Catherine Hardwicke has the upcoming Red Riding Hood hitting screens next month, but apparently she couldn’t even make a pitch for another movie because she is a woman. Moviefone has not only Catherine’s quote, but an analysis of the situation.

“…it’s Catherine Hardwicke, who’s revealed that she was blocked from pitching to direct ‘The Fighter’ because she’s a woman.

Hardwicke told The Wrap last week: “I couldn’t get an interview even though my last movie made $400 million. I was told it had to be directed by a man — am I crazy? It’s about action, it’s about boxing, so a man has to direct it … But they’ll let a man direct ‘Sex in the City’ or any girly movie you’ve ever heard of.”

It would be quite easy to immediately jump on that particular $400 million movie. ‘Twilight’ isn’t the sort of fare that will give anyone a lot of clout at the bargaining tables outside of teen romance. The rabid fandom that led to the series’ success, and the subject matter and treatment at hand are quite narrow in focus. It might seem like a stretch for the woman known for only tackling youth-based subjects to get a drama about an adult male boxer and his brother.

But to do so ignores two key points.

One: Hollywood has always allowed fro surprising choices.

Two: Hardwicke didn’t say she was refused because of her past work.”

See the rest on Moviefone’s Cinematical

Catherine Hardwicke, the director of Twilight who is currently busy directing an updated Red Riding Hood tale that co-stars Billy Burke, is going to be mentoring a young filmmaker named Renuka Jeyapalan. Renuka is the winner of the 2010 Kodak New Vision Mentorship, and a mentorship with Catherine is part of her prize.

According to the Women in Film and Television in Toronto (WIFT-T):

“As part of the program, …Renuka will also receive an all-access industry pass to the TIFF festival and a post-TIFF creative mentorship with director Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight, Thirteen).

“The Kodak New Vision Mentorship allows WIFT-T to continue to develop Canadian female directors and to play a role in their ongoing success,” says Sadia Zaman, Executive Director of WIFT-T. “We look forward to Renuka’s first feature and want to thank Kodak, Catherine Hardwicke and Laurie May for their invaluable contribution to the industry.”

See the full article on WIFT-T

Catherine Hardwicke was honored at the Female Eye Film festival for making her mark in the film industry and notably kicking off the Twilight chain.

““One thing that we’ve noticed over the years is that female directors often make a transition from other parts of the industry. (Catherine) has a background in production design and art direction, and she evolved her skillet to the next level. She’s had a huge hit (with Twilight) but she’s also made an impact in the political arena — she didn’t direct the sequel. She’s a woman who has made her bones in a difficult industry.””

Catherine is the first non-Canadian to be honored by the festival. Read the rest on MetroNews.

Catherine was among the guest speakers at the Campus Movie Fest International. She uses both Thirteen and Twilight as reference examples.

And speaking of Catherine Hardwicke, she puts to rest rumors that her multiple upcoming projects are going to be in conflict with each other.

Shaunna Cross who recently wrote the screenplay Whip It based on her own novel Derby Girl. Collider was able to do a brief Q&A with Shaunna about the project.:

“According to Cross, she’s not exactly sure where the project falls into Hardwicke’s schedule as the director is developing both “Hamlet” and the “Red Riding Hood” project at Warner Bros. But with Cross telling us they’re going to go out for casting soon, that probably means whichever film gets the financing together first, that’s the one Hardwicke will do.

If you’ve ever wondered why a director attaches themselves multiple projects, this is the reason. You can have a great script with a great cast, but if the money isn’t there, it’s not getting made. So what directors do is develop many films at once and whichever one gets the money gets made.”

See more on the project on Collider.

According to Reuters:

“When it comes to some of the biggest movies of the decade, Guinness World Records has it covered. JJ Abram’s re-imagination of Star Trek made it into this year’s book as the “Most Downloaded Movie Trailer (24 Hours)” with 1.8 million downloads on Apple.com in the first day and more than five million in its first five days of release. Twilight, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, has captured the hearts and wallets of millions while claiming the record for “Highest-Grossing Movie By A Female Director”.