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Anyone in entertainment or wishing to become involved is invited to apply for membership at NYWIFT.org.
New Board Member Luchina Fisher is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, writer, speaker and educator on a mission to tell stories that move the world. Her short documentary The Dads, executive produced by Dwyane Wade and acquired by Netflix, won the 2024 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Form Program and GLAAD's Special Recognition Award. Her feature directorial debut, Mama Gloria, about a Black trans elder activist, was nominated for a 2022 GLAAD Media Award and broadcast on PBS.
Returning Board Member Emelyn Stuart is a visionary entrepreneur, creative strategist, and passionate advocate for inclusivity in the arts. As the owner of the first Afro-Latina-owned movie theater, Stuart Cinema & Café, she has carved out a vital space for diverse voices in the industry. When she isn’t building movie theaters or overseeing her popular Ocktober Film Festival, Emelyn can be found on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, lobbying on behalf of movie theaters and filmmakers.
“We are delighted to welcome these two women to the 2025-2026 NYWIFT Board of Directors, especially given their incredible track record of innovative business strategy and advocacy for underrepresented communities. Their values align with our organization’s mission to push our industry forward and create better working conditions throughout media,” said NYWIFT CEO Cynthia Lopez.
Stuart has been appointed Board Treasurer, succeeding Gretchen McGowan, who departs the NYWIFT Board of Directors after completing her second consecutive term. McGowan is an award-winning producer and currently the Head of Production at Goldcrest Features. McGowan’s memoir, Flying In – My Adventures in Filmmaking, was released by Post Hill Press in Fall 2024. The book follows McGowan’s journey as a budding producer in the grit and glam of 1990s New York City, a heyday for independent movies. From the scrappy freelance work on location in Vietnam, Costa Rica, Spain, and Buffalo in the ’90s to the seasoned studio executive jobs in Jordan, Germany, and New York City in the ’00s, Flying In is a ride-along from script discovery through premiere night.
Other News from NYWIFT
Screening at MoMA
The Women’s Film Preservation Fund (WFPF) of New York Women in Film & Television will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a special screening at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) on Thursday, December 4, 2025 at 7:00 PM, presenting the World Restoration Premiere of Asylum (2003) and the U.S. Restoration Premiere of The Heart of the Matter (1994). The screening will be followed by a conversation with filmmakers Sandy McLeod and Gini Reticker, and participants from the films, moderated by Academy Award–winning director and WFPF committee member Deborah Shaffer, exploring the creative, cultural, and social impact of these influential works.
Member News
Also departing the Board of Directors are Kia Brooks (Deputy Director, The Gotham Film & Media Institute), Shruti Ganguly (Award-Winning Filmmaker and Writer), and Zenaida Mendez .
NYWIFT CEO Cynthia Lopez was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for her contributions to the industry, from media strategist to television executive to NYC film Commissioner to her current role as CEO at NYWIFT. Lopez is also member of The Peabody Awards Board of Jurors.
Plus, NYWIFT Board Member Sibyl Reymundo-Santiago will receive the Community Collaboration Award at the Women in the Arts & Media Coalition 2025 Collaboration Awards on December 6th in recognition of her work as Executive Director and Head of Programming for the SOHO International Film Festival.
The NYWIFT Board of Directors is currently led by Kim Jackson, co-founder of the entertainment studio Evotion Media and a celebrated producer and creative, as well as a pioneer in entertainment blockchain funding, development, and rights management.
Learn more about the NYWIFT Board of Directors at nywift.org/about/board-of-directors.
About New York Women in Film & Television
New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) connects, educates, and advocates for women to accelerate diversity in media. As the preeminent entertainment industry association for women in New York, NYWIFT energizes women by illuminating their achievements, presenting training and professional development programs, awarding scholarships and grants, and providing access to a supportive community of peers. NYWIFT brings together more than 2,500 women and men working both above and below the line. NYWIFT is part of a network of 60 women in film organizations worldwide, representing more than 15,000 members. NYWIFT is a nonprofit 501c3 public charity.
More information can be found online at: www.NYWIFT.org.
Follow on all social media platforms @NYWIFT.
