NYC Film & Acting Events Calendar
Find NYC film events, filmmaker Q&As, indie festivals, acting workshops, comedy, theatre, networking, and creative industry events — curated for New York's working entertainment scene.
Upcoming
- Jul9to Aug 1
Chain Theatre 2026 Summer One-Act Festival
One of the city's biggest one-act showcases — dozens of new short plays from working playwrights, directors, and actors. A real room to see new theater and the people making it.
Chain Theatre · midtown
Festivals · $24 advance, $27 door - Jul23to Aug 16
Broadway Bound Theatre Festival 2026
A developmental festival built to lower the cost of getting new theater made — dramaturgy, workshops, readings, and full productions of new plays and musicals.
AMT Theater · midtown
Festivals · $30–40 (varies by show) - Jul28
B&H Event Space: Video Editing for Different Platforms
Where your work plays changes how you cut it. A free B&H seminar on the export, caption, and framing calls that make video perform across platforms — Premiere, Final Cut, Resolve, or CapCut.
12:00 PM · B&H Event Space · hudson yards
Workshops · Free - Jul28
NYC Film Green Office Hours: Sustainability in VFX & Post-Production
The city's own media office on a corner of sustainability most crews never think about — the energy cost of VFX and post pipelines — with producers and studio founders who are actually changing how the work gets done.
5:30 PM · Online (Zoom)
Industry Panels · FreeRSVP - Jul28
Body Banter: Movement Workshop
Performers and writers live in their heads — a guided movement session to get back into the body and shake loose new ideas.
7:30 PM · Brooklyn Artery · ditmas park
Workshops · $22Hands-onRSVP - Jul28to Sep 8
NYC in Transit
The city's own transit system on the big screen across a century of film — from silent-era chases to gritty '70s New York — programmed by Film Forum, one of the last great repertory houses. A summer of essential NYC cinema.
Film Forum · west village
Festivals · $18 general, $12 members - Jul29
Acting & Theater Studies Class (NYPL)
A free, no-pressure room to actually get on your feet and act — ensemble games, scene study, and real feedback for beginning actors.
5:00 PM · George Bruce Library (NYPL) · harlem
Workshops · FreeHands-onRSVP - Jul29
Rooftop Films: Wild Inside (World Premiere)
A world premiere, free with RSVP, under the open sky — premieres are where indie filmmakers and audiences meet first, and this one's on the Great Hill.
7:30 PM · Central Park — Great Hill (Rooftop Films) · upper west side
Screenings with Q&A · FreeRSVP - Jul29
The Moth StorySLAM: Plot Twist
The best training ground in the city for telling a true story to a live crowd — put your name in the hat, or just watch people work a room.
8:00 PM · The Bell House · gowanus
Competitions & Challenges · $22.05Hands-on - Jul29to Aug 4
Silent Movie Week 2026
Seven newly restored silent classics — Keaton, Chaplin, Murnau, Ford — each with live music. A master class in what the camera could do before sound.
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) · midtown
Festivals · $14 adults, $10 students; free with museum admission - Jul30
TechConnect: Podcast Development Workshop
Making the episodes is half the job — a free session on where to post, what's free, and how to actually get your podcast heard.
10:30 AM · Allerton Library (NYPL) · allerton
Workshops · FreeHands-onRSVP - Jul30
Cyber Security for Freelancers
Your footage, scripts, contracts, and client list are your business — this free session covers keeping them safe, the unglamorous skill that keeps a freelance creative career running.
1:00 PM · Online
Workshops · FreeRSVP - Jul30
Hot Film Summer: The Art of the Pitch — Selling Television (Notes from Ni)
A television executive (Nicole Tossou, aka Notes from Ni) on pitching for today's streaming market — loglines, what execs actually want, and how to land a yes. Free.
1:00 PM · Online
Workshops · FreeRSVP - Jul30
NYPL Performing Arts Play Club: 1776 (In Person)
For people who read plays like others read novels — a free, low-key club to read and argue about dramatic writing, this time the musical 1776.
