NYWIFT Blog

World Premiere: Gender Equality PSA ‘Little Leading Ladies’

Hashtag created for Little Leading Ladies campaign. For the past week New York Women in Film & Television and Adorama Rentals have been sharing behind-the-scenes, interviews and insights into the making of the Little Leading Ladies PSA. Director and NYWIFT member Aubrey Smyth was quoted in the first post on her inspiration to make the short: “I have been...

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Making of a PSA: Interviews with Editor Oscar Luna and Colorist Tim Ziegler

(Left to right) Director Aubrey Smyth, DP Bryant Fisher, and Colorist Tim Ziegler work on Little Leading Ladies in the editing studio. Image courtesy of Adorama Rentals. This is part one of the fifth installment of a five-part series co-presented by New York Women in Film & Television and Adorama Rentals. Part two will post at 1pm EST today,...

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NYWIFT Fund for Women Filmmakers Extends Deadline

It Felt Like Love, winner of the Nancy Malone Marketing and Promotion Grant and a 2013 Sundance Film Festival Official Selection. New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) provides grants to women filmmakers to complete and promote their film projects. This year, those grants include a new addition: the Ravenal Foundation Grant, supporting a woman second-time feature film...

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7 Aha Moments from ‘Engaging the Feminine Heroic’

The magical lecture by author and script consultant Dara Marks began, appropriately enough, with a blustery downpour. A unique co-production between New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) and Writers Guild of America East, “Engaging the Feminine Heroic” was an invitation to honor our mythological heritage and explore the archetypal structures of our stories...

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Fiscal Sponsorship & NYWIFT for Indie Filmmakers

Musician Clarice Magalhães and producer-director Irene Walsh in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Walsh’s documentary LAPA: The Heart of Samba chronicles a community of musicians and composers as their music resurrects a Rio de Janeiro neighborhood. My first feature-length documentary, LAPA: The Heart of Samba, is a project that I have largely funded myself, with a third of...

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Truth Be Told: Women In Film at Sundance 2014

//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/463843119?et=2xk9yBaac0yq_pCTEB5low&sig=rShcoqZvqIZGmKY8BTX_9fGdw-9KzxoEhLhK_rEOQkA=“Truth Be Told” panelists (L-R) Valerie Veatch, Effie Brown, Rory Kennedy, Lucy Webb (moderator), Lori Cheatie, Tracy Droz Tragos, and Hilla Medlia.   Women In Film (WIF) hosted its 8th annual filmmakers’ panel discussion at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. It’s one of the most anticipated events of the festival, with women from all over the...

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WOMEN OF SUNDANCE

Filmmaker Desiree Akhavan via Filmmaker Magazine If you haven’t picked up the latest issue of Filmmaker Magazine, you can read their article on Women of Sundance online.  The article written by Danielle Lurie was sparked by our sister LA WIF and Sundance Institute’s study on women in the industry. In the piece, women with films...

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NYWIFT Success Story: Polish Filmmakers NYC

Still from Katarzyna Klimkiewicz’s Flying Blind, one of the films screened at Polish Filmmakers NYC’s series Different Ages, Different Voices: Polish Women in Film. April Hattori and Agata Drogowska, both members of New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT), met each other and a film series was launched. Hattori discusses this NYWIFT networking success story: In 2012, Agata...

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New Member Spotlight: Jeanne Applegate

How did you first hear about NYWIFT and what made you decide to join? I first heard of NYWIFT and 20/20/20 [Killer Films/Stony Brook University’s Intensive in Digital Filmmaking program] through my mother, Jane Applegate, who is a freelance film and video producer. She attended a workshop given by Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler where...

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Upcoming NYWIFT Events

Production still from Sister Italy. New York Women in Film & Television’s January programs are filling up fast so make sure to RSVP asap. Ask Me Anything with Line Producer Leah Harper Thursday, Jan. 16, 7 pm NYWIFT Office (6 East 39th Street, Suite 1200) Interested in line producing for TV? Line producers manage the...

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Notes from a Screenreader: Texas Hold ‘Em

Photo via Go Into the Story. The difference between a yes and a no in the first round of a screenplay competition can be summed up by a hand of Texas hold ‘em. You fold early, you didn’t post a blind, and your cards were bad enough to make you think, Why am I being punished...

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NYWIFT Promo on the Streets of NYC

Production still from NYWIFT’s new video promo. (L-R): Lara Valery, Giselle Eisenberg, and Eileen Berger. Starting Friday, January 17, you can see clips of New York Women in Film & Television’s new promo video in the window of Tekserve (119 West 23rd St.).  Aubrey Smyth, a NYWIFT member, donated her time, energy, and production company, Gingersnap, to...

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Oscar-Nominated Director Gets Real

Director Lexi Alexander. Photo via Indiewire.com. Women & Hollywood has published an influential post by Lexi Alexander from her blog. It’s a must-read about gender inequality in film and why progress over the last several decades has been dismal. Here Alexander discusses a 1978 report on equal-employment practices in the film industry:  Okay, so we know that people have...

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NYWIFT Recap: Create the Buzz, Audience Will Follow

Cheree Dillion, Kristin McCracken, Gary Hustwit, Roz Murphy, Marisa Vitale, Angela Tucker, Elisabeth Holme, and Jorge Rivera.  The power of social media in independent film is undeniable. Which is why filmmakers want to know how can social media can increase their film’s visibility and audience reach. Held on November 21, Create the Buzz, Audience Will...

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2013 Year-End Film & TV News Roundup

Hit web series Broad City from Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer.  This week’s entry is a roundup of stories I felt were the most informative, inspiring, or entertaining of 2013. New York State extended the film tax credit program. These marketing, grantwriting, and consulting articles offer new insight. Comedian Tig Notaro hit her personal and professional stride. So inspiring. Woman-centered...

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Road to Muse: Honoree Robin Wright

Robin Wright has made an indelible mark in Hollywood, from her unforgettable early role as Jenny in the Oscar-winning Forrest Gump, to more recent television-starring portrayals on House of Cards with Kevin Spacey. House of Cards earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series this year. Wright began her career on the...

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