NYWIFT Talks The Writers Lab with Elizabeth Kaiden and Nitza Wilon

Welcome to NYWIFT Talks, a new weekly series to bring updated news and vital information about the impact of COVID-19 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.

In this week’s NYWIFT Talk, join The Writers Lab Co-Founders Elizabeth Kaiden and Nitza Wilon for a Zoom conversation. We’ll focus on The Writers Lab and their mission to amplify the voices of women screenwriters over 40. 

This conversation will be moderated by NYWIFT Board President Jamie Zelermyer. 

Panelists

 Elizabeth Kaiden co-founded The Writers Lab with Kyle Ann Stokes and Nitza Wilon, and is a founding partner of Women in the Script Trade (WIST) with Nitza. WIST runs the script development labs in NY and LA for the Athena Film Festival and The Writers Lab with NYWIFT, and provides individual support for exceptional women screenwriters. Elizabeth has served as Head of Development for Tangerine Entertainment, an independent production company that produces films directed by women, and has mentored at Stowe Story Labs. She is a former theater and film critic, editor, and theater administrator, and a graduate of Princeton and the Yale School of Drama. She lives in New York with her family.

Nitza Wilon co-founded The Writers Lab with Elizabeth Kaiden and Kyle Ann Stokes in 2015 and is a founding partner of Women in the Script Trade (WIST) with Elizabeth. WIST runs the script development labs for the Athena Film Festival (NY and LA) and The Writers Lab with NYWIFT, and provides individual support for exceptional women screenwriters. Prior to committing to script development for women, Nitza was an actor, journalist, and magazine and book editor. She earned her BA from the Annenberg School of Communications at Penn. In addition to her work advocating for women in film, Nitza is a writer and voice actor. She lives in New York City with her family.

Jamie Zelermyer is the President of the NYWIFT Board of Directors and has been a New York-based Producer and Production Executive for the past 20 plus years. Currently she is Producing IFP Week 2019 which is a signature program of the Independent Feature Project (IFP). Most recently she was the Program Manager of Made In New York: Pilot Competition, a program founded by The Mayor’s Office of Film Media and Entertainment to tackle gender inclusivity in the television industry. Jamie Executive Produced the two winning half hour pilots and Executive Produced season 1 of the winning show entitled Half Life starring Larisa Oleynik and Nancy Giles. Prior to this she produced Ratter starring Ashley Benson and Matt McGorry which was released by Sony Worldwide in March 2016.

She was the VP, Physical Production at Focus Features / Rogue Pictures for six years ending in November 2012. At Focus she oversaw such movies as Admission, One Day, Jane Eyre, Sin Nombre and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. Prior to Focus Jamie was a Line Producer and Production Manager working on films such as Igby Goes Down, Boys Don’t Cry and You Can Count on Me. Over the years, she has had the privilege to work with a number of notable directors including Steve McQueen, Lone Scherfig, Kenneth Lonergan, Cary Fukanaga and Kimberly Pierce. Jamie is on the board of New York Women in Film and Television, and is an adviser on NYWIFT’s The Writers Lab, a program for female writers over 40 funded by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman. She is a graduate of Bard College.