Loving Lifetime: Check out this great read on Buzzfeed about the evolution of Lifetime from “guiltily pleasure” to “groundbreaking television.” Women wrote or directed 73% of the network’s original films from 1994 to 2016, and its new initiative called the “Fempire” will draw together linear, digital, social and community partnerships with the goal of “entertaining and engaging the next generation of feminists.”
Fox’s Failure: 20th Century Fox released its 23-film slate for 2016-2017…with not one feature directed by a woman.
Congrats, Katharina: NYWIFT member Katharina Otto-Bernstein co-produced the documentary Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures about the controversial artist – it’s getting rave reviews! Watch it on HBO.
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Welcome to NYWIFT, Julie Pham! Julie Theresin-Pham is a Vietnamese American actor, storyteller, host, writer, producer, and business strategist based in New York City. A first-generation immigrant and mother, she creates experiences that bring people together through storytelling, hospitality, and community. Her work explores identity, family, belonging, and human connection across film, performance, and documentary storytelling. She trained at the William Esper Studio, graduated from the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) improv training program, serves on the Junior Board of TADA! Youth Theater, and is developing her first documentary, American Daughter: Stories We Carry. She is also an active NYWIFT member who values collaboration, mentorship, and connection.
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READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Bella Rieth
Bella Rieth is a first-generation Brazilian-German, NYC-based director and producer, and a graduate of the School of Visual Arts who also studied at the Atlantic Acting School Conservatory. Before film, she trained at the New England Conservatory and performed in theatre internationally, building a life of storytelling that eventually pulled her behind the camera. Her recent shorts, including Lottie, Poor Creature, Ebba, and Icaro, have played at festivals from Tokyo to Santa Cruz to Florence. Alongside her own films, Bella produces and field produces across narrative, commercial, music video, and documentary projects throughout New York and beyond.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Eve Rouverol
Welcome to NYWIFT, Eve Rouverol! Eve came to filmmaking after a career as a newspaper reporter, commercial writer, and teacher of students with disabilities. After her children left for college (she is a single, widowed mother), she was able to return to college to pursue her first love, film. In addition to writing/directing student narrative and documentary shorts at CA College of the Arts and Emerson, Eve wrote, produced and directed the 35-minute film The Muse starring her actor daughter Madeline Rouverol. The film was nominated for Best Student Director at New Bedford Film Festival in 2023. Her screenplays Writer's Block and Lolita Redux have been shortlisted by BlueCat and Scriptapalooza. Writer's Block was selected for participation in the 2026 Stowe Narrative Labs. Lolita Redux was a semifinalist for Stowe Labs’ Writers’ Retreat Fellowship.
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