July 3, 2026
Dear NYWIFT Community:
USA celebrates a big one as we mark 250 years of our country’s development. Whether you celebrate this holiday or not, hope you are enjoying some down-time with family and friends. HAPPY 4th of JULY! Celebrating independence is always important. While we have made significant progress and women continue to reshape the media and entertainment industry, we have not arrived at a place of true equity and opportunity. There is still more work to be done, goals to achieve and creative dreams to fulfill. This is a moment for reinvention, reinvigoration, reimagine a new future and a path forward. Given we are about to enter Summer 2026 with a heat wave, I wanted to recap what NYWIFT has done over the last several months since MUSE 2026 in March at Cipriani when we celebrated the creative accomplishments of Gwyneth Paltrow, Audra McDonald, Joy Reid, Jane Raab, Rebecca Damon, Izzy Harrison, Patricia Cardoso, and Jamie Brewer.
We have hosted 17 events over the past three months, and for the first time hosted NYWIFT Salon Conversation: An Evening with Women Authors at the Stuart Cinema & Cafe located in Long Island City. The indie cinema is owned by NYWIFT Board Member and Treasurer Emelyn Stuart. You have to check out this new and exciting space! For more details visit: www.stuartcinema.com. Al Dawkins works part time at Stuart Cinema and part time for NYWIFT as the membership assistant. The authors featured at the event were Zenaida Mendez (Love and Heartbreak of the Diaspora), Denise Tomasetti (Food Talks: Stop Wasting Time on the Wrong Date), and Tèja VanWicklen (Reimaging Women’s Self-Defense). Moderated by former NYWIFT Board Treasurer Gretchen McGowan (Flying In: My Adventures in Filmmaking). Please check out these important creative books that were written during the pandemic. As summer brings beach days, weekends at the cottage, and park outings, I always plan to have some alone time to escape into a really good book. These are just what the doctor ordered to calm the spirit and inspire the soul. If you have any quotes after reading these, please forward.
Gretchen McGowan, Tèja VanWicklen, Denise Tomasetti, and Zenaida Mendez (Photo by Catherine Woo)
A few other events we want to highlight include:
Celebrating Creative Educators and Honoring a Behind-the-Scenes Worker:
Kevin A. Lopez (Motion Picture Technical High School), Andrew Elias (Academy for Careers in Television & Film), Dr. Matthew Gonzales (The Robert Halmi Sr. Academy of Film and Television), Lisa Green (Tradeswomen of Local 52), Glynis Burke (Tradeswomen of Local 52), Kathleen Tophham (Tradeswomen of Local 52), and Katie Chambers (Senior Director, NYWIFT) (Photo by Catherine Woo)
Our behind-the-scenes celebration (formerly known as the below-the-line party) made a triumphant return to Silvercup Studios in June, where we honored legendary electrician Glynis Burke in partnership with the Tradeswomen of Local 52. We loved hearing Glynis speak poignantly about her career journey. The evening also featured a lively networking reception and panel with educators from local New York schools who are cultivating the next generation of production professionals.
Nights Out with Moonshot Initiative and Film Fatales:
We were excited to partner with two sister organizations to co-host in-person networking events, including gatherings with Moonshot Initiative in Chelsea and Film Fatales in Queens at the Museum of the Moving Image. We are always inspired to see sisterhood in action. As a bonus, we also hosted a meetup at the Winter Film Festival earlier in the season, where we got to connect with a packed room of emerging content creators before screening some female-driven films. Brava!
NYWIFT New Works Lab Staged Reading
Our New Works Lab affinity group had their annual staged reading at the gorgeous Pen + Brush gallery, where screenplay excerpts were performed amidst stunning works by women visual artists – the perfect setting! Directors and actors brought several comedic and dramatic pilots and feature scripts by NYWIFT writers to life… some of which have since garnered producer interest which of course is always the goal! Attendees were also able to check out some short films by the Lab members while enjoying snacks in the gallery. Thanks again to intrepid group leaders Desiree Rucker and Jaclyn S. Powell for their work with this group year-round.
Mergers, Defunding, and Public Media! Oh My! – Examining the Future of the U.S. Media Landscape
We hosted a very timely panel on what the future potentially holds for public media at Los Depressos Studio in Brooklyn. Panelists included Sharese Bullock-Bailey (MNN), Leslie Fields-Cruz (Black Public Media), Jax Deluca (Future Film Coalition), Fernando Ramirez (Attorney), Dana Roberson (WNET/Thirteen), and Bernardo Ruiz (Director). Moderated by NYWIFT Board Member Christina Kiely.
Christina Kiely, Fernando Ramirez, Dana Roberson, Sharese Bullock-Bailey, Leslie Fields-Cruz, Jax Deluca and Bernardo Ruiz. (Photo by Rashiek Smart)
We are excited to share again that 20 NYWIFT members were featured at this year’s Tribeca Festival. We also curated a NYWIFT panel NYWIFT Celebrates Tribeca’s 25 Years of Women Filmmakers at the Tribeca Storytelling Summit and hosted a Saturday afternoon gathering at God’s Love We Deliver for bites and community conversations.
From left: Panelists Violet Du Feng, Maria Cuomo Cole, Sharese Bullock-Bailey, Cynthia Lopez; Attendees at NYWIFT panel at Tribeca; Attendees at NYWIFT Tribeca Reception
We held our Annual Member Meeting + Meet the Board Candidates Event at Manhattan Neighborhood Network. It was a networking event that included introducing the four candidates running for NYWIFT Board seats and a reception.
Kim Jackson (NYWIFT Board President), Zenaida Mendez (Former NYWIFT Board Member), Sibyl Reymundo-Santiago (NYWIFT Board Member), and Sharese Bullock-Bailey (Manhattan Neighborhood Network) (Photo by Catherine Woo)
In addition, NYWIFT maintains our online programming offerings to our ever expanding local and global creative community. We gathered online for speed networking with friends from Women in Film organizations in both DC and San Francisco Bay Area, keeping those connections flowing from coast to coast while learning about the overlaps and differences between local industries.
We held a virtual workshop on Errors & Omission Insurance with Front Row Insurance. Also, an informational virtual workshop to introduce our Writers Group to members and non-members interested in joining.
For NYWIFT Masterclasses we hosted Writing for TV with Amy Fox, Navigating Reinvention with Carolyn Smith, Feature Film Budgeting with Sirad Balducci and more scheduled for Summer and Fall.
I hope all get to enjoy the holiday weekend and sun!
Cynthia Lopez
