2020 Recipients
The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre fund is a signature initiative by The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) to address the underrepresentation of all who identify as women in the entertainment industries.
In 2020, finishing funds in the combined amount of $2 million were awarded to 94 music, theatre, film and digital media projects led by artists who identify as women or coming from a female perspective. The 2020 cycle was the second round of a $5.5 million, three-year program funded by MOME and administered by NYFA. This year, MOME added $500,000 to support music projects.
2019-2020 NYC WOMEN’S FUND FOR MEDIA, MUSIC AND THEATRE
Documentary Webseries
Elizabeth Charles, Before We Wrap
Deniz Khateri, Diasporan
Judy Lieff, Up For Debate
Veena Rao, The Art of Exile
Sacred Pact (Sunny Facer and Jacqueline Davis), Hidden Kingdom
Nova Scott-James, Wild Darlings Sing The Blues
Candace Thompson, The Collaborative Urban Resilience Banquet (aka The C.U.R.B.)
Panelists
Rebecca Blandón
Viktoria I.V. King
Abbey Lustgarten
Den Quinsay
Documentary Short
Zoya Baker, Ghosts of Derwyddon
Lydia Cornett, Bug Farm
Melissa Friedling, An Odd Pair
Ash Goh Hua, I’m Free Now, You Are Free (working title)
Allison Prete, The Women of Slender Means
Yin Q, Fly in Power
Alex Strada, truths
Gabriele Urbonaite, Solastalgia
Panelists
Jillian Báez
Bedatri Datta Choudhury
Lana Lin
Traci Mark
Akosua Adoma Owusu
Documentary Feature
Abigail Child, Origin of the Species (aka More Than Human)
Maya Cueva and Leah Galant, On The Divide
Immy Humes, Shirley Clarke Documentary
Zara Katz, Lisa Riordan Seville, and Kiara C. Jones, Women on the Outside
Holly Morris, Exposure
Mirissa Neff, This is National Wake
Rachel Elizabeth Seed, A Photographic Memory
Michèle Stephenson, Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
Panelists
Martine Granby
Romola Lucas
Betsy Morais
Chloë Walters-Wallace
Fiction Webseries
Sophia de Baun, Out There
Léa Furnion, Lea’s DIY
Liann Kaye, The Blessing
Joyce Keokham, WYA WYD (Where You At? What You Doing?)
Natalya Nyn, Women Funny?
Sylvia Sichel, The Janes
Kathleen Wallace, The Evagelists
Panelists
Danielle Earle
Traci Mark
Naomi Munro
Geneva White
Fiction Short
Alison Barton and Bonnie Dennison, Brown Bagger
Noelia Rodríguez Deza, Ese verano nos quedamos en casa – That Summer, We Stayed at Home
Grace Kim, The Weeds in this Garden
Helen Nwosu, My Mighty: Dos Boriquas Se Encuentran en Idaho
Artemis Shaw, Real Talk
Jingjing Tian, Meatloaf
Sarah Todes, GAMP
Anu Valia, & On & On
Sen-I Yu, My Heavenly City
Panelists
Jen Atalla
Kristina Newman-Scott
Christina Raia
Efe Kabba
Fiction Feature
Signe Baumane, My Love Affair With Marriage
Jenny Lester, What She Said
Talia Lugacy, This Is Not a War Story
Stefanie K Sparks, Blueberry
Panelists
Gina Duncan
Aliza Ma
Easmanie Michel
Lucy Mukerjee
Sarah Schulman
Classical/Jazz/Experimental/New Music
Hadaiyah Bey, Safe Travels
Jane Ira Bloom, Picturing The Invisible
Sarah Elizabeth Charles, Blank Canvas
Amanda Gookin, Forward Music Project
Candice Hoyes and Val Jeanty, Nite Bjuti
Dana Lyn, A Point on a Slow Curve
Adi Meyerson, “I Want To Sing My Heart Out In Praise Of Life” – The Kusama Suite
Migiwa Miyajima, 10 Years and Counting – Unbreakable Hope and Resilience
Music Kitchen – Food for the Soul, Forgotten Voices
Ibiwunmi Olaiya (aka Wunmi Olaiya), Little Girl (working title)
Kamala Sankaram, Looking at You
Sara Serpa, Intimate Strangers
Teodora Stepančić, Teodora Stepančić – Duets
Anjna Swaminathan, Woven: Entangled Memorabilia
Lucy Yeghiazaryan, IN HER WORDS
Panelists
Cat Henry
Alice Jones
Miya Masaoka
Mendi Obadike
Marietta Ulacia
General Music
A Song For Life and Harlem Renaissance High School Music Students, Let Her Rock!
Raquel Acevedo-Klein, Se Levanta (It Rises)
Shilpa Ananth, Fear
Aya Aziz, Murals and Moons
Natu Camara, Natu Camara
Renee Goust, Re-Sister
Evie Joy, Found (working title)
Charlene Kaye, Conscious Control
Julia Kwamya, Feel Good About Feeling Bad
Alyssa Kayhill, Love Is What It Will Be
Cat Martino (Stranger Cat), Dear Leonarda (working title)
Tina Hanae Miller, Hanaé –「華え」
Thanh Hien Nguyen, Bloom
Elena Pinderhughes, She’s Made of Sunlight
Martha Redbone, Red Whistle Woman
Resistance Revival Chorus, This Joy
Isa Reyes, Bels
Helen Sung, Quartet²
Emily Wells, And a New Era of Silence = Death
Jennifer Wharton, Bonegasm – Not a Novelty
Panelists
Nikisha Bailey
Meera Dugal
Christal Jerez
Jennifer Justice
Jennifer Le
Chaka Pilgrim
Suzzy Roche
Pyeng Threadgill
Theater
Tara Ahmadinejad, Piehole – Disclaimer
Lyndsey Bourne, The Tank – I Was Unbecoming Then
Debra Ann Byrd, New Heritage Theatre Group – Becoming Othello: A Black Girl’s Journey
Mallory Catlett, Restless Productions, NYC – Rainbird
Rinne Groff, Clubbed Thumb – The Woman’s Party
Deepali Gupta and Lucy Jackson, United States v. Gupta
Julia May Jonas, The Bushwick Star – All Long True American Stories
Ellen Maddow, Talking Band – The Lemon Girls, or Art for the Artless
Melissa Moschitto, The Anthropologists – No Pants In Tucson
Lauren Petty, All Over Everywhere
Alexis Roblan, Samuel
Tori Sampson, The Vineyard Theatre and Workshop Center – This Land was Made
Jaime Sunwoo, Specially Processed American Me
Melisa Tien, Swell
Sanaz Toossi, Roundabout Theatre Company – English
Lois Weaver, Last Gasp
Panelists
Oana Botez
Migdalia Cruz
Sue Kessler
Suzette Porte
Vickie Ramirez
Karin Schall
Seret Scott
Helen Shaw
Sharon Washington
Image Credit: Courtesy the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment
