LATEST blogs
Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Trish Appello
Welcome to NYWIFT, Trish Appello! For Trish Appello, turning 55 sparked a bold new chapter. The executive producer of the comedic series The EffYou 50s proudly declared, “I can thrive at 55,” and from that moment, her journey into the independent film and television world began. Appello recognized the importance of on-set experience and chose to pursue an educational path, enrolling in the UCLA Extension independent film-producing certificate program. Upon graduation, Appello realized it was time to tell the story that had lived inside her for almost two decades. Appello spoke to us about her career transition, finding her writing voice, and what she is currently working on.
NYWIFT @ Sundance: In Conversation with Ruth Ann Harnisch
NYWIFT Member and organizational supporter Ruth Ann Harnisch heads to the 2026 Sundance Film Festival as an executive producer of two wildly different but equally impactful documentary films: Seized and Cookie Queens. Seized, directed by Sharon Liese and premiering in the U.S. Documentary Competition, follows along as the small town of Marion, Kansas, is thrust into the international spotlight after a police raid on the Marion County Record and the death of its 98-year-old co-owner. A fierce debate ignites about the abuse of power, journalistic ethics, local journalism, and the United States Constitution. Cookie Queens, directed by Alysa Nahmias, premieres in the Family Matinee lineup. It’s Girl Scout Cookie season, and four tenacious girls strive to be a top-selling “Cookie Queen,” navigating an $800 million business in which childhood and ambition collide. On screen and off, Ruth Ann has been a bold first-money funder of people and projects that challenge entrenched power and move culture toward greater equity. She spoke to us about her two exciting new projects.
NYWIFT at Sundance 2026: In Conversation with Laela Kilbourn
Longtime NYWIFT Member Laela Kilbourn returns to Sundance with her latest project, Run Amok, for which she was a camera operator, premiering in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. In Run Amok, a teenage girl stages an elaborate musical about the one day her high school wishes it could forget. This striking debut feature from writer-director NB Mager boldly wades into the thorny aftermath of a school shooting with thoughtfulness and a refreshing recentering of the young people most directly affected. Director of Photography Kilbourn has accomplished narrative and documentary works that present intimate portraits of character and compelling stories of transformation; her over 30 years in filmmaking inform her use of verité and studio techniques to build cinematic experiences of discovery and connection. An Emmy winner for Outstanding Cinematography for her work on Girls State, she also won a Best Feature Cinematography festival award for Swim Team, and has filmed eight Sundance Film Festival documentary feature premieres, such as the DuPont-Columbia Journalism Award winner This Is Home: A Refugee Story; Peabody Award–winning How to Dance in Ohio; and Emmy-nominated Word Wars. She also shot Sync or Swim, winner of the Billie Award for Journalism from the Women’s Sports Foundation, and filmed History’s eleven-part docuseries Sandhogs. She spoke to us about her latest film and her long history with Sundance.
Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Hyten Davidson
Welcome to NYWIFT, Hyten Davidson! Hyten Davidson is a SAG-AFTRA actor and award-winning screenwriter, currently serving as one-third of Maternity Leave Films after years of touring the festival circuit with various films. Her short film The West Virginian Starfish, which she wrote and co-directed, won the Long Island Film Expo award for Best Short Film, in addition to a host of other nominations and screenwriting wins. Hyten has additionally been a Featured Female Filmmaker nominee at the Shortcut 100 International Film Festival, PANO grant recipient, and Mary W. Shelley Scholarship winner from the Horror Writers Association. In our interview, Hyten discussed her approach to writing horror, representing motherhood and female-driven stories in film, and her upcoming film Something of a Monster.
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