Courteney & Demi Make Directorial Debuts

(AP)  When women make movies, Hollywood pays attention, as scores of stars turned out to see Demi Moore, Courteney Cox and screenwriter Kirsten "Kiwi" Smith make their directorial debuts.

Jennifer Aniston, Lucy Liu, Sheryl Crow, Kirsten Dunst, Sacha Baron Cohen, Ashton Kutcher and David Arquette were among the stars who gathered at the Directors Guild headquarters Tuesday for Glamour magazine's annual Reel Moments event, where Moore, Cox and Smith each showed a short film based on stories by Glamour readers.

"It's a tremendous gift" to have the opportunity to direct, Moore said. "I realized, besides being completely terrified about taking this on, that people had faith in me far more than I had in myself, and that I will keep for the rest of my life."

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Photos: Celebrity Circuit

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Moore's 12-minute film, "Streak," features her daughter Rumer Willis as a free spirit who inspires a calorie-counting college girl (Brittany Snow) to shed her restrictive lifestyle and have fun.

Cox showed "The Monday Before Thanksgiving," a 19-minute drama about a woman who finds peace and acceptance on the anniversary of her mother's death. Cox opened the program by announcing, "I'm available for directing."

"I love it," she said in an interview. "I would do it again in a heartbeat."

Smith, whose writing credits include "Legally Blonde" and "The House Bunny," showed "The Spleenectomy," a surreal comedy starring Anna Faris as a community-theater actress who stumbles into a life-or-death audition.

Stars celebrated at a private after-party at the Chateau Marmont. Guests included Matthew Perry, David Spade, Paul Haggis and James Van Der Beek.

Reel Moments, now in its fourth year, invites actresses and other women in entertainment to adapt and direct films based on real women's stories, said Glamour publisher Bill Wackermann. Past participants include Aniston, Dunst, Kate Hudson, Rita Wilson and Rosario Dawson.

By Sandy Cohen