Notes from a Screenreader
photo via Go Into the Story It’s an open secret that you only have a few pages to convince experienced readers that your script is worth reading. What you might not know is that you can make mistakes on the very first page that prejudice readers, long before you establish the relationships and conflicts that...
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Photo credit: Daily News. After 35+ years, she’s leaving. “Well, she’s too Asian,” NYWIFT Muse Award honoree Lucy Liu on racism. Lena, there’s a new It girl on your heels. Rodham is the hottest script in Hollywood. Hillary always wins! Only 1 female director? Cannes you believe this?! From “the block” to CCO, Jennifer Lopez is moving in the...
READ MORERoad to Designing Women: Meet Our Emcee, Valerie Smaldone
She’s a five-time Billboard Magazine Award winner known for her unprecedented success holding the No.1 on-air position in the New York radio market. Now, Valerie Smaldone can add emcee of NYWIFT’s Designing Women Awards to her long list of accomplishments. We’re thrilled to welcome her to our May 23 event. As a media personality, Smaldone has handled...
READ MORERoad to Designing Women: The Beginning
Designing Women 2012 presenter Tina Fey (center) with honorees Jenn Jorge Nelson (left) and Julie Teel. (Photo credit: Eileen Miller) “The inspired work done by each honoree bringing to life unforgettable characters on the big and small screen serves as a shining example of the incredible creative vision of women in the entertainment industry.” That quote, from NYWIFT’s...
READ MOREWomen of Transmedia: Tribeca Storyscapes
Frequent NYWIFT moderator and panelist Ingrid Kopp has outdone herself this year with her excellent programming of the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival’s Tribeca Storyscapes. This unique “gallery space” experience is the first time the festival has presented a juried section for transmedia or interactive work of any genre. I had an opportunity to get a sneak...
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Emily Kapnek makes the suburbs look appealing. “Your film? Never heard of it.” Sheri Candler on marketing your project. Nina Shaw reps hard. She was baptized on The Godfather movie set. HBO has Girls, the web has even more women. These comedy numbers aren’t funny. Nora Ephron Prize nominees. Lots of women at the box...
READ MOREFlix Not to Miss: ‘Ginger & Rosa’
I loved Sally Potter’s Orlando and still have images in my mind from that film many years later. So I was excited to see her latest film, Ginger & Rosa, a coming-of-age story about two best friends (Elle Fanning and Alice Englert) growing up in London in 1962. The imagery was beautiful, and the the...
READ MORESubmit It! Spring/Summer Call for Entries
We’ve rounded up top film fests, writing competitions, and grants with spring or summer deadlines. It’s time to polish that script, shoot that video, or burn those DVDS. Go, go, go Film festivals, video/TV contests & labsJust For Laughs Comedy Search (final deadline: 5/10)Southhampton Arts’ 20/20/20 Film Program (final: 5/15)Dogfish Accelerator for Film Producers (early: 4/19, regular:...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: April 16
Recently read: A great Wall Street Journal article on NYWIFT Board member Anne Hubbell’s and Amy Hobby’s new film production company, Tangerine Entertainment, that focuses on producing films directed by women. Read about it on the NYWIFT site. Enjoy a Tangerini cocktail during Tangerine Entertainment’s “Tangerine Movie Nights” Can’t stop thinking about: Sunday night’s episode of The...
READ MOREWhat Can We Do About the Under-representation of Women in Screenwriting?
There has been a very thoughtful and extensive conversation going on over at the The Black Board (community of the Black List and Go Into The Story). It arose from this: The Nicholl’s website reveals a startling stat: 1 in 4 of their applicants are women. They’re referring to the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, of course, which is accepting...
READ MORERoad to Designing Women: The Interviews
Recently, NYWIFT interviewed the three amazing women being honored at this year’s awards show. NYWIFT member Drake Stutesman and I were on hand to conduct the interviews, which will be used for the event’s video montages. It was a great day. The honorees—who’ve worked on such films as Moonrise Kingdom and The Amazing Spider-Man 2,...
READ MOREMember Focus: Melissa Silverstein
As the saying goes: if you want success, see a need and fill it. That’s what NYWIFT member Melissa Silverstein has done with her popular blog Women and Hollywood. It was 2007 and not many people were writing about women who work in the male-dominated film industry. To fill that void, Silverstein launched a blog,...
READ MORETribeca Film Festival: ‘Farah Goes Bang’
Equal parts road trip, buddy comedy, sex farce and chick flick, Farah Goes Bang balances the specificity of the moment’s climate of intolerance with a universal coming-of-age tale. With her delightful ensemble of authentic and engaging female characters and snapshot of America in a telling moment, first-time writer/director Meera Manon crafts a comic portrait of...
READ MORETerry’s Picks: April 9
Recently Watched: Women to Woman, an online documentary by Veronique Doumbe and her daughter Malika Franklin, examining the topic of raising teenage daughters in New York City from both mother and daughter perspectives. Currently Watching: Every Friday night in April, TCM’s A Woman’s World: The Defining Era of Women on Film showcases the “women’s film,” a staple from...
READ MOREWhat to See at This Year’s Montclair Film Festival
The second annual Montclair Film Festival in Northern New Jersey runs from April 29 to May 5 and will screen more than 80 films — many of them directed by women. Here’s just a sample of what not to miss: Begin your festival week on Tuesday with Gideon’s Army. Directed by NYWIFT member Dawn Porter, the...
READ MOREFlix Not to Miss: ‘Hysteria’
When I caught this film on the plane, I didn’t know that the studio had been marketing it as a romantic comedy. (Full-disclosure, I love a good rom-com!) In that vein, I found it wholly enjoyable. Maggie Gyllenhaal oozes intelligence and Hugh Dancy charms. Directed by Tanya Wexler, it’s a film that shows that feminists can have...
READ MORENYWIFT-Live Recap: Cuban Women Filmmakers 2013 Showcase
On March 14, NYWIFT sponsored a night of short films made by Cuban women filmmakers at the Tribeca Film Center, part of a weeklong showcase held at locations across NYC. The films: Blanco Es Mi Pelo, Negra Mi Piel (White Is My Hair, Black Is My Skin) by Marina Ochoa Derecho de Ser (The Right to...
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