Join the New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF), Asian Americans in Media (AIM) and New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) for a candid conversation on the evolving intersection of artistry and business in independent filmmaking.
Featuring accomplished directors and producers, this panel explores the practical and personal strategies behind navigating limited resources, production constraints, investor pressures, and the pursuit of authentic storytelling and artistic integrity. As driving forces in the industry, our panelists will share hard-earned insights into funding, distribution, and sustaining a career in an competitive landscape. This gathering of industry professionals continues NYAFF’s mission of building bridges through meaningful dialogue—offering guidance and inspiration for aspiring creators, industry professionals, and curious audiences alike.
Speakers include Poh Si Teng, Mynette Louie, and Veronica Reyes-How. Moderated by Thavary Krouch.
Date: Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Time: 6-7pm ET
Location: Film at Lincoln Center – Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center (144 W 65th St, New York, NY 10023)
Price: $10
Speakers:
Mynette Louie is a Spirit Award-winning, Emmy and Critics Choice-nominated producer. Her credits include Eric Lin’s Tribeca and Locarno 2025 selection ROSEMEAD starring Lucy Liu, Heidi Ewing’s Sundance-winning, Spirit/Ariel/GLAAD-nominated I CARRY YOU WITH ME (Sony Pictures Classics), Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ Tribeca-winning, Gotham/Critics Choice-nominated SWALLOW (IFC Films & Mubi), Jennifer Fox’s Golden Globe/Emmy/Critics Choice/Spirit/Gotham-nominated THE TALE (Sundance / HBO), Aaron Katz’s GEMINI (SXSW / NEON), Karyn Kusama’s THE INVITATION (SXSW / Drafthouse & Netflix), Martha Stephens & Aaron Katz’s Spirit Award-winning LAND HO! (Sundance / Sony Pictures Classics), and many more. Louie serves on The Academy’s Producers Branch Executive Committee and Film Independent’s Board of Directors, and is a member of Producers United. She was named one of Business Insider’s “12 Movie Producers at the Top of Their Game to Watch in 2020 and Beyond,” Ted Hope’s “21 Brave Thinkers of Truly Free Film,” and Indiewire’s “100 Filmmakers to Follow on Twitter.” Louie is also a professor and co-head of Creative Producing at Columbia University’s graduate film school. A native New Yorker, she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University, where she studied Chinese literature and film.
Veronica Reyes-How is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a Mathematics/Finance degree. After working as a technology consultant, Veronica switched careers, landing a role in the national tour of RENT. Acting credits include Blue Bloods, The Blacklist and Person of Interest. She was a 2022 Sesame Street Writing Fellow, previously working as a head writer / Executive Producer, developing kids’ TV content focusing on making math fun. She recently created, wrote and executive produced the comedy/drama Mother, May I Have a Kidney? – which premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Festival.
Poh Si Teng is an award-winning director and producer (Oscar-nominatedSt. Louis Superman). She is a former executive producer for ABC/Disney, former documentary commissioner for Al Jazeera English, former IDA grants director and former Emmy-nominated New York Times journalist, with a portfolio spanning four continents. She is the founder of Tiny Boxer Films, which produces feature docs, docu- and unscripted-series for the US and global majority markets. She recently executive produced the Hulu/Disney hit disability rom-com documentary Patrice: The Movie, and Muslim Matchmaker. Her past producing credits include the Oscar-qualified award-winning short documentary Blood On Our Side from Mexico, and the BAFTA-qualified short documentary Dead Woman’s Pass from Peru. She is currently producing a three-part docu-series that she developed and is directing a political and medical verité feature documentary.
Thavary Krouch (Moderator) is a cultural strategist and film advocate with over a decade of experience supporting independent filmmakers and local film industries. She began her career managing the distribution label at Facets Multimedia, a long-time institution in the world of cinema once dubbed a “temple of great cinema” by Roger Ebert. She later joined the Chicago Film Office, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, where she helped shape initiatives such as the Chicago Independent Producers Lab to support emerging and diverse voices in film. Thavary currently serves as Deputy Director of Film at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, where she supports both studio and independent productions across New York City. She holds an MFA in Writing and Directing from Columbia College Chicago and brings a filmmaker’s eye to her work at the intersection of storytelling, public policy and community engagement.
Join the conversation on social media:
#nywift | @nywift
NYWIFT programs, screenings and events are supported, in part, by grants from New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.
