We are delighted to present the three candidates running for the 2025-2026 NYWIFT Board Elections. We have two board members running for another term and one member running for the first time. Please take the time to read more about each member and watch their video by clicking on the images below.
You’ll also be able to meet them in person at the “NYWIFT Meet the Candidates” event on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, 6-8:30 pm ET at Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN). More info on that event HERE!
Luchina Fisher is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, writer, speaker and educator on a mission to tell stories that move the world. Her short documentary THE DADS, executive produced by Dwyane Wade and acquired by Netflix, won the 2024 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Form Program and GLAAD’s Special Recognition Award. Her feature directorial debut, MAMA GLORIA, about a Black trans elder activist, was nominated for a 2022 GLAAD Media Award and broadcast on PBS. She is also the director of the award-winning short documentary TEAM DREAM, executive produced by Queen Latifah, and the award-winning feature documentary LOCKED OUT, about the barriers to Black homeownership. Her new project about the unsung history of Black queer presence in music was the winner of the 2023 PitchBLACK Film Forum. Luchina has received support from Firelight Media, Chicken & Egg, Tribeca Studios, The Gotham, Sisters in Cinema, Black Public Media and more. She is also a visiting professor in film and media arts at Fairfield University. For more, visit luchinafisher.com.
SHRUTI GANGULY is a filmmaker and writer based between New York City and Oslo. Shruti served on E.C.C.O., a committee of entertainment and media leaders that has worked with members of the White House and Senate caucuses, chairing its Asian subcommittee. She has produced several feature films (including Spirit-winner H., and the Nora Ephron Prize-winner INITIALS SG) that have premiered at Sundance, Venice, Tribeca, Telluride, and Berlin. She is a Co-EP on the Oscar-nominated feature documentary, TO KILL A TIGER and Co-Producer on BAKSHO BONDI (“SHADOWBOX”) which premiered this year at Berlinale.
Shruti has directed and produced commercials, branded content, short docs, and music videos, for clients like Nike, Netflix, Unilever and Michael Kors through her production company honto88 and she recently started PrismEntertainment with producers Megha Kadakia and Priya Giri Desai to craft South Asia inspired films and television series with acclaimed writers and artists. Previously, she was an executive at NYLON, MTV, and Conde Nast, producing the CLIO-winning 73 Questions series for Vogue. Shruti directed TRIPPED UP, starring Leah Lewis, Ariel Winter and Vanessa Williams, distributed by Universal Pictures and Decal, and wrote SECRET DAUGHTER for Amazon Studios, a feature drama which will star Priyanka Chopra and Sienna Miller, directed by Cannes-winner Anthony Chen.
Shruti is a co-founder of the Resistance Revival Chorus, a collective born out of the Women’s March that brings together artists and activists to use music and joy as an act of resistance, and often finds a way to combine art and impact through her work. Shruti is a published writer (Nevertheless They Persisted, Penguin) and has written for Vogue UK, Vogue India, Harper’s Bazaar India, The Juggernaut and more. She is on the board of New York Women in Film & TV (NYWIFT) and is also an artist ambassador for the NYCLU.
Emelyn Stuart is a visionary entrepreneur, creative strategist, and passionate advocate for inclusivity in the arts. As the owner of the first Afro-Latina-owned movie theater, she has carved out a vital space for diverse voices in the industry. When she isn’t building movie theaters or overseeing her popular Ocktober Film Festival, Emelyn can be found on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, lobbying on behalf of movie theaters and filmmakers. Emelyn embodies the belief that art has the power to transform society, and she is committed to uplifting the voices and stories that deserve to be heard.
Voting for this year’s candidates will be open on June 18th. Please look out for an email with the ballot. Deadline to vote will be by July 11, 2025. (Voting is open only to NYWIFT Members)
