#SummerHours Series: The NYWIFT #SummerHours blog series by members Mellini Kantayya and Kathryn O’Kane is back again this year with recommendations for your summer reading and watchlist. So far Kathryn has shared her thoughts on past NYWIFT Muse honoree Whoopi Goldberg’s latest book, and Mellini has created a list of bingewatch-worthy comedy picks.
Debra Granik: I saw Debra Granik’s new film Leave No Trace this weekend and it was great. Another example of her amazing talent as a director. She also directed Winter’s Bone, which gave Jennifer Lawrence her start. The same thing is likely to happen to Thomasin McKenzie, who gives a really good performance in the film.
Darya Zhuk: Congratulations to Darya Zhuk, whose debut feature Crystal Swan was selected by Belarus as its submission for the Oscars’ foreign film category. We honored Darya with the NYWIFT Outstanding Female Content Creator Award for her pilot The Real American at the New York Television Festival (NYTVF) back in 2015. We’re proud to say “we knew her when!” Speaking of NYTVF, the festival returns for 2018 this week, July 14-19, having switched from a Fall to a Summer schedule to provide even more opportunities for content creators. Be sure to check it out.
nywift
Related Posts
Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Naomi Pemberton
Welcome to NYWIFT, Naomi Pemberton! Naomi is a Bronx-born healthcare leader and storyteller whose work centers on resilience, faith, and the lived experiences of women navigating complex systems and personal transformation. An Afro-Latina with Jamaican and Dominican heritage, Naomi brings more than 25 years of experience in healthcare administration into her creative work, drawing on real-world insight to shape powerful, socially conscious narratives. Her writing includes the Paradigms of Life trilogy, a series that explores sisterhood, identity, systemic challenges, and personal growth. Her books—including The Paradigms of Life: Sisterhood, Loss, and Unbreakable Bonds, Paradigms: The Experiment, and Life Paradigms: Work-Life Balance—follow women navigating betrayal, bias, ambition, and healing. Through her storytelling, Naomi blends emotional depth with broader social commentary, addressing issues such as workplace bias, faith, and the pursuit of balance in a demanding world. In addition to her writing, Naomi continues to mentor, lead, and inspire through her professional and community work. A dedicated advocate for underserved communities, she has held senior roles across healthcare systems and nonprofit organizations focused on health equity and community engagement, and serves on Bronx Community Board 11. Across healthcare, literature, and media, her mission remains the same: to create impact, amplify voices, and inspire the next generation of leaders and storytellers. In our interview, she reflects on her journey as a healthcare leader and author, the inspiration behind her book trilogy, and how storytelling can be a powerful tool for advocacy.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Simone Butler
Welcome to NYWIFT, Simone Butler! Simone Butler is a New York–based actor and producer originally from California’s Bay Area, and a graduate of the College of Santa Fe and Royal Holloway University of London. She appeared as a recurring day player on the long-running daytime drama All My Children and has worked across mainstream and independent film, with her work screening at festivals including the LA Film Festival, Queens Film Festival, and Coney Island Film Festival. Simone trained with renowned acting coach Larry Moss and studied improv at The Groundlings and Upright Citizens Brigade. As the creator, co-producer, and co-star of the web series Below the Line, alongside writer-producer and fellow NYWIFT Member Erika Yeomans, Simone continues to develop bold, original stories that center complex characters and collaborative storytelling.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Georeen Tanner
Welcome to NYWIFT, Georeen Tanner! Georeen Tanner is a versatile producer with over 15 years of experience working cross-platform for FOX News Media. She has produced live and taped programming for FOX News Channel and FOX Business Network, and has created content for FOX News Digital. With FOX News Audio, she ventured into podcasting, winning an award from the San Francisco Press Club for her 2022 podcast Nightmare in Chowchilla: The School Bus Kidnapping. She now produces for the streaming service FOX Nation. Her latest project is the four-part series He Killed Them All? The Robert Durst Investigation, which she produced and narrated.
READ MORETribeca Festival 2026: “The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony” Shines a Light on Courage, Community, and Opportunity
At the 2026 Tribeca Festival, audiences were introduced to an inspiring story of resilience, determination, and hope through The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony, a powerful documentary that follows a group of young girls in Pakistan who dare to dream beyond the limitations placed upon them. Directed and written by Habiba Nosheen with Mariska Hargitay as an executive producer, the film takes viewers into Machar Colony, a marginalized fishing community in Karachi where many residents live without official documentation, limiting access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities. Against these challenges, a gymnastics team emerges as a beacon of possibility for a group of girls determined to create a different future for themselves. Tammy Reese and LaKisa Renee brings us exclusive red carpet interviews with Nosheen and Hargitay.
READ MORE
