NYWIFT Blog

NYWIFT Co-Presents Fest and Furious

NYWIFT is proud to co-present Film Fatales's online workshop about Maximizing your Film Festival Strategy led by Kathy Susca and Jeffrey Winter from The Film Collaborative.

Film festivals can be elusive and confounding. They are also opportunities to advance your career, grow your network and expand your audience. But how does it all work? Join this webinar with Film Fatales and The Film Collaborative to receive answers to all your burning questions, such as: Which festival is the right fit for your film? How do you get your project to stand out to programmers? Once you get into a festival how do you create buzz about your project? What are useful techniques for getting your film in front of sales agents and distributors? We’ll cover all this and more to help you curate a strategy for your film to find success on the festival circuit.

Three audience members will be invited to share their current projects to be used as a case study for live feedback during the webinar. Filmmakers of all experience levels are welcome to submit a link to their films when they RSVP to be considered for this exciting opportunity.

NYWIFT Co-Presents with Queens World Film Festival: “Passion in Action”

New York Women in Film and Television, Queens World Film Festival, The Gaia Zine, and the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment present "PASSION in ACTION!", A Day of Mentoring for High School and College Students. Join in a day of skill building and networking for young creatives ready to lean into their passions. Free for youths to attend! Breakfast and Lunch Provided.

NYWIFT Co-Presents Virtual Shadowing: Episodic Television Directing Class

Join Film Fatales online for an in-depth Episodic Television Directing Class with two-time Emmy award-winning television director Mary Lou Belli, whose directing credits include True Lies, Sweet Magnolias, NCIS: New Orleans, and The Ms Pat Show.

Learn how to prep from a working TV director! In this interactive workshop, you will explore casting, location scouting, script breakdown, scene blocking and shot listing. You can then compare your work to an actual episode that has already aired and evaluate how your choices would be another option, or what you might change to make the work more “shootable.”

Free Script Supervisor Workshop with Jennifer Carriere

Join NYWIFT on Friday, February 24th at 6:30pm ET for a workshop on “HOW TO BECOME A SCRIPT SUPERVISOR & GET FILM & TV JOB REFERRALS”. This 90-minute virtual presentation and Q&A with Script Supervisor CEO Jennifer Carriere will walk through the fundamentals of being a Script Supervisor and participants will get to break down a short script together. Free to attend, exclusively for NYWIFT members. 

New York City Artist Corp Grants Information Workshop – Be Ready for Cycles 2 and 3!!

City Artist Corps Grants will distribute one-time $5,000 grants to more than 3,000 working NYC artists – including filmmakers – who will engage the public with arts activities across New York City’s five boroughs beginning this July. In conversation with Leslie Fields-Cruz.

Owning It Skill Share in Partnership with NYWIFT and WIF

Join The Gotham’s Owning It program in partnership with NYWIFT and WIF for a community skill share. Looking for a certain skillset to help complete your project? Willing to offer your skills to support a fellow creative? At the Skill Share you’ll barter and exchange skills, learn best practices for bartering, and spend time networking with attendees.

NYWIFT Development Program: Final Draft 11 Basics & Beyond

In this live webinar learn tips and tricks on how to get the most out of Final Draft 11. Learn how to clearly navigate the latest features, including how to use and customize templates, Beat Board, Story Map, Alternate Dialogue, Speech to Script, and more.

The first 60 minutes will be spent demonstrating Final Draft 11 and its features, with some opportunity for participation from the audience via chat.

The rest of the 90-minute webinar will be devoted to audience Q&A.

One Week Online Program with Roadmap Writers (NYWIFT Members Only)

This one week workshop with Roadmap Writers offers expert advice from writers in the business! Join Roadmap Writers leaders Janet Jeffries, Audrey Knox, and Joey Tuccio as they interactively teach you the ways of writing!

Free to attend. Exclusively for NYWIFT members.

“Pitching Virtually…It’s Easier Than You Think” with Jim Arnoff

This interactive workshop with Career Coach/Talent Agent Consultant/NYWIFT Member, Jim Arnoff will give you specific tips to create the most engaging interactions on-line. You'll hear pitfalls to avoid and how best to prep for a virtual pitch. Open to NYWIFT members only.

New York Film Academy Teen 3D Animation Class

NYWIFT has partnered with the prestigious New York Film Academy animation department, which will provide expert animation educators from its award-winning program, Isaac Kalsky and Robert Appleton, to guide participants in working virtually to create their own finished short films. Not only are these skills used in film, television, and advertising, they are also an...

