Members in the News - New York Women in Film & TelevisionNew York Women in Film & Television

Below are just a few of the most recent accomplishments of our talented members! If you would like to join this dynamic community, we invite you to consider applying for NYWIFT membership.

NYWIFT members, do you have an upcoming screening, event, campaign or other news to share? Tell us! Contact communications@nywift.org.

New York Women in Film & Television is proud to announce that 9 of our members are involved in 9 films selected for the 2026 South by Southwest Conference & Festivals.

The SXSW Film & TV Festival & Conference will take place in Austin, Texas from March 12 – March 18. Badges and packages are currently on sale and can be purchased here.

See the full Film & TV lineup!

Congratulations to Sara Eolin (Visitors), Luchina Fisher (The Dads), Ruth Ann Harnisch (Cookie Queens), Jess Jacobs (Freedom At Stake), Gilana Lobel (Visitors), Sheila Nevins (Manhood), Jamie Kiernan O’Brien (Gender Studies), Clara Peterson (Stairs) and Elivia Shaw (One Another, The Oldest Person in the World)!

In addition to being an early NYWIFT member, costume designer Ruth Morley was behind the iconic looks of several characters now considered legendary in cinema history. A child refugee from Vienna, in the 1950’s she studied under German-American painter Hans Hofmann and went on to design costumes for opera and ballet before moving into theater, film and television. Her work can be seen in such iconic films as The Hustler (1961), The Miracle Worker (1962), Taxi Driver (1976), Kramer vs Kramer (1979), One from the Heart (1981), The Chosen (1981), Tootsie (1982) and Ghost (1990). In the 1980’s, she began teaching and mentoring costume design graduate students at Brandeis and NYU. Today, on March 12, join esteemed panelists Deborah Nadoolman Landis and Susan Gammie (Emmy award-winning costume designer, protege and friend of Ruth Morley), with moderator Julie Salamon (author of The Devil’s Candy, Net of Dreams) for a discussion about Ruth Morley’s career and her impact on the field of costume design. RSVP.

Join Marilyn Horowitz in the next free Word of the Day Webinar, where the focus is on using your writing time effectively.
Explore how to take a large writing project, such as a novel, screenplay, memoir, or article, and break it into manageable pieces that fit the time you truly have available. Monday, March 16, at 7 PM EST. Register.

NYWIFT member Dani Hanks‘ AFF-winning pilot, The G.Y.M., is being performed live with a full cast for Table Read Podcast, on the official podcast stage at South by Southwest 2026. Logline: When a neurotic woman spends her life savings to rescue her hometown’s infamous gym, she and her ragtag employees must turn their shithole into shinola to compete with the fancy fitness chain across the street. The reading is March 13 at 6 PM at Skybox on 6th. RSVP.

NYWIFT member Carolyn Butts invites you to join BAM and Reel Sisters for an evening of family-centered films in honor of Women’s History Month on March 25 from 7-9 PM. Enjoy a powerful selection of award-winning and notable films from Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series, including their 2025 Oscar-qualifying short Shallow End, Laundry, directed by NYWIFT Board member Okema T. Moore and the highly acclaimed Superman Doesn’t Steal directed by Tamika Lamison. Get tickets and information.

See the documentary Viva Verdi! with a talkback, food, drink, and networking. The free event will be at the SVA Theatre on
Saturday, March 28, starting at 2 PM. Past NYWIFT Board Members Yvonne Russo (director and writer) and Simone Pero (executive producer), along with NYWIFT members Regina K. Scully (executive producer), Christine La Monte (executive producer, writer and producer) and Ruth Ann Harnisch (executive producer) are the team behind this intimate glimpse into the lives of the celebrated opera singers and musicians currently living out their ‘third act.’ Viva Verdi! features “Sweet Dreams of Joy,” Academy Award nominee for Best Song, by Nicholas Pike, performed by Soprano Ana María Martínez. RSVP for Women Arts Day.

