Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Deniz Cam
After a career as a journalist for Forbes magazine, Deniz is taking her skills as a storyteller the world of film and TV. She is on the research team for The Problem with Jon Stewart on Apple TV+, a talk show about current events including climate change, the economy, and foreign policy. She is also writing and acting in a live reading of her pilot, 60 Days, about a Turkish immigrant who must get married in 60 days to keep her visa status after quitting her job. Deniz tells us about her love of New York, being an immigrant from Istanbul, and her Carrie Bradshaw moment seeing her cover story on a billboard on Fifth Avenue.
READ MORENYWIFT @ Tribeca: In Conversation with the Team Behind Breaking the News
The new documentary Breaking the News, which just premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Festival, follows the determined efforts of women and nonbinary journalists launching a news “startup,” The 19th*, to foreground voices omitted from mainstream news. Filmmakers Heather Courtney, Princess A. Hairston, and Chelsea Hernandez provide a deep look into bias and inclusion in the ever-shifting media landscape. We spoke to the three co-directors and producer Diane Quon about their communal approach to making this film, and the challenges and triumphs of building a news organization (and making a film about it) during a global pandemic, political strife, and social unrest.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: LaKisa Renee
Welcome to NYWIFT, LaKisa Renee! LaKisa is a multitalented media/film industry professional, journalist, host, actress, videographer, voice artist, and award-winning makeup artist. She is the owner and Founder of LaKisa Renee Entertainment, a media, fashion and events company. As a media professional, she is a contributing journalist for Cultured Focus Magazine, In Black Magazine, and Steller Magazine. LaKisa spoke to us about her wide range of roles in media, fashion, and entertainment.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Sheherzad Raza Preisler
Let’s welcome Sheherzad Raza Preisler to NYWIFT! She is a native New Yorker who attended undergrad at Columbia University, where she majored in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African studies and followed the pre-medical track. After an identity crisis, Sheherzad fell in love with all things filmmaking and is now an MFA candidate at Brooklyn College’s Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema. Much of Sheherzad’s work deals with growing up Muslim in post-9/11 America. She spoke to us about her unusual path from pre-med to science writing to filmmaking, how storytelling is innate to her culture, and her post-graduation plans.
READ MOREWomen in Film & Television History: Meet Ethel Payne, Journalist & First Female African-American National Network News Commentator
Ethel Payne was known in as “the first lady of the black press” and was described by journalist Gwen Ifil as “the most influential journalist and activist most people have never heard of.”
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