Written by Tasnia Habib
New York Women in Film and Television (NYWIFT) is a non-profit organization that began in 1977 to support women in the film and television industry. NYWIFT advocates for equality in film, television and media and supports women at all stages of their career. They offer professional development programs, networking opportunities, screenings, grants and fiscal sponsorships, as well as other programs to support their mission.
Katie Chambers, Director of Community Engagement
Katie Chambers, the Director of Community Engagement at NYWIFT spoke with us about their programming. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NYWIFT has increased the number of programs they offered regularly and switched to a virtual format. “In the course of about two weeks in March 2020 we shifted everything we had planned to an entirely virtual space. And because so many people in our community were struggling, we increased our programming output by 70%. We launched our NYWIFT Talks weekly series which directly addresses the issues impacting artists and executives today – like the pandemic and the production and legal woes it brings with it, the Black Lives Matter movement and how to support BIPOC content creators, the shift to virtual and what that means for distribution,” said Chambers.
According to Chambers, a study for the American for the Arts showed that 95% of artists and creative workers reported a loss of income in 2020. NYWIFT created a directory for artists that has links to several resources, such as grants and petitions to help support creative workers, mental health resources, and more. The directory is still regularly updated and can be viewed online.
Upcoming NYWIFT talks include a screening of two documentaries from the NYWIFT Film Preservation Fund from September 3rd – September 7th. All upcoming events can be found on the NYWIFT website.
In response to the pandemic, NYWIFT partnered with its sister organizations Women in Film LA (WIF) and Women in Film & Television Atlanta (WIFTA) to create a fund to provide grants to women whose lives and careers were impacted by COVID-19. The Hire Her Back fund is distributed by The Actors Fund, an organization that helps support actors and the entertainment community. The fund was paired with a public awareness campaign to encourage the entertainment industry to hire women and people of color when more productions resume. “We have made such progress toward equity and don’t want to lose any traction due to the pandemic,” said Chambers.
NYWIFT was also able to hold much of their regular programming virtually throughout the past year and is continuing to offer their programming virtually this Spring. The 2020 NYWIFT Muse Awards were held virtually in December. The Muse Awards honors accomplished women in media and entertainment. This year’s honorees included Awkwafina, Rachel Brosnahan, Rashida Jones, Jodi Kantor & Megan Twohey of the NY Times, Alana Mayo, Gina Prince-Bythewood, and Ali Stroker. You can watch the awards broadcast online.
The third annual Creative Workforce Summit was held from June 22-25 and had over 1000 attendees virtually. The Summit focused on the changing aspects of the media workplace. “Each day we focused on different aspects of the future of the workplace – from creative partnerships with major networks like Warner Media and AMC Networks, diversity and inclusion initiatives that actually work with real actionable results, using media to shine a light on the breadth and depth of the AAPI experience, how organized labor is paving the way for safety measures during COVID as well as for a more equitable working environment overall,” said Chambers about the summit.
NYWIFT also held the Writers Lab for women, which provides women over 40 the opportunity to develop their scripts with mentors and film professionals. The virtual programming in 2020 was well-attended – “Throughout 2020 more than 11,000 people attended our programs – an all-time high!,” said Chambers.
Chambers is heartened by the recent advancements of women in the industry. At the 2021 Oscars, Chloe Zhao became the first woman of color to win Best Director. “It’s a great step forward,” said Chambers about the win. “I often think about 2021 winner Mia Neal’s speech – she and Jamika Wilson won Best Makeup and Hairstyling for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”, the first Black women to do so. She said, ‘I stand here as Jamika and I break this glass ceiling with so much excitement for the future. Because I can picture Black trans women standing up here, our Asian sisters, our Latina sisters and Indigenous women. And I know one day it won’t be unusual or groundbreaking — it will just be normal.’ That’s how I see Chloe’s win, and other recent wins for women and underrepresented groups. I look forward to the day when it’s not news, when it will just be normal.”
She also emphasizes the importance of hiring women and people of color. “It’s so important to continue to put women and people of color in positions of power, so that they can help to institute change from the top,” said Chambers. “That’s one of the reasons we’re so glad to honor a real changemaker like Alana Mayo at the NYWIFT Muse Awards this year.” Mayo is the president of Orion Pictures, a company with a focus on developing films that represent underrepresented groups.
Chambers said that NYWIFT is currently focused on how the pandemic has affected women in the workplace. “Right now, it’s key to recognize that women have been even more adversely affected by the pandemic, often due to the added responsibilities of child and elder care that fall to them,” said Chambers. She cited a study by McKinsey and Company that reported in July 2020 that women’s jobs are 1.8 times more vulnerable in this crisis than men’s and an NPR report from October 2020 that stated women are leaving the workforce at four times the rate of men.
Chambers highlighted one of the key discussion points during the NYWIFT summit regarding post-pandemic safety measures. “Unions and trade associations have led the way in instituting COVID safety measures that protect not only their constituents but everyone involved in the productions,” said Chambers. “We should continue to look to them for guidance as we move into a new phase of production, while there is still some danger.”
Although more of the population is vaccinated and productions are opening up, Chambers said it will take some time for women in the workplace to recover. “Women are still being hit hard because so much of the childcare and eldercare burden falls to them, and it has taken a massive physical and psychological toll on them especially over the last year and a half of incredibly challenging circumstances,” said Chambers. “It’s going to take a lot to bounce back.”