About the New, Returning, and Departing NYWIFT Board Members:
Kim Jackson (NYWIFT Board President) is a celebrated producer and creative as well as a pioneer in entertainment blockchain funding, development, and rights management. She is co-founder of the entertainment studio Evotion Media and has been active on several boards, including the ACE Programs for the Homeless, and The Gwen Ifill College of Media, Arts, and Humanities at Simmons University. Jackson began her career working with Disney/Touchstone Television in Los Angeles and then relocated to her first love, New York City, where she founded Streetwise Pictures. Through Streetwise she provided production services and investor relations for numerous theatrical and streaming feature projects. Her work has received Gotham, Spirit, and NAACP Award nominations as well as the Grand Prize at the Deauville Film Festival. One of the films Jackson produced was selected for opening night at New Directors/New Films at MoMA. Her films have been featured in competition at Rotterdam, Sundance, and Cannes. Jackson is a member of the PGA and Producers Union and is proud to serve as the Chair of the Board of Directors for New York Women in Film & Television.
Luchina Fisher (New Board Member) is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, writer, speaker and educator on a mission to tell stories that move the world. Her short documentary THE DADS, executive produced by Dwyane Wade and acquired by Netflix, won the 2024 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Form Program and GLAAD's Special Recognition Award. Her feature directorial debut, MAMA GLORIA, about a Black trans elder activist, was nominated for a 2022 GLAAD Media Award and broadcast on PBS. She is also the director of the award-winning short documentary TEAM DREAM, executive produced by Queen Latifah, and the award-winning feature documentary LOCKED OUT, about the barriers to Black homeownership. Her new project about the unsung history of Black queer presence in music was the winner of the 2023 PitchBLACK Film Forum. Luchina has received support from Firelight Media, Chicken & Egg, Tribeca Studios, The Gotham, Sisters in Cinema, Black Public Media and more. She is also a visiting professor in film and media arts at Fairfield University. For more, visit luchinafisher.com.
Emelyn Stuart (Returning Board Member) is a visionary entrepreneur, creative strategist, and passionate advocate for inclusivity in the arts. As the owner of the first Afro-Latina-owned movie theater, she has carved out a vital space for diverse voices in the industry. When she isn’t building movie theaters or overseeing her popular Ocktober Film Festival, Emelyn can be found on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, lobbying on behalf of movie theaters and filmmakers. Emelyn embodies the belief that art has the power to transform society, and she is committed to uplifting the voices and stories that deserve to be heard.
With a career spanning over three decades across the United States and Asia, Sibyl Reymundo-Santiago (NYWIFT Board Member) has built a notable body of work in film, television, and stage production, collaborating with major studios that include MyxTV, Regal Films, Star Cinema, Metro Style, and ABS-CBN, as well as global brands such as Google, YouTube, and Target - a broad impact across the media landscape. As President of Sitting Cat Productions, Sibyl has led the release of multiple acclaimed projects, including the feature SAM—executive-produced by Mel Brooks and with stars Morgan Fairchild, Tom Pelphrey, and Bryan Batt; the U.S. production of Antoinette Jadaone’s Alone Together with Philippine superstar Liza Soberano; and the thriller Follow Her, directed by Emmy Award–winner Sylvia Caminer and featuring Luke Cook, Mark Moses, and Dani Barker.
An accomplished Actor, Producer, and Director, she currently serves on the Board of New York Women in Film & Television, where she is the current VP of Events. Her professional affiliations include SAG-AFTRA and Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), the British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA), Women Independent Producers (WIP), and the Producers Guild of America (PGA)—where she is a founding member and former Co-Lead of the AAPI Working Group. Sibyl’s contributions have earned numerous honors, including recognition as one of The Outstanding Filipino Americans in New York - Arts & Culture in Carnegie Hall, the Community Collaboration Award from Women in Action & Media, and most recently, her inclusion among the 75 Most Influential Filipino Americans of 2025. She is currently developing multiple feature projects, a documentary that has earned her the prestigious p.g.a. mark, and her own original series. Sibyl also serves as Executive Director and Head of Programming of the SOHO Creative Lab Foundation and the producer of the SOHO International Film Festival (SIFFNYC), marking her 16th year at its helm.
Kia Brooks (Departing Board Member) is the Deputy Director of The Gotham Film and Media Institute. Her experience in strategic communications (including PR and Marketing) and events spans over a decade and she enjoys supporting and advising creators and entrepreneurs in taking the next steps in their projects and careers. At The Gotham, she oversees the organization’s programming, communications and supports the organization’s development efforts. Brooks is the founder of The Gotham’s Owning It program that supports women and non-binary media makers and entrepreneurs who break boundaries in the media and entertainment industry.
She also developed the Expanding Communities program, which is dedicated to providing resources, a community space, and industry access to individuals with Disabilities and Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and LGBTQIA+ creators across film, TV, and audio industries. Through partnerships with organizations aligned with uplifting historically excluded voices, the program acts as a platform for both creators and organizations to reach new audiences, develop networks of potential collaborators, and access career advancement resources and opportunities within the media and entertainment industry. Previous to working at the Gotham, Brooks worked in film publicity for companies such as Focus Features, Oscilloscope Laboratories and Tribeca Film Festival. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Communication from American University and is currently enrolled in a Fundraising Certificate Program at New York University.
