NYWIFT Blog

Terry’s Picks: Gloria Steinem on ‘The Good Wife,’ DGA Report on Diversity & ‘She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry’

http://can.cbs.com/thunder/player/chrome/canplayer.swf?pid=y_5KPwXjuz2Z&partner=cbs&gen=1 Loved: Gloria Steinem’s turn on The Good Wife last Sunday. Check it out if you didn’t see it. She continues to inspire. Enough already! The DGA reports that there has been no progress for inclusion of women and people of color in episodic television. Can’t wait to see: She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry, a film...

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Sign Up for NYWIFT’s October Events: HIFF, Pitch Fest, VintAge & More

Reaching the “Right” People in Your Creative Career with Joanne Zippel Thursday, October 9, 6:30 pm It can be hard to find and connect with the “right” people to move your career forward. At this hands-on seminar, career coach Joanne Zippel will share powerful techniques that will connect you to the people who are right...

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Weekly Roundup: Fast-Talk, Facebook & an All-Female Sports Show

//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/456300878?et=rYxLIuy7SC9DdSt-oocWdg&sig=vzPpcyxoWIl9YZjbXGC_gH0qLfUEHtzRjkdpcCVd_DI= Funny, rapid-tongued Katie Lowes explains how to talk like a Gladiator. Mega-producers Alison Owen and Debra Hayward launch a “Monumental” new production company. Don’t unfriend anyone yet—Facebook and vampires may be the best thing for aspiring female directors. These practical screenwriting tips may help you find time to write. Despite its awful name, CBS’s new all-female sports show starts strong!...

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World Premiere: Gender Equality PSA ‘Little Leading Ladies’

Hashtag created for Little Leading Ladies campaign. For the past week New York Women in Film & Television and Adorama Rentals have been sharing behind-the-scenes, interviews and insights into the making of the Little Leading Ladies PSA. Director and NYWIFT member Aubrey Smyth was quoted in the first post on her inspiration to make the short: “I have been...

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Making of a PSA: Interviews with Editor Oscar Luna and Colorist Tim Ziegler

(Left to right) Director Aubrey Smyth, DP Bryant Fisher, and Colorist Tim Ziegler work on Little Leading Ladies in the editing studio. Image courtesy of Adorama Rentals. This is part one of the fifth installment of a five-part series co-presented by New York Women in Film & Television and Adorama Rentals. Part two will post at 1pm EST today,...

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Making of a PSA: Interviews with Production & Costume Designer Deborah Zawol Smyth and Makeup Artist Jennifer Snowdon

Taliyah Whitaker as the 1980s talk show host getting last-minute touchups from Makeup Artist Jennifer Snowdon on the set of Little Leading Ladies. Photo courtesy of Amanda Lin Costa/Instagram. This is the fourth installment of a five-part series co-presented by New York Women in Film & Television and Adorama Rentals. NYWIFT member Susan Modaress interviews...

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Making of a PSA: Interviews with DP Bryant Fisher & Gaffer Jerred Sanusi

DP Bryant Fisher (behind camera) on set of Little Leading Ladies. Image courtesy of Adorama Rentals. This is the third installment of a five-part series co-presented by New York Women in Film & Television and Adorama Rentals. ARC Blog Editor Kelly M. La Rosa interviews Little Leading Ladies Director of Photography Bryant Fisher and Director of Operations at Adorama Rentals and Little...

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Making of a PSA: Interview with Casting Director Jessica Daniels

Casting Director Jessica Daniels (right) and Casting Associate Candice Alustiza-Lee (left) at the Little Leading Ladies casting session. Image courtesy of Adorama Rentals. This is the second installment of a five-part series co-presented by New York Women in Film & Television and Adorama Rentals. NYWIFT member Amanda Lin Costa interviews Casting Director Jessica Daniels about her work casting the PSA Little...

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Making of a PSA: Interview with Writer/Director Aubrey Smyth

Writer/Director Aubrey Smyth (center) works with the young actors on the set of Little Leading Ladies. Photo courtesy of Gingersnap. This is the first installment of a five-part series co-presented by New York Women in Film & Television and Adorama Rentals.  Intro:When fellow NYWIFT member Aubrey Smyth shared her idea to create a PSA inspired by Sheryl Sandberg’s...

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Advice from an Indie Producer: Production Design & Wardrobe

The Art and Wardrobe departments help build the characters through decoration and dress. What people wear and where they live and work can give you insight into the characters and their motivations. That’s why it’s important to hire crewmembers that are clear about your vision and have the ability to execute it for the budget...

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Weekly Roundup: Critics, Criticism & Where Are All the Women?

//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/169386090?et=qqo2WkdoSDF_5TVbbHpyOg&sig=4nRWssE736Soy2vAmH2NNoTznl3ZFl4CTa1MUX4kSuY= New York Times critic Alessandra Stanley defends her article about Shonda Rhimes. The Pioneering Women Directors of the DGA event was filled with celebration and discouraging statistics. In a witty interview, director Nicole Holofcener talks directing features, the casting process, and much more. A sad fact about fiction: Career women are more underrepresented on screen than in real life. ...

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Notes from a Screenreader: This Stake Is Undercooked

Photo via Go Into the Story. Stakes are the thing in the story that makes a reader care what happens. Your fun characters and snappy dialogue and careful plotting literally do not matter if nothing much will happen if the plan doesn’t come together. And the stakes can be anything, really, as long as they...

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NYWIFT Member Spotlight: Thea Kerman

//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/454706764?et=HN9yoH5sRJpOv1sIX-sjkw&sig=OXpqxwiFeqFocNw0osvb8Xf8rycWxx8qZaLp8ztYJOA= Thea Kerman (second to left), director Afia Nathaniel (second to right), and crew of Dukhtar at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. New York Women in Film and Television member Thea Kerman recently gave an interview to Susan Modaress, another NYWIFT member, about her work in the industry—including as an entertainment lawyer and a film producer.  Why...

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Weekly Roundup: Shonda Rhimes Rules, But Diversity Still a Problem

//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/475689039?et=E3ULsU53QnlvMx63S3PD7A&sig=QpyQLEQT3-C02uGwHywv6vYvmaUuzGVeVzL24eZ-1wI= “And nobody asks, ‘How do you write smart, strong men?’” Shonda Rhimes speaks on creating iconic female characters. Six of the best new web series are created by women. President Alexis Wilkinson discusses bringing 138-year-old The Harvard Lampoon into a new age. There’s been “no improvement” in diversity hiring in episodic television. CBS may not have considered a...

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Notes from a Screenreader: Where Do I Begin?

Photo via Go Into the Story. Your story has a beginning, a middle and an end but they don’t necessarily have to appear in that order. A good beginning has lots of things happening in it, things that make the reader curious about what’s going on. Once the reader is curious, they are hooked. Don’t...

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Terry’s Picks: Female Journalists at Risk, ‘I Am Eleven’ & Women Do Go to the Movies!

//player.vimeo.com/video/45231682?title=0&byline=0 Just Read: this New York Times article about the power of women moviegoers. You should read it too! Check Out: the Paley Center’s essential panel discussion on women journalists and safety: News Reporting and Navigating Risk: How Women Journalists Stay Safe in Hostile Environments. Go See: I Am Eleven at the AMC Empire 25 or the Village East....

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Weekly Roundup: Rosie’s New ‘View’ & Film Schools’ Gender Bias

//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/466306157?et=HSXJJGsBQ-d3O0UBr4NyyA&sig=dFh7E5EG_PMRab3OPJMFfHdxc8YsTLaRguHQCE9hZBU=   Can Rosie O’Donnell  save The View? Gina Sanders becomes Conde Nast’s first President of Global Development. Connie Chung advises women to “sing your praises the way men do!” (Video) Which screenwriting contests are really worth entering? This Is Our Youth star Tavi Gevinson on the perks and pitfalls of adulthood. Gender bias—it starts in film school. — KELLY...

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Notes from a Screenreader: Where’s Waldo?

Photo via Go Into the Story. Do you feel like you’re looking for your second act in a giant Where’s Waldo poster? You know it’s there somewhere, but so is everything else in the entire world. Efforts to find Waldo shouldn’t show in your final draft. It’s imperative for clarity that you don’t submit a...

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