NYWIFT Blog

NYWIFT Talks with Screenwriter Mishna Wolff

On this week's NYWIFT Talks, join us as we sit down with screenwriter Mishna Wolff to discuss her new highly acclaimed debut feature film, Werewolves Within, which she developed while part of the Ubisoft Women’s Film & TV Fellowship.

In Werewolves Within, a snowstorm traps town residents together inside the local inn, where newly arrived forest ranger Finn and postal worker Cecily must try to keep the peace and uncover the truth behind a mysterious creature that has begun terrorizing the community.

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NYWIFT Talks & In Creative Company Discuss with EVP, Specials, Music Programming and Music Strategy for BET Networks, Connie Orlando

On this week's NYWIFT Talks, join us as we talk to Connie Orlando (EVP, Specials, Music Programming and Music Strategy for BET Networks) about pulling off the impossible with pivoting the BET awards to a virtual presentation in 2020 and what it looks like in shifting back towards in person events this year and beyond. This conversation will be moderated by Co-Founder and Head of Programming at In Creative Company Mara Webster.

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NYWIFT Talks Reel Works

On this week's NYWIFT Talks, join the team behind Reel Works Co-Founder, Senior Director of Education and Programming Stephanie Walter Williams, Director of Workforce and External Partnerships Keisha Katz to discuss 20 years of Reel Works and the impact they have made by providing platforms for the underserved community while inspiring others to follow a similar path.

This conversation will be moderated by NYWIFT Board Member, Flo Mitchell-Brown.

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NYWIFT Talks with Tonya McCornell of the NYWIFT Mom’s Network

On this week's NYWIFT Talks, join us for a conversation with founder of MOM Film Fest and the Mom's Network for NYWIFT, Tonya McCornell. Moderated by Maud Kersnowski-Sachs.

We will discuss the challenge for mothers balancing career and family while working within the demanding and competitive television and film industry.

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NYWIFT Talks with Provincetown Film Society’s Blythe Frank and Lisa Viola

On this week's NYWIFT Talks, join us for a conversation with Executive Producer of Provincetown Film Society, Blythe Frank Artistic Director, Lisa Viola to discuss this year's Provincetown Film Festival taking place from June 16-25. We will be discussing the festivals shift from in-person to virtual to multidimensional as they take on a hybrid approach this year and how the global pandemic affected the festival.

This conversation will be moderated by NYWIFT Board Member, Gretchen McGowan.

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NYWIFT Talks & In Creative Company Discuss Current/Future State of Film Industry in NYC with Lesli Klainberg and Eugene Hernandez

On this week’s NYWIFT Talks, we discuss NYFF 2021, Film at Lincoln Center Virtual Cinema, and what to expect from the current/future state of film in NY and the industry. Panelists include Lesli Klainberg (Executive Director of Film at Lincoln Center) and Eugene Hernandez (Director of the New York Film Festival and Publisher of Film Comment at Film at Lincoln Center).

The conversation will be moderated by Co-Founder and Head of Programming at In Creative Company Mara Webster.

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NYWIFT Industry Screening: ‘In the Same Breath’ Screening + Q&A

Join NYWIFT for a screening of In the Same Breath followed by a Q&A with Nanfu Wang (Director, Producer), NYWIFT Member Carolyn Hepburn (Producer), Jialing Zhang (Producer), Julie Goldman (Producer), and Christopher Clements (Producer).

In the Same Breath recounts the origin and spread of the novel coronavirus from the earliest days of the outbreak in Wuhan to it s rampage across the United States. In a deeply personal approach, Wang, who was born in China and now lives in the United States, explores the parallel campaigns of misinformation waged by leadership and the devastating impact on citizens of both countries.

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NYWIFT Talks: NYWIFT Goes to the Oscars: ‘Feeling Through’

Join NYWIFT for a screening of the Academy Award Nominee for Best Narrative Short, Feeling Through. Followed by a Q&A with 1st Assistant Director and NYWIFT Member, Catriona Rubenis-Stevens.

Feeling Through, the first film to star a DeafBlind actor, is a coming of age story that follows Tereek, a teen wandering the streets of New York, desperate for a place to crash when he encounters Artie, a DeafBlind man in need of help getting home. From an awkward meeting between strangers emerges an intimate bond, and a journey that forever changes Tereek.

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NYWIFT Talks: ReelAbilities Film Festival

On this week's NYWIFT Talks with ReelAbilities Director and Co-Founder Isaac Zablocki, Michele Spitz(Woman of Her Word), and Lisa Denker (filmmaker), we discuss the changes that ReelAbilities has instituted for the Disabled Community and what progress still needs to be made. We explore the ways movie theaters need to re-structure to accommodate ADA laws, how filmmakers are paving their way to Hollywood with their original stories, and what Reel Abilities offers for disabled filmmakers.

