Diversity Reports: In a push to encourage diversity across New York State’s film and television industry, applications for the New York State Film Tax Credit Program now include two new forms that will provide critical information to support that effort.
Swim Team: Catch NYWIFT member Lara Stolman’s documentary Swim Team it at its Oscar-qualifying run at IFC Center this week! After opening on Friday it was reviewed in The New York Times and featured on ABC World News Tonight. The film was the recipient of the NYWIFT Loreen Arbus Disability Awareness Grant.
Stony Brook: Women directed nearly half of the films at this year’s Stony Brook Film Festival. Check out the festival July 20-29.
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Welcome to NYWIFT, Ellie Nix! Ellie Nix is a recent graduate from the University of Texas at Austin, where she played key roles in over 25 short films during the three years it took her to complete her degree. With a growing passion for assistant directing, Ellie brings a unique blend of efficiency and diplomacy to the fast-paced, ever-evolving world of media production. Ellie is most inspired when surrounded by people who challenge their perspective and a passion for those perspectives, and hopes to spend a lifetime pushing boundaries and helping bring bold visions to life. In our interview, Ellie discusses her experience as an assistant director, finding film community, and her short film Barreling Down!
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Veanne Cao
Welcome to NYWIFT, Veanne Cao! We had the opportunity to interview Veanne Cao, a Vietnamese-Chinese writer and director whose work spans both the personal and the playful. Her short films—ranging from intimate dramas that explore memory, identity, and the Asian diaspora to comedies inspired by life’s absurdities—have screened at festivals around the world. Beyond the indie film space, she brings her storytelling sensibilities to the commercial and editorial world, producing content for global brands and publications. Veanne currently lives in Brooklyn with her partner and two shih-tzus.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Elizabeth “Liz” Bendelac
Welcome to NYWIFT, Elizabeth Bendelac! Liz is a locations professional. She’s managed, key assistant managed, scouted, and coordinated for film and television across New York and New Jersey. Her credits? NBC's New Amsterdam. Paramount’s Smile. Sony’s Goosebumps: The Vanishing for Disney+. Indie? She’s there too. Ponyboi, starring Dylan O’Brien and Victoria Pedretti. She’s everywhere you need her to be—quietly making it all happen. Recent work in the Tri-State area? The Home with Pete Davidson. Insidious 5. Manifest. Disenchanted. Resurrection. The Good Nurse. And a standout collaboration with Edward Burns on his sequel to The Brothers McMullen: The Family McMullen. Outside of production, Elizabeth dedicates her time to Surfers Healing, a nonprofit surf camp for children with autism. It’s a cause close to her heart, combining her love of the ocean with her commitment to community and empathy. Elizabeth is also an adjunct faculty member at the New Jersey Institute of Technology where she developed and teaches a course on location management. Elizabeth: She doesn’t just do locations. She produces. And producing, for her, has rules. Collaborate with directors who share her values. Strong roles for women of color. Fresh takes on stories you thought you knew. Films with the elegance of Merchant & Ivory but the punch to succeed in the real world. Films that leave a mark. To that end, she’s developing two scripts with award-winning playwright Montserrat Mendez. Exploring genre mash-ups. Shaking up narratives. Figuring out new ways to make audiences sit up, pay attention, maybe even gasp. Because whether it’s a location or a story, Elizabeth Bendelac knows how to map the journey. She knows the destination. And she will get you there.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Andrea Ocampo
Welcome to NYWIFT, Andrea Ocampo! Andrea is a first-generation Colombian filmmaker. She is drawn to the quiet forces that have shaped her: obsession, memory, and identity in flux. She is a proud artist who directs with a lens for the psychological and surreal, blending documentary realism with fiction laced in intimate mystery. Her latest short Blackout is a psychological thriller set in the NYC subway, and it premiered to a sold-out crowd on September 13th, 2025, at Imagine This Women’s Film Festival. She navigates global crises and inner landscapes with equal urgency. Her work has a raw, honest, and quietly haunted feel to it. Chances are you’ll feel it before you understand it. We spoke to Andrea in late Summer. She recounts her experience in the film industry, tracing her path from a passionate young filmmaker in her early childhood to the successful professional she has become.
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