Fellow WIF.Dallas Members,

I have just had one of the richest experiences in my professional life at the WIFTI (Women In Film and Television International) Summit in Toronto. WIFTI is comprised of 37 WIF Chapters worldwide and over 10,000 members dedicated to advancing women in all areas of film, video and other screen-based media.

My trip was divided into two parts. First, there was a two-day WIFTI Board meeting. Eighteen women from Women In Film chapters in the United States and Europe met to discuss issues that included: programming, communicating, growing our membership and general organizational nuts and bolts issues. We shared success stories and challenges. We worked to plan for the future.

Our main goal is to serve all women in film members and create a stronger global network. By attending the WIFTI board meeting, Dallas has a stronger seat and more visible presence in the international Summit. I hope the information I bring home will open new and exciting opportunities for our chapter.

The second part of my trip was a 4-day WIFTI Summit where I continued to represent our chapter at events and gave a short speech about our chapter to the main body. During this time I attended professional workshops and seminars. I met hundreds of extraordinary, successful women in the film business—women who are running production agencies, film distribution companies, feature film and documentary producers, directors, animators, writers, film commissioners and entertainment lawyers. They were at the Summit to network with other women in the business, to attend workshops, to continue to educate themselves and to share information.

While the Summit was sponsored by WIFTI it was put on by the Women In Film Toronto Chapter. I can’t say enough good things about them. Never before have I met so many accomplished and gracious women of all ages in one place. Canada has an impressive film community because the country has invested in the film business with film incentives and film schools. It’s a country that has genuinely supported and nurtured the talents of women. We must explore how the new Texas incentives can help elevate the status of women in our business here at home.

Every WIF.Dallas member can access the same information I received in the workshops by logging onto www.wifti.org or www.wift.com. WIF GM paid to stream many of the important workshops.

They will be on the web for a year. This is a great advantage of being a member of WIF.Dallas and WIFTI. I urge you to take advantage of this special opportunity.

For the board I have brought back ideas and contacts that will help our chapter grow and develop in a way that will nurture and train our members as well as our organization.

For the membership: I feel there are new territories that Dallas is now connected to. I made many contacts and have resources that are available to members of WIF.Dallas. Three other members attended: Karen Johnson, Roslind Juko, and Caprice Swiercinsky. While we were only four, we were everywhere. When I mentioned I was from Dallas, I was told over and over again that there are so many women here from your chapter. I guess it was because we had 4 overachieving networkers.

If anyone has any questions, please email me or call me.

My Best,

Cynthia Salzman Mondell, WIFTI Representative