film Archives - New York Women in Film & TelevisionNew York Women in Film & Television

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Stephanie Lynn Jones

Welcome to NYWIFT, Stephanie Lynn Jones! Stephanie is a filmmaker, TV writer, and multi-disciplinary creative with two decades in screen and stage storytelling. She directed the short doc memoir The Jones Twins: Bebop Souls in a Muzak™ World (BRIC TV) and launched her film career on Spike Lee’s production teams. An Emmy nominee for Nickelodeon’s Gullah Gullah Island, she has developed her own TV projects with Universal Kids, PBS Kids, and TIME Studios. With her twin, Suzanne, The Jones Twins’ performance work has appeared at major venues in NYC and beyond; they also lent their vocals to the Slamdance Festival award-winning film System Noise. Stephanie holds a B.A. from Howard University and an MFA from NYU Tisch. Read on to get to know Stephanie, learn about her roots in the industry, and get a preview of her short documentary film, The Jones Twins!

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Elizabeth K. Budion

Welcome to NYWIFT, Elizabeth K. Budion! A member of SAG-AFTRA since 2014, Elizabeth got her taste of the film industry by doing background and stand-in work for notable shows such as Orange is the New Black, Broad City, How to Be Single, and The Path. After several years in that space, she dabbled in casting for shows such as Law & Order: SVU, before switching gears to join the Peace Corps in 2018. While living in The Gambia, she focused on elevating the societal status of women, expanding their horizons and potential through education. Elizabeth also built a library and wrote various water grants, while learning the local language of Wolof. Returning to the states in 2020, Elizabeth then received her Master's from New York University, in Global Affairs with a focus on international development and women’s rights. Returning to film, Elizabeth recently wrote, produced, and edited a short animated film titled You. Matter.. starring Tony Award winner Laura Benanti. In addition, Elizabeth is currently collaborating with her filmmaker husband to pen a feature titled RetroViewer. When not working on films, Elizabeth enjoys having new adventures with her adorable 16-month-old son Louis Joseph, or “LouJay!” Read on to learn more about Elizabeth, how she got started in the film industry, and her experience in the Peace Corps!

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Catherine Craig

Welcome to NYWIFT, Catherine Craig! Catherine Craig was George Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic's first animation FX camerawoman, later becoming a digital artist at ILM. A highly regarded film archivist, Craig designed the Coppola film archive and implemented Zoetrope's domestic and international film distribution. As an early female entrepreneur, Craig founded her own award-winning, union and guild-affiliated film company, specializing in high-end industrial and commercial productions. Her vast experience spans all aspects of filmmaking: she's worked as a director, producer, camera operator, concept artist, storyboard artist, special FX artist, sound recordist, and more. Her screenplay OddFX was accepted into the NYWIFT-affiliated The Writers Lab. The film follows a mother living in a women's shelter, battling a physically abusive husband and a broken support system, who enlists the help of a special FX film crew. Catherine discusses her groundbreaking work with ILM, her drive to tell her own stories, and her film currently in development, OddFX!

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Patricia Hess

Welcome to NYWIFT, Patricia Hess! Patricia Hess is an accomplished DGA UPM and line producer with extensive experience in feature films, TV, and streaming content. She is New York-based professional with both domestic and international credits, including Angels in America, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Philomena, and Raising Arizona, among many others. A graduate of the University of Arizona, Patty divides her time between her family farm in Virginia and New York. During our interview, Patricia shared the remarkable story of her journey in the industry. We often admire the success of individuals who achieve their vision, yet rarely do we see the humble beginnings, the sacrifices made, the moments of doubt and fear, or the times they considered giving up. Patricia’s story is a powerful reminder of the resilience, perseverance, and mindset of gratitude and acceptance that often underpin true success.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Christine Stoddard

Welcome to NYWIFT, Christine Stoddard! Christine Stoddard is a filmmaker, TV personality, and video artist named one of Brooklyn Magazine’s Top 50 Most Fascinating People. Her latest film is 5 Ways I Didn’t Marry You, directed by Tom Dunn. A 2025 graduate of Columbia Journalism School and the Columbia Painting Intensive, she creates imaginative films, deeply reported TV programs, and playful videos. Currently, she hosts the TV show Don't Mind If I Don't with Aaron Gold. She also runs the YouTube channel Stoddard Says and terrorizes the Internet with her alter ego Art Bitch. Her feature film, Sirena's Gallery, is streaming on Amazon and Tubi and was featured in The Brooklyn Rail. As founder of Quail Bell Press & Productions, her film and theater projects have been recognized by the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the Puffin Foundation, the Brooklyn Arts Council, and other organizations. Get to know Christine, her roots in the film industry, and her experiences as a TV host!

