Real women, reel glamour

Women in Hollywood always complain about a lack of good roles, either in front of or behind the camera. They’re usually downgraded with pejorative titles like “wife of,” “girlfriend of” or “offspring of.” Rita Wilson is the “wife of” Tom Hanks. Kirsten Dunst was the “girlfriend of” Jake Gyllenhaal. Kate Hudson is the “daughter of” Goldie Hawn.

But with a woman-centric new project from Clinique and America’s Glamour magazine, you can chuck these titles out the window forever. Wilson, Dunst and Hudson parlayed their A-list status into directing for the first time, making “Glamour Reel Moments,” a series of three short films presented by Clinique, which were released last October.

In a contest that appeared in the January 2007 issue of Glamour, readers were asked to write a short essay of 750 words or less about an important event, encounter or moment in their lives when something made them victorious, empowered and happy. Three winners were chosen and Glamour partnered with Clinique to script, produce and screen the three short films. The theme of this year’s project was happiness, celebrating Clinique’s Happy fragrance, and the films all feature happiness as part of the storyline.

“Clinique Happy was scientifically tested to inspire happiness,” said Catherine Frieder, Clinique’s executive director of global marketing. “Like the fragrance, Glamour Reel Moments also creates happiness with stories by, for, and about women. These films remind us why we should feel good and be happy.”

The films were shot in Los Angeles last summer and all the talents involved were as A-list as the directors, to say the least. Rita Wilson directed the 20-minute short The Trap, starring Jeanne Tripplehorn, Camilla Belle, Aisha Tyler and Channing Tatum, about a down-on-herself woman who finds happiness in trying something new and risky.

Kirsten Dunst directed Welcome, a 12-minute-long modern ghost story starring Winona Ryder as a mom moving into a house with an unexpected occupant.

Kate Hudson directed Cutlass, a 16-minute film starring Dakota Fanning, Kurt Russell, Virginia Madsen, Chevy Chase and Kristen Stewart, about how a teenage girl’s obsession with a Gibson guitar reminds her cynical mom of how it feels to be young again.

Glamour Reel Moments has already established a genuine community of women in Hollywood and increased the number of female directors, which currently number a mere seven percent. Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston, Bryce Dallas Howard and Trudie Styler have all made their directorial debuts for Glamour Reel Moments; their films were accepted at over 25 film festivals, including Berlin and Toronto.

This year, Glamour is expanding the project with two new efforts to further encourage female directors and stories about women. The first is a Reel Moments filmmaking grant, which will give one female recipient in the industry the opportunity to make a directorial debut along with the high-profile women involved in the project. In addition, Glamour is launching a Reel Moments summit, which will reunite alumni of the project and other notable industry women to discuss topics for women in film and identify the important stories about women that need to be told on the big screen.

In the billionaire boys’ club that is Hollywood, that means outsider status for women no more.

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You can watch “Glamour Reel Moments” at www.clinique.com or www.glamour.com.