6:30 PM · NYPL for the Performing Arts — Harvey Fierstein Theatre Lab · lincoln square
Workshops · FreeHands-onRSVP - Jul30
Writers Workshop at Bryant Park: Fiction
A free fiction workshop in Bryant Park with novelist Susan Breen — grounded craft advice, then time to work on your own stories.
6:30 PM · Bryant Park (Reading Room) · midtown
Workshops · FreeHands-on - Jul30
Open Mic Night: Stories of Living in the In-Between
An open, welcoming mic for anyone in a moment of transition — bring a story, song, or piece to share, or just come to witness.
7:00 PM · Brooklyn Artery · ditmas park
Workshops · FreeShare your workHands-on - Jul30to Aug 16
Gene Frankel Theatre Play Festival 2026
Indie downtown theater all summer: a festival of new plays at the long-running Gene Frankel Theatre, with Onomatopoeia Theatre Company among the companies.
Gene Frankel Theatre · noho
Festivals · $28–106 - Jul31
Rooftop Films: New York Non-Fiction 2026
The city's documentary storytellers in one outdoor program — doc shorts are one of the most accessible on-ramps for a filmmaker, and Green-Wood is a singular place to watch them.
7:45 PM · Green-Wood Cemetery (Rooftop Films) · greenwood heights
Screenings with Q&A · $22 - Aug1
Rooftop Films: 2:1 by 2/3 — Computer Chess, sitrep & the Sony Tube Camera
A screening built around how format shapes story — early-video aesthetics and the Sony tube camera. For anyone who cares that the camera you choose is a creative decision, not just a technical one.
8:00 PM · The Old American Can Factory (Rooftop Films) · gowanus
Screenings with Q&A · $22 - Aug2
TRU Writer-Director Communications Lab 2026
The playwright-director relationship makes or breaks a production — this hands-on virtual lab lets you practice it before the stakes are real.
12:00 PM · Online
Workshops · $35–$100 (observers $45–$65)Share your workHands-onRSVP - Aug2
Muse Film Festival
Four new shorts, the directors in the room to answer for them, and a built-in intermission to grab a drink and actually meet people — a real get-seen-and-connect night in Williamsburg.
5:00 PM · Williamsburg Music Center · williamsburg
Screenings with Q&A · From $10 - Aug3
Reel Talks at Bryant Park: The Making of Rear Window
A free lunchtime talk on the making of Rear Window — drawn from the papers of Hitchcock, Jimmy Stewart, and Grace Kelly, with the collaborators' families.
12:30 PM · Bryant Park · midtown
Industry Panels · Free - Aug3
HARLEM WEEK / ImageNation: TCB — The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing
A documentary on the groundbreaking writer, filmmaker, and activist Toni Cade Bambara, with a panel featuring co-director Louis Massiah and Firelight Media's Loira Limbal — free, in Harlem.
6:00 PM · The Lee C. Bollinger Forum · harlem
Screenings with Q&A · Free - Aug3
HARLEM WEEK / ImageNation: When a Witness Recants
The NYC premiere of Dawn Porter's 'When a Witness Recants,' presented with Ta-Nehisi Coates, then a panel on justice and the power of storytelling — free, in Harlem.
6:00 PM · The Lee C. Bollinger Forum · harlem
Screenings with Q&A · Free - Aug5
The Moth StorySLAM: Bossy
The best training ground in the city for telling a true story to a live crowd — put your name in the hat, or just watch people work a room.
8:00 PM · The Bell House · gowanus
Competitions & Challenges · $22.05Hands-on - Aug5to Aug 9
Greenpoint Film Festival 2026
A not-for-profit indie fest built around upcoming filmmakers — five days of new work in Greenpoint, and a real room to meet the people making it.
Broadway Stages · greenpoint
Festivals · $22.05 per program · $50 day pass · $150 all-access - Aug6
Writers Workshop at Bryant Park: Writing Humor
A free outdoor workshop on writing humor with Gotham Writers president Alexander Steele — concrete tools for getting your reader to laugh, then time to write.
6:30 PM · Bryant Park (Reading Room) · midtown
Workshops · FreeHands-on - Aug6to Aug 23
The Little Shakespeare Festival 2026
Independent companies reinventing Shakespeare with casts of five or fewer, in a 45-seat East Village blackbox. Lean, experimental theater from artists doing it themselves.
UNDER St. Marks · east village
Festivals · $25 in-person, $20 streaming - Aug7
HARLEM WEEK / ImageNation: Prince Documentary + Soul Train Tribute
An outdoor screening of 'Mr. Nelson on the Northside,' the doc on Prince's Minneapolis beginnings, in a Soul Train tribute marking ten years since his passing — free in Marcus Garvey Park.
6:00 PM · Marcus Garvey Park — Richard Rodgers Amphitheater · harlem
Screenings with Q&A · Free - Aug7
Rooftop Films: Love is Strange — Romance Shorts 2026
A whole program of love stories told in minutes — a short, sharp study in how filmmakers build intimacy fast. Outdoors at Industry City.
7:00 PM · Industry City, Courtyard 5/6 (Rooftop Films) · sunset park
Screenings with Q&A · $22 - Aug7to Aug 15
Chain NYC Film Festival 2026
Indie film in themed blocks, each with a filmmaker talkback. Come to ask, not just watch.
Chain Theatre · midtown
Festivals · $13 advance, $15 doorQ&A - Aug7to Aug 9
48 Hour Film Project — New York 2026
A citywide sprint that forces you to actually finish something — and screens it for a packed house. Reps you can't get any other way.
Solas Bar · east village
Competitions & Challenges · From $158/team - Aug7to Aug 16
Festival of Cinema NYC 2026
A decade-strong indie fest in Queens built around independent shorts and features with filmmaker Q&As — an accessible festival that actually programs new work.
Regal UA Midway + multiple Queens venues · forest hills
Festivals · Passes not yet on sale — check the festival siteQ&A - Aug8
Summer on the Hudson: Shakespeare Workout
Get on your feet: a free outdoor session in the basics of acting and stage combat with Hudson Classical Theater Company. The reps that keep performers sharp between gigs. Ages 13+, register ahead.
3:00 PM · Soldiers' & Sailors' Monument, Riverside Park · upper west side
Workshops · FreeHands-onRSVP - Aug8
HARLEM WEEK / ImageNation: Black Anime K-Con Preview
A first look at the Black Anime K-Con festival (launching 2027) — DJs, dancers, and a screening of RZA's 'Wu-Tang Experience: Live at Red Rocks' — outdoors in Harlem.
6:00 PM · Marcus Garvey Park — Richard Rodgers Amphitheater · harlem
Screenings with Q&A · Free - Aug8
Rooftop Films: Sour Minnows
An indie feature under the open sky in Gowanus — a relaxed evening to catch new independent work and the crowd around it.
8:00 PM · The Old American Can Factory (Rooftop Films) · gowanus
Screenings with Q&A · $22 - Aug9
New Plaza Cinema Talk Back: Great Expectations (1946)
David Lean's Dickens is a masterclass in turning a novel into a movie — see how its shadows and cutting still teach filmmakers today, in an online talk.
4:00 PM · Online
Workshops · $5 suggested donationRSVP - Aug10
Reel Talks at Bryant Park: The World of Black Film
A free lunchtime talk with Criterion curatorial director Ashley Clark on a century of Black film — from the 1913 silent Lime Kiln Club Field Day to Steve McQueen's Blitz.
12:30 PM · Bryant Park · midtown
Industry Panels · Free - Aug10
The Moth StorySLAM: Schooled
The best training ground in the city for telling a true story to a live crowd — put your name in the hat, or just watch people work a room.
8:00 PM · The Bell House · gowanus
Competitions & Challenges · $22.05Hands-on - Aug11
B&H Event Space: Cinematic Portraits & Documentary Storytelling
Nat Geo/ESPN filmmaker Brett Garamella on building trust with subjects, shaping light with a portable kit, and making a creative life from the ground up — craft and career in one free talk.
