance out of Russell that I haven't seen since... maybe ever. I'm not a big fan of the "romantic comedy" genre the way it's come to be understood: empty, pointless stuff like How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. And apparently, as a woman, those movies are supposed to be geared toward my sensibilities, somehow. Waitress gave me an earnest newfound hope in the genre as a whole. I identified with the female characters - and I liked them.

This all makes Shelly's story much sadder: late last year, months before Waitress was supposed to be released, Shelly was brutally murdered in her New York apartment. Not only did she not get to see her movie receive stellar reviews and capture the affections of many a moviegoer, but now the world will not get to see anymore Shelley-helmed projects.

Variety's profile of Shelly states:

She wrote Waitress while pregnant with her daughter. The finished product - a frank, whimsical look at an unwanted pregnancy and the joy of cooking - revealed a unique style and a rueful humor that few filmmakers could pull off.

"From her perspective, the work would approach her," says [Shelly's husband Andy] Ostroy. "Nothing could happen for days and then she'd work for 12 hours straight and bang out 30 pages. She was rational enough to know creativity comes in waves."

I'm hoping Waitress will inspire more female filmmakers like Shelley to go out there and influence movie genres, and influence Hollywood. In fact, they now might have some help: In his wife's honor, Ostroy started The Adrienne Shelley Foundation to assist female filmmakers.

Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight