NYWIFT Blog

Weekly Roundup: TFF 2014 Arrives & DreamWorks Adds More Color

Image courtesy of the Tribeca Film Festival. It’s Tribeca Film Festival time! Here are “5 Female Directors to Watch.” Pulitzer Prize winners were announced. Donna Tartt received top fiction honor for The Goldfinch, playwright Annie Baker won for The Flick. DreamWorks’ next movie will have an African-American, female lead. The number of women writers in television has...

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Member Spotlight: Kelly Glover

Kelly Glover during the production of The Contradictions of Fair Hope. You may recognize Kelly Glover’s name from her roundup posts right here on our blog, where she manages to find a compelling mix of TV, film and digital news every week. I was lucky enough to catch up with Glover to learn about her...

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Notes from a Screenreader: Low Readability

Photo via Go Into the Story. An active voice stands out immediately from the rest of the pile. It’s such a huge advantage to write action lines as if you want to tell a story rather than sketch in the background. INT. LIVING ROOM – DAYTim is sitting at the table, playing solitaire. Molly is...

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Terry’s Pick: Women’s Media Center, WGA & a Power Lunch

Julie Louis-Dreyfus playing the VP of the United States in Veep GLOWING: with laughter and admiration at this “high concept” Power Lunch article in last week’s New York Times, in which Julie Louis-Dreyfus of Veep and Nancy Pelosi of the US Senate sit down to talk about female leadership, charcuterie and all sorts of other delights. FINDING MYSELF: unsurprised with...

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Through the Grapevine: NYWIFT Spring Membership Drive

Birds are chirping and spring bulbs are blooming, and that means it is Spring Membership Drive time! This is your opportunity to join New York Women in Film & Television, the preeminent entertainment industry association for women in New York, now through Monday May 5 and get 50% off our initiation fee. NYWIFT brings together...

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Weekly Roundup: Jane Pauley, Chelsea Clinton & Women’s Media Status

Jane Pauley, 2012. Photo credit: David Shankbone. Journalist Jane Pauley leaves NBC to join CBS News. New SNL writer Katie Rich has witty insight on male comedians’ success. Women’s Media Center updates its Status of Women in the U.S. Media report. Pam Dawber, TV’s original “Mindy,” to reunite with Robin Williams. Persistence pays off for Shaun of The Dead and Hot Fuzz producer Nira...

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A Conversation with WIGS & ‘Blue’ Creators

The award-winning web series Blue stars Julia Stiles as a single mother moonlighting as a call girl. It’s a case study of a successful drama series on the web. Blue premiered on WIGS, one of the first premium original content channels funded by YouTube and launched in 2012 by director Rodrigo Garcia (Albert Nobbs, In Treatment) and Emmy Award–nominated...

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Notes from a Screenreader: Bang a Gong

Photo via Go Into the Story. Theme is the beating heart of the screenplay, the proposition about the human condition that your story explores—the big issues. Love. Faith. Resilience. Trust. Power. Courage. All the goosebumpy things. The theme, that single, simple thesis that creates clarity and scope and resonance through the arcs of your story,...

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Terry’s Picks: Ellen Burstyn & Dorothy Arzner Retrospectives

//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/483351167?et=KiKeevk2rUy8SBOzY0cQ9g&sig=1k129wSP0QWNtJJ2Xib0fHM98hta3EvKfxZCIOJU1zQ= Photo of Ellen Burstyn courtesy of Getty Images. ANTICIPATING: the retrospectives of two amazing female figures in film. Though Dorothy Arzner’s career retrospective will take place in Spain at the San Sebastian Film Festival, we’ll be able to catch Ellen Burstyn’s nine film retrospective at BAMcinematek in Brooklyn (with the actress herself slated to appear on May 3). Arzner was...

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Advice from an Indie Producer: Script Breakdown & Budgeting

What is the real purpose of a budget? In my experience, it’s the road map of the production. The amount of money you have will dictate the majority of the decisions that are made in pre-production, principal photography, post-production and beyond (festivals, marketing, social media campaigns, etc). You may have used a “development” budget, usually...

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Flix Not to Miss: ‘It Felt Like Love’

It Felt Like Love, by first-time feature director Eliza Hittman, follows 14-year-old Lila (a perfectly cast Gina Piersanti) as she pursues an older teenage boy. There are a few passing similarities between It Felt Like Love and Andrea Arnold’s similar themed Fish Tank. Hittman distinguishes herself with intimate closeups and following subjects with tracking shots through parties and wooded areas of outer Brooklyn. This...

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Weekly Roundup: Peabodys Announced & ‘Frozen’ Breaks Record

//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/479466007?et=nJS_4haSv02ARV_S30ZdPA&sig=VQUPmdJVaUZ420YSmZwtBWGQR-SXQcA20qQadX8IR4U= The Peabody Awards gave 43% of prizes to projects that featured a clear female protagonist or were made by a woman creator. Jennifer Lee’s ‘Frozen’ becomes the top-grossing animated film of all time. AFI’s superb Directing Workshop for Women turns 40. They grow up so fast! Variety’s Power of Women luncheon debuts in NYC — meet the honorees. Amy Schumer tackles the...

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Notes from a Screenreader: Commuter Blues

Photo via Go Into the Story. You drove 20 miles home in heavy traffic and don’t remember any of it. That’s the dissociation you use to deal with the sameness of your commute. It also happens when you read your script. Your brain fills in what’s supposed to be there and you blow right by your...

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Terry’s Picks: April 1, 2014

Anita playing at the Film Society of Lincoln Center Thought-provoking: and powerful, Freida Lee Mock’s Anita is my must-see of the week. Twenty years after Anita Hill sought to confidentially report Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for sexual harassment, the archival footage (and new contemporary interviews) still feels startling relevant to gender inequality in the U.S. Anticipating: an amazing...

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Acting Up: The Improv Audition

Lately, I’ve noticed that a lot of my auditions have been improv/ad-lib. Although I still receive a character breakdown, research the players of the project (via IMDB, Google), and do my best to get a description for any new shows, the question remains, What am I going to do in the room? I love sides,...

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Documentary ‘Can’ to Screen on April 29 as Part of NYWIFT Member Series

Can, a groundbreaking documentary that intimately portrays the experience of an Asian-American family dealing with mental illness, will screen on Tuesday, April 29, at 7 pm, as part of the New York Women in Film and Television’s Member Screening Series, held at Anthology Film Archives (32 Second Avenue, NYC). Directed and produced by NYWIFT member Pearl J. Park, Can follows...

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Weekly Film & TV News Roundup

1980s cartoon Jem (Hasbro). A Jem and the Holograms is being made—by men. #JemTheMovie Amazon Studios wants your comedy or children’s series. The PGA is stepping up to promote gender equality behind the scenes. Journalist Maria Bartiromo has a new show and three rules for success. OWN headquarters leaves the Windy City for the bright lights of LA. FreemantleMedia...

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Sign Up for NYWIFT’s April Events

Photo courtesy of NASA.   New York Women in Film & Television’s events for April 2014: Power Player Breakfast: Jana Bennett, President, A+E Networks’ FYI & LMN Thursday, April 3, 8:30 am  Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, 488 Madison Avenue, 10th Floor A+E Networks executive Jana Bennett, who manages two of the company’s fastest growing...

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