meet the new nywift member Archives - New York Women in Film & TelevisionNew York Women in Film & Television

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Ginelle Bamfo

Welcome to NYWIFT, Ginelle Bamfo! Ginelle is a talented young filmmaker and recent graduate from NYU Tisch’s Film and TV school. With a background in acting and theater, Ginelle has expanded her creative pursuits into many realms of the filmmaking industry. Having won NYU’s Best Undergraduate Film award for her project Talk Yo’ Shit, her talents and ambitions have quickly proven worthwhile. Ginelle is a staunch advocate of amplifying diverse voices. Her role as President of The Collective at NYU – a club which connects and highlights the work of Black students – is only one example of her commitment to this goal. Ginelle is a flexible and dynamic creative, drawing inspiration from ever-evolving sources. Always excited to learn and collaborate, she is an exciting addition to the entertainment industry. In our interview, Ginelle discusses what her journey to filmmaking has looked like and her current artistic ambitions.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Trish Appello

Welcome to NYWIFT, Trish Appello! For Trish Appello, turning 55 sparked a bold new chapter. The executive producer of the comedic series The EffYou 50s proudly declared, “I can thrive at 55,” and from that moment, her journey into the independent film and television world began. Appello recognized the importance of on-set experience and chose to pursue an educational path, enrolling in the UCLA Extension independent film-producing certificate program. Upon graduation, Appello realized it was time to tell the story that had lived inside her for almost two decades. Appello spoke to us about her career transition, finding her writing voice, and what she is currently working on.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Louisa Brown

Welcome to NYWIFT, Louisa Brown! Blogger Marchelle Thurman had the pleasure of interviewing Louisa Brown. She is a storyteller, connector, and unapologetic champion of underrepresented voices in film and media. At Urbanworld Film Festival, she builds bridges between artists, audiences, and cultural institutions, creating moments that matter. She’s a founding member of M.A.D.E., where she produces the award-winning MADE Talks series, celebrating Black creativity and bold ideas. Her own films, including Family Time and Mila and Mimi Too, have won Lionsgate recognition and festival accolades. In addition, she has collaborated on various projects, headed initiatives for commercial brands, and serves on the management team for musical artist Laila! Louisa brings heart, humor, and a global perspective to everything she does.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Nancy Pasquariello

Welcome to NYWIFT, Nancy Pasquariello! Nancy is a multifaceted creative with a passion for storytelling. Her background as a professional chef, writer, and filmmaker is a display of her insatiable desire to explore and create. Inspired by the potential that film has to change perspectives and impact lives, Nancy strives to channel her creative energy into the kinds of projects that carry this influence. Nancy’s artistic mediums are often put in conversation with one another during her creative process. Her unique perspective shines through in every project she pursues as a result of her distinct artistic background. In our interview, Nancy discusses her passions and the origins of her creative inspiration.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Gabriela Coronel

Welcome to NYWIFT, Gabriela Coronel! Gabriela Coronel is an up-and-coming filmmaker and visual artist who recently graduated from Ithaca College. Driven and inspired by the diversity of the human experience, Gabriela tells stories through various mediums. Her talent and vision has been appreciated by the likes of Westchester Magazine and Tiny Studios, where she worked on a variety of creative projects and events. Gabriela strives to push herself creatively. She draws from her personal experiences throughout each project she pursues, allowing her to continuously explore new ideas and challenge old ones. In our interview, Gabriela discusses her background and the origins of her creative inspiration.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Juanita Umaña

Welcome to NYWIFT, Juanita Umaña! Juanita Umaña is a filmmaker from Bogotá, Colombia, who divides her time between the Bay Area and the East Coast. Her films and documentaries explore intimate moments of family life, often with a focus on social commentary. Her autobiographical short film, Before the World Was Big, about her relationship with her mother, was recognized by the Sundance Institute in 2021, earning her a spot in the Adobe x Ignite Fellowship. In addition to directing and writing, Juanita enjoys working on studio sets and recently assisted on Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another in California's remote desert. She has produced and shot short films, documentaries, and music videos in Colombia, Nicaragua, and the U.S., focusing on stories from underrepresented communities and American subcultures. Her goal is to bring these narratives to mainstream cinema.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Madeleine Rotzler

