This week please join us in welcoming new NYWIFT Executive Director Cynthia Lopez! Cynthia will offer her top picks of NYWIFT and industry news to share with you every Tuesday.
Natural Leader: Inspirational words to kick off your 2019! NYWIFT Board Member Flo Mitchell-Brown shared her “start story” with StartTV, explaining why women make great leaders.
Sobering Statistics: The good news: In 2018, a record number of black directors (16) helmed the top-grossing 100 films, up from only six the year before, according to the “Diversity in the Director’s Chair” study from the University of Southern California Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. However, this diversity growth wasn’t intersectional – there was little if any improvement for women or other minority groups. In fact, the “Celluloid Ceiling” report from Dr. Martha Lauzen of San Diego State University showed that despite recent high-profile breakthroughs and increased media attention, the number of women directors in the top 250 films of 2018 was only 8% – down from 11% in 2017.
Regina King: During her Golden Globes acceptance speech, Regina King vowed that everything she produces will hire 50% women and she issued a challenge for everyone in every industry to do the same. It’s this type of solidarity that will bring actual change; whenever women are in positions of power, the chance of more women getting hired greatly increases.
Cynthia Lopez
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Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Laci Joseph
Welcome to NYWIFT, Laci Joseph! Laci Joseph is a graduating senior at Temple University, earning her B.A. in Film and Media Arts in Spring 2025. She is passionate about production design and visual storytelling, with a focus on African American culture, history, and uplifting marginalized communities. Her creative interests include themes of love, romance, identity, and global exploration. Laci aspires to design for music videos, short films, and documentaries, while also bringing her own passion projects to life. Through her work, she aims to build immersive visual worlds that inspire connection, celebrate culture, and reflect powerful, underrepresented stories. Laci discusses what brought her to film, projects she is currently working on, and the themes she conveys through her work!
READ MORENYWIFT at Tribeca 2025: In Conversation with Victoria Hill
Victoria Hill is no stranger to creating cinematic magic, and her latest project, The Best You Can, premiering at the 2025 Tribeca Festival, is yet another example of her storytelling prowess. As lead producer of and actor in the narrative spotlight film — starring real-life couple Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick — Hill brings a deeply human story to life, exploring connection, loneliness, and unexpected friendship in midlife. NYWIFT Board Member Gretchen McGowan is one of the film’s executive producers. “When Victoria Hill and Andrew Mann brought Michael Weithorn’s script to us, I thought: we’re all ready for Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon to appear on the screen together again. This is something the world could use right about now,” McGowan said in a NYWIFT announcement of member projects at Tribeca. With a stellar career that spans producing, acting, and writing across internationally acclaimed films like First Reformed, The Chaperone, and The Secrets We Keep, Hill’s dedication to complex, character-driven stories continues to shine. In this exclusive NYWIFT interview, Hill shares insights into filming on location in NYC, collaborating with industry heavyweights, and her mission to amplify women’s voices through Fibonacci Films.
READ MORETribeca Festival 2025: Celebrating Stories, Icons, and Impact with NYWIFT
With this article, our coverage of the 2025 Tribeca Festival comes to a close — and what an unforgettable experience it has been. NYWIFT members LaKisa Renee and Tammy Reese had the incredible opportunity to represent the organization on the ground, capturing exclusive red carpet moments, world premieres, and powerful conversations highlighting the festival’s spirit of storytelling, advocacy, and artistic excellence. One of the most moving moments came when EGOT icon and past NYWIFT Muse Honoree Whoopi Goldberg gave a heartfelt shoutout to New York Women in Film & Television. Her support meant the world to our team.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Hayley Pace
Today, we’re thrilled to shine a spotlight on new NYWIFT member Hayley Pace, an award-winning production designer and actor whose unique blend of skills and passions continues to inspire us! Hayley Pace hails from Toronto, Ontario. They are known for their work on Schitt’s Creek (CBC), In The Dark (CW), and The Expanse (Amazon Prime). In addition to their on-screen work, Hayley has self-produced original projects through their experimental marching band theatre company, The Teeny Tiny Music Show, and has designed for numerous film, TV, and theatre productions across Canada. A graduate of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting and York University’s BFA in Devised Theatre & Design, Hayley brings a dynamic and multidisciplinary approach to their artistry. We caught up with Hayley to discuss their career, their creative journey, and what brought them to NYWIFT.
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