NYWIFT Blog

NYWIFT @ Tribeca: In Conversation with Filmmaker Violet Du Feng

Violet Du Feng’s "Hidden Letters" tells the story of Chinese women trying to balance their lives as independent women in modern China while confronting the traditional identity that defines but also oppresses them. Connected through their love for Nushu—a centuries-old secret text shared amongst women—each of them transforms through a pivotal period of their lives and takes a step closer to becoming the individuals they know they can be. Hot off her 2022 Tribeca Festival premiere, Director Violet Du Feng, an Emmy-award winning documentarian, spoke to us about Nushu, modern-day China, women’s equality, and her filmmaking process.

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S. Casper Wong on Her Filmmaking Journey: Global Peace Film Festival

NYWIFT Board Member S. Casper Wong is an award-winning New York-based filmmaker, technology lawyer, social entrepreneur, activist, and Founder of OO Media. She is also the founding chair of Asian American Women Media Makers and is on the board of directors at NYWIFT, leading the innovation initiative. She recently spoke to Global Peace Film Festival about her 20-year journey in filmmaking.

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NYWIFT Women’s History Month Spotlight: Janine McGoldrick

Janine McGoldrick is a veteran entertainment executive who has created and implemented strategic distribution and communications campaigns for television and film, including for the 2017 Academy Award-winner "The Salesman." She discusses her work on that campaign, her initial transition from politics to entertainment, and making her first documentary, about an invisible disease that confounds doctors.

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NYWIFT Women’s History Month Spotlight: Tammy Reese

Tammy Reese is a multimedia content creator who loves everything theatre, entertainment, media, and film. She is an award-winning actress, writer, and journalist, and the Founder & Lead Publicist of Visionary Minds Public Relations and Media. She discusses her inspirations, balancing work and family, her favorite interviews and more.

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Cynthia’s Picks: Digital Programming, The Writers Lab, Open the Door, Member Survey

Digital Programming: Thank you to the thousands of you who have been tuning in to our NYWIFT Talks and other virtual programs throughout these last few months. Don’t forget, if you missed anything you can catch up with those conversations on our NYWIFT Programming Goes Digital Hub. The Writers Lab: Congratulations to the 12 writers...

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What’s in Your Toolkit: Destiny Lilly

Destiny Lilly is a casting director working across theater, film, and television. While casting is a creative job, it also requires strong admin - lists, databases, and an impeccable memory. Destiny offers a peek inside her casting toolkit.

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What’s in Your Toolkit: Jendra Jarnagin

DP Jendra Jarnagin shares her favorite camera and script notation apps, creative advice, and why networking is the key to surviving in the industry.

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State of the Industry: A Conversation with Film Production Freelancer Isabella Olaguera

Throughout the coming weeks, NYWIFT will sit down with members of the film and television community for a look at how the global COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the industry, particularly those who work in the indie and art house world. Our first conversation is with NYWIFT Member Isabella Olaguera, a 1st AD who is organizing an initiative to help feed freelancers who are struggling. She shares her insight into how life has come to a halt with so many productions on hold.

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What’s in Your Toolkit: Dana Covarrubias

2018 NYWIFT Designing Women honoree Dana Covarrubias shares the tools - both literal and figurative - she keeps in her costume design toolkit.

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Cynthia’s Picks: WFPF Award, DOC NYC, Kathryn Hahn

WFPF Award: Major congratulations to NYWIFT’s Women’s Film Preservation Fund (WFPF), which received the Archivist’s Round Table of Metropolitan New York’s 2019 Outstanding Support of Archives award last week. The award recognizes an individual or organization for notable contributions to archival records or archives programs through political, financial or moral support. DOC NYC: There are more...

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NYWIFT Members Doing Justice to True Crime

Death Row Stories explores the fallibility of the ultimate criminal penalty, capital punishment. Narrated by current and former death row inmates, each episode of Death Row Stories seeks to unravel the truth behind a different capital murder case and poses tough questions about the U.S. capital punishment system. Six NYWIFT members who worked on the show, including Board Member Kathryn O'Kane, share the insight they gained into the criminal justice system through their work on the show.

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Creator Misha Calvert on power dynamics, pitching and her latest series, All Hail Beth

In advance of the Fall 2019 premiere of her new BRIC TV series "All Hail Beth," showrunner and NYWIFT member Misha Calvert sits down with Leah Curney to discuss power dynamics, how to pitch your project, and how she makes connections in the business.

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Cynthia’s Picks: Muses-on-the-Move, 21 Leaders, Draft Diversity

Muses-on-the-Move: Great news from two past NYWIFT Muse Honorees: Lucy Liu will be the second-ever Asian-American woman to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (the first was Anna May Wong in 1960), and Judith Light will receive the Isabelle Stevenson Award at the Tony’s in June in tribute to her advocacy to...

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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.

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Terry’s Picks: KitSplit Mentors, Superhero Study, Confidence Gap

KitSplit Mentors: Our friends at KitSplit are offering free coaching sessions for women in film and video. Superhero Study: A new study from BBC America and the Women’s Media Center reveals the lack of female representation in sci-fi – and posits how seeing more female superheroes could affect the confidence of young girls. Confidence Gap:...

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#SummerHours Summer Reading: Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis

Actors Ruby Dee and her husband Ossie Davis fought for civil rights from Washington, DC to Hollywood. And they were married for nearly 60 years. Kathryn O'Kane shares some of favorite quotes and moments from their joint memoir, In This Life Together.

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#SummerHours Summer Reading: Tina Fey

In her 2011 book Bossypants, Tina Fey recounts stories of her childhood, her rise to head writer on SNL, her experiences on 30 Rock, and what she learned along the way.

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#SummerHours #BingeWatch-Worthy Drama Picks

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

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