NYWIFT member Karen Goeller is proud to share that her anti-bullying film, Missy’s Voice, will be screened at the Garden State Film Festival! Asbury Park, NJ’s Berkeley Continental will host the screening on Saturday, March 28 at 12:30 PM. Missy’s Voice is about a talented young singer whose love of music is tested when she becomes the target of relentless bullying. As the pressure builds, Missy must find the courage to reclaim her voice. It’s an intimate, moving story about finding light in dark moments and the power of being heard. This film is already sparking conversation and emotion. Get tickets & details.

NYWIFT member Alexis Alexanian invites you to join her 2-Day Making the Independent Feature Film online workshop on February 21 and 22. Learn the dynamics of indie filmmaking right now and what makes a film truly independent with this course. With over twenty years of industry experience as a producer and consultant to major industry players, Alexis Alexanian has produced low and big-budget films among her credits. In this two-day workshop, Alexis will provide students with a real-world view of how to assemble a successful team, how to prepare and read a budget, where and how to spend the money, insurance and legal issues, the art of troubleshooting problems and potential pitfalls, and how to navigate the divide between budgetary limitations and the creative needs of the production. Sign up.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) announced the nominations for the 57th annual NAACP Image Awards, which will be presented on Saturday, February 28, 2026 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California.

Congratulations to Jade Edwards-Lovell (Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.), Danielle Genet (Hurricane Katrina: 20 Years After the Storm With Robin Roberts), Holly M. Kaplan (Number One on the Call Sheet), Veronica Mulero (Harlem), Geneva Peschka (Black Longevity); Liat Rubin (Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest 1977-2015) and Anna Wild Toomey (Left Behind)!

See the full list of nominees.

Seeking: Mapping Our Gullah Geechee Story is written and directed by NYWIFT Muse Award filmmaker Julie Dash and produced by NYWIFT member Rachel Watanabe-Batton and Umma Chroma Creative Partners. As the centering film for the launch of the International African American Museum (IAAM), Seeking features rich cinematography by Bradford Young and score by Tamar-Kali. Seeking: Mapping Our Gullah Geechee Story follows children as spiritual travelers in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, guided by ancestral maps and living landscapes to claim collective memory, survival, and continuity at a pivotal moment of change in 1966. The 34th Annual Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF), is the first public screening outside of the museum in Charleston. PAFF the nation’s largest and longest-running global Black film and arts festival, returns to Los Angeles February 7–22, 2026, celebrating global Black stories through film, art, and culture.

Seeking: Mapping Our Gullah Geechee Story (15 mins) will screen on February 19 at 11 AM and February 20 at 4:15 PM in PAFF Short Series 2, along with Dash’s new short Homegoing, honoring the Emmanuel Nine as part of the MONUMENTS exhibition co-presented by MOCA Geffen and The Brick. Get tickets.

For the Love of Strippers, a short documentary directed by NYWIFT member Julia Reagan Dubray, is coming to Kinema this Friday! The film is an intimate portrait of two L.A. strippers and activists (Selena and Natshoney) fighting to protect their art, safety, and livelihoods during a critical inflection point for the industry and in their own lives. Shot over the course of four years, the film begins as an invitation into the warm, witty and intimate lives of the two protagonists, and builds to a righteous outrage at the injustices of an industry long overdue for reform. Culture House presents For the Love of Strippers this Friday, February 13 at 8 PM ET on Kinema. Get tickets, with 50% of proceeds benefiting Strippers United.

You’re invited to the world premiere of NYWIFT member Rudaba Zehra Nasir’s one-woman show, HALALish, opening at The Tank on Valentine’s Day! HALALish is a deeply personal show about love, loss, longing, labels, and (potentially) getting laid on Valentine’s Day, aka The Hunger Games of dating in NYC. It’s a love story with a twist, told through humor, heartbreak, and a chorus of unforgettable characters and live music. HALALish centers healing our shadows and expanding how immigrant women are seen on stage. Think Sex and the City but with a Muslim edge. HALALish runs February 14, 15, 21, and 22. The show is fiscally sponsored by mental health non-profit Healing TREE, making donations to the show tax-deductible. Learn more about the team and vision behind HALALish.

