In case you haven’t noticed, the inaugural Indie Fuxion Film Showcase features women and nonbinary visionaries in the director’s chair. We’ll have the guys participate in future showcases, but for now, I feel nostalgic for my filmmaking roots—when women showed up for me and helped launch my career.
One of the organizations of which I’m a longtime member and former board member is New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT). It’s my homebase for crew resources, inspiration, motivation and meeting forever friends. In NYWIFT we stay true to our mission of putting women to work in the industry and getting women’s stories told. One exciting new area of focus is Moms. And we have Tonya McCornell to thank for it.
Tonya McCornell is the founder of both The Moms Network for NYWIFT and the MOM Film Fest. Tonya describes herself as a Black single mother who launched a film festival “amid a time of racial turmoil and a global health pandemic.” Yes! She DID that! And as Tonya says, “MOM Film Fest is an initiative dedicated to elevating women tackling two enormous tasks at the same time—making movies and raising kids.”
Truth be told, films throughout the past century have had many moms on crews. Now is the time to acknowledge their unique abilities. We have to celebrate, nurture, cherish and allow them to challenge our views of what we thought we knew when Mama is on set. I know I have a lot to learn. And I welcome the education!
I’m thrilled for audiences to screen Tonya’s short film Trayvia as part of our month-long online showcase. The film a reflection through a female voice on a tough, tough subject. I watch it with a certain eye because working on this film was Tonya’s first time editing—and she rocks it! Join Tonya, a host of talented filmmakers—including a few moms—this Nov 15 – December 15 for Indie Fuxion Film Showcase on GFNTV.com. Please click here to RSVP! We’ll see you there! Happy Streaming!
Trayvia filmmaker Tonya McCornell