Shruti Ganguly (Departing Board Member) is a filmmaker and writer based between New York City and Oslo. Shruti was a member of the Obama Administration’s ECCO committee of 30 leaders and creators in entertainment, chairing its Asian Caucus, and is on the Creative Council for Emily's List. She has produced several feature and short films (including Spirit-winner H., and the Nora Ephron Prize-winner Initials SG) that have premiered at Sundance, Venice, Tribeca, Telluride, and Berlin. Ganguly is currently writing for Secret Daughter for Amazon Studios, which will star Priyanka Chopra and Sienna Miller, directed by Cannes-winner Anthony Chen. Ganguly developed and will EP Flossy, a half-hour comedy with writer/comedian Kerry Coddett, and EP Robin Thede, set up at Warner Bros and Showtime, and she will be an EP and writer on the half-hour TV series Brown Baby, which is in development with Bad Robot/Warner Bros and will star Himesh Patel.
Ganguly has directed and produced commercials, short and feature docs, music videos and branded content, ranging from clients like Nike, Netflix, Michael Kors, MUNCH, and so on, through her production company honto88. In addition, Ganguly started Prism Entertainment with producers Megha Kadakia and Priya Giri Desai to focus on high-quality, South Asian-focused film and TV content. Previously, Ganguly worked at NYLON, MTV, and Conde Nast, producing the Clio-winning 73 Questions series. She is a co-founder of the Resistance Revival Chorus, a collective born out of the Women's March that brings together artists and activists to use music and joy as an act of resistance. Ganguly is a published writer (Nevertheless We Persisted, Penguin) and a contributing writer for The Juggernaut. Ganguly received her Bachelor's degree from Northwestern University, and went to NYU's dual MFA/MBA program at Tisch and Stern. She hails from India, by way of Oman.
Gretchen McGowan (Departing Board Member) is an award-winning producer and the head of production for Goldcrest Features in New York City, where she oversees titles such as Carol, Restrepo, and Which Way is the Front Line from Here. Gretchen has collaborated with Sebastian Junger on five films, and last year she produced Hell of a Cruise for NBCUniversal, a feature documentary about the cruise industry’s handling of the pandemic. Gretchen independently produced Jim Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control in Spain for Focus Features, and she produced American Swing for Magnolia Pictures. She produced the Oscar-nominated Dancemaker, Buffalo ’66, Two Girls and a Guy, American Psycho, and Heavy. While head of production with Mark Cuban’s HDNet Films, Open City Films, and Blow Up Pictures, Gretchen supervised over 25 features, including Brian De Palma’s Redacted, Alex Gibney’s Enron, Zoe Cassavetes’ Broken English, Steven Soderbergh’s Bubble, Nicole Holofcener’s Lovely and Amazing and Jim Jarmusch’s Coffee and Cigarettes. Gretchen’s memoir, FLYING IN: MY ADVENTURES IN FILMMAKING, was published by Post Hill Press in late 2024.
Zenaida Mendez (Departing Board Member) has been awarded the 2022 prestigious Jewell Ryan White Award for Cultural Diversity from the Alliance of Community Media. This annual award is given to persons who show an outstanding contribution to a process that encourages, facilitates, or creates culturally diverse and/or non-mainstream community involvement in the field of community media. Mendez is the former Director of Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) El Barrio Firehouse Community Media Center, and currently holds the position of Chief External Affairs Officer. Mendez has an intensive career in public service, community activism, television production, and filmmaking.
As a social justice activist, she is an avid voice for tolerance and has many years of experience working as an advocate for women’s and LGBTQI+ rights, as well as economic, racial, and environmental justice. She also develops dynamic event-based programming initiatives, including developing partnerships with local nonprofits and community groups. She is currently Executive Producer of the monthly facilitated MNN Productions: Both Sides of the Bars, Radical Imagination, Makilala TV, the only National Filipino-American TV Program, Femenismo Global with former NYC Councilwoman Margarita Lopez, Health Action TV with Former Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields, Forward Together: Bishop William J. Barber II and the Poor People's Campaign. As a filmmaker, Mendez collaborated on the film Coffee and a Donut, the 2019 Best Short film by the Independence Latino Film Festival NYC, Int'l Indie works (Audience Choice Award); SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Short Film Showcase, and Dominican film Festival showcase. She is Co-Producer of Clandestiny, the Artemis Award-winning Women in Action Film.