Entertainment Career Coach/Talent Agent Consultant/NYWIFT member Jim Arnoff is inviting all NYWIFT members and their guests to 16 Madison Square West (@ 25th St, floor 11) for a complimentary in-person career development workshop on Monday, February 23, from 7-9 PM. Does unhealed trauma in your professional or personal life hold you back from trusting others? Have you experienced loss that still holds you back from living your life fully? Are you still holding on to trauma and unsure how to release that experience to reach your true potential? Join Entertainment Career Coach/Talent Agent Consult Jim Arnoff for Healing Trauma And Loss In Your Professional And Personal Life…Setting Yourself Free, an immersive, interactive and safe space where you will hear coaching skills to make peace with loss and reclaim your inner strength. Learn techniques that will help you forgive others (and yourself), create safe relationships, take control of your life and set yourself free to pursue relationships and passions that you truly deserve. RSVP.

Emerging Artists Theatre presents a Fox Meadow Films & Constellation Moving Company production created, written by and starring NYWIFT member Caytha Jentis. In Freedom For A Night – The Untold Story of the Real Housewives of Ancient Greece, the iconic bad-ass women of Greek Mythology reclaim their narrative and power. This feministically fun circus stage play will run February 19-22 at the Theater For A New City. Learn more and get tickets.

New York Women in Film & Television is proud to announce that ten of our members are involved in 10 films that have been selected for the 2026 Sundance Film Festival Program.

Congratulations to members William David Caballero and Louis E. Perego Moreno (TheyDream), Katherine Filaseta and Katarina Dedicova (Bedford Park), Ruth Ann Harnisch (Cookie Queens, Seized), Carolyn Hepburn (The Brittney Griner Story), Laela Kilbourn (Run Amok), Jamie Kiernan O’Brien (Crisis Actor, Gender Studies), Clara Peterson (Stairs) and Elivia Shaw (The Oldest Person in the World).

The upcoming Sundance Film Festival will take place in person January 22 – February 1, 2026. Online festival screenings will be available from January 29 – February 1, 2026. Passes and packages are currently on sale and can be purchased here.

Check out the member films!

Congrats to the NYWIFT Member Projects Nominated for Children’s & Family Emmy Awards!

New York Women in Film & Television is excited to celebrate our members with projects nominated for the fourth annual Children’s & Family Emmy Awards, which will be presented on Sunday, March 1, 2026 (Creative Arts) and Monday, March 2, 2026 (Technical Arts) at the Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Congratulations to Sirad Balducci and Stephanie Holbrook (Girl Haunts Boy); Nicole Compas (Harlem Ice); and Angelica Marciano (Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip).

Learn more about the projects.

Author, women’s self-defense consultant and NYWIFT member, Teja VanWicklen, will release her upcoming book on February 3. Two thousand years ago, when the martial arts were evolving, women’s empowerment and freedom of movement weren’t high on the agenda. Yet women are still learning ancient self-defense concepts originally designed by and for men.

Reimagining Women’s Self-Defense is a daring reexamination of protective training specific to women and parents. Learn how to break down the criminal process; recognize tells and tricks of emotionally abusive people and violent criminals; vet self-defense techniques taking into account size, strength, skills, and lifestyle; include considerations of parenthood in your practice; and heal intelligently after an assault. Reimagining Women’s Self-Defense is where self-defense meets common sense, where self-awareness, situational awareness, strategy, and problem-solving intersect. Learn more about the book.

NYWIFT members receive a free 15-minute script consult about creating emotionally impactful scenes depicting violence.

Congratulations, Teja!

If you’re headed to Sundance, please join NYWIFT member Sarah Friedland, Kathleen Chalfant, and care movement leader Ai-jen Poo, where they’ll be discussing their intergenerational collaboration during the making of the film, Familiar Touch, at the Inter/Gen Pop-Up Space at the Impact Lounge on Monday, January 26, from 10:30 AM – 12 PM! This event includes a brunch buffet and an opportunity for networking with filmmaking colleagues at all career levels. Presented by Caring Across Generations in partnership with Music Box Films and Co-Generate. Register to attend.

