Terry’s Picks: February 4, 2014
Image via Fox Searchlight. Looking forward to: the NYC premiere of Amma Asante’s Belle at the Athena Film Festival on Thursday! The film is a fictionalized account of the life of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the West Indies–born biracial daughter of an African woman and Admiral Sir John Lindsay, on an English estate. Belle’s story tackles questions about society, race,...
READ MOREActing Up: What’s Your Plan for 2014?
Photo: "El Fureidis" by Frances Benjamin Johnston. Pilot season is here. If you’re feeling left behind or like you need to catch up, that’s OK. Maybe you haven’t had a chance to figure out what you want to do or bring about this year. Give yourself some time to set clear intentions for 2014. It’s never to...
READ MOREThe 2014 Athena Film Festival Is This Week
//player.vimeo.com/video/84185523?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0 The fourth annual Athena Film Festival kicks off this Thursday (Feb. 6) and runs through Sunday (Feb. 9) on the Barnard College campus in NYC. The lineup includes feature films (Short Term 12, In a World…), documentaries (Alice Walker: Beauty In Truth), a variety of shorts, as well as panels (A Conversation With Lexi Alexander, The Women...
READ MOREWeekly Film & TV News Roundup
Mad Men photo via theguardian.com. Dear Mr. President, we agree! (Video) Congratulations, Kathy Kelly-Brown, NBC’s new SVP of Global Talent Booking. NYC will certainly benefit from this. Elizabeth Vargas’ return brings winning ratings for 20/20. Universal’s Donna Langley will be the “second most powerful woman in Hollywood” until at least 2017. Casting Director Allison Jones “discovered” our favorite TV/film nerds. Do what...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: January 28, 2014
The girls of Broad City. Wondering about: recognition for female artists throughout history, thanks to this witty video by Girls’ Jemima Kirke, featuring the notorious Guerrilla Girls. Priming us for: NYWIFT’s upcoming Laughing Matters comedy event is this month’s required viewing, Broad City. Changing minds: on who really speaks up about the Superbowl! Adweek writes that female consumers are the...
READ MORERecap: NYWIFT at 2014 Sundance Film Festival
NYWIFT member Heidi Philipsen in The Better Angels, starring Diane Kruger, Brit Marling, and Wes Bentley (Photo courtesy of Hickory Pictures, LLC) What a whirlwind! Though temps in New York matched the biting Park City cold, nothing could beat the heat at the festival. This year, New York Women in Film and Television (NYWIFT) caught up...
READ MORE66th DGA Awards: Female Directors Honored
Congratulations to the female directors honored at the DGA Awards this weekend: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary – Jehane Noujaim, The Square Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series – Beth McCarthy-Miller, 30 Rock, “Hogcock!/Last Lunch” Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs – Amy Schatz, An Apology to Elephants The DGA Diversity Award was given to Shonda Rhimes...
READ MOREWeekly Film & TV News Roundup
Photo via YouTube. The Women In Film panel at Sundance called out Hollywood’s sexism. Sold! Lynn Shelton’s film Laggies did well in Park City. Another promising new production company to be based in NYC. Cate Blanchett reveals a red carpet disparity. Got lights? Got camera? Here’s how to tape your own audition. Editorial Director Kierna Mayo brings...
READ MORENYWIFT Success Story: Polish Filmmakers NYC
Still from Katarzyna Klimkiewicz’s Flying Blind, one of the films screened at Polish Filmmakers NYC’s series Different Ages, Different Voices: Polish Women in Film. April Hattori and Agata Drogowska, both members of New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT), met each other and a film series was launched. Hattori discusses this NYWIFT networking success story: In 2012, Agata...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: December 21, 2014
Image via Getty Images, Tumblr. Laying out the truth at Sundance: the 8th annual Women in Film panel highlighted the large discrepancies that still exist across the industry and awarded $32K in grants to women filmmakers. Thinking about red carpet sexism: with the above GIF of Cate Blanchett at the SAG Awards making its rounds on the...
READ MORENew Member Spotlight: Jeanne Applegate
How did you first hear about NYWIFT and what made you decide to join? I first heard of NYWIFT and 20/20/20 [Killer Films/Stony Brook University’s Intensive in Digital Filmmaking program] through my mother, Jane Applegate, who is a freelance film and video producer. She attended a workshop given by Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler where...
READ MOREWeekly Film & TV News Roundup
Oscars 2014: Jennifer Lawrence (left) is nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Amy Adams for Best Actress, both for their roles in American Hustle. Photo credit: Annapurna Productions LLC. Irked by the lack of women oscar noms? This DGA news might soothe you. At age 82, Patricia Norris, 12 Years A Slave‘s costume designer, is nominated — again! Fewer women...
READ MOREUpcoming NYWIFT Events
Production still from Sister Italy. New York Women in Film & Television’s January programs are filling up fast so make sure to RSVP asap. Ask Me Anything with Line Producer Leah Harper Thursday, Jan. 16, 7 pm NYWIFT Office (6 East 39th Street, Suite 1200) Interested in line producing for TV? Line producers manage the...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: January 14, 2014
Meryl Streep and Emma Thompson at the 2014 National Board of Review Awards Gala. Photo via National Board of Review. Relishing every frame: in this montage of strong female stories, voices, and leadership. It must be the just-released trailer for the Athena Film Festival, which runs February 6 – 9 at Barnard College. Exchanging kudos should always be:...
READ MORENYWIFT Promo on the Streets of NYC
Production still from NYWIFT’s new video promo. (L-R): Lara Valery, Giselle Eisenberg, and Eileen Berger. Starting Friday, January 17, you can see clips of New York Women in Film & Television’s new promo video in the window of Tekserve (119 West 23rd St.). Aubrey Smyth, a NYWIFT member, donated her time, energy, and production company, Gingersnap, to...
READ MOREOscar-Nominated Director Gets Real
Director Lexi Alexander. Photo via Indiewire.com. Women & Hollywood has published an influential post by Lexi Alexander from her blog. It’s a must-read about gender inequality in film and why progress over the last several decades has been dismal. Here Alexander discusses a 1978 report on equal-employment practices in the film industry: Okay, so we know that people have...
READ MOREWeekly Film & TV News Roundup
Amy Poehler and Tina Fey will be hosting the 2014 Golden Globe Awards. Photo via NBC. And the Golden Globe and BAFTA nominees are… First Sasheer Zamata and now this?! New Year, new SNL (finally). Has 27-year-old producer Megan Ellison dethroned Harvey Weinstein? My love for Tig Notaro and her new EW talk show is boundless. Downton Abbey costume designer Caroline McCall explains the absence of...
READ MOREFlix Not To Miss: Oscar-Worthy Performances by an Actress
Now that the crisp winter air has arrived and films are trotted out for Oscar consideration, I highly recommend these spectacular performances by female actors in film. BEST ACTRESS Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine. Blanchett’s turn as Jasmine, a fictional Ruth Madoff-like character, is virtuosic. She doesn’t shy away from showing us the ugly, manipulative...
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