Welcome to NYWIFT, Madeleine Rotzler! Madeleine Rotzler is an Emmy® Award-winning director and producer of documentaries and narrative feature films. Fiction films include the upcoming O Horizon and O.G., currently on HBO. Non-fiction films include HBO’s Emmy-nominated It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t It, Emmy-winning Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus, and Oscar-shortlisted The Lottery. Her most recent film, O Horizon, was described as “bound to be one of the season's sweetest charmers.” The film premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in 2025 where it won the Panavision Spirit Award for Independent Cinema. O.G., Madeleine’s narrative feature debut, and It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t It were both filmed inside a maximum-security prison in Indiana in collaboration with men incarcerated there. Most of the cast of O.G. were incarcerated. It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t It marked the first time incarcerated directors were nominated for an Emmy. In our interview, Madeleine discussed her award-winning films and her perspective on the impact of filmmaking.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Joyce Hills

Welcome to NYWIFT, Joyce Hills! Joyce Hills is a recent graduate of NYU Tisch, where she co-wrote and directed the culturally-rich epic Viking short film The Feather, featuring out-of-this-world SFX hair and makeup, practical stunts, and generative workflows on a virtual production volume. She was the First Assistant Director and VFX Supervisor on the Seed & Spark-awarded short film Night of Melancholia, interned in Virtual Production at Gum Studios in Brooklyn, and performed as Sugarsop, The Widow, and assorted household servants in Will Kempe’s Players’ The Taming of the Shrew. Joyce is developing her first feature film, a dark fantasy inspired by mystical quests, heroes’ journeys, and time and destiny in popular culture. She is also developing a science fiction feminist short, and is pursuing additional education in XR mediamaking and STEM. In our interview, she discussed her childhood inspirations, emerging technologies, and the future of storytelling.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Therese Cayaba-Jones

Welcome, Therese Cayaba-Jones, to NYWIFT. Therese is a filmmaker with over 15 years of experience with films, documentaries, and series across the Philippines, Singapore, and the U.S. She just finished the feature screenplay for UnMarry, which was recently announced as one of the entries for the Metro Manila Film Festival 2025. Currently, Therese is producing the film Tales My Father Told, and raising money through NYWIFT fiscal sponsorship. Read on to see Therese’s story of moving to New York, her role in the 48 Hour Film Project, and her take on the state of independent filmmaking in the Big Apple.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Tenzin Sedon

Welcome to NYWIFT, Tenzin Sedon! Tenzin Sedon is a Tibetan filmmaker from Tibet, and an MFA candidate in the Graduate Film Program at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Her work spans narrative, documentary, and experimental forms. She has received numerous awards, including the Hot Docs Best Canadian Short Documentary and the Golden Mountain Award, and has been nominated for the Hot Docs CrossCurrents Doc Fund (CCDF) and Docs Port Incheon. She is a recipient of the 2025 Ang Lee Scholarship. Her films have screened internationally and been exhibited at major institutions.

Meet The New NYWIFT Member: Wendy Rubin

Wendy is a financial executive, media veteran, and creator of Fintimacy: A Women's Guide to Financial Freedom. After two decades in entertainment, finance, and private equity, she's on a mission to help women break free from shame and step into financial power. Her work translates the intimidating language of wealth into smart, clear tools for real life, blending strategic rigor with empathy, humor, and real-world insight. She's also an endurance athlete who has completed 10 New York City marathons to date. Wendy told us about her journey from the Midwest to becoming a fractional CFO in media and entertainment, her passion for empowering women through financial literacy, and her exciting upcoming book and podcast series.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Sen-I Yu

Welcome to NYWIFT, Sen-I Yu! Sen-I Yu is a New York-based, award-winning filmmaker originally from Taiwan. Her feature directorial debut My Heavenly City garnered international recognition, including a NETPAC Award nomination at the 43rd Hawaii International Film Festival, Best Picture and IndiePix Vision Award at the 2025 Winter Film Festival, among others. The film secured worldwide theatrical distribution in 2023 throughout Taiwan, Hong Kong, with limited releases in North America and the UK. The Guardian called it a “fresh, thoughtful take on immigrant experience, Sen-I Yu’s sympathetic and humane film traces three loosely woven stories of people dealing with loneliness in New York City…” In our interview, she discusses her debut feature, how her immigrant experience influences her creative process, and the types of stories that inspire her.