Diversity and Inclusion Film Festival brings Voices of a People’s History (VPH) to Sundance on January 23 at 5:30 PM. An evening of live performance and spoken word featuring acclaimed actors and artists, presented by the Impact Lounge and DIFF at the Sundance Film Festival. Performers include NYWIFT member Alysia Reiner with Aasif Mandvi, Tatiana Maslany, Brendan Hines, H. Lynn Pai, Gabriela Ortega, Cassie Bradley, Sola Fasehun and Tanya Selvaratnam. Cocktail reception will follow. Get tickets.

Cinematographer Jendra Jarnagin invites fellow NYWIFT members who will be at Sundance to attend any of the three events she will be attending. The first, the second annual Cinematographers Banh Mi Brunch, is on Saturday, January 24 and will be co-hosted by Jarnagin. Cinematographers and the people who love them can make their own banh mi with fresh-baked baguettes. Prizes will be provided by ShotDeck. She will also be a featured special guest at the Behind the Camera House During Sundance evening party on January 25, where you can join industry professionals for an afternoon dedicated to connection, craft, and community during the Festival. Lastly, she will be a panelist at The Green Behind the Screen: Sustainable Production in Action on January 23.

Emerging Artists Theatre presents a Fox Meadow Films & Constellation Moving Company production written by NYWIFT member Caytha Jentis. In Freedom For A Night – The Untold Story of the Real Housewives of Ancient Greece, the iconic bad-ass women of Greek Mythology reclaim their narrative and power. This feministically fun circus stage play will run February 19-22 at the Theater For A New City. Learn more and get tickets.

Double Happiness by writer/director/producer and NYWIFT member Shari Albert is screening at the coveted Walter Reade Theatre at Lincoln Center as a part of the New York Jewish Film Festival on January 27 at 8:15. Co-written with Laura Leelun, the story centers a spicy New York Jewish widow and the tightly wound Chinese restaurateur who served her family every Christmas. After 40 years of patronage, they find themselves drawn into an unexpected late-in-life romance. Watch the video to learn more and make your contribution. This is a NYWIFT Fiscal Sponsorship project. Buy tickets.

Stray Kids: The DominATE Experience is coming to theaters and IMAX on February 6. Produced by Live Nation Studios, Stray Kids: The DominATE Experience is a concert film capturing the K-pop group’s sold-out performances at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium. The film combines concert footage from Stray Kids’ dominATE world tour with behind-the-scenes material. It is directed by Paul Dugdale (Adele: One Night Only, Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour), with documentary segments directed by NYWIFT member Farah X (The Remix: Hip Hop x Fashion). Get tickets.

New York Women in Film & Television is excited to share that 12 of our members were involved with projects that are shortlisted for the 98th Academy Awards. Congratulations to Angelina Avallone (The Alto Knights), Mohammadreza Eyni (Cutting Through Rocks), Jendra Jarnagin (All The Walls Came Down), Sarah Khaki (Cutting Through Rocks), Leslie Fields-Cruz (Seeds), Lizbett Perez (All The Empty Rooms), Yael Melamede (Children No More: Were and are Gone), Shelia Nevins (Cutting Through Rocks, Children No More: Were and are Gone), Yvonne Russo (Viva Verdi!) and Lisa White (The Alabama Solution)! Learn more about the projects.

All That’s Left of You offers an intimate portrait of a Palestinian family spanning seven decades. Set in the Occupied West Bank of the 1980s, a Palestinian teenager is swept into a protest that changes the course of his family’s life. In the aftermath, his mother, Hanan, reflects on the story that led them to that moment. Directed and starring Palestinian filmmaker and NYWIFT member Cherien Dabis, the film traces three generations shaped by memory, love, and survival amid 75 years of political upheaval. It is the first feature to depict the beginnings of the Nakba and has been widely acclaimed on the international festival circuit. All That’s Left of You is Jordan’s entry for the 98th Academy Awards and has been officially shortlisted for an Oscar. In theaters in New York City on January 9 and expanding to theaters nationwide on January 16, you can see the film now at Angelika Film Center. Get tickets and learn more.

