•   NYC Media, the official broadcast network for the City of New York, will debut new content under the banner Prism NYC. The series is a collection of programs documenting NYC history, kicking off with:
   ○  February 17: In the House: Van Cortlandt
   ○  February 24: In the House: Bowne House: Religious Freedom
   ○  March 3: History of Chinatown, Part 1
•    The network will also honor Black History Month with a series of Documentary specials, including:
   ○  Everlasting: Life and Legacy of Medgar Evers, Parts 1 & 2
   ○  Price of Silence: The Lasting Impact of Slavery in New Jersey
   ○  North to New York: The Great Migration in NY’s Capital Region
   ○  Riot: from Rebellion to Redemption
   ○  Raise Your Head Up: Freedom Colonies in America
   ○  Fuller Education
   ○  Backs Against the Wall: The Howard Thurman Story

•    More information on where and how to watch is available on the NYC Media website.

•   MOME is proud to support “Made in NY” productions, which film at least 75% of content in NYC, and employ hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and utilize small businesses. The “Made in NY” premieres in February include:

   ○  Thursday, Feb. 19 - The Night Agent (Netflix)

   ○  Monday, Feb. 23 - CIA (CBS)

•    The 14th Annual Winter Film Festival, dedicated to showcasing the diversity of voices in indie film, will feature 103 productions, half filmed by women and half by people of color, with filmmakers from 27 countries and 25% of films “Made in NY.”
•    The festival will include a free panel open to the public, Sustainable Filmmaking 101: Why It Matters and How to Get Started, on February 20th at 2:15pm, at the Regal Union Square, as part of MOME’s NYC Film Green Office Hours series.
•    For more information, please visit the Winter Film Festival website. 

•    The NYICFF curates the best new films for kids and families throughout NYC and provides young audiences with a look behind the scenes through screenings, filmmaker Q&As, an annual student showcase, and the FilmEd Field Trip program for NYC students grades K–8.
•    For more information, please visit the NYICFF website. 

•    The submission period for the eighth annual Public School Film Festival, presented by MOME and NYC Public Schools, has been extended for an additional week until February 13, 2026. The Public School Film Festival is available to all middle and high school students and designed to celebrate the diversity of student voices.

•    The festival will take place for the second year in a row at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens on March 25, 2026. The festival, open to students and families, will feature student film screenings and panels on everything from high school and college admissions to pre-professional programs.
•    For more information about the submission process, please visit MOME’s festival page here.

•    On Monday, January 12, Mayor Mamdani announced the appointment of Rafael Espinal as the Commissioner of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.
•    As Commissioner, Espinal will advance the Mamdani administration’s agenda to ensure New York City remains a place where artists and creatives can afford to live and work. Espinal will report to Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su.
•    Rafael Espinal is the current Executive Director of the Freelancers Union, where he has advanced the protections and rights of independent workers nationally. In 2019, there were 1.3 million freelancers — around 34% of the workforce — in New York City, many of whom work in the city’s creative industries. As Commissioner, Espinal will work closely with Mayor Zohran Mamdani to ensure that the workers who make up this industry can live in the city they have been so essential to creating. Previously, Espinal served on the New York City Council, representing Bushwick, Brownsville, Cypress Hills, and East New York. As a Council Member, he championed the rights and protections of artists and small businesses.

•    Current MOME Commissioner, Pat Swinney Kaufman, will be retiring after serving  30+ years working on both the State and City levels in the media and entertainment industries. She leaves behind a career spent advocating and working to make NYC a global production hub. The entire staff of MOME wishes her the best in her retirement.

•   As a leading global hub for digital games, MOME’s Associate Commissioner Alia Jones-Harvey attended this year's New York Game Awards, celebrating its 15th anniversary and presented by the NY Video Games Critics Circle.
•   Hosted by Reggie Fils-Aimé & Harold Goldberg, the awards honored the best games, creators, and storytellers this year, as well as the 30th anniversary of Pokemon.  
•   The New York Videogame Critics Circle (NYVGCC) is a nonprofit dedicated to advancing equity, opportunity, and creative workforce development for underserved and homeless youth, through educational courses in games, writing, and journalism rooted in social justice. The organization also provides STEAM and social-emotional learning, long-term mentorship, paid internships, and college scholarships to students.

•   A “Made in NY” production is identified when 75% of the filming takes place in NYC, which in turn helps to employ hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and utilize small businesses. MOME is proud to celebrate those productions who received Golden Globe awards this year, including:

•    PIX 11 1/9 - Minecraft goes from game to learning experience in NYC classrooms
•    Variety 1/12  - Zohran Mamdani Appoints Rafael Espinal to Lead New York City’s Media and Entertainment Office
•    Newsday 1/16 - Mamdani administration urges more film, TV production in NYC rather than locales like Long Island
•    Broadway World 1/16 - Winter Film Festival 2026 to Return for 14th Year in New York City

Follow the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment on social media for the latest on our upcoming events, initiatives, and programs: Twitter/X: @MadeinNY, Facebook: @MadeinNY, Instagram: @Madein_NY, Threads: @Madein_NY, and LinkedIn.

Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment
nyc.gov/mome

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