The Pitfalls & Practicalities of Intellectual Property (IP) Protection – The Sequel
Join NYWIFT and the law firm Moses & Singer for a discussion on best practices for Intellectual Property (IP). Presented by a panel of Moses & Singer LLP attorneys, topics will cover: Copyright: Obtaining Protection, Avoiding Infringement; and Life Story Rights and the Right of Publicity: What’s Possible, What’s Not.
READ MORERetirement Planning for Freelancers – March 2019
Freelancers usually don’t have access to 401K and pension plans that so many workers take for granted. As usual, freelancers need to do it all themselves. Attend an in-depth and informative financial planning seminar geared towards the retirement needs of freelancers. Whether you are just starting to get your first few projects or you have been freelancing in film and television for years, this presentation is for you. Certified Financial Planners Gail Linn and William Fischer at Fortis Lux Financial (an office of MassMutual) will inform you about the key concepts you need to consider when it comes to saving for retirement, protection strategies, business transition, estate planning and more. Presentation will also cover tax savings strategies.
READ MORESOLD OUT – Writing the Half-Hour Television Pilot Treatment – March 2019
Whether you are writing a half-hour drama, comedy or a dramedy, a good treatment helps you identify and prevent important structural and character mistakes. The treatment helps as a diagnostic tool once you’ve completed your draft to foolproof your story. It is also a useful selling tool in a marketplace where, in a practical sense, no one reads it until you have an insider’s attention. Attendees will learn: A foolproof method for the half-hour structure; An easy way to create compelling character arcs within an episode; How to organize your act breaks and your A & B stories with ease; and Participants will create an outline for a script that can then be turned into a treatment. Presented by Marilyn Horowitz.
READ MOREThe Art of Grant Writing
Grant writing is an essential tool for filmmakers in the documentary community to bring stories to life. This second installment of NYWIFT's Documentary Series will explore key elements to focus on when developing a successful grant proposal. Speakers will address best practices in grant writing, catching the eye of individual funders with a strong application, how to target your potential funders and other opportunities not explored enough by filmmakers. The panel will also explore The Documentary Core Application, a joint project between The Sundance Institute and the International Documentary Association, established to standardize application requirements.
READ MOREPower Player Breakfast: Abigail E. Disney, Documentary Filmmaker, Philanthropist, Activist
Long before inclusion became fashionable, Abigail E. Disney was passionate about advancing women’s roles in the public sphere. As a guest of NYWIFT's Power Player Breakfast Series, Disney joins a choice roster of speakers through the years who have shared stories of their remarkable journeys and lessons learned along the way. Join us for a rare opportunity to experience and ask questions of this CEO who has used her unique position of influence to produce and direct award-winning work on social issues, spotlighting extraordinary people who speak truth to power.
READ MORECase Study: Swim Team, A Doc from Soup to Nuts
No documentary journey is the same, but every documentary faces similar challenges from concept to community engagement. Producer/Director Lara Stolman had her own ups and downs as she made her way through the process of making her film Swim Team. The film chronicles the rise of a competitive swim team made up of teenagers on the autism spectrum. For this case study, Stolman will highlight for us the key moments she experienced in proposal writing, budgeting, fund raising, selection of production team, post-production, film festival launch, broadcast rights and community outreach. In conversation with Marcia Rock, Chair of NYWIFT's Documentary Committee and Director of News and Documentary, NYU Arthur Carter Journalism Institute.
READ MOREScreening/Reception: Warrior Women
Join NYWIFT and Vision Maker Media for a reception, screening and conversation for the upcoming documentary Warrior Women by Christina D. King and Elizabeth A. Castle. In the 1970s, with the swagger of unapologetic Indianness, organizers of the American Indian Movement (AIM) fought for Native liberation as a community of extended families. Warrior Women is the story of Madonna Thunder Hawk, one such AIM leader who cultivated a rag-tag gang of activist children - including her daughter Marcella - into the "We Will Remember" Survival Group as a Native alternative to government-run boarding schools. Together, Madonna and Marcella fought for Native rights in an environment that made them more comrades than mother-daughter. Special guests Madonna Thunder Hawk and Marcella Gilbert will join the filmmakers in a conversation moderated by Producer Yvonne Russo.
READ MORELunchtime Skills Workshop: Jim Arnoff Coaching Group
With the start of a new year, join NYWIFT Member/Certified Career Coach/TV Packaging Agent Jim Arnoff in a highly interactive coaching group with fellow NYWIFT members for one-on-one coaching, group coaching, networking and resourcing to supercharge your entertainment career. Bring any areas of your career where you feel stuck, need support or want to brainstorm new possibilities. You’ll learn coaching techniques to envision your ideal career with precision, release those career blocks and create a powerful action plan to create the passion career you deserve. Free and open to NYWIFT members only.
READ MOREAdvancing Your Negotiation Skills: Live Roleplay Workshop
Join NYWIFT and Shushana Jachobov, entertainment deal-maker, for a hands-on, live roleplay workshop where attendees will practice, first-hand, how to prepare for and negotiate a deal to acquire intellectual property rights for development. Jachobov will provide a a detailed scenario that will involve a production company negotiation with a rights holder to develop a project for the screen. The scenario will involve a first, introductory meeting. Next will be a scenario for a more involved negotiation meeting. Attendees will work in groups to strategize and run two meetings in real time. Jachobov will then review the meetings, offer feedback, provide recommendations and answer questions.
READ MOREDirecting Actors: Ten Essential Tools for Getting Great Performances
Directing actors can be a challenge. How do you get the best out of your actors? How do you fix a performance that’s off? Adrienne Weiss, Founder of DirectingActors.com developed a method that gives directors the skills they need to diagnose what’s wrong with performances and quickly make them great. Distilled from decades of practical experience, Weiss' technique - The Tools for directing actors - teaches the essentials of how to get great performances, in a method that’s fun and easy to learn. In this evening talk Weiss will share highlights of her acclaimed technique followed by a demonstration with actors and a q&a session.
READ MORECan I Deduct It on My Taxes? – 2019
The new tax laws will have a significant impact on all taxpayers, but particularly entertainment industry personnel. Join CPA Nancy Adams for a discussion on the changes in the law, and how it affects deductions available to you. You’ll walk away with a better understanding of the basic rules on deductions, including new limitations, and potential options available to you going forward.
READ MOREThe Business of Entertainment
Wouldn’t you love to turn your hobby into a career? Could your passion be something that defines you? We were all given talent to share with the world. Do you know how to turn yours into a career? If you’ve ever dreamed about quitting your survival job and pursuing a creative career full-time, but don’t...
READ MORENYWIFT at the 56th New York Film Festival Talks: Early Women Film Pioneers: Alice Guy-Blaché
In honor of Pamela B. Green’s Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché, screening at the festival Sunday, October 7th, the New York Film Festival and New York Women in Film & Television present a conversation with Alice Guy-Blaché and film preservation experts about her contributions to cinema.
READ MOREMember Screening: October 2018 Shorts Program
Join us for this month’s NYWIFT Member Screening Series showcasing scripted shorts: That Very Evening, Slice, Prerequisite, The Bill, After Words: The Opposite of Foreplay, Mommy Blogger and Momstress. The filmmakers will be available for a Q&A immediately following the screening. The screening series provides members with the opportunity to show their work in a theatrical setting. Screenings take place at Anthology Film Archives, followed by networking at a nearby bar.
READ MORERetirement Planning for Freelancers
Freelancers usually don’t have access to 401K and pension plans that so many workers take for granted. As usual, freelancers need to do it all themselves. Attend an in-depth and informative financial planning seminar geared towards the retirement needs of freelancers. Whether you are just starting to get your first few projects or you have...
READ MOREAdaptations: The Business of Translating Source Material to the Screen – 2018
Agents, Hollywood producers and publishers are always searching for the next great story, but not all writers start from scratch. Oftentimes, ideas come from the things we see, read, write and hear. The challenge for many is how to transition these materials from their original form of a book, article, and story into a full-fledged viable screenplay and adaptation material for another medium. Savvy industry professionals love to leverage their time and efforts by capitalizing on a story that can be adapted into many forms. Learn from this experienced panel about ways to locate common sources for your story or script and the power and pitfalls of working with adaptations for your project.
READ MOREThe Pitfalls & Practicalities of Intellectual Property (IP) Protection
Join NYWIFT and the law firm Moses & Singer for a discussion on best practices for Intellectual Property (IP). Presented by a panel of Moses & Singer LLP attorneys, topics will cover How to protect your content and avoid infringing the content of others; the pros/cons of creating an entity to create, license and exploit content; the differences between copyrights and trademarks; and how to minimize the risk of litigation.
READ MOREMaking Motherhood Work in the Film & TV Industry
This panel will address obstacles faced by moms working in the film and television industry. It will be a candid conversation about the challenges our panelists have personally dealt with as well as strategies they use to overcome them including how they organize and manage their time as a working moms.
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