Modern science fiction is about a whole lot more than little green men. From Star Trek to Arrival, science fiction world-building allows artists to explore political and cultural issues, and build idealized, equitable societies. Join us as we talk with a diverse group of indie content creators paving the way in genre filmmaking.
New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) and Upstate Women in Film & Television (UPWIFT) are proud to co-present this panel at the Lake Placid Film Festival.
Panelists include filmmakers Julie Neira Campoverde, Emily Kaye, Eunice Levis, and Anna White, moderated by NYWIFT Senior Director of Community & Public Relations Katie Chambers.
Date: Saturday, October 22, 2022
Time: 3:30 PM
Location: High Peaks Resort, 2384 Saranac Ave, Lake Placid, NY 12946
The festival takes place October 20-23. Enter discount code WIF&T at checkout – festival passes will be $99 instead of $135.
Panelists
Julie Neira Campoverde is an Ecuadorian award-winning filmmaker based in Brooklyn, New York. She won the BAFTA NY 2021 DLT Entertainment Scholarship with her short horror script for El Chuzalongo as well as an honorable mention for the Nyman Family Project Award in her 2nd MFA year at City College. El Chuzalongo, her Ecuadorian debut, won Best Editing at the CityVisions film festival. Julie uses the horror genre as a platform to create awareness of worldwide issues like the obsession with social media (The Crossroads), dating apps (Saturday Night) and toxic masculinity rooted in Latinx and Hispanic culture (El Chuzalongo).
Emily Kaye is an international award-winning writer and director. She got her start in social media, writing and directing skits for YouTube which gained millions of views and earned her YouTube’s Silver Play-Button award. She branched out into writing webnovels that gained millions of views, her most popular, Hero vs Villain, receiving a manhwa adaptation by a Korean studio. Emily specializes in writing queer and female-led stories, her film Freely We Serve screening and winning awards coast to coast and internationally. Emily is currently working for an animation company and has several new Sci Fi and Fantasy projects in the works.
Writer and director Eunice Levis is a first-generation Dominican American from the Bronx, New York. Eunice’s work focuses on genre-bending stories that combine her love of horror, sci-fi, thriller, and fantasy often through a diasporic lens. She is a two-time Sundance Lab Second Rounder, a Stowe Story Lab Fellow, and a NALIP Latino Lens fellow. She recently wrote and directed InVade, a sci-fi short film, which made the second round of the 2020 Sundance Episodic Lab with its pilot script. Her urban gothic horror feature script Keep also made second round consideration for the 2021 Sundance Feature Development program. Her folklore horror micro short Fell Ends was an extraordinary selection at NYX’s 13 minutes of horror film festival and streamed on Shudder. Her latest film, an urban space fantasy titled Ro & the Stardust, is part of the 2021 NALIP Latino Lens Women of Color Short Film Incubator, sponsored by Netflix. In addition to writing and directing, Eunice teaches and cohosts Café Negro con Genre, a podcast that promotes creatives working in the genre space. Eunice is a graduate of New York University and is managed by 3 Arts Entertainment.
Anna White is an LGBTQ+ director and editor from upstate New York. She was accepted into SUNY Purchase’s Film BFA program, where she graduated in 2021. With her co-director Emily Kaye, the duo worked together to co-direct their short Freely We Serve. The short has since won awards at several festivals including NewFest, GenreBlast, and Seattle Queer Film Festival. Anna has also edited two features with director and writer Joseph Latimore. Their film Shadows of the Soul was accepted by the International New York Film Festival in 2021. Anna is currently employed at WWE, editing videos for the company’s gaming channel.
Katie Chambers (Moderator) is a communications executive and event producer with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. She is currently the Senior Director of Community & Public Relations at New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT), where she manages both Communications and Membership and produces Special Events including the Muse Awards for Women of Vision & Achievement. She received national recognition for her work at NYWIFT as one of Association Trends’ top “Young and Aspiring Executives” at their Salute to Excellence in Washington, DC, and was recognized by New York Society of Association Executives with their “Rising Star” award at the Synergy Awards. She was named Communications Chair of one of New Jersey’s leading volunteer organizations, the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Club, in Spring of 2022. Katie was previously a talent agent in the Youth & Young Adult Theatrical division at Abrams Artists Agency in New York City, representing young actors in theatre, film, and television, and has worked for leading entertainment companies including Buchwald, Manhattan Theatre Club, and Scott Rudin Productions. She has served on the Next Generation Committee of the NY Television Festival, produced a critically acclaimed play at the NY Fringe Festival, and her writing has appeared in Huff Post, Honeysuckle Magazine, and several printed essay collections. Katie graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude from Drew University with a double major in English and Theatre Arts.
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