NEW YORK(SMI-WIRE,12.14.17)The New York Women in Film & Television organization, held its 38th Annual Muse Awards Luncheon Gala this afternoon, honoring some of the most talented women in the entertainment industry: Laura Dern, Amy Emmerich, Judith Light, Julie Dash, Alysia Reiner, & Regina K. Scully, at the New York Hilton-Midtown Hotel, Manhattan in New York City.

The New York Women in Film & Television is a prominent entertainment industry association, that over 40 years has been focusing on gender equality & honoring some of the most talented women in the New York entertainment industry.

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The 38th Muse Awards Honorees:

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Laura Dern: An award winning American actress and producer who has starred in some of the most well-known films, including Jurassic Park, October Sky, Wild, and The Fault in Our Stars. Most recently, she won an Emmy award for the wildly popular HBO mini-series Big Little Lies. She will be appearing in the upcoming film, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the second film in the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

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Dern won the Golden Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film for the 1992 film Afterburn, and guest-starred in the 1997 " Puppy Episode "of the sitcom Ellen.

She went on to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting  Actress on Television for her portrayal of Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris in the 2008 TV film Recount , and the 2012 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy Series for her role as Amy Jellicoe in HBO's Enlightened. A six-time Emmy nominee, she won the 2017 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding  Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her role as Renata Klein in the HBO miniseries Big Little Lies.

 

Amy Emmerich, currently the Chief Content Officer at Refinery29 where she launched their video business which includes the critically acclaimed series Strangers, the Webby-award winning mini-series The Skinny as well as their Shatterbox Anthology film series, which was created to cultivate and spotlight the voices of women directors, telling stories outside the narrow lens of this overwhelmingly male-dominated industry. In addition to her success at Refinery29, Emmerich has won multiple Emmy awards for the powerful documentary Translating Genocide, as well as her work on MTV’s Made. 

 

Judith Light, a two-time Tony Award winning actress and producer. Light has starred in highly successful television shows including Amazon Prime's Golden Globe winning series Transparent, One Life to Live, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Ugly Betty, Who’s The Boss? and on Broadway in Lombardi, Other Desert Cities, The Assembled Parties, Wit, and more. Light has won two Daytime Emmy awards and has been nominated for Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice awards, among countless others.

 

Regina Scully:

Received the 12th annual Loreen Arbus Changemaker Award. Scully is an Emmy/Peabody Award-winning and Academy-nominated film producer. Her documentary films include The Invisible War, Fed Up, Miss Representation and The Hunting Ground, among others. A social justice filmmaker and philanthropist, Scully has produced over 125 films that educate, advocate and inspire transformation in our culture. Her films address some of the most challenging social issues of our time and have catalyzed positive change in legislation, education and behavioral norms.

 

Julie Dash:  Recipient of The Nancy Malone Directing Award. This award was created to honor an outstanding female director in film, television, and/or digital media each year.

Dash has written and directed five feature length narrative films including Love Song, Funny Valentines, Incognito, The Rosa Parks Story, Daughters of the Dust, as well as part of the Subway Stories: Tales From the Underground HBO anthology feature; television commercials and documentary films. In addition to her work with television films, Dash has also directed episodes of television shows such as Women: Stories of Passion and Sax Cantor Riff. Currently, Dash is one of the directors working on the second season of Ava DuVernay’s Queen Sugar.

 

Alysia Reiner: Received the" Made in NY Award " in recognition of her multifaceted career in film and television – both on camera and off. Established in 2006, the Made in NY Awards celebrate excellence in New York City's creative community, and recognize the achievements of individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the City's entertainment and digital media industries.

 Alysia Reiner is an American actress and producer. Reiner is best known for playing Natalie "Fig" Figueroa in the Netflix comedy drama series, Orange Is the New Black (2013–2017) for which she won a SAG award for her role as part of the ensemble cast.

Reiner starred in and produced the financial drama, EQUITY, which was bought at Sundance by Sony Pictures Classics and was released nationwide. It is now being developed into a TV series by Tri-Star and ABC. Reiner has appeared in several off-Broadway plays and won an Obie Award for her performance in An Oak Tree. In Sideways, the critically acclaimed comedy-drama film, Reiner played Christine Ergarian, where she won her first ensemble cast SAG award. She plays D.A. Wendy Parks in the Abc crime-legal drama TV series, How to Get Away with Murder and Sunny in the F/X comedy Better Things.

In 2016, she also appeared in Season 4 of Master of Sex on Showtime, as Lilian Izikoff on Rosewood, and Fiona in Michael Showalter's TBS series Search Party.

 

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The event was hosted by actress & CBS Commentator Nancy Giles and notable attendees included from: Simone Pero (NYWIFT President), Terry Lawler ( NYWIFT Executive Director ),Alysia Reiner (American Actress), Amy Emmerich (Chief Content Officer, Refinery 29),Judith Light ( Actress & Producer ), Julie DAsh (Film Director & Producer), Laura Dern (Actress & Producer), Regina K. Scully (Producer ), Barbara Rosenblat (Actress ),Carmen Carrera ( Model & Actress), Christine Vachon (Producer ), Emily Robinson (Actress, Transparent ), Kathy Hochul ( New York Lieutenant Governor), Lauren Velez (Actress, How to Get Away with Murder), Madame Secretary), Marisa Tomei (Actress, "The Big Short"), Marisol Alcantara

(NY State Senator), Rachel Holder (Director) & Sheila Nevins(Head of HBO Documentary Films).