Meet the powerhouse women behind the visuals you love. This conversation brings together a film producer, editor, art director, production designer, and costume designer to explore how collaboration brings a director’s vision to life—one stunning frame at a time. ✨ Featured Panelists: Cora Atkinson – Oscar, Grammy, and BAFTA-winning co-producer of Summer of Soul. Credits include 30 for 30, Balls Deep, and Gifted and Black (Prime Video). Erica Freed, ACE – Emmy and ACE Eddie-nominated editor of Severance (Apple TV+). Faculty at NYU Tisch, Sundance alum. Toni Barton – Acclaimed production designer (Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist, Archive 81), creating bold, immersive visual worlds. Michelle J. Li – Costume designer (Shiva Baby, Theater Camp, Meet Cute), youngest Broadway costume designer (JOB), with premieres at Sundance, SXSW, TIFF, and Tribeca. ✨ Moderator: John Gibson – VP, Public Affairs & Industry Relations, MPA. Leading global outreach and workforce development in film and TV, building partnerships with 60+ organizations to expand career access nationwide. #ITWIFF2025 #NextWaveSummit #WomenCreatives #BringingYourVisionToLife #FilmFestival #WomenInFilm #BehindTheScenes #VisualStorytelling #NYCFilmFestival

Step behind the scenes with award-winning women producers as they reveal how they bring powerful stories to life. From financing and development to production and impact, these visionaries share what it takes to champion bold, meaningful films that resonate. 🎞 Gretchen McGowan — Award-winning producer and Head of Production at Goldcrest Films (Carol, Restrepo, Cat Person). Her credits include Coffee and Cigarettes, and the Emmy-winning The Fire That Took Her. 🎞 Sarah Wainio — Producer of hit series on MTV, Netflix, TLC, and Max, including Teen Mom: Young + Pregnant, The Lost Kitchen, and 90 Day Diaries: Ukraine. A DOC NYC Documentary New Leader honoree, she champions socially conscious storytelling with impact. #ITWIFF2025 #NextWaveSummit #WomenInFilm #FilmProducers #FreeEvent #StorytellingMatters #PowerBehindThePicture #ImagineThisFilmFestival

Join us for a Scriptation 101 Webinar and discover how the Emmy® Award-winning app is transforming film and TV production. Instantly transfer notes into new drafts, annotate scripts, insert storyboards, track revisions, generate reports, and collaborate seamlessly—whether on set, on location, or on the go.

The “Storytelling Redefined Panel: Telling Authentic BIPOC Stories” panel will feature executive producer, writer, and director Amy J. Aniobi (Insecure, 2 Dope Queens, and Honeymoon); actress and director Lynn Chen (Shameless, Silicon Valley, and I Will Make You Mine); writer and executive producer Dayna Lynne North (Young Love, Insecure, and Single Ladies); director Oge Egbuonu ((In)Visible Portraits, Eye In The Sky and Loving); and director and producer Shirley V. Williams (Refinery29, Alone, Intent to Destroy: Death, Denial & Depiction). Moderated by Patrice Francois, Founder and Executive Director of Imagine This Women's Film Festival #authenticstories #authenticstorytelling #diversityinclusion #diversityinfilm #bipocstories #panel #womeninfilm #filmfestival

Shattering Boundaries: Celebrating Diverse BIPOC Storytellers In recognition of the transformative power of diverse storytelling, we're bringing together industry luminaries With Carlos López Estrada, Linda Mendoza, and Aeryn Michelle Williams. Moderated by John Gibson.

With Carole Kirschner, Director of WGA Showrunner Training Program & CBS Diversity Writers Program. Entertainment Career Coach. Author of Hollywood Game Plan. Having worked as a senior-level television development executive for eighteen years (including posts at CBS and as Vice President of Steven Spielberg’s first Amblin Television), Carole has heard over 5,000 pitches, bought hundreds of projects, and was involved in developing dozens of television series. In her role as a Program Director, she’s sat across the desk from hundreds of hopeful writers and been instrumental in helping them take their careers to the next level. She’s hired and/or mentored hundreds of talented, ambitious entertainment professionals who’ve blasted through barriers to achieve success in Hollywood. ⁠ ⁠ Her book, Hollywood Game Plan: How to Land a Job in Film, TV and Digital Entertainment, published by Michael Wiese Publishing, is assigned as a textbook in film/television classes at colleges and universities throughout the U.S.⁠

Join us for a conversation with writer and director Felicia Pride Followed by a special screening of her award-winning short film tender at https://watch.eventive.org/itwiff2020/play/5f78aeec42eb70004560232f

Sara Bennett is a visual effects supervisor and one of the co-founding owners of Milk, a multi-award winning, independent visual effects company, based in London. Sara became the second ever-female VFX Oscar winner when she received a 2016 Academy Award for best visual effects in Alex Garland’s feature Ex-Machina​ ​, for which she also received a 2016 BAFTA Film Award nomination. Since Milk's launch in 2013, the team has created an impressive range of innovative and complex sequences for high-end TV and feature films, winning an Emmy for the BBC/Hartswood’s Sherlock;​ three consecutive BAFTA Craft awards for the BBC's Doctor​Who ​(2014 and 2015) ​and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell ​(2016) and receiving seven BAFTA Craft Award nominations. Sara has just completed production as an overall VFX Supervisor on Netflix’s upcoming feature film The​ Old Guard. Sara’s VFX and 2D Supervisor credits at Milk include Baltasar Kormakur’s Adrift;​ Alex Garland’s Annihilation​ ​; The​ Alienist (TNT/Paramount); Kingsman:​ The Golden Circle (Lionsgate);the Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them; ​Ben Wheatley’s High-Rise;​The Martian ​(20​ Century Fox); Poltergeist​(Fox/MGM); The Divergent Series: Insurgent; Brett Ratner’s Hercules ​ ​(Paramount/MGM); Dracula​ Untold ​(Universal);​ 47 Ronin ​and Sherlock (BBC/Hartswood); Thunderbirds are Go​ (ITV) and Jonathan Strange​ ​& Mr. Norrell​. #VFX #specialeffects #womeninfilm