Hollywood women gather for ‘Fearless’ dinner

updated 9:57 p.m. ET June 4, 2008

LOS ANGELES - It’s a good time to be a woman in Hollywood.

Days after “Sex and the City” trumped Indiana Jones at the box office, actresses, screenwriters and other Hollywood insiders gathered Tuesday to talk shop and toast their collective success at Cosmopolitan magazine’s annual “Fun Fearless Females” dinner.

“Ugly Betty” star Becki Newton swapped business tips with “Legally Blonde” co-writer Kirsten Smith. Amanda Bynes shared stories with Cosmopolitan editor Kate White. Publicists and studio execs traded tales of the business.

The general consensus: the more women band together in Hollywood, the more successful they become.

“You’ve got ‘Sex and the City,’ the Pussycat Dolls, the Cheetah Girls, the ‘House Bunny’ girls — there’s these groups of girls, arms linked, saying ‘All right, there’s strength in numbers, let’s go forward together,”’ said Smith, who has co-written other female-centric flicks including “She’s the Man” and “10 Things I Hate About You.”

The road to off-camera success was paved by women such as Salma Hayek, said actress Zoe Saldana.

“As soon as it was proven that she could put (people) in seats, she said, ‘I’m going to start my own production company. I’m going to go into the studio and tell them the way it is and I’m going to produce ‘Frida,’ ”’ Zaldana said.

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Such examples give women in Hollywood today the confidence to reach new levels in business, White said.

“You don’t get the sense that they’re intimidated by anything or that they feel they need a man to show them the way,” she said, adding that women are crafting their own careers and “not waiting for anyone” to tell them what to do.

“You just feel that’s going on all over,” she said. “There’s just so much control, and you feel that’s where women are in society, too.”

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