The Wrong Kind of Women

Naomi McDougall Jones’s new book The Wrong Kind of Women is a brutally honest look at the systemic exclusion of women in film an industry with massive cultural influence and how, in response, women are making space in cinema for their voices to be heard. In addition to providing an incisive, data- and human-driven look at where we are, Naomi provides clear and actionable steps to move the industry forward. 

The book debuted as the #1 New Release on Amazon in the Entertainment Industry and is receiving an electric early response from reviewers with Booklist and Kirkus Reviews calling it “bold,” “convincing,” “passionate,” “well-written,” “urgent,” and “necessary,” and Publishers Weekly writing, “Film viewing will never be the same after reading Jones’ insightful look at the reality of being female in Tinseltown.” Rose McGowan said of the book, “We need truth. The curtain must be pulled back, and Naomi McDougall Jones has done just that.”

Join us for a conversation with Naomi McDougall Jones, Tanya Perez,  Jan Eliasberg and Jennifer Betit Yen.

Books will be available for purchase!

Panelists

Tanya Perez is an actress, writer & filmmaker who actively campaigns for female-focused inclusion on stage and screen. Notable TV & Film performances include Orange is the New Black, Jessica Jones, Blue Bloods, and Hal Hartley’s Ned Rifle opposite Parker Posey. Stage appearances include DQT’s The Pet Play, Seattle Rep’s Anna in the Tropics, Sonia Flew at CATF & Laguna Playhouse, and her sold-out solo show at the Downtown Urban Theatre Festival at the Cherry Lane Theatre. As a filmmaker in comedy, her web series Itty P & DJ Model-T gained two ITVF award nominations for Best Comedy & Best Actress in a Comedy, her quirky short , Peep Show, was a finalist at the 2018 Women in Comedy HBO Insider Competition and her latest dramedy, Veronica, has played in 18 film festivals around the world, winning multiple awards for Best Actress & Screenplay. This multi-hyphenate also received an Audioverse Award nomination in writing in Cocotazo’s CAT podcast and will be appearing in their critically acclaimed podcast Timestorm early this year. Contributing writer with Ms. In The Biz. Proud member of Brown Girls Doc Mafia, SAG/AFTRA, and Actors Equity.

Jennifer Betit Yen is an actor (NBC’s New Amterdam, TBS’ Search Party, USA’s Royal Pains, writer (The Opposite of a Fairy Tale) and writer/producer (La La Land, IWATTAU, Mirror Mirror). She has received mentions by The New York Times and Backstage Magazine for her acting work. Jennifer also has the distinction of having a DAY named after her in New York City! New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio and the First Lady named Jennifer the official honoree of the annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Celebration at Gracie Mansion, commending her for her acting and activism work, and officially proclaimed May 9, 2019, “Jennifer Betit Yen Day” in New York City. Jennifer played lead roles in the pilot series La La Land and My Not So subConscious. Her film, The Opposite of a Fairy Tale, a fictional take on elder abuse, sold out at MOCA and was an official selection of the 39th Annual Asian American International Film Festival, the Palm Springs Desert Film Society, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation NY Shorts Showcase, at the NYC Conference on Elder Abuse, at WOMANKIND, and screened at HBO. A graduate of Cornell University and Boston University School of Law, Jennifer is the President of the Film Lab, a non-profit promoting diversity in the arts. She created the IWATTAU (“Immigrants: We Are Them. They Are Us”) project, through which New Yorkers from all walks of life shared their hopes and fears about immigration on a multi-media platform to create a non-polarizing, constructive dialogue. The stories were the inspiration for the stage production IWATTAU, which allowed the audience to interact with a panel of experts after the show in a dialogue about xenophobia and what we can do to combat it.

Jan Eliasberg is an award-winning screenwriter and director of film and television. Her career includes writing and directing dramatic pilots for CBS, NBC, and ABC. She was hand-picked by Michael Mann as the first woman to direct Miami Vice and Wiseguy; as well as countless episodes of TV series, including Thirteen Reasons Why, Bull, Nashville, Parenthood, The Magicians, Blue Bloods, NCIS: Los Angeles, Supernatural, and numerous others. Her feature film Past Midnight, starred Paul Giamatti, the late Natasha Richardson, and the late Rutger Hauer. Eliasberg has written films driven by strong female leads, including Fly Girls about the Women Air Service Pilots in World War II for Nicole Kidman and Cameron Diaz. Eliasberg’s debut novel, HANNAH’S WAR, is coming out from Little, Brown on March 3rd, 2020 to glowing reviews:

“Clever dialogue, elegant phrasing and keenly developed characters add substance to Eliasberg’s triumphant tale.” Publisher’s Weekly

“Eliasberg moves effortlessly between Hannah’s past and present to deliver a historical love story full of intrigue and suspense.” Booklist

The wonderful characters of “Hannah’s War” bring together a moving love story, a high-stakes mystery and a fascinating look into the moral compass of an exceptional woman.”  –Amy Bloom, New York Times bestselling author of White Houses 

Naomi McDougall Jones is an award-winning writer, actress, producer, and women in film activist based in New York City. Her second feature film, Bite Me, with producers Jack Lechner (The Fog of War, Blue Valentine) and Sarah Wharton (That’s Not Us), which she wrote and also starred in opposite Christian Coulson (Harry Potter, Love is Strange, and The Hours), Annie Golden (Orange is the New Black), and Naomi Grossman (American Horror Story) premiered at the Cinequest Film Festival, followed by a three month, 51 screening, 40 city Joyful Vampire Tour of America that took the country by storm. Naomi’s first feature film, which she also wrote, produced, and starred in, was the 12-time award-winning Imagine I’m Beautiful. The film received a theatrical release and is now available on Amazon Prime. She is currently at work on her third feature film, a magical realism piece about a 7-month pregnant woman’s unexpected interaction with the brilliant, eccentric, and deceased inventor John Hays Hammond, Jr., and for which she received the honor of being the first artist in residence at the final home of Ernest Hemingway in Sun Valley, Idaho. Naomi is an advocate and thought leader for bringing gender parity to cinema. She gave a virally sensational TEDTalk, What it’s Like to Be a Woman in Hollywood, which has now been viewed over 1 million times and can be seen on TED.com. Naomi’s first book, The Wrong Kind of Women: Inside Our Revolution to Dismantle the Gods of Hollywood, published by Beacon Press, is now available as hardcover, e-book, and audiobook wherever books are sold. See Naomi’s Website to learn more about her.

Produced by Barbara G Vásconez and Naomi McDougall Jones

Venue provided by:

March 4 @ 6:00pm
6:00 pm — 8:00 pm (2h)

School of Visual Arts West Library
133 W 21st St, New York, NY 10011

Pricing
$15 for NYWIFT Members
$25 for Nonmembers

programs@nywift.org

Register

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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.

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