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Laci Joseph

Welcome to NYWIFT, Laci Joseph! Laci Joseph is a graduating senior at Temple University, earning her B.A. in Film and Media Arts in Spring 2025. She is passionate about production design and visual storytelling, with a focus on African American culture, history, and uplifting marginalized communities. Her creative interests include themes of love, romance, identity, and global exploration. Laci aspires to design for music videos, short films, and documentaries, while also bringing her own passion projects to life. Through her work, she aims to build immersive visual worlds that inspire connection, celebrate culture, and reflect powerful, underrepresented stories. Laci discusses what brought her to film, projects she is currently working on, and the themes she conveys through her work!

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Jayson Simba

Welcome to NYWIFT, Jayson Simba! Jayson Simba is a Cuban-American actor, director, writer, and producer who hails from Forest Hills, Queens. After attending LaGuardia H.S. of Performing Arts, Jayson enrolled at the Acting Studio NYC, where he studied the Meisner Technique under renowned acting teacher James Price. As an actor, Jayson has starred in over 40 films and television roles. In 2002, Jayson founded One Man Show Productions to help produce the work of independent filmmakers and writers. In 2007, he was hired to write and direct his first feature film, What Matters Most. As an independent filmmaker with 15 films under his belt, Jayson founded Festival of Cinema NYC with the aim of giving emerging filmmakers a platform to showcase their work to further their careers. Jason discusses his experiences as a filmmaker and the foundations of the Festival of Cinema NYC.

Tribeca Festival 2025: Celebrating Stories, Icons, and Impact with NYWIFT

With this article, our coverage of the 2025 Tribeca Festival comes to a close — and what an unforgettable experience it has been. NYWIFT members LaKisa Renee and Tammy Reese had the incredible opportunity to represent the organization on the ground, capturing exclusive red carpet moments, world premieres, and powerful conversations highlighting the festival’s spirit of storytelling, advocacy, and artistic excellence. One of the most moving moments came when EGOT icon and past NYWIFT Muse Honoree Whoopi Goldberg gave a heartfelt shoutout to New York Women in Film & Television. Her support meant the world to our team.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Hayley Pace

Today, we’re thrilled to shine a spotlight on new NYWIFT member Hayley Pace, an award-winning production designer and actor whose unique blend of skills and passions continues to inspire us! Hayley Pace hails from Toronto, Ontario. They are known for their work on Schitt’s Creek (CBC), In The Dark (CW), and The Expanse (Amazon Prime). In addition to their on-screen work, Hayley has self-produced original projects through their experimental marching band theatre company, The Teeny Tiny Music Show, and has designed for numerous film, TV, and theatre productions across Canada. A graduate of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting and York University’s BFA in Devised Theatre & Design, Hayley brings a dynamic and multidisciplinary approach to their artistry. We caught up with Hayley to discuss their career, their creative journey, and what brought them to NYWIFT.

Tribeca Festival 2025 Recap: One Spoon of Chocolate World Premiere

Next stop on our Tribeca Festival recap journey: the World Premiere red carpet of One Spoon of Chocolate — a powerful new film that’s already got the industry talking. Written and directed by the legendary RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan, One Spoon of Chocolate follows Unique (played by Shameik Moore), a wrongly imprisoned Army veteran seeking peace and a fresh start in Ohio. But when systemic racism, corruption, and cruelty resurface in the form of a violent sheriff and his band of bigots, Unique is forced to pick up his sword — literally — and fight back.

NYWIFT at Tribeca 2025: In Conversation with Carolyn Hepburn

Award-winning producer and NYWIFT member Carolyn Hepburn is making waves once again with the highly anticipated world premiere of Empire Skate at the 2025 Tribeca Festival. As part of the festival’s prestigious Spotlight Documentary section, the film captures the vibrant heart of New York City’s downtown skate culture — a world Hepburn remembers vividly and honors with deep authenticity. With a producing career that spans Emmy, Peabody, and Gotham award-winning projects, Hepburn continues to shape the documentary landscape with bold storytelling and emotional depth. In this exclusive NYWIFT interview, she reflects on her journey from Long Island to the global film stage, the power of community in filmmaking, and why Empire Skate feels like a personal love letter to the city that raised her.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Anna Koukouli Born

Welcome to our new NYWIFT member, Anna Koukouli Born! Anna Koukouli Born is a bicoastal writer-director splitting her time between NY and LA. She explores women's stories, dysfunctional families, unbearable workplaces filled with Succession-like egos, social inequality, and climate-caused disasters set in the near future. Drawing from her Greek history and heritage, Anna loves allegorical cautionary tales about strong, tragic characters trying to overcome adversity. She’s also obsessed with women's rights and gender parity. Her humor is darker than yours. She bets on it. Anna studied Story Analysis and TV Development at UCLA Extension and holds a BA (Hons) Marketing and an MBA from the UK Universities of Lincoln and Liverpool, respectively. Anna talks about her journey into the film industry, her experiences working on various films, and how she overcomes challenges within these fields!

