New York Women in Film and Television Scholarships

Overview

New York Women in Film and Television (NYWIFT) is a nonprofit professional organization founded in 1977 that advocates for women working in the entertainment industry. NYWIFT is one of the largest women's entertainment industry associations in the world, with approximately 1,500 members across producing, directing, writing, editing, cinematography, executive leadership, and other disciplines. The organization's Scholarship Fund was established in 1995 to support the next generation of women filmmakers, editors, cinematographers, animators, and other content producers.

NYWIFT administers scholarships through two distinct channels: institutional scholarships at seven New York area schools, and a national preservation scholarship open to students across the United States.

The institutional scholarships are awarded annually to undergraduate and second-year female film students at Brooklyn College, City College of New York, Columbia University, Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema (Brooklyn College), Hunter College, New York University, and Stony Brook Manhattan Center for Creative Writing and Film. In 2024, NYWIFT presented eight scholarships across these institutions. The scholarship amounts vary by institution and are determined in coordination with each school's financial aid office.

In 2025, NYWIFT added the Nancy Mysel Preservation Scholarship, a $5,000 annual award for an undergraduate or graduate student dedicated to audiovisual preservation. The scholarship is named after Nancy Mysel, who worked for 13 years at the UCLA Film and Television Archive as one of its leading film preservationists, collaborating with Martin Scorsese's Film Foundation, the National Film Preservation Foundation, and the Film Noir Foundation. The Mysel family funds the scholarship through a donation to NYWIFT.

NYWIFT also administers four completion funding grants for women filmmakers beyond the scholarship program: the Loreen Arbus Disability Awareness Grant, In-Kind Post Production Grants, the Nancy Malone Marketing and Promotion Grant, and the Ravenal Foundation Feature Film Grant. These are separate from the scholarship fund and target working filmmakers rather than students.

What It Covers

Institutional Scholarships:

• Cash scholarships awarded at seven New York area institutions: Brooklyn College, City College of New York, Columbia University, Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, Hunter College, NYU, and Stony Brook/Killer Films MFA in Film program
• Amounts vary by institution and year, typically ranging from $2,000 to $10,000
• All recipients are welcomed into NYWIFT's Next Wave membership program for emerging professionals, which provides access to NYWIFT events, screenings, panels, workshops, and networking programs
• Recipients are also honored at the Academy for Careers in Television and Film (TvF) through the NYWIFT Sabrina Wright-Gilliar Award

Nancy Mysel Preservation Scholarship (new in 2025):

• $5,000 annual cash award
• Open to undergraduate and graduate students dedicated to audiovisual preservation
• National in scope, not restricted to New York area schools
• Applications for the second cycle are open through April 17, 2026 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time

Eligibility

Institutional Scholarships

Eligibility for the institutional scholarships is determined jointly by NYWIFT and the partner school. General requirements include:

• Applicants must be women enrolled in or accepted to an accredited film, television, or digital media program at one of the seven partner institutions
• Open to undergraduate and graduate (typically second-year) students
• Applicants must demonstrate financial need, academic achievement, and a commitment to a career in the entertainment industry
• Students apply through their school's financial aid or film department, not directly through NYWIFT

Because the institutional scholarships are administered through the schools, applicants should contact their institution's film department or financial aid office for specific eligibility criteria, application materials, and deadlines. NYWIFT does not publish uniform application requirements across all seven institutions.

Nancy Mysel Preservation Scholarship

The preservation scholarship has published, specific eligibility requirements:

• Applicants must be undergraduate or graduate students dedicated to audiovisual preservation
• Must be a US citizen or permanent resident
• Must be currently living in the United States
• NYWIFT works with specific schools and organizations to identify candidates, including NYU, the L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation, UCLA, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Amsterdam, Central Michigan University, and the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA)
• However, the scholarship is not exclusively limited to students at these institutions

How to Apply

Institutional Scholarships

Students at the seven partner institutions should contact their school's film department or financial aid office for application instructions. Each school manages its own selection process in coordination with NYWIFT. There is no centralized NYWIFT application form for the institutional scholarships.

Nancy Mysel Preservation Scholarship

Applications are submitted directly to NYWIFT. All application materials must be submitted in PDF format and include:

• A cover letter addressed to NYWIFT's CEO, Cynthia Lopez
• A current resume
• An essay articulating the need for the grant, what the grant will be used for, the applicant's previous experience, interest in and dedication to preservation, and a description of how they plan to contribute to the preservation industry in the future

The deadline for the second cycle is Friday, April 17, 2026 by 11:59 PM Eastern Time. There is no application fee.

Notable Context

NYWIFT is part of a broader network of Women in Film chapters internationally. The organization's scholarship program is one of the few that specifically targets women at the student level in the New York area, where film and television production is a major economic sector. The addition of the preservation scholarship in 2025 reflects a growing industry focus on archival work and the preservation of women's contributions to film history.

The institutional scholarship model means that NYWIFT does not run a competitive open application process for most of its scholarships. Instead, the schools nominate or select recipients from their enrolled students. This reduces the applicant pool to students already admitted to these specific institutions, which include some of the most competitive film programs in the country. NYU Tisch, Columbia University, and the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema are all highly selective programs with their own admissions processes.

The 2024 scholarship recipients included students working across directing, writing, experimental documentary, and acting. One recipient, Rubing Zhang from NYU Tisch, was a Sundance Ignite x Adobe fellow and had a short narrative premiere at Outfest. Another, Claire Jamison from Feirstein, was an MFA candidate in directing. The scholarships tend to support students who are already building festival and industry credentials alongside their academic work.

Who Should Apply

Women studying at the seven partner institutions should contact their film department or financial aid office to learn about the NYWIFT scholarship application process at their school. Because the schools manage selection, the path to a NYWIFT institutional scholarship runs through the institution, not through a direct NYWIFT application.

Students dedicated to film and audiovisual preservation should apply directly to NYWIFT for the Nancy Mysel Preservation Scholarship. The $5,000 award and the national eligibility make this the most accessible NYWIFT scholarship for students outside the New York area. The application requires a cover letter, resume, and essay, with a deadline of April 17, 2026.

Women filmmakers seeking completion funding rather than student scholarships should look at NYWIFT's four grant programs: the Loreen Arbus Disability Awareness Grant, In-Kind Post Production Grants, Nancy Malone Marketing and Promotion Grant, and Ravenal Foundation Feature Film Grant. These target working filmmakers with projects in progress rather than students.

See Also

For understanding women's careers in film and building a professional network, see Independent Filmmaking. To plan your production budget and determine how scholarship or grant funding fits into your financing plan, use the Production Budget Calculator. For other scholarship opportunities for women in film, see Film Independent Project Involve and Berlinale Talents.