Hollywood Heroines: The Most Influential Women in Film History

This is a topical resource that provides a comprehensive look at the most influential women in Hollywood cinema across a wide-range of occupations rarely found together in a single volume.

Unlike other anthologies, Hollywood Heroines: The Most Influential Women in Film History is a hybrid of film history and industry information with an exclusive focus on prominent women. This reference work includes more commonly discussed categories of important women in Hollywood film history, such as directors and actresses, and reaches beyond them to encompass women working as cinematographers, casting directors, studio heads, musical composers, and visual and special effects supervisors.

Dive into interviews with industry legends such as Sherry Lansing, the first woman to run major Hollywood studios like 20th Century Fox and Paramount Studios; Jodie Foster, acclaimed actress and director; Zoë Bell, renowned stuntwoman; Donna Gigliotti, Academy Award-winning producer; Vicky Jenson, animation director of Shrek; Ve Neill, makeup artist behind The Hunger Games and Pirates of the Caribbean; and a host of other influential women in visual effects, editing, casting, costume, cinematography, and sound, each of whom has left their mark in film history.

The wide range of filmmaking crafts covered in the book provides an acute view of the industry and increases the visibility of and quality of representation for women working in Hollywood. By bringing the experience of these influential women to light, Hollywood Heroines joins a growing movement that endeavors to dismantle harmful, long-standing industry myths that perpetuate the systemic underrepresentation of women and the devaluation of women's stories in the Hollywood film industry.