Meet The NYWIFT Member: Melody Tally

Melody is a multi-hyphenate artist, award-winning actress, screenwriter, filmmaker and engineer. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University and her Masters in Business Administration at Trinity Washington University. She studied acting and directing with Vera Katz and Haile Gerima at Howard University and can be seen on Tubi, Netflix, and Amazon Prime in acclaimed films including Residue and Silent Brave. Melody told us about balancing her multidisciplinary skills, how her engineering background influences her approach to artistic and creative projects, including a math book and limited series.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Jamie Kiernan O’Brien

Welcome to NYWIFT, Jamie Kiernan O’Brien! Jamie is a filmmaker based in New York City and a current M.F.A. candidate at New York University’s Graduate Film program. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., she began her career as an actor before shifting her focus behind the camera. Jamie’s films have screened at Inside Out 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival, Wicked Queer Boston, and TRANSlations Film Festival in Seattle. She loves highly stylized work that plays with and subverts genre, having made films inspired by horror, screwball comedy, erotic thriller, and melodrama. Her debut short film, an adaptation of The Yellow Wallpaper (in which she also stars), won several awards in the festival circuit and premiered at TRANSlations Film Festival in Seattle in 2022. Her most recent short, Egg, debuted at Wicked Queer in Boston, and went on to screen at Inside Out 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival and World Pride DC. She received her B.A. in English Literature from New York University. Jamie is an openly trans woman. In our interview, Jamie discusses her transition from acting to directing, recent projects, and the filmmakers who have inspired her work!

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Chloe Derian

Welcome to NYWIFT, Chloe Derian! Chloe Derian is a filmmaker, photographer, and creative strategist who combines artistry and strategy to craft stories that inspire and connect audiences. With a strong background in marketing and multimedia production, she has led campaigns and creative projects that elevate brands and highlight authentic voices. Her expertise spans event production, photography, and film, focusing on visual storytelling that balances emotional resonance with strategic impact. Chloe values collaboration and innovation, keeping pace with trends in film, photography, and digital media. She is dedicated to projects that amplify diverse perspectives and spark meaningful conversations.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Rudaba Zehra Nasir

Welcome to NYWIFT, Rudaba Zehra Nasir! Rudaba is a Pakistani-American, conservatory-trained actress, writer, and singer as well as a humanitarian and life coach based in Manhattan. She is currently producing her solo show Halal-ish which is about her journey from Pakistan to America to find love. On screen, she has starred in award-winning films The Foreign Patriot and The Train I’m On, and was a series regular in Kabhi Na Kabhi (Someday) on Hum TV. Her New York theater credits include sold-out, Off-Off Broadway shows such as Novecento (Paradise Factory Theater), Arsinoe IV (Chain Theatre), Talk of the Town (The Players), and Measure For Measure (Resident Acting Company). Rudaba spoke to us about how she uses art to cultivate connection, finding her voice as an actor, and her humanitarian initiatives.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Sophie Ostrove

Welcome to NYWIFT, Sophie Ostrove! Sophie is a thoughtful and funny storyteller who graduated with honors from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she earned her BFA in Film and Television with a focus on comedy. As a queer, disabled, and Jewish writer, Sophie is passionate about creating stories that center joy and offer authentic representation. Based in New York City, she splits her time between writing, freelancing, background acting, teaching filmmaking, ushering — and watching as much TV as possible (a job requirement she’s more than happy to meet). In our conversation, Sophie reflected on her creative journey, the role of comedy in her work, and why representation truly matters.

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Rita Marcocci

Welcome to NYWIFT, Rita Marcocci! Rita Marcocci is founder of Verus Studios, LLC a female-owned, award-winning production studio based in Westport, CT. She is a former executive at FOX Television with an accomplished background in revenue growth and strategic partnerships. Her most recent project, the Oscar and BAFTA shortlisted film The One Note Man, is currently available on Amazon Prime. Next up is a short film collaboration with award winning director, Daniel Deville and the Oscar-winning team at Slick Films. Rita brings a strategic perspective to projects, offering a full understanding of successful operational knowledge as well as diverse, hands-on experience in the entertainment industry. In our interview, Rita discusses her current projects and the process of running Versus Studios!

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