NYWIFT member Caitlin McCarthy was honored with a Key to the City by the Worcester City Council on December 23, 2025, recognizing her achievements as a screenwriter, DES activist, and veteran public school educator. Her feature film Little Audrey, directed/produced by Michael Mailer and starring Aidan Quinn, Emily VanCamp, Jennifer Esposito, and Josh Bowman, is set for release in 2026. She is also co-writing Wonder Drug with director Lori Singer and developing the series GAELS with Lynsey Murdoch (BBC Scottish Voices). As a DES activist, she helped secure the first government apology for DES in Scotland. Learn more about her work. Congratulations, Caitlin!

NYWIFT member Lorena R. Valencia has launched a crowdfunding to complete her upcoming documentary short film, Meyolotl. Meyolotl is a non-fiction story about the longing an immigrant feels after leaving their roots behind. Told from an intimate perspective, it explores the questions the filmmaker, like many immigrants, asks about leaving the place that shaped her. This is a deeply personal story for Lorena, where she reflects on living in the U.S. while documenting her connection to her community in Mexico and the life-giving plant that sustains them. Contributions are encouraged and you can make them until January 15.

The Unburdened will screen at the Venus on Broadway International Film Festival on Saturday, December 20, at 1:15 PM, as part of the festival’s Drama Shorts Program, taking place at the iconic Leonard Nimoy Theater Symphony Space uptown. The Unburdened tells the story of a dedicated mother who is racing to assemble a Holocaust memorial program for her daughter’s school while facing opposition from an anonymous parent. Amidst preparations, a faded friend from childhood interrupts with news that the land containing their buried time capsule is about to be sold. As the women hurriedly dig it up, buried secrets emerge. NYWIFT member Eve Austin stars and is nominated for “Best Actress” along with the film’s Lead Actress and Writer, Elana Safar. Also represented is NYWIFT member Jenn Plotzke, the film’s Line Producer. Get tickets.

NYWIFT member Ruthie Marantz has an upcoming screening of her short film, Raging Doll, at Bowery Film Festival today, December 11 at 8:15 PM. Lee, a vapid and delusional woman-child, drags herself through another uninspired boxing workout with Coach. When a confident teenage champion shows up to train like a boss, she baits Lee into her first ring match by savagely roasting her appearance. Get tickets.

NYWIFT member Celia Aniskovich is thrilled to share that her latest documentary, The Merchants of Joy, is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video! The documentary follows five New York City families who make their living selling Christmas trees. Behind the lights and evergreens are real stories of labor, risk, tradition, and resilience. For these families, Christmas isn’t just a seasonal spectacle; it’s their livelihood and their legacy. Celia hopes The Merchants of Joy makes you laugh, makes you cry, and gets you into the holiday spirit. Watch now.

NYWIFT member Christine Cirker is producing a new play at The Barrow Group (520 8th Avenue, 9th Floor, NYC). The play, Diversion, follows a team of ICU nurses as the integrity of the group is called into question, threatening unity and putting morals to the test. Several of the performances will be followed by panels or talk-backs. On December 11, they are having a wonderful panel spotlighting Women In Theatre. Join Lorca Peress (moderator) and guest artists including Cynthia Cooper, Thaïs Bass-Moore and Annie Larussa. Afterwards, mingle with fellow artists. Beverages will be served. Use code: TheatreWomen10 for $10 off your ticket. Diversion will run until December 14. Schedule: Tuesday-Saturday at 7:30 PM and Saturdays-Sundays at 3 PM. Get tickets.

Women in Arts and Media Coalition‘s 2025 Collaboration Awards: Women Working with Women is on Saturday, December 6 at 6 PM and will be hosted by and honor NYWIFT Board member Sibyl Reymundo-Santiago. Sybil Reymundo-Santiago will be receiving the Community Collaboration Award for her work as Executive Director and Head of Programming for the Soho International Film Festival.

