MOME is proud to support this year’s NYICFF, which kicked off in NYC on March 4 and will run until March 19. This year, MOME’s Associate Commissioner of Workforce Development and Educational Initiatives Alia Jones-Harvey presented a proclamation to NYICFF Executive Director Nina Guralnick in celebration of their 25th anniversary during opening night, which featured a screening of Where is Anne Frank?

Each year, the festival’s programs celebrate the beauty and power of film and help children understand and connect with complex, nuanced art. The NYICFF also encourages the creation of projects that represent and celebrate unique, diverse, and historically excluded voices.

Festival tickets are still available at https://nyicff.org/tickets/. 

The Emmy award-winning TV series Bare Feet with Mickela Mallozzi will premiere its new season on NYC Life, the flagship channel of NYC Media.

Season five of the TV series will debut at 8:30pm on March 9th and continue every Wednesday through April. Each week, host and professional dancer Mickela Mallozzi will travel to one of NYC’s five boroughs to highlight the diversity of dance and music traditions in NYC neighborhoods.

For more information on Bare Feet in NYC, please visit NYC Media's website. 

Presented in partnership with the Center for Communication, MOME has launched its 2022 Spring ‘Made in NY’ Talks series, and next up is “The Food Media Feed,” with tips on how to carve out a career path in food media. The discussion will take place live at the SVA Theatre, 333 W. 23rd Street on Thursday, March 31, 6:30-8:00pm. RSVP to attend this free event.

The ‘Made in NY’ Talks series brings together industry leaders to share insights, information and news with New Yorkers looking to work in the media and entertainment industries. Additional 2022 talks will be announced later this spring. Previous Spring 2022 talks include a conversation with “Late-Night Trailblazer: Amber Ruffin,” with tips on how to break into the talk show business, and “A New Day for Local News,” which offers advice for new local newsroom reporters. These talks will soon be added to MOME’s video collection of past talks. 

On February 22, MOME and ONL hosted a Town Call for nightlife, hospitality & entertainment workers to learn more about unemployment insurance, paid sick leave, free tax prep and financial counseling, freelance worker labor laws, tenant rights and resources, accessing the health insurance marketplace, public assistance benefits and more. Speakers included representatives from NY State Department of Labor, NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, NYC Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, NYC Human Resources Administration, The Actors Fund and Freelancers Union. 

A second webinar for hospitality workers will be held on March 16 and interested participants can register here.  

On February 16th, MOME and DOE hosted the NYC Public School Film Festival Careers in Film and Media Panel. NYC Public School students and educators virtually tuned-in to hear real-life stories from a collection of top, diverse voices in the industry, including Radha Blank (writer/director/producer, She’s Gotta Have It; Empire), Lisa Cortes (director/producer, Precious, The Apollo), Shaka King (writer/director/producer, Judas and the Black Messiah), Keli Goff (writer/producer, And Just Like That, Black Lightning), and Jean Tsien (editor, Malcolm X: Make it Plain). The event was moderated by Kevin Lopez from The High School of Art & Design.

‘Made in NY’ productions and performances are racking up wins during the 2022 awards show season.  These awards are a testament to the talent, creativity and resilience of our city’s creative community, and shine a light on the entertainment infrastructure that fuels NYC’s thriving film and television industry. 

NAACP Image Awards, ‘Made in NY’ wins: 

•    The Daily Show with Trevor Noah for Outstanding Variety Show (Series or Special)
•    Trevor Noah for Outstanding Host in a Reality/Reality Competition, Game Show, or Variety (Series or Special)
•    Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live) for Outstanding Guest Performance
•    Cliff "Method Man" Smith (Power Book II: Ghost Starz) for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
•    Mary J. Blige (Power Book II: Ghost Starz) for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series 

•     Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series, Davita Scarlett - The Good Fight – 505

Screen Actors Guild Awards, ‘Made in NY’ wins: 

•    Ariana DeBose for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, West Side Story
•    The cast of Succession for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

Independent Spirit Awards, ‘Made in NY’ wins: 

•    Shiva Baby for the John Cassavetes Award (best feature made for under $500,000)
•    Ruth Negga, for Best Supporting Female in Passing
•    Passing, for Best Cinematography
•    Summer of Soul, for Best Documentary
•    Special shout out to NYC’s own Maggie Gyllenhaal, producer and director for The Lost Daughter, which took home awards for Best Feature, Best Director and Best Screenplay 

ACE Eddie Awards, ‘Made in NY’ wins: 

•    Tick, Tick…Boom! for Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy)
•    Summer of Soul, for Best Edited Documentary (Feature)
•    Succession, for Best Edited Drama Series

Previous ‘Made in NY’ Award recipient Jeffrey Wright, along with fellow cast members of The Batman, including New Yorkers Jon Turturo, Zoe Kravitz, Paul Dano and Peter Sarsgaard, were on hand at the film’s red carpet premiere, March 1 at Lincoln Center, for a night to celebrate one of the most anticipated films of 2022.

On March 2, MOME Commissioner del Castillo, NYC & Company CEO Fred Dixon and RISE NY’s Executive Producer James Sanna cut the ribbon at the official opening of RISE NY, a new experience in Times Square honoring the contributions of NYC’s media and entertainment sectors. 

Wildflower Studios, a project from Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), Robert De Niro, real estate broker Raphael De Niro, film producer Jane Rosenthal and Wildflower Development Group is set to begin construction. The developers purchased the 5.25-acre waterfront site from the piano company Steinway & Sons, which operates a factory next door. When completed in 2023, the Astoria-based production hub will contain 11 studio spaces, housing a soundstage, vertical transportation, prop shops and dressing rooms. The new production hub is estimated to generate around 1,000 jobs. For more information, please see this NY Daily News article, featuring an interview with Commissioner del Castillo. 

UPCOMING

Applications for the 4th Annual Public School Film Festival are open. The annual festival provides students the opportunity to have their work recognized by industry leaders while helping them explore careers in filmmaking. NYC Department of Education middle and high school students can apply now through March 25, 2022 at nyc.gov/nycpsfilmfestival.

The 14th Annual ReelAbilities Film Festival will take place in New York City April 7-13.  The festival is dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with disabilities. This year’s festival will be presented as hybrid format both in person and online. For more details, and information on tickets going on sale March 8, visit: https://reelabilities.org/newyork/

Applications are open now through April 8 for the Games for Change Student Challenge, a national game design program that combines students’ passion for games with digital learning and civic engagement. New York City middle and high school student game developers, coders and producers can now submit their original game ideas to win a $10,000 scholarship. MOME is a proud sponsor of the annual Games for Change Festival in New York City that highlights games, technology, and immersive experiences with the hope of fostering emerging talent. MOME’s recently published 2021 NYC Digital Games Industry Economic Impact Study found the  digital games industry in NYC has generated $2 billion in economic activity and supported 7,600 jobs. 

Follow the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment on social media for the latest on our upcoming events, initiatives, and programs: Twitter: @MadeinNY, Facebook: @MadeinNY, and Instagram: @Madein_NY. 

Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment
nyc.gov/mome

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE