Welcome to NYWIFT Talks, a weekly series to bring updated news and vital information about the impact of COVID-19 on the media and entertainment industry. Industry professionals will be in conversation discussing what you need to know about theatrical releases, digital advances, virtual tools, festival opportunities, production updates and more.
NYWIFT Talks are free for all to attend.
Join us for a conversation with the Founder of Film Fatales, Leah Meyerhoff. We will discuss Film Fatales, what their life during COVID has been like, and how they continue to support women in the industry.
Film Fatales is an non profit arts organization and talent discovery platform which supports a membership community of over a thousand women, trans, genderqueer, and/or non-binary feature film and television directors of all ethnicities, orientations, ages, disabilities and historically marginalized backgrounds. Film Fatales advocates for hiring equality and inclusive programming practices by working with funders, producers, programmers, distributors and other key decision makers to expand the pipeline for previously overlooked filmmakers. By redefining the landscape of storytelling, Film Fatales continues to build a more equitable film industry for us all.
Moderated by NYWIFT Program Manager Barbara Vásconez
Date: Wednesday, March 17, 2021
Time: 4:00pm EST / 1:00pm PT
Platform: Zoom
Panelists
Leah Meyerhoff is an award-winning independent filmmaker and founder of Film Fatales, an arts non-profit and talent discovery platform which supports a membership community of over a thousand women, trans and non binary feature film and television directors nationwide. Meyerhoff wrote and directed the magical realist feature film I Believe in Unicorns. Her previous film Twitch won the Grand Jury Prize at Slamdance and aired on PBS and IFC. Meyerhoff’s producing credits include the dramatic thriller Before The Fire directed by Charlier Buhler (Cinequest 2020), the lyrical documentary I Am No Bird directed by Em Baker (Melbourne 2019), the Annapurna Pictures dark comedy Momster directed by Drew Denny and starring Amanda Plummer (Tribeca 2019) and the lesbian thriller Lyle directed by Stewart Thorndike and starring Gabby Hoffman (OutFest 2014). Meyerhoff also directs commercials and music videos including Team Queen for Triple Creme, Eternal Flame for Joan as Police Woman and Like Our Fathers for Luff, airing on MTV. She is a fellow of the IFP Narrative Labs, Tribeca All Access Labs, and Emerging Visions program at the New York Film Festival. She holds a BA in Art-Semiotics from Brown University and an MFA in Directing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Barbara Vásconez is the Program Manager at New York Women in Film & Television. Before joining NYWIFT, she held the position of General Manager at the Quad Cinema for three years. She has worked for a variety of film festivals, including the Tribeca Film Festival, Rooftop Films, Hamptons Film Festival, Montclair Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, DOC NYC, and the Nantucket Film Festival. Her spare time is spent programming panels and creating unique community engagement opportunities for the New York Latino Film Festival. In 2019, she launched and founded the Ville Film Festival in Somerville, New Jersey. In 2020, she joined the Ecuadorian Film Festival as Co-Director. Her educational goals include working to develop film programs in New Jersey that improve film education for low income students. She works on amplifying the Latinx community and speaking on important issues like immigration and minimum wage. She is committed to the importance of film as a means of community engagement. Barbara has a degree in Film and Video Production from the School of Visual arts in NYC and holds a Business certificate from W.O.R.C in Philadelphia.
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.
