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New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) is a non-profit membership organization for women in film, television, and digital media. The organization is an educational forum for media professionals and a network for the exchange of information and resources.[citation needed]
NYWIFT was founded in 1977 by New York producer/director Lenore DeKoven and Hollywood Reporter bureau chief Morna Murphy Martell.[citation needed] The first meeting consisted of 25 women.[citation needed] In 1978, New York Women in Film, Inc. received a certificate of incorporation from New York State, and they published their first roster of 52 members.[citation needed]
Today, NYWIFT has a membership of more than 2,000 people.[citation needed] Members work in different areas of the entertainment industry.[citation needed] It is a component of the Women in Film network, which consists of 40 international chapters and has more than 10,000 members.[citation needed]
NYWIFT produces over 50 programs and special events annually, which are meant to recognize and encourage the contributions of women in the field of entertainment.[citation needed]
The annual New York Women in Film & Television Muse Awards is a luncheon to honor prominent film and television personalities.[citation needed] Designing Women, an annual gala co-presented by Variety, was created by NYWIFT to acknowledge and celebrate the influence and impact of costume designers, makeup artists, and hair stylists on film and television.[1]
In 2016, NYWIFT partnered with The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival to produce a panel titled “Women in Entertainment: Power Players Changing the Parity Game” that discussed women's representation in front of and behind the camera.[2]
New York Women in Film & Television is involved in several special funds that support future and current filmmakers and preserve the past work of women filmmakers.[citation needed] They include: The Archive Project, Loreen Arbus Scholarship, Women in Film Finishing Fund, Scholarship Fund, and Women's Film Preservation Fund.
In 2015, it was announced that Meryl Streep had funded a screenwriters' lab for female screenwriters over forty years old called "The Writers Lab", which was to be run by "New York Women in Film & Television" and the collective IRIS.[3][4] As of the announcement, "The Writers Lab" is the only initiative in the world for female screenwriters over forty years old.[4]