This year alone, they've delivered television's finest hour, horror's most cerebral film, and what may be Y2K's most controversial movie. 1999 has witnessed an ever-growing number of talented, intelligent women calling the shots in what is often (and wrongly) assumed to be a male-dominated, male-targeted field. Whether working as writers, directors or in other behind-the-scenes areas, these women have proved something Frankenstein author Mary Shelley knew when she ushered in the modern sci-fi/horror genre nearly two-hundred years ago: Imagination is gender-free. Oh yeah, and chicks kick ass. Therefore, The 11th Hour now presents the following profiles on some of 1999's most notable women, listed in no particular order below:

	Writers: Millennium, the upcoming Hollyweird Among the very few women to break into 1013 Production's "boy's club" (see feature), the writing team of Erin Maher and Kay Reindl contributed some of the finest Millennium episodes in the series' three-year history, including the pivotal "Midnight of the Century." With the cancelled series behind them, the duo are currently beginning work on Hollyweird, an upcoming cable TV-movie based on the unaired Shaun Cassidy pilot. "With regards to the genre, I think women are beginning to offer more of a balance," noted Reindl in a recent interview. "They're beginning to bring different types of emotion to the genre." Reindl also commented on a crucial issue plaguing the genre community (well, us, anyway): cute guys. "Well, I did notice that you left Ralph Fiennes off your list, and for that, you should be punished! Also, Ewan McGregor, Rufus Sewall, Sam Neill and David Duchovny, of course."
	Story Editor, Writer, Producer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer One of the most talented writers for the most well-written genre series in television history, Marti Noxon is legendary among Buffy fans for episodes such as "Surprise", "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" and "The Prom." Noxon's ability to bring emotional depth to the Buffy characters (particularly when chronicling the Buffy-Angel relationship) has led to some of the series' finest and most moving moments. Her work on the series has paid off, resulting in a seven-figure, multi-year deal with Fox that will allow her to develop shows through Buffy producer Joss Whedon's Mutant Enemy Pictures. Noxon, who has written three horror spec scripts dealing with ghosts, counts among her non-genre credits the feature film "Just a Little Harmless Sex."
	Producer: Virus, and nearly every James Cameron production Gale Ann Hurd is one of the most powerful and accomplished women in Hollywood, with nearly two decades of experience and countless credits to her name. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University, Hurd went on to work with Roger Corman, until hooking up with James Cameron (who she later married, then divorced) to produce such films as Terminator, Aliens and The Abyss. Credited for shaping the character of Terminator heroine Sarah Connor, Hurd also executive produced Terminator 2 and counts about her '90s genre credits The Relic, Dante's Peak and Armageddon. In 1982 Hurd formed her own production company, Pacific Western Productions, and today between her many projects serves as an active member of the Hollywood Women's Political Committee.
	Director: Ravenous While Antonia Bird's Ravenous may well be the most gory and gruesome horror film ever directed by a woman, it also stands among this year's best genre flicks irrespective of gender -- a grown-up, original movie for those who couldn't care less what Jennifer Love Hewitt did last summer. Equal parts drama and gorefest, philosophy and comedy, Ravenous was also regarded as one of the most eclectic horror films in years -- no big surprise, as Bird's other two credits consist of the Drew Barrymore teen melodrama Mad Love and the controversial drama Priest. Bird sees herself as capable of working in any genre and shuns the horror label, an approach her sequel-hungry male counterparts (Moustapha Akkad, anyone?) would do well to emulate.
	Writer, Director: The upcoming American Psycho Upon its publication in 1991, Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho became instantly the most controversial book of the decade. The object of a widespread protest by feminist leaders (most of whom haven't even read the book), Ellis' graphically violent, black-as-night satire on 1980s America barely managed to reach publication, yet alone be considered a potential motion picture. It took a woman like Mary Harron to withstand NOW rhetoric, studio upheavals and chaotic cast changes in the translation of Ellis' work to the big screen. While the film has not yet been released, Harron's script (with Guinevere Turner) is rumored to perfectly capture the novel's tone and themes. And if her previous credit, 1996's outstanding I Shot Andy Warhol, is any indication, this looks to be another gripping character study with a uniquely feminine perspective.
	Director: The Rage: Carrie 2 The term "gratuitous sequel" can pretty much be defined by Carrie 2, but it was thanks to deft direction by Katt Shea and a terrific performance by Emily Bergl that the film wound up remotely watchable. For the first half of the film, new "Carrie" Rachel stood out as a tough, independent counterpart to her more psychologically unstable predecessor - that is, until the film's script collapsed midway through. On a totally unrelated note, Katt also merits props for directing the Drew Barrymore come-back flick Poison Ivy, arguably the greatest guilty-pleasure movie of all time.
	Production Designer: eXistenZ and nearly every other David Cronenberg film With over twenty credits and two decades of experience, Carol Spier remains best known for her visionary production design for director David Cronenberg. Cronenberg's unique and often bizarre cinematic world requires a distinct look and feel, and Spier delivered in such films as The Brood, The Fly, Naked Lunch and the recent eXistenZ. She also served as art director on Videodrome, and counts among her Cronenberg-free genre credits the 1997 Guillermo del Toro film Mimic. Spier's most recent foray into non-genre work involved another of Hollywood's strongest women: Oscar-winning actress-turned-director Kathy Bates, whose TV-movie Dash and Lily boasted Spier's vision of 1940s Los Angeles.