NYWIFT Blog

By Itu Phalane

Welcome to NYWIFT, Sara Newton!

Sara is a director and cinematographer based in New York and Los Angeles. She is the creator of the MDR Sketch Comedy Show on PBS and has recently returned from an expedition in Antarctica, where she filmed a documentary. Her digital comedy sketches, produced under brands like Made by Tom and Sara, Nightpantz, and Conservation Comedy, have collectively garnered over 5 million views.

With a strong foundation in television production, Sara has coordinated hit reality shows such as Love & Hip Hop (VH1), Bridezillas (WEtv), and Nellyville (BET). Her extensive experience in physical production led her to spend six years at Gunpowder & Sky, where she managed production across various platforms and developed sizzle reels for network pitches. Additionally, she served as the cinematographer for the experimental film Dust Flow: A Meditative Experience, also produced by Gunpowder & Sky.

As of 2025, Sara is Head of Content for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and is set to direct a feature film this fall.

Sara shares her journey as an unconventional storyteller who is not afraid to explore new platforms and storytelling formats.

NYWIFT Member Sara Newton

Please provide our readers with a brief introduction to yourself.

I’m Sara Newton, a NY- and LA-based director and cinematographer. I created the MDR Sketch Comedy Show on PBS and just returned from an Antarctica expedition filming a documentary. My background is reality TV, but my heart is in digital sketch comedy. I’m currently the Head of Content for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and I’m directing a feature film this fall. Thanks for having me on board and I look forward to hearing about your projects!

Sara filming a documentary in Antarctica.

What brought you to NYWIFT?

Same as all of us – camaraderie and safe spaces to take up space. I’m new to New York and I don’t have a network here. I also want a place to contribute too. I have resources to share. We have to stick together as women, and I like to live by that code. 

You have produced many successful television shows and digital comedy sketches. What was your experience like with Gunpowder & Sky across different platforms? 

Gunpowder was a good playground to learn different marketing strategies across various digital platforms. They were embracing new media at the time when no one knew the direction new media was going, or how powerful online platforms would become. Seeing that experimentation was huge for me.

We tried a lot of things to be part of the evolution in entertainment. Everyone working there was on their “A” game to develop something for that evolution. I learned to try and to fail by watching people try and fail. 

Sara contemplating the landscape.

Is there a particular platform you believe is underrated and could become a powerful medium for storytelling? Why do you think it is not being utilized to its full potential?

I think storytelling has shifted to social media spaces, that’s not groundbreaking news, but it is part of the limbo we are in again. I think producers of reality TV can find a home there.

I’ve successfully taken my years in Hollywood reality/doc filmmaking to the nonprofit sector, using their social media platforms for exciting, Hollywood-style storytelling. I create mini 90 second docs with all the formulas used in feel good filmmaking. The formula works, just on a smaller scale, people love it and they donate because they recognize the storytelling and it compels them. You can take all the Hollywood evils and use it for good. 

I was lucky to make the jump to socials. It’s not an easy jump and it’s not lucrative until you can make it lucrative. That often means taking low pay to volunteer pay to be able to show your formulas and methods work in those sectors. If you’ve worked in entertainment, it’s a place for you to thrive, especially reality TV. 

It has been reported that you are directing a feature film, scheduled for release in 2026. Will you wear other hats, like producer or cinematographer, in the film?

YES! The film is called Red Dog and I’ll be sharing the journey as a debut indie filmmaker [on Instagram]. It should be very entertaining. [Check out @reddogmovie.] We’re a tight team devoted to our craft and that is pretty special to watch unfold.

I’ll probably always wear the multi-hats; I like it and I’m more comfortable in them. I am a technical director who comes from being a Director of Physical Production. Micro indie is so unpredictable, things elevate and collapse as quickly as the changing tides-you have to wear all of them to survive. 

If you had to pick one role – director, producer, or cinematographer – for your next project, what would it be and why? 

Director is the goal. I only produce and DP out of necessity to fulfill that goal. Out of the three, I am a way better director than I am a DP or producer, thank God for that. Moving into the next level you have to be one or the other – it does not benefit me to be “all the things.”

People want to see you be one thing and to do that one thing well. Being a unicorn-one-man band does not compute for people, so I keep that close to the vest. 

With the evolving filming locations of movies, do you think New York will overtake Los Angeles? 

I was just asking Chat GPT this recently. My ego likes to think New York will take the cake, probably because I moved to New York and I feel it’s easier, so far, to create here. L.A. has taken such a beating from COVID, to the strikes, to the fires, so I hope it’s still the hub for all my L.A. filmmaker clan. But I only have anecdotal evidence from my colleagues on how badly they’re struggling to make it in L.A.  One the thing you can’t take from Hollywood is that sweet, sweet, iconic daylight.

What kind of projects would you like to work on in the future? 

Sketch comedy is my life’s work, to write/direct digital sketches for SNL, that is a big dream. I would also die happy making feature films that have an impact. Everything I do has a message hidden inside and I’m happy to work on anything that does that. I am all about the greater good and leaving something behind. Lastly, to champion the work of women, and to lend a hand where I can. 

Connect with Sara Newton on LinkedIn and on Instagram at @newton.se.

(All images courtesy of Sara Newton)