Posts by: Margarita Sophia Cortes

40th Muse Honoree: Anjali Sud

Anjali Sud is the CEO of Vimeo, the world’s leading professional video platform. Anjali leads a global team of over 500 individuals dedicated to empowering creators and businesses with the tools to tell their stories. Anjali previously served as General Manager and Head of Marketing at Vimeo, where she oversaw the growth of over 150 million members using the platform. Before that she held various positions in e-commerce, finance and media at Amazon and Time Warner.

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40th Muse Honorees: Kasi Lemmons

Kasi Lemmons is an award-winning director, writer, actress and professor who has been a staple in Hollywood for nearly three decades. She began her career with the acclaimed 1997 feature directorial debut, “Eve’s Bayou”, which was recently inducted into the National Film Registry.

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40th Muse Honorees: Shoshannah Stern

Shoshannah Stern received the 14th Annual Loreen Arbus Changemaker Award, which was created with the generous support of NYWIFT member Loreen Arbus. The award is given to an individual, organization or corporation in the entertainment industry that has helped to create and bring about significant change to benefit and aid women.

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40th Muse Honorees: Gloria Estefan

Gloria Estefan is one of the most successful crossover artists in Latin music history. She is a multiple Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, actress, author of two New York Times best-selling children’s books and producer of the Tony-Nominated musical, “On Your Feet!” 

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40th Muse Honorees: Ann Dowd

Ann Dowd has had several notable roles and received multiple honors over the years including the 2017 Emmy Award for ‘Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series’ for her acclaimed performance on Hulu's “The Handmaid's Tale”, as well as a Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Critics Choice Award.

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What’s In Your Toolkit: Maria Miles

Entertainment attorney Maria Miles extols the joys of Diet Coke and how with her laptop, cell phone, and wifi, she can work anywhere in the world.

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What’s in Your Toolkit: Margarita Sophia Cortes

Publicist Margarita Sophia Cortes is always on the go to support her clients - with her "Mary Poppins" bag in tow. She took a five minute break from the rat race to tell us what she keeps in her toolkit.

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What’s in Your Toolkit: Kathryn O’Kane

"In this increasingly digital age, I still really like to work on paper," says television director and producer Kathryn O'Kane. Learn what else is in Kathryn's toolkit!

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#Muse40for40: Anjelica Huston (1999)

Anjelica Huston is an Academy-Award winning actress and daughter of Oscar-winning director, screenwriter and actor John Huston. The Huston family is the first family to have three generations of Oscar winners, including her grandfather Walter Huston

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#Muse40for40: Lauren Bacall (1994)

Lauren Bacall is legendary actress from the Golden Age of motion pictures with at least 35 films under her belt. She received a Golden Globe Award and Academy Award nomination for The Mirror Has Two Faces.

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Opening This Weekend: BAFTA-nominee Sheila Hancock stars in EDIE

An octogenarian climbs a mountain in Simon Hunter's heartwarming film "Edie," opening in select theaters this weekend.

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New Kids’ Series Featuring Native American Character Launches This Summer

Indigenous representation is scarce in children’s programming – and TV programming in general. The new PBS animated children's series "Molly of Denali" hopes to change that.

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21 Leaders for the 21st Century 2019 Honors Cynthia Lopez

Last month in New York City, Women's eNews held their annual 21 Leaders for the 21st Century and it was a night of celebration for a diverse group of honorees, all fearless leaders who are committed to advancing gender equality throughout the world...including NYWIFT's own Executive Director, Cynthia Lopez. We share a portion of Lopez's insightful remarks on how women can truly change the world.

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NYWIFT Member Spotlight: ‘Love & Vodka’ at the Cannes Film Market

NYWIFT Member Heidi Philipsen and a team of University of Michigan alums are heading to Cannes in their efforts to obtain funding for Love & Vodka – a fish-out-of-water romantic comedy set in Ukraine. Personae Entertainment’s producer/director Heidi Philipsen (Darcy) has teamed up with screenwriter/co-producer R.J. Fox to bring his story to the big screen, along with co-producers Niko Meissner (Darcy), Kathryn McDermott (First Knight), and associate producer Jon Wilson.

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Director Julie Dash Receives Grant From The National Endowment for the Humanities

Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl, a documentary about the life and works of Vertamae Smart Grosvenor, which is currently in development with NYWIFT Muse Honoree Julie Dash as director, has been awarded a grant by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The film is produced by NYWIFT Board member, Rachel Watanabe-Batton and Dash, with Patricia Williams Lessane, PhD. and Juanita Anderson as co-producers.

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New Four-Part Comedy Series “Half Life” by Patty Carey Debuts May 10

#GreenlightHer Winner Patty Carey’s Comedy Series ‘Half Life’ Premieres May 10 on NYC Life Winner of NYC’s First-Ever Pilot Competition for Stories by, for, and about Women Offers Hilarious Insider’s Look at the Film Industry from a Mom’s Perspective Larisa Oleynik, Finnerty Steeves, and Nancy Giles star in four-part series   Patty Carey’s Half Life,...

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Member Spotlight: Oscar-Nominated Producer/Director Lisa Cortes with Two Films at 2019 Tribeca FF

Oscar-nominated producer (Precious) and director Lisa Cortes makes it look so easy at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival with TWO films making their world premieres, including the festival opener. As producer of the documentary The Apollo, the NYWIFT member took a few moments to chat with us on our “Women Crush Wednesdays” podcast about what...

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Member Spotlight: HIIT Bootcamp and Support ‘Roadhead’ Film Project

Director, Christa Haley and Executive Producer, Marie O’Connell are young NYWIFT members who are working on a large-scale short film entitled “Roadhead.” The short narrative film is set in the near future after an economic collapse has devastated America. When fuel is scarce, two teenagers named ‘Brooke’ and ‘Weasel’ steal a car and set out...

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