The 2025 Collaboration Awards, presented by the WAM Coalition for the first time since the pandemic, encourages professional women from different fields of artistic specialization to work collaboratively on the creation of new and impactful work in the arts and media. At this year’s event, the Collaboration Award will be given to playwright Lynda Crawford, representing Coalition Members Dramatists Guild & League of Professional Theatre Women, and Kat Files, representing Coalition Members Actors Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA, for their play, Dusk! Save your spot.

NYWIFT Board member Kuye Youngblood invites members to watch BRIC TV’s new show, Problematic, the newest scripted BRIC TV series. After her story about climate justice in Peru is sidelined for an article about eating ass, Twinkle is pushed over the edge when she sees a gentrifying finance douche harass an unhoused woman outside a pizza parlor. She gives this Chad a piece of her mind, and then some. Watch the show and contribute to the series’ Seed&Spark campaign.

The well-known, hilarious musical-comedy sister duo, Vickie & Nickie, are back live and in person this holiday season with a New York State Tour! Vickie & Nickie’s Holiday Sleigh Ride! starring NYWIFT member Lisa Brigantino and her sister Lori, pulls into The Muse Hive for the Arts in Rosendale, NY on Thursday, December 11, then heads north for a show on Saturday, December 13 at View Arts Center in Old Forge, NY. During this celebration of the holiday season “Minnesota-style,” the multi-instrumental, singing housewife sisters will entertain you with favorite holiday tunes and original songs, improv, social commentary, audience participation, plus lots of holiday hoopla! The fast-talking Midwestern moms will get you in the holiday spirit all while providing their own musical accompaniment, with instruments including acoustic and electric guitars, keyboard, accordion, saxophone, ukuleles, percussion and more. Get tickets.

NYWIFT member Fernanda Rossi and 9H Films invite you to see Sámi-Norwegian drama Shut Up at Scandinavia House on November 22 at 1:30 PM. Shut Up (Oro Jaska) marks a milestone as the first Indigenous Sámi TV series ever nominated for an International Emmy Award. The screening features the first two episodes and a conversation with the creators about crafting cultural authenticity and their collaboration with Sámi communities. The whole ensemble cast will also attend. The series follows Eli Anne, whose world collapses after she is assaulted. As she seeks truth in a tight-knit town, suspicion lands on snowcross champion Issat, whose own secret—being queer—risks exposure. This landmark screening reflects a growing global wave of Sámi storytelling in film and television, driven by Indigenous voices. Get tickets.

In a full-circle moment for NYWIFT member Tami Gold, her first film, My Country Occupied, will be screening at the DOK Leipzig Film Festival in Germany, where she received her first film award. Stateside, the film will also be shown at BAM on November 12 at 9:15 PM, as part of BAM’s Newsreel Retrospective (1968—1972). The program features newly digitally preserved films from Third World Newsreel (TWN) centered on social issues in New York in the late 60s and early 70s, from transit to healthcare to direct action of the Young Lords. Tami Gold made My Country Occupied while a member of the Newsreel Collective in 1971 and will be present at the screening for a Q&A. Get tickets.

To mark its 10th anniversary, the Al Larvick Conservation Fund presents In Another Light: Cinema of Memory, a screening series celebrating the artistry and cultural significance of home movies on November 5 at 8 PM. These rarely seen amateur films have been given new life through digitization grants from the Fund, and further transformed through curation, editing, and original scores—revealing how personal archives illuminate shared histories. The featured program, Artistic Impulses: Homemade Narratives & Life is a Cabaret is curated by NYWIFT member Kirsten Larvick and Kelly Burton original scores will be performed live by Gene Pritsker (composer/guitar/DJ), with Franz Hackl on trumpet. Join the event at New York City’s Kite Club and get tickets.

