NYWIFT Blog

What’s in Your Toolkit: Margarita Sophia Cortes

Publicist Margarita Sophia Cortes is always on the go to support her clients - with her "Mary Poppins" bag in tow. She took a five minute break from the rat race to tell us what she keeps in her toolkit.

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Cynthia’s Picks: Muse Honorees, Member News, Women Directors

Muse Honorees: NYWIFT is beyond thrilled to announce the honorees for this year’s 40th Anniversary NYWIFT Muse Awards on December 10th! Please join us in celebrating actor Ann Dowd, singer and executive Gloria Estefan, Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud, director Kasi Lemmons, writer/creator Shoshannah Stern, and Tribeca Enterprises CEO Jane Rosenthal, a past Muse honoree who...

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“Ask for Jane” Producer and Star Cait Cortelyou Brings Women’s History to Life on Screen

NYWIFT member Cait Cortelyou has performed on stage or film since childhood but makes a breakthrough debut as producer (and star) of Ask for Jane, which screens at the NYWIFT Member Screening Series on November 19th. Cait sat down with us to discuss how a slice of women's history inspired her to make her producing debut, and what opportunities she sees for women working in the industry today.

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Cynthia’s Picks: Harriet Movie, Lenore DeKoven, Membership Drive

Harriet Movie: Huge congrats to director Kasi Lemmons and the team from Harriet on their huge success this weekend! Lenore DeKoven: NYWIFT co-founder Lenore DeKoven is celebrating the one-year anniversary of the publication of her book, Changing Direction: A Practical Approach to Directing Actors in Film & Theatre, which features a forward by Ang Lee....

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#Muse40for40: Victoria Alonso (2015)

Victoria Alonso is the Executive Vice President of Physical Production for Marvel Studios, and her 2015 Muse Awards acceptance speech is among some of our favorites for both its humor and heart.

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#Muse40for40: Angela Bassett (1995)

Angela Basset is critically heralded actor whose prolific career has spanned four decades.

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NYWIFT’s Women’s Film Preservation Fund Receives Archivists Round Table Award

NYWIFT’s Women’s Film Preservation Fund (WFPF), which has supported the preservation of nearly 150 American-made films by and about women since 1995, received The Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York’s 2019 Outstanding Support of Archives award on October 21st.

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Cynthia’s Picks: WFPF Award, DOC NYC, Kathryn Hahn

WFPF Award: Major congratulations to NYWIFT’s Women’s Film Preservation Fund (WFPF), which received the Archivist’s Round Table of Metropolitan New York’s 2019 Outstanding Support of Archives award last week. The award recognizes an individual or organization for notable contributions to archival records or archives programs through political, financial or moral support. DOC NYC: There are more...

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What’s in Your Toolkit: Grace Kim

NYWIFT is excited to launch our fun new Friday blog series, "What's in Your Toolkit?" where we ask women in the industry about the tools - both literal and figurative - they rely on to get the job done. For our first edition, we caught up with writer/director Grace Kim on the run before her film's screening at the Hamptons International Film Festival.

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WIFV: 40 Years of Support, Networking and Leadership for Women Media Makers

As our Washington, DC sister chapter Women in Film & Video celebrates its 40th anniversary, dual WIFV/NYWIFT member Kristin Reiber Harris looks back on the group's humble beginnings and how it has grown into a vibrant professional organization with over 1000 members all over the country.

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Talya Tibbon’s “Sky and Ground” Puts a Human Face on the Refugee Crisis

NYWIFT Member Talya Tibbon's Sky and Ground tells the harrowing tale of one Syrian family's three-month journey from Greece to Germany feeling violence in their homeland. Facing setbacks, heartaches and threats of deportation, their determination propels them towards a better future. In advance of the film's screening as part of the NYWIFT Member Screening Series, Talya discusses her process and how being an "outsider" is an asset to documentary filmmaking.

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Cynthia’s Picks: Fall Drive, IDA Awards, Pay Up

Fall Drive: We just launched our Fall Membership Drive – become a NYWIFT member by December 2nd to save 50% off the initiation fee and attend the Muse Awards on December 10th at the member rate! There are so many new and exciting NYWIFT initiatives coming up. I hope you will join our community.  ...

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Cynthia’s Picks: Emmy Panel, Elizabeth Banks, Melinda Gates

Emmy Panel: Check out the September 27th episode of the No Rest for the Weekend podcast for a fun recap of our NYWIFT Season Kickoff: The Road to the Emmys event. Elizabeth Banks: Elizabeth Banks became the first female director honored as Pioneer of the Year in the 78-year history of the Will Rogers Motion...

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WIFT Around the World: A Conversation with Verena Gräfe-Höft

Our NYWIFT member abroad, Heidi Philipsen, sits down with WIFT Hamburg co-founder Verena Gräfe-Höft to talk the state of the industry and her new film Pelican Blood, which is making waves at both the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals.

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Cynthia’s Picks: Emmy Highlights, NYWIFT Winners, Women #NotWorthLess, Bahamas Relief

Emmy Highlights: Kudos to both Alex Borstein and Michelle Williams, who used their Emmy platforms to remind us all – especially women – how advocating for yourself can contribute to the greater good and lift others up in the process. NYWIFT Winners: Congrats to the NYWIFT members who won Emmys last week: Lydia Tenaglia (Executive...

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Roundtable with Misha Calvert and the Creative Team of “Step Into My Office”

NYWIFT member Misha Calvert’s latest series, Step Into My Office, is a new dark comedy that reimagines workplace harassment with sexist female bosses interviewing aspiring young male employees. After the series launch on August 29, 2019, fellow NYWIFT member Leah Curney interviewed Calvert and her collaborators about their experiences and insights.

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Cynthia’s Picks: Two Studies, Unequal Pay, Michele Clapton

Two Studies: A study from Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative in partnership with National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP, of which I was the founding organizational Chairperson) and Wise Entertainment, shows how Hollywood has failed the Latinx community when it comes to their portrayal in popular movies – in...

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Meet the New NYWIFT Board Members: Kerry Fulton

With her company Evenfield Entertainment, producer Kerry Fulton is looking to do just that: even the playing field. That's a mission we can certainly get behind. She brings her experience working in the global TV and film market to NYWIFT as one of the newest additions to our Board of Directors.

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