NYWIFT at Tribeca 2025: In Conversation with Mattie Akers

NYWIFT member and seasoned archival producer Mattie Akers is making a powerful mark at the 2025 Tribeca Festival, where the documentary For Venida, For Kalief will have its world premiere as part of the Documentary Competition lineup. Directed by Sisa Bueno, the film explores the enduring impact of Kalief Browder and his mother Venida Browder, whose lives were tragically shaped by systemic injustice. Told through poetry, activism, and powerful archival material, the film is a deeply moving reflection on loss, resilience, and legacy. With over two decades in the documentary field, Akers brings her passion for social issues, historical research, and storytelling to the forefront in this timely and emotional project.

NYWIFT at Tribeca 2025: In Conversation with Producer and Casting Director Lois Drabkin

New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) is proud to spotlight member Lois Drabkin, a dynamic force in the world of independent cinema. As the Co-Producer and Casting Director of Ride or Die, premiering at the 2025 Tribeca Festival as part of the prestigious U.S. Narrative Competition, Drabkin continues to champion bold, character-driven storytelling. With a career spanning acclaimed features such as Nancy, Colewell, and Glass Chin, and casting credits on groundbreaking projects like HBO’s The Wire and Showtime’s Years of Living Dangerously, Lois shares insights into her creative process, the evolution of Ride or Die, and her enduring commitment to supporting women in film.

Curtain Raiser: 2025 Tribeca Festival Ushers in a Powerful Celebration of Storytelling

It’s that time again! The Tribeca Festival returns to New York City from June 4–15, 2025, bringing together visionaries, changemakers, and creatives across film, television, immersive experiences, games, audio storytelling, and more. Stay tuned — we’ll be bringing exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes content, red carpet snapshots, and insight into the premieres and panels that everyone will be talking about. In the meantime, Tammy Reese offers us a sneak peak of some festival highlights.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Monique Gabriela Curnen

Welcome to NYWIFT, Monique Gabriela Curnen! Monique Gabriela Curnen is an actor and producer known for a string of critical and commercial successes, including Half Nelson, The Dark Knight, Contagion and Birth/Rebirth. While working with Warrington Hudlin at the Black Filmmaker Foundation, she started producing short films. She continued producing independently, including the Joe Holt short Noël, which sold to ShortsHD. She served as executive producer on the award-winning feature documentary, A Run For More (PBS, Amazon) directed by Ray Whitehouse. She’s currently in development on the narrative feature Sheila & the Punk Rock, written and directed by K. Lorrel Manning. Monique discusses the roots of her career, her experience working on large-scale productions, and how she overcomes challenges within these realms. Get to know her in our latest interview!

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Melanie Fox

Let's give a warm welcome to new NYWIFT member, Melanie Fox! Melanie Fox is a linguist who turned her passion for accents, dialects, presentations, and language learning into a thriving coaching business. Melanie empowers actors and public figures to speak clear, confident English through accent reduction, interview and presentation training. She also trains actors to master authentic English and Spanish dialects. She is a paid public speaker who helps her audiences "Hack into Language" and hosts a new podcast, "Hack That Accent." Melanie holds a Masters of Science degree in Linguistics from Georgetown University. She credits a lot of her inspiration to two semesters studying abroad at la Universidad de Salamanca in Spain. In our interview, she discusses how her work as a dialect coach spans multiple industries, her coaching success stories, and how she encourages clients to maintain their cultural authenticity while adjusting their presentation to match their business goals.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Melody Gilbert

Welcome to our new NYWIFT member, Melody Gilbert! Melody is an Emmy-nominated and Alfred I. duPont award-winning documentary filmmaker. Over the course of her career, Melody has directed and produced 20 documentaries that have been screened at several film festivals and distributed internationally. Melody is also an educator committed to teaching new and emerging filmmakers. She has been on the faculty at several universities (including the American University in Bulgaria), teaching documentary production, multimedia, and journalism. Currently, Melody is traveling the world and spreading her love for film by teaching pitch training workshops and conducting her “Documentary Boot Camp” while working on her new documentary about the scandalous topless monokini bathing suit in 1964. The most recent documentary she helped produce, Queendom, was shortlisted for an Oscar in the feature documentary category. In our interview, Melody discusses her move from chilly Minnesota to NYC, her unconventional documentary subjects, and key lessons she shares with film students.

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