NYWIFT member Joanna Zippel invites you to watch the trailer, find a theater and buy tickets for her film, After All. After All centers on Ellen, who returns home to care for her ailing mother and estranged teenage daughter. The three generations of women are confronted by buried secrets and the path toward love and forgiveness. You can pre-order the film on Apple TV on November 7.

Women Make Movies is thrilled to announce a FREE three-part webinar series, Unlocking Your Creative Power: Strategies to Fund, Build, and Lead Your Filmmaking Career. This dynamic learning opportunity is designed to help independent artists and filmmakers elevate every aspect of their creative journey. Join Emmy-nominated impact producer and past NYWIFT Board President Simone Pero as she shares how to resource your art for maximum impact on October 30. Learn how to leverage tax credits to fund your projects on November 6 with Fanshen Cox, DEIA Manager for the California Film Commission’s Tax Credit Program and founder of Sista Brunch Podcast. Finally, we will be guided by film producer, executive career coach, and WMM Board Member, Kisha Imani Cameron, on how to overcome imposter syndrome and lead with confidence – date TBA. Save your spot.

NYWIFT members Joanna Rudolph and Jesse Ash are inviting our community to a work-in-progress screening of a feature documentary they are producing on November 9 at 1 PM. The Co-op: The Kids of Dorie Miller, explores the unique history of the director’s (Paulina Davis) childhood home while examining an old solution to today’s affordable housing crisis. Following the work sample screening, producer Tara Latorre, founder of Tara’s Call Sheet, will moderate a discussion with the team. Light refreshments will be served. Location: The Colony (22 Rock City Rd, Woodstock, NY). Get tickets.

Stage Fright, from Mia Lastrella‘s production company, Western Star Entertainment Group, is a spooky showcase happening October 17 and 18, 6 PM at artXnyc. Stage Fright offers an industry-focused platform for artists to showcase their work before an audience, while providing exposure, professional opportunities, and networking opportunities. The showcase will feature the following new works:

October 17: Abby, Abby, Abby by Aidan La Poche (Modelland, Daughters of the Ruling Class), Fearless by Diana Rendon (Wigs!), Boutonniére by Cael Sullivan (previous premiere at Brooklyn Center for Theater Research), and Bloodline by Molly Longwell (Bad Mother, winner of NY International Shorts).

October 18: Summer of Sin by Emily Wilson (Danny’s Girl at Sundance and SXSW), Chainsaw Tits by Nicole Streger (The Suitcase Play, Young Arts Winner), Rip Her to Shreds by Isabelle Barbier (Ladies in Waiting, Actual People), and The Game by Orly Lewittes (Upright Citizens Brigade’s Maude Night). Get tickets.

Tired of giving your power over to your co-writer, producer, editor, the person you’re pitching? Think there are only certain ways to make it in the entertainment industry? Join Entertainment Career Coach/Talent Agent Consultant/NYWIFT member Jim Arnoff for Creating Your Own Momentum…Taking Control Of Your Entertainment Career, a FREE, immersive and interactive workshop that will give you the insider’s strategies for owning your vision, blazing your personal journey and taking charge of building the entertainment career you truly desire. On October 28 at 6:30 PM, learn the coaching tools to articulate your vision with precision, circumvent those blocks that have been holding you back and design an action plan that will achieve the entertainment career you deserve on your terms. Location: 16 Madison Square West (25th. Street, 12th. floor). RSVP.

Andrea Ocampo’s Blackout, which had its sold-out world premiere at the Imagine This Women’s International Film Festival, has been officially selected to screen at both the SoHo International Film Festival and the Queens World Film Festival this fall. See the film at SIFF‘s Shorts Program N: Grand Street Series on October 12 at 8:40 PM(Regal Union Square Theater 10) or at Queens World Film Festival Take This: 7 Films that Don’t Back Down showcase on November 10 at 7 PM (Kaufman Zukor Theater). Blackout is a NYC Subway thriller about a woman and a duffel bag she can’t get rid of— a story about the baggage we all carry and the demons we can’t outrun. Watch the official trailer.