NYWIFT Blog

#Muse40for40: Marquita Pool-Eckert (1999)

The award-winning journalist and producer Marquita Pool-Eckert began her career journey at WABC-TV in New York. She continued on to WNET/13 Public TV to then finally making her way to CBS and becoming the senior producer at CBS News, overseeing production at CBS Sunday Morning.

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Cynthia’s Picks: Nancy Schwartzman, Maybe Representation, Audition Inclusion

Nancy Schwartzman: Last week NYWIFT hosted a Twitter chat with director Nancy Schwartzman of Roll Red Roll, available now on PBS’ POV. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s a must-watch, especially if you have kids. Its harrowing look at rape culture in a high school is unusual for a true-crime doc in that it...

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Cynthia’s Picks: Mindy Kaling, Booksmart Buzz, Thumbs Down, Designing Women

Mindy Kaling: CBS Sunday Morning profiled Mindy Kaling, who spoke candidly about not seeing people like herself represented on screen, and how her new film Late Night is one of the first comedies all about workplace inclusivity. Booksmart Buzz: The disappointing box office returns from the Olivia Wilde-directed comedy Booksmart, which had been hotly anticipated...

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Cynthia’s Picks: Director Disconnect, Board Elections, Ladies’ Morning

Director Disconnect: While the call for diversity in Hollywood is getting more bandwidth than ever, the movement toward inclusion is still not reaching the director’s chair.   Board Elections: NYWIFT members, don’t forget to vote in our Board Elections! Ballots have been emailed out to you and voting closes on May 1st. (If you missed...

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Cynthia’s Picks: Female Grips, Killing Eve, Thrones Queen, Lesley Stahl

Female Grips: The New York Times pays tribute to the few women who work as grips – one of the most grueling and important tasks on set. Killing Eve: This Glamour headline puts it best: Killing Eve is made for women by women…and it shows. Thrones Queen: Game of Thrones owes much of its success...

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Terry’s Picks: Women in Animation, Win Prizes, Sunday Morning

Women in Animation: I’m thrilled to hear Women in Animation will be working with IATSE 839 (the animation guild) on the 50-50 by 2025 initiative, which aims to see an equal split of jobs for men and women on animation productions by 2025. NYWIFT looks forward to partnering with WIA’s New York chapter at next...

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Terry’s Picks: Equity Trailer, Nancy Drew, Wendy Blackstone

Equity trailer: Loving the new trailer for Equity – starring Anna Gunn and Alysia Reiner – as unapologetic “she-wolves” of Wall Street. Nancy Drew: Deadline reports that even though CBS’ Nancy Drew pilot tested well with viewers, it “skewed too female for CBS’ schedule” and was not picked up to series. Too female – seriously?...

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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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Road to Muse: Meet Past Honoree Marquita Pool-Eckert

Marquita Pool-Eckert, a 1999 Muse Awards honoree, was a CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite producer when I joined that broadcast as a production secretary in 1978. I was totally intimidated by her role on that fabled news program, but she treated me as an equal. That’s says so much about her. So, imagine my delight when I joined NYWIFT in 2011...

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