4:00 PM · B&H Event Space · hudson yards
Industry Panels · Free - Aug12
HARLEM WEEK / ImageNation: The Gerald Barclay Residency
A day honoring filmmaker Gerald K. Barclay — screenings, artist conversations, and a 'Shooting the Clan' master class with Barclay and RZA. A rare craft session, not just a screening.
4:00 PM · The Lee C. Bollinger Forum · harlem
Screenings with Q&A · See harlemweek.orgHands-on - Aug13
B&H Event Space: Inside the Portrait — Lighting & Direction Masterclass
Lighting and directing a subject is a transferable skill across film, photo, and set — worth broadening into even if you're not crew. A free four-hour masterclass with photographer Rory Lewis and two pro models, camera in hand.
1:00 PM · B&H Event Space · hudson yards
Workshops · FreeHands-on - Aug13
Writers Workshop at Bryant Park: Personal Essay
A free outdoor workshop on the personal essay with Gotham dean of faculty Kelly Caldwell — strategies for getting your point of view across, then time to write among other writers.
6:30 PM · Bryant Park (Reading Room) · midtown
Workshops · FreeHands-on - Aug15
HARLEM WEEK / ImageNation Outdoor Film Festival
A free outdoor movie night on St. Nicholas Park's Great Lawn — a newly restored documentary on Black lives in punk rock. Bring a blanket and snacks.
7:30 PM · St. Nicholas Park — Great Lawn · harlem
Screenings with Q&A · Free - Aug17
Reel Talks at Bryant Park: How Kung Fu Movies Changed the World
A free lunchtime talk with bestselling author Grady Hendrix on how 1970s Hong Kong martial-arts movies blew up the box office and reshaped everything from Hollywood to hip hop.
12:30 PM · Bryant Park · midtown
Industry Panels · Free - Aug17
Rooftop Films: Dangerous Docs 2026 — States of Emergency
Nonfiction shorts taking on the moment, free with RSVP in Gansevoort Plaza — see how doc-makers turn current events into film, and meet the people doing it.
7:00 PM · Gansevoort Plaza (Rooftop Films) · meatpacking district
Screenings with Q&A · FreeRSVP - Aug18
Hot Film Summer: Navigating the Unknown (Sonder // Ruya)
A 90-minute live workshop with Esther Dere and Hanan Abdelaal on the mindset and craft of navigating the unknown — for filmmakers working through the uncertain middle of a project.
Online (Zoom)
Workshops · $37RSVP - Aug21
Rooftop Films: Rooftop Shots — Closing Night 2026
The summer's closing night — Rooftop's pick of standout shorts plus the crowd that makes the outdoor-film scene. The one to be at if you only make one.
7:45 PM · Green-Wood Cemetery (Rooftop Films) · greenwood heights
Screenings with Q&A · $25 - Aug24
Reel Talks at Bryant Park: Conversation on Eyes Wide Shut
A free lunchtime conversation on Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut with novelist and screenwriter Megan Abbott (Dare Me, The Turnout), hosted by author Scott Adlerberg.
12:30 PM · Bryant Park · midtown
Industry Panels · Free - Aug26
Pitch Perfectly: From Elevator Pitch to Pitch Deck
A film can live or die on the pitch — this online workshop takes you from logline to a deck that earns a yes from investors, grants, and festivals.
6:00 PM · Online
Workshops · $24.99–$71.19Hands-onRSVP - Aug26
The Moth StorySLAM: Serendipity
The best training ground in the city for telling a true story to a live crowd — put your name in the hat, or just watch people work a room.
8:00 PM · The Bell House · gowanus
Competitions & Challenges · $22.05Hands-on - Aug28
Rooftop Films: Trapped — Mind-Altering Shorts 2026
Shorts that push form and mess with your head — the program for filmmakers who experiment, and for seeing how far a short can go. Outdoors at Industry City.
7:00 PM · Industry City, Courtyard 5/6 (Rooftop Films) · sunset park
Screenings with Q&A · $22 - Sep2
The Moth StorySLAM: Pushed
The best training ground in the city for telling a true story to a live crowd — put your name in the hat, or just watch people work a room.
