The entertainment industry, for as long as it has existed, has been a boys club. Its only been in the last few years that women directors and screenwriters have begun to truly make their presence known in the industry. Before that it was just a handful of female writers, directors and producers that would have the influence and power to get a film made. Let alone on a major studio level. On June 26, 2012 we lost one of the popular and beloved female writers of our time, Nora Ephron. While her films may not have been everyones taste no one can deny she helped define the modern adult romantic comedy with a lifetime gross box office of $720,267,574. With her work she struck a chord with audiences internationally and helped pave the way for generations of women after her. Heres how she did it.
1. New Journalism
Ephron began her official writing career as a reporter for the New York Post which eventually led her to writing essays often with a humorous, personal twist. She wrote essays for New York Magazine, Esquire and the New York Times Magazine. She was among the top reporters in the 60s and 70s and a big part of the New Journalism movement. Like Hunter S. Thompson without peyote. Ephron wrote about her failed relationships, her struggles with her appearance with humor, grace and intelligence. She became one of Americas best known humorists, not just a female humorist. She gave women a voice in a male dominated industry and it would not be the last time she would do so.