Welcome to NYWIFT Talks, a weekly series to bring updated news and vital information about the impact of COVID-19 and current events on the media and entertainment industry. Industry professionals will be in conversation discussing what you need to know about theatrical releases, digital advances, virtual tools, festival opportunities, production updates and more.
NYWIFT Talks are free for all to attend.
On this week’s NYWIFT Talks, we’re headed to the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival, highlighting filmmakers including our very own NYWIFT Members at this year’s festival.
We are covering some short films in the festival including Hoop Dreams, and more. In conversation with Director Kasey Elise Walker, Fredgy Noël and more to be announced. Moderated by NYWIFT Program Manager Barbara G Vasconez.
Date: Monday, June 6th, 2022
Time: 4:00 pm ET
Cost: Free
Panelists
Kasey Elise Walker is a Los Angeles-born writer, actress, and director known for her appearances in the Hulu series Into The Dark and the feature film North Hollywood, starring Vince Vaughn. Although Kasey began her career as an actress her passion for story-telling inspired her to co-write and produce The Dispute, a short film that screened at Sundance and SXSW in 2019 and is now currently being developed into a feature film. Her writing slate also includes Would you Care If I Left? a narrative podcast starring Jorge Lendeborg and Alicia Wainwright and Soho House Shorts 2021 winner, Hoop Dreams, a narrative short film that is set to have its world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival 2022. She is presently in development for an episodic based on her experience growing up in South, Los Angeles during the early 2000s which reflects the world she and her peers grew up in.
Fredgy Noël is a Haitian-American award-winning director and screenwriter based in Manhattan. Noël’s films offer quirky, inclusive, female-driven stories that balance narrative and documentary techniques. Her work is an extension of how she sees the world in all of its nuance, complexity, and beauty. She spent her formative years in Haiti, DC, and Miami. She learned English from music videos in the late 80s and started working on video treatments for songs at age 9. In college, she studied English and took classes in Black film, auteur theory, and linguistics. After moving to NYC, she worked at MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, and BET, where she wrote and directed short-form commercials. She pivoted to writing and directing short films and documentaries, and her films have screened in multiple Academy Award-qualifying festivals and garnered numerous awards. Noël has US and international commercial representation, and is a featured Free the Work director. In 2021, she joined the Directors Guild of America. In 2022, she will receive an MFA degree from Hunter College’s Integrated Media Arts program. And she recently matriculated at NYU Film School, where she will study for an MFA in Film.
Barbara Vásconez (Moderator) is the Program Manager at New York Women in Film & Television. Before joining NYWIFT, she held the position of General Manager at the Quad Cinema for three years. She has worked for a variety of film festivals, including the Tribeca Film Festival, Rooftop Films, Hamptons Film Festival, Montclair Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, DOC NYC, and the Nantucket Film Festival. Her spare time is spent programming panels and creating unique community engagement opportunities for the New York Latino Film Festival. In 2019, she launched and founded the Ville Film Festival in Somerville, New Jersey. In 2020, she joined the Ecuadorian Film Festival as Co-Director. Her educational goals include working to develop film programs in New Jersey that improve film education for low income students. She works on amplifying the Latinx community and speaking on important issues like immigration and minimum wage. She is committed to the importance of film as a means of community engagement. Barbara has a degree in Film and Video Production from the School of Visual arts in NYC and holds a Business certificate from W.O.R.C in Philadelphia.
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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.