This conversation will be moderated by Executive Director at the Cerebral Palsy Foundation, Rachel Byrne.

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NYWIFT Talks: NYWIFT Goes to the Oscars: ‘The Mole Agent’

Join NYWIFT for a screening of the Academy Award Nominees for Best Narrative Short, Feeling Through, and Best Documentary, The Mole Agent. Followed by a Q&A with Maite Alberdi (Director, Producer of The Mole Agent), Marcela Santibañez (Producer of The Mole Agent), Julie Goldman and (Executive Producer of The Mole Agent).

Maite Alberdi’s The Mole Agent is a stylish combination of an observational documentary and a spy movie, with sleek camerawork and wonderfully watchable characters. It’s a unique meditation on compassion and loneliness that will infiltrate your heart and never let go.

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NYWIFT Talks: COVID-19 Compliance

On this week's NYWIFT Talks, we will discuss how COVID-19 has affected production life and the best practices for preparing for the on-set challenges COVID-19 presents.

Speakers include Producer Blair Breard. Moderated by NYWIFT Board Member Maria Miles.

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NYWIFT Talks: Asian American Representation in Media

On this week's NYWIFT Talks, we explore the intersection of the pandemic and how gender equality and race are directly impacted on the Asian American community. We will also discuss how media is complicit in perpetuating Asian stereotypes including how some journalists portray hate crimes against the Asian American community.

We are joined by filmmaker Diane Paragas (Yellow Rose), Publicist David Ninh (Kino Lorber), Kyung B. Yoon (Korean American Community Foundation) and Merrill Sterritt (Cinereach). This conversation will be moderated by NYWIFT Board Member, S. Casper Wong

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NYWIFT Talks: The Writers Lab 2021

Join us for a conversation with the co-founders of The Writers Lab, Elizabeth Kaiden and Nitza Wilon to discuss the 7th anniversary of the program, upcoming deadlines, lessons learned from women script writers over 40 and new and exciting opportunities. Moderated by NYWIFT Board President, Jamie Zelermyer.

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NYWIFT Talks Wellness in COVID 2.0

NYWIFT sits down with leading experts in physical and emotional health to discuss what we can do to continue to heal ourselves as this pandemic lockdown falls into its one year anniversary. We’ll be discussing ways to help people heal, thrive, and nourish their souls.

The conversation will include Professional Athlete and Yoga Instructor Zachy Christodoulou and a life coach to be announced. After the discussion, a yogi from PureFlo Yoga will be leading a 60 minute Power Flow Yoga Session.

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NYWIFT Talks with founder of Film Fatales, Leah Meyerhoff

On NYWIFT Talks we sit down for a conversation with Founder of Film Fatales, Leah Meyerhoff.

Film Fatales supports an inclusive community of women feature film and television directors who meet regularly to share resources, collaborate on projects and build an environment in which to make their films. We will discuss the organization's work during COVID and how they continue to support women in the industry.

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FGI & NYWIFT Present Fashion & The First Ladies Panel

As we celebrate Women's History Month, join us to discuss the iconic looks from our First Ladies of government in a candid conversation about how our First Ladies are fashion trend setters. Meet our experts to discuss how fashion plays a role and communicates in history, politics and contributes to the making or breaking of public policy.

Featuring Carson Poplin, Fernando Garcia (Co-Director of Oscar De La Renta) and Valerie Steele (Director and Chief Curator of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology).

Moderated by Senior Critic at Large at The Washington Post, Robin Givhan.

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NYWIFT Talks SXSW 2021

We are joined by SXSW leaders Janet Pierson (Director of Film) and Claudette Godfrey (Senior Programmer) to discuss what SXSW 2021 looks like, how the pandemic affected them, and what they are doing to reclaim that momentum for filmmakers.

Moderated by Easmanie Michel, NYWIFT’s Special Projects Associate.

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NYWIFT Talks: ‘Making a Way out of No Way’: The Importance of Amplifying BIPOC and Black Women Voices with Visionary New York Media Arts Organizations

NYWIFT celebrates Black History Month by honoring the accomplishments and contributions of Black and BIPOC filmmakers.

In this week’s NYWIFT Talks, we return with part 2 of our conversation with NY Media Arts Organization that represent diversity artists. Learn how Black Public Media, Third World Newsreel, Manhattan Neighborhood Network, and Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series have continued to push their mission to amplify Black and BIPOC voices who have been battling against marginalization outside the mainstream. 

In discussion with Carolyn Butts, Leslie Fields-Cruz, JT Takagi, and Victoria Bert, and moderator to be announced.

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