Melissa Silverstein

Melissa Silverstein is the founder and publisher of Women and Hollywood, an initiative and website that educates, advocates, and agitates for gender diversity and inclusion in Hollywood and the global film industry. She is a speaker and consultant with extensive expertise in the area of women and Hollywood. Women and Hollywood celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2017 with events in NY, LA and London. At these events, Trailblazer Awards were given to Julie Taymor, Amma Asante, Sheila Nevins, Gurinder Chadha, Elizabeth Karlsen, Angela Robinson, Haifaa al-Mansour and others. She is the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of The Athena Film Festival at Barnard College which is a weekend of inspiring films that tell the extraordinary stories of fierce and fearless female leaders. The 9th annual festival will take place from February 28-March 3, 2019. In 2018, Melissa was named to Variety's New York Power list and in 2016, she received the Marie C. Wilson Emerging Leader Award from the Ms. Foundation for Women. In 2015, she was selected to be a film envoy for the American Film Showcase, the major film diplomacy program of the U.S. Department of State. In 2013, she published the first book from Women and Hollywood, In Her Voice: Women Directors Talk Directing, which is a compilation of over 40 interviews that have appeared on the site. Melissa has written for numerous publications including: The Washington Post, NY Times, The Guardian, Forbes, More Magazine and her work has been feat