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Our signature film challenge

Expand your network while creating a polished short film in one weekend.

Accepted participants are placed on crews and work with women and nonbinary filmmakers in every role of production. It's FREE to apply and participate, and we provide cinema-quality equipment courtesy of our sponsors, production insurance, stipends to submit to film fests and more! 

The films made during the film challenge have been accepted into over 100 film festivals. More importantly, past participants careers accelerate after this program due to the connections they make during the challenge.

 

Sign up for email updates so you don't miss the next one! 

It's FREE to apply to and participate in the challenge!
We provide:

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Cinema-quality gear

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A new network

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Production insurance

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Orientations and training

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A complete crew

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A premiere screening

Thanks to our generous sponsors, the film challenge is free to apply to and participate in and each crew will be provided with complete cinema-quality gear packages. Our sponsors include:

Meet the Judges

While the film challenge itself is not a competition, we rely on the expertise of an outstanding panel of judges to help us select the participants for each film challenge. When you apply to the film challenge, your work is being seen by award-winning filmmakers! Here are just a few of the judges:

Anna Park

Born in South Korea, raised in Seoul and Philadelphia, Anna Sang Park immigrated to the U.S. when she was 8 years old. She is an award-winning director, writer and producer. Her short film trilogy, THE CHO STORIES, is centered around a Korean American family struggling with personal and financial loss in New York City. She is the co-founder of Veronique Films and a member of WGA East, Film Fatales, Alliance of Women Directors, Brown Girls Doc Mafia, The FilmmakeHERS and the PGA.

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Nancy Schreiber ASC was the fourth female ASC member; the first woman honored with the ASC President’s Award; and the first female gaffer in New York’s NABET Local 15. As director of photography, Schreiber earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Chain of Desire and an Emmy nomination for HBO’s The Celluloid Closet. She was named one of Variety’s 10 Cinematographers to Watch. She received the Kodak Vision Award for Women in Film and Best Cinematography at Sundance for My America.

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Danielle Eliska is an award-winning writer, filmmaker and producer from Detroit. She's the founder of a 3-tier multimedia production house-- A collaborative community creating opportunities in film, television, theatre, music + visual art with a focus on women, Black artists + artists of color. Danielle's 2019 film, Shield-- a three-time award winning short narrative-- received the 2019 inaugural grant for the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment and New York Foundation for the Arts.

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Annie Sundberg is an award-winning filmmaker based in New York City. Her films have been shortlisted for the Oscars and earned multiple Emmy and Peabody nominations among other honors. Her production company Break Thru Films is home to a variety of projects including multipart non-fiction series for Netflix, CNN and Sundance/AMC. Select filmography: RANKED (HBO 2022), REVERSING ROE (Netflix); MARATHON : THE PATRIOTS DAY BOMBING (HBO); and the narrative feature TULLY (HartSharp).

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​​Carmen Cabana is a cinematographer of Afro-Hispanic descent raised in Colombia and Venezuela. Her TV work includes the upcoming HBO Max and Bad Robot pilot DUSTER; Netflix's RESIDENT EVIL series; Marvel & Disney+ upcoming series MS. MARVEL; Hulu's HIGH FIDELITY; Lionsgate/Starz VIDA S1 and S2; Netflix's NARCOS S2; and Amazon's pilot LOS ANGELES. Her film work includes 25 independent features including Blumhouse/Amazon's NOCTURNE. She was recognized in Variety's "10 Cinematographers to Watch."

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Mahak Jiwani is a Manager of Scripted Content at Jigsaw Productions where she sources and develops compelling and diverse stories. Prior to Jigsaw, she worked as a producer and production coordinator on narrative and documentary films and has produced several short films around the world. Her film DARLING won the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film at Venice Film Festival, a first for a Pakistani film. She is a graduate of Columbia University’s Creative Producing program.

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Adrienne Stern Casting provides full casting services in both NY and LA for film, television, commercials, web, and theater. With over 20 years of entertainment industry experience, Adrienne Stern has assisted hundreds of clients in securing top talent for their projects. Her films have premiered at Sundance, Toronto, Cannes, Tribeca, Berlin, SXSW, Seattle and many other prominent film festivals, many taking home prestigious awards. Credits include "Broken English," and "Adrift in Manhattan."

Julia Kots

Julia's first feature film, Inez & Doug & Kira, is distributed by 1091 Pictures. Julia's award-winning short films have screened on PBS and dozens of festivals worldwide, including Slamdance, Cinequest, Woodstock, and Hamptons. Julia works as an editor for both narrative and documentary film and television. She emigrated as a refugee from Ukraine in 1989 and holds an MFA from Columbia Film School and a BA from Yale.

Numbers at a Glance

900

participants over the course of 5 challenges

100+

festivals our films have been accepted into

53%

of our participants are women of color

34%

of our participants identify as LGBTQ+

36 films with over 900 filmmakers!

Enjoy some behind the scenes footage of our past challenges as well as examples of the completed work and some press!