New York Film Academy Adult 3D Animation Class

This Webinar explores basic methods of animation and how they are being implemented in Maya Autodesk's 3D computer graphics software. Topics will include: Disney’s 12 principles of animation, a demonstration of bouncing ball animation, a demonstration of a Pendulum animation and tail animation, walk cycle animation, and techniques for facial expression. This program is open to those 15-years-old and up. 

Virtual Development Program: Demystifying Film Delivery: What Every Producer Should Know

Why should you be thinking about delivery now, when your production is on hold? Because the best time to start preparing for delivery—the crucial, final step needed to ready a film for distribution and GET PAID—is before you begin! And yet, delivery is often an afterthought in financing agreements, production budgets and workflows.

Join Stacey Smith of CinePointe Advisors for a “crash course” in film delivery. Stacey will review delivery terminology, explain how to negotiate the terms of delivery to distributors to save time and money and provide guidance in avoiding common pitfalls specifically related to legal and document delivery.

Virtual Program: Individual and Small Business Planning During COVID-19

Individuals and small business owners: are you curious about the government programs available to help you during the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic turbulence?

NYWIFT corporate partners Gail Linn, CFP® and Bill Fischer, CFP® from Fortis Lux Financial will host an educational workshop where they will discuss the benefits of the recently passed CARES act and answer your questions. The entire act encompasses a full 900 pages, but Gail and Bill will cut to the chase by reviewing the most important issues that individuals and small business owners need to know.

Retirement Planning for Freelancers – November 2019

Freelancers usually don’t have access to 401K and pension plans that so many workers take for granted. As usual, freelancers need to do it all themselves. Attend an in-depth and informative financial planning seminar geared towards the retirement needs of freelancers. Whether you are just starting to get your first few projects or you have been freelancing in film and television for years, this presentation is for you. Certified Financial Planners Gail Linn and William Fischer at Fortis Lux Financial (an office of MassMutual) will inform you about the key concepts you need to consider when it comes to saving for retirement, protection strategies, business transition, estate planning and more. Presentation will also cover tax savings strategies.

Lunchtime Skills Workshop: Owning Your Power

Looking to have a lot more say in the way things are handled in your entertainment career? Tired of giving decisions over to your agent, manager, producer or collaborator? Feeling intimidated about money and talking a deal? This interactive  workshop will give you NYWIFT Member/Certified Career Coach/TV Packaging Agent Jim Arnoff's take on how to reclaim the decisions in your career. Learn the  most effective ways to build your confidence, communicate with conviction and ask for what you want. Gain the skills to negotiate in a way that minimizes the fears and maximizes the results. Hear the insider's tips on how to network that sets you apart  and creates the most memorable connections. You will hear the best ways to collaborate with ease, claim your authentic voice and honor your creativity. This workshop is all about claiming your power, leveraging your strengths and being fully expressed.

New Date – Destination Co-Star! TV Tips for the Emerging Actor

Are you an actor transitioning from theater, independent film, background work, or just starting out? This workshop is for those seeking practical advice in booking their first television co-star role, and more importantly, building a life-long career. Mellini Kantayya, actor, writer, and humorist, will cover casting directors, agents, creating a network vs. networking, audition best practices (and managing those audition nerves), and more!

Retirement Planning for Freelancers – March 2019

Freelancers usually don’t have access to 401K and pension plans that so many workers take for granted. As usual, freelancers need to do it all themselves. Attend an in-depth and informative financial planning seminar geared towards the retirement needs of freelancers. Whether you are just starting to get your first few projects or you have been freelancing in film and television for years, this presentation is for you. Certified Financial Planners Gail Linn and William Fischer at Fortis Lux Financial (an office of MassMutual) will inform you about the key concepts you need to consider when it comes to saving for retirement, protection strategies, business transition, estate planning and more. Presentation will also cover tax savings strategies.

SOLD OUT – Writing the Half-Hour Television Pilot Treatment – March 2019

Whether you are writing a half-hour drama, comedy or a dramedy, a good treatment helps you identify and prevent important structural and character mistakes. The treatment helps as a diagnostic tool once you’ve completed your draft to foolproof your story. It is also a useful selling tool in a marketplace where, in a practical sense, no one reads it until you have an insider’s attention. Attendees will learn: A foolproof method for the half-hour structure; An easy way to create compelling character arcs within an episode; How to organize your act breaks and your A & B stories with ease; and Participants will create an outline for a script that can then be turned into a treatment. Presented by Marilyn Horowitz.