NYWIFT Blog

Five Film Festival Takeaways

In 2018, from mid-October to mid-December, NYWIFT member Lauren Anders Brown embarked on a film festival season filled with five very different festivals. These are the valuable lessons she learned from each one.

READ MORE

Terry’s Picks: Board Buzz, 62 Writers, Top Performers

Board Buzz: Great news from several NYWIFT board members! The Tale – produced by Simone Pero – continues to rack up award nominations, including a Golden Globe nom for last year’s Muse honoree Laura Dern and a Critics Choice nom for this year’s Muse Ellen Burstyn; Annetta Marion was selected for NBC’s Alternative Directors Program...

READ MORE

The Art of Directing and Running a Show: Takeaways from a Conversation with Annetta Marion and Kathryn O’Kane

At a recent NYWIFT program, board members (and director/showrunners) Kathryn O’Kane and Annetta Marion discussed the unique role of the showrunner, and the combination of skill, gumption, and inspiration essential in helming a show.

READ MORE

Terry’s Picks: Cynthia Lopez, Muse Honorees, Triple Nominations

Cynthia Lopez: I am so thrilled that Cynthia Lopez will be my successor as Executive Director of NYWIFT starting January 1st.  I will miss my colleagues dearly, but I know I leave the organization in highly competent hands. Muse Honorees: Join us at the Muse Awards on December 13th! This year’s incredible slate of honorees includes Sarah Jessica...

READ MORE

Terry’s Picks: Rule Breakers, DOC NYC, Carole Chazin

Rule Breakers: Listen to NYWIFT member Jennifer Fox and Board President Simone Pero, writer/director and producer respectively of The Tale on the “Rule Breakers” podcast. Jennifer and Simone talk about the film, the layered consequences of sexual abuse, what we can do to protect others and the journey to healing. DOC NYC: I am thrilled...

READ MORE

Terry’s Picks: Catherine Hardwicke, Hamptons Award, Queens World

Catherine Hardwicke: This profile of Catherine Hardwicke will and should make you angry. It proves the rampant sexism that is still alive and well in our business. After breaking box office records with Twilight, Hardwicke should have been in demand. She was thanked with a cupcake (yes, really), labeled as “difficult,” and her career was...

READ MORE

Terry’s Picks: Seven Women, Late Legend, M.I.A.Screening

Seven Women: This Wednesday and Thursday September 26th and 27th, Quad Cinema is having a special screening of Seven Women, Seven Sins, the groundbreaking project by seven legendary female indie film directors whichreceived support from the NYWIFT’s Women Film Preservation Fund. Directors Maxi Cohen and Bette Gordon will do a Q&A after the Wednesday screening. Late...

READ MORE

Seven Women Sevens Sins: An Exceptional Collaboration of ’80s Indie Women Directors

Made as part of series for German Television (ZDF) in 1986, Seven Women Seven Sins, proved to be an exceptional collaboration of 1980’s independent #DirectedByWomen cinema. Women's Film Preservation Fund co-chair Kirsten Larvick discusses the film's relevance in advance of its screening at The Quad on September 26th and 27th, 2018.

READ MORE

Terry’s Picks: Love Gilda, Bold Move, Emmy Nominations

Love, Gilda: Lisa D’Apolito’s acclaimed feature documentary Love, Gilda, about legendary comedian Gilda Radner, hits theaters nationwide on September 21st. The film was fiscally sponsored by NYWIFT. Bold Move: Beginning in 2019, works that do not demonstrate inclusivity in their production practices will no longer be eligible for the Outstanding British Film or Outstanding Debut...

READ MORE

Terry’s Picks: Reel Equity, Film Registry, Good News

Reel Equity: Tell the entertainment industry that you support members of historically female crafts in their demand for Pay Equity by signing your name to this Open Letter to the Entertainment Industry.  Film Registry: The Library of Congress accepts 2019 recommendations from the general public for its National Film Registry via their online form through September...

READ MORE

#SummerHours Summer Reading: Women in Early Hollywood

Throughout history, and specifically film and television history, women have been early to identify and seize opportunity in emerging fields—only to be edged out of those fields, and their history, once they become mainstream. Mellini Kantayya shares four great reads about the women pioneers of early Hollywood.

READ MORE

#SummerHours #BingeWatch-Worthy Drama Picks

Mellini Kantayya offers two very different - but equally addictive - drama series for your summer #bingewatch.

READ MORE

Terry’s Picks: Thumbs Down, Marvel-ous Director, Photo Exhibit

Thumbs Down: The latest study from Dr. Martha Lauzen from the Center for the Study of Women in Film & Television at San Diego State University shows that male reviewers dramatically outumber female reviewers, which can in turn affect how female-driven content’s visibility.  Marvel-ous Director: Cate Shortland will be the first woman to direct a...

READ MORE

Terry’s Picks: #SummerHours Series, Debra Granik, Darya Zhuk

#SummerHours Series: The NYWIFT #SummerHours blog series by members Mellini Kantayya and Kathryn O’Kane is back again this year with recommendations for your summer reading and watchlist. So far Kathryn has shared her thoughts on past NYWIFT Muse honoree Whoopi Goldberg’s latest book, and Mellini has created a list of bingewatch-worthy comedy picks. Debra Granik:...

READ MORE

Meet the New Board Members: Yvonne Russo

NYWIFT is governed by an 18 member Board of Directors, elected by the membership in late Spring. This diverse, accomplished group of women are at the top of their game in TV, film and digital media. We get to know producer Yvonne Russo, one of the latest additions to our leadership team.

READ MORE

Terry’s Picks: ReFrame Stamp, Women Directors, Binge Watch

ReFrame Stamp: The ReFrame organization has created the ReFrame Stamp in partnership with IMDBpro, a badge of honor for film and TV projects that hire women in at least half of eight key production positions – writer, director, producer, lead actor, co-lead, speaking parts, department heads and crew – with double points for women of...

READ MORE

Terry’s Picks: Blockchain Technology, The Tale, Barbican Program

Blockchain Technology: The industry is abuzz with excitement – and questions – about Blockchain technology, so NYWIFT is holding a panel this Thursday to discuss its potential power for filmmakers. Member Heidi Philipsen also recently wrote a guest post for Women and Hollywood exploring the technology’s possible impact on indie filmmaking.  The Tale: We are...

READ MORE

The Women’s Film Preservation Fund Crosses the Atlantic with 1970s Classics of Feminist Filmmaking

A year ago, an email arrived in our Women’s Film Preservation Fund mailbox from Tamara Anderson, Cinema Curator at the Barbican Centre in London, who had discovered our 2015 Carte-blanche series at MoMA, Women Writing the Language of Cinema. Would we curate a smaller series, focusing just on Second Wave Feminist films, for their multi-arts celebration Art of Change? What has resulted, Artists and Activists: Second Wave Feminist Filmmakers, will screen as a series over Saturday and Sunday, June 2-3 at the Barbican. 

READ MORE