NYWIFT Blog

#Muse40for40: Charlayne Hunter-Gault (1993)

Journalist and author Charlayne Hunter-Gault began her career as a reporter to The New Yorker, where she still contributes, and was the Harlem bureau chief for The New York Times. She worked for 20 years with PBS NewsHour where she was a national and international correspondent as well as a substitute anchor.

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#Muse40for40: Rita Moreno (1996)

Rita Moreno’s career has spanned over seventy years and is one of few EGOT artists, as she has won multiple Emmys, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony. She shows no signs of slowing down, recently appearing in Jane the Virgin, One Day at a Time, Carmen Sandiego, and will be Valentina in the 2020 remake of West Side Story.

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#Muse40for40: Maysoon Zayid (2018)

Actor, writer, comedian and activist Maysoon Zayid co-founded and co- produced the New York Arab American Comedy Festival and The Muslim Funny Fest. Zayid had the most viewed TED Talk of 2014.

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#Muse40for40: Lizz Winstead (2015)

Lizz Winstead received the 10th annual Loreen Arbus Changemaker Award. The acclaimed comedienne, radio and television personality, author and blogger for The Huffington Post is also the co-creator of The Daily Show and Air America Radio network.

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#Muse40for40: Blythe Danner (2015)

Blythe Danner is a Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress for her work in The Miser, Butterflies Are Free, and Huff, and also renowned for her film roles, including Meet the Parents, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Husbands and Wives, and Sylvia.

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#Muse40for40: Dede Allen (2001)

Dede Allen was a pioneering film editor with a career spanning over sixty-years. Though she said she went “completely by gut” when editing, she introduced of a number techniques into America cinema—including frequent use of jump-cuts and overlapping audio between scenes to drive the narrative forward.

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Terry’s Picks: Casting Couch, Create NYC, Sherry Lansing

Casting Couch: The Guardian sheds light on the all-too-common phenomenon of the “casting couch culture,” featuring important insight from NYWIFT member Meissa Hampton. This has to stop, and kudos to Meissa and all the other women who speak out about it. Create NYC: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Cultural Affairs Commissioner Tom...

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Terry’s Picks: Women’s Pictures, Underwritten Characters, Stony Brook

Women’s Pictures: This interesting piece in Vulture makes a strong case for the idea that in modern times, the “women’s pictures” of Hollywood’s Golden Age have moved to television. Underwritten Characters: Laugh (or cry) along with Underwritten Female Character: The Movie, a fake trailer for a movie you’ve seen unfortunately too many times. Stony Brook:...

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The Road to Muse 2015

Through all the challenges, New York Women in Film & Television continues to champion the voice of women every year with numerous grants, scholarships, programs and events in support of women such as the Muse Awards.

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Terry’s Picks: Jennifer Lawrence, Writing Room, Women Calling the Shots

Raising Hell: Jennifer Lawrence’s scathing take-down of the Hollywood gender pay gap is just what we need – high profile women who can command serious media attention need to bring this outrageous inequity to light. By the way, she wrote it for Lena Dunham’s new Lenny Letter e-newsletter. You should subscribe – only a few...

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Terry’s Picks: Indie Women, Revolution, Jill Soloway

Good news: Four of the top five highest grossing indie films of 2015 feature women leads. Even better? Three of them are over the age of 50. Revolution: 2013 NYWIFT Muse Honoree Robin Wright says “we need a female Che Guevara” to fight Hollywood sexism. “We need a revolution.” Important Read: The Moveable Fest printed...

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WEEKLY ROUNDUP: AMY’S SUMMER MOVIES & THE VIEW KEEPS CHANGING

Photo: Matt Baron/BeImages Amy Poehler’s summer movie series will probably trump everyone else’s. Think you have long days? Gayle King has you beat. DirectingActors founder Adrienne Weiss advises on…directing actors. Insightful career advice from 3 women linked to Hollywood’s hottest projects. Impact Partners wants to give emerging documentary producers money! Christine McCarthy makes history at Disney...

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WEEKLY ROUNDUP: FUNNY BUSINESS, AGEISM & ACTION

Image via The Hollywood Reporter Even when discussing sexism, racism & death threats these women are still “effin” funny! Watching the 2015 Tony Nominees “In Performance” will put you in a great mood. (VIDEO) Freelancers Union founder Sara Horowitz has “commandments” to thrive in today’s new economy. This ageism chart supports what Maggie Gyllenhaal and thousands...

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WEEKLY ROUNDUP: THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM, HOLLYWOOD SEXISM & WALL STREET

Erin Baiano for The New York Times History is made as Anne Pasternak becomes The Brooklyn Museum’s 1st female director. She’s baaack! Nikki Finke’s new website promises great fiction and proceeds to writers. “It’s an intense sickness.” Melissa McCarthy, Salma Hayek, Aishwarya Rai & Parker Posey discuss Hollywood’s sexism. Dear Writers, screencraft.org has screenwriting contests. Deadlines...

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Hey, Hollywood! Movies That Pass the Bechdel Test Make More Money

Infographic and quote from Vocativ. We analyzed the top 50 biggest box office movies of 2013 to see if they passed the Bechdel Test, which evaluates whether a movie has two or more women in it who have a conversation about something other than a man. It’s named after cartoonist Alison Bechdel, who wrote about it in her...

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Tweet of the Week

Two is Just Too Many Women for Spiderman to Deal With | Women and Hollywood http://t.co/x6dC59SlNO — Melissa Silverstein (@melsil) June 19, 2013 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js From the @NYWIFT list NYWIFT Members. – @annelabarba

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