Nancy Schreiber, ASC, shares advice from decades of cinematography experience: full workshop

Nancy Schreiber, ASC, shares advice from decades of cinematography experience: full workshop

Cinematographer Nancy Schreiber, ASC, joined Women's Weekend Film Challenge (WWFC) for a Q&A and live cinematographer reel critique session as part of WWFC's virtual workshop series. Nancy shares her advice about finding work in the industry and working on digital. She talks about her best practices for working with directors. Plus, she discusses what screenwriters can do in the writing stage to best set up crews for success in the production stage. Want to be notified about our next virtual pay-what-you-can event? Sign up for the WWFC mailing list here: https://bit.ly/3baY6oS Special thank you to Jodi Savitz, Elisa Sousa, Laura Jansen, Jessica Tolliver, and Barbie Leung for sharing their reels during this workshop! ABOUT NANCY SCHREIBER, ASC Nancy Schreiber, ASC, was the fourth female ASC member and the first woman honored with the ASC President’s Award for her contribution to the art of cinematography and service to the industry. She paved the way as the first female gaffer in New York’s NABET Local 15. Schreiber was honored with the Best Dramatic Cinematography Award at Sundance for the film November, directed by Greg Harrison starring Courteney Cox. She also shared the Best Cinematography Award at Sundance for My America…Or Honk If You Love Buddah and she garnered an Emmy nomination for Best Cinematography on the acclaimed Celluloid Closet for HBO. In addition, Schreiber was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Chain of Desire and was recognized by Variety magazine as one of 10 DPs To Watch. Schreiber has photographed numerous films premiering at Sundance including: The Nines, for John August, with Ryan Reynolds, Melissa McCarthy, Hope Davis and Octavia Spencer; HBO’s Stranger Inside directed by Cheryl Dunye, Motherhood with Uma Thurman and Minnie Driver, and Loverboy directed by Kevin Bacon, with Kyra Sedgwick, Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon and Marissa Tomei. Schreiber’s work in television is currently being seen on Shondaland and ABC’s STATION 19. Previously her work was seen on ABC’s The Family with Joan Allen and Alison Pill, and the FX show, Better Things, starring Pamela Adlon. She also was the Director of Photography on the HBO series, The Comeback, with Lisa Kudrow and set the look for pilots such as In Plain Sight, for USA Network. ABOUT WOMEN'S WEEKEND FILM CHALLENGE Women's Weekend Film Challenge (WWFC) works for gender equity by creating opportunities for women to bring their leadership, talents, and stories to the forefront of the film industry. WWFC places professional filmmakers on crews to write, shoot and edit a short film in one weekend and provides top-of-the-line equipment, insurance and workshops. This career-building opportunity is free for participants. Since its first challenge in January 2018, WWFC has worked with over 700 women to produce 30 short films, which have been accepted to more than 90 festivals. This grassroots, bi-coastal movement combats the gender imbalance of the film industry by providing an intensive networking experience and telling women's stories on screen. As a response to COVID-19, WWFC launched a popular virtual workshop series featuring Hollywood powerhouses in every role of production, such as Elle Johnson (co-showrunner, "Self Made"), Kasi Lemmons (writer/director, "Harriet"), Catherine Hardwicke (director, "Twilight"), Alma Har'el (director, "Honey Boy"), DeMane Davis (showrunner, "Queen Sugar"), Leslye Headland (co-creator, "Russian Doll"), Terilyn Shropshire (editor, "The Old Guard"), Alice Wu (director, "The Half of It") and many more. Recently, WWFC launched a brand-new pilot accelerator designed both to help emerging writers advance their careers and to increase the representation of women and non-binary people in television. This program is geared toward writers with strong, completed pilot scripts who lack the industry connections to sell their series or break into the writers room. With the help of a panel of prestigious industry judges, WWFC selects 6-8 fellows to participate in a three-week intensive and have the opportunity to pitch to HBO, HBO Max, Netflix, Comedy Central, Warner Bros. Television, Berlanti Productions, Sid Gentle Films, Element Pictures, Broadway Video, Jax Media, Fabel, Tornante, Good Fear Content, Semi-Formal Productions and more.
Go behind the scenes as Women's Weekend Film Challenge launches in LA

Go behind the scenes as Women's Weekend Film Challenge launches in LA

In February 2020, Women's Weekend Film Challenge (WWFC) launched in Los Angeles, working with 180 professional filmmakers to produce 6 short films. The films premiered to an audience of 400 at ArcLight Hollywood. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the process of making a short film in just one weekend with a crew of total strangers! Shot and edited by Eden Martinez / sound by Ash Knowlton / produced by Tracy Sayre, Katrina Medoff, Eden Martinez, Ash Knowlton and Cory Choy ABOUT WOMEN'S WEEKEND FILM CHALLENGE Women's Weekend Film Challenge (WWFC) works for gender equity by creating opportunities for women to bring their leadership, talents, and stories to the forefront of the film industry. WWFC places professional filmmakers on crews to write, shoot and edit a short film in one weekend and provides top-of-the-line equipment, insurance and workshops. This career-building opportunity is free for participants. Since its first challenge in January 2018, WWFC has worked with over 700 women to produce 30 short films, which have been accepted to more than 80 festivals. This grassroots, bi-coastal movement combats the gender imbalance of the film industry by providing an intensive networking experience and telling women's stories on screen. As a response to COVID-19, Women's Weekend Film Challenge launched a donation-based virtual workshop series to bring career development and networking opportunities to filmmakers around the world. Workshop guests have included Alma Har'el, Kasi Lemmons, Karyn Kusama, Catherine Hardwicke, Stella Meghie, Elle Johnson, Mimi Leder and many more.

Our Los Angeles launch

After hosting three film challenges in New York City, we hosted our inaugural Los Angeles challenge in February 2020. During this LA challenge, we made 6 films with 180 professional female filmmakers, then premiered those films at ArcLight Hollywood on March 5, 2020.

Due to COVID-19, we have not yet resumed our in-person challenges. We will be announcing our next challenge via our email list and on social media.

Check out some press, film clips and statistics from our LA launch.