8:00 PM · The Bell House · gowanus
Competitions & Challenges · $22.05Hands-on - Sep16to Sep 17
The Future of Film is Female: Shorts Program 2026
A sharp, well-curated shorts night from an org that champions women and nonbinary directors — a real Brooklyn screening to see new short work and the people making it. Anyone can attend.
Nitehawk Cinema · williamsburg
Festivals · Ticketed - Sep25to Sep 27
Imagine This Women's International Film Festival 2026
A full festival built to get women filmmakers seen and connected — real screenings plus panels and workshops, not just a screening series. Open to any audience.
Regal Union Square · union square
Festivals · TicketedQ&A - Sep25to Oct 12
New York Film Festival (NYFF64)
The fall institution since 1963 — go for the films that set the year's conversation.
Film at Lincoln Center (Walter Reade Theater & Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center) · lincoln square
Festivals · TicketedQ&A - Oct7to Oct 11
Bushwick Film Festival 2026
Brooklyn's scrappy, community-rooted indie fest — 19 years of screenings, panels, and networking built for the borough's filmmakers.
Various Bushwick venues · bushwick
Festivals · Passes & tickets — see festival siteQ&A - Oct13to Oct 17
Architecture & Design Film Festival 2026 (ADFF:NY)
A niche most film calendars skip — documentaries on the built world, design, and the people who shape it, often with post-screening talks. Good for anyone whose work touches production design, space, or visual craft.
Village East by Angelika · east village
Festivals · Ticketed - Oct14to Oct 18
Chelsea Film Festival 2026
A well-run international indie fest in the heart of Manhattan — features, shorts, and the kind of Q&As and panels where you actually meet people.
Regal Union Square (expected) · union square
Festivals · Passes & tickets — see festival siteQ&A - Oct15to Oct 22
Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2026
One of the city's best genre festivals: bold new horror, a real filmmaking community, and a crowd that shows up. A strong room for anyone making genre work or looking to.
Nitehawk Cinema · williamsburg
Festivals · Ticketed - Oct23to Nov 5
The Workers Unite Film Festival 2026
A focused documentary festival with a clear point of view and real filmmaker presence. If you make social-issue or labor docs, this is your room.
Cinema Village · greenwich village
Festivals · Ticketed - Nov3to Nov 15
The Gotham Storytelling Festival 2026
A whole festival built around getting up and telling a true story well — and watching people who do it for real. For anyone working in narrative, from writers to performers to podcasters.
UNDER St. Marks · east village
Festivals · $25 per show - Nov6to Nov 12
Big Apple Film Festival 2026 (Fall Edition)
A long-running NYC indie fest at Cinema Village — features, shorts, and a screenplay competition, welcoming to first-time directors and writers.
Cinema Village · greenwich village
Festivals · Passes & tickets — see festival siteQ&A - Nov11to Nov 19
DOC NYC 2026
America's largest doc festival and a must for nonfiction filmmakers — premieres, panels, and industry access across the city, with an online extension.
IFC Center + Manhattan venues · greenwich village
Festivals · Passes & tickets — see festival siteQ&A - Nov13to Nov 16
Video Art & Experimental Film Festival 2026 (VAEFF)
A home for the experimental end of the medium — video art, essay films, and formal risk-taking. Rare programming, and a real community for artists working outside the mainstream.
Cinema Village · greenwich village
Festivals · Ticketed - Nov16to Nov 22
Dumbo Film Festival 2026
A small, well-run indie festival in one of Brooklyn's best settings. Close quarters with the filmmakers and a real community feel — good for getting seen and making connections.
Multiple venues in DUMBO · dumbo
Festivals · Ticketed - Jan16
Inner Frame Film Festival
Psychoanalytic shorts on the big screen, then a real conversation with the filmmakers, artists, and clinicians behind them.
7:30 PM · SVA Theatre · chelsea
Festivals · TicketedQ&A - Feb24to Feb 28
Winter Film Festival 2027
A midwinter indie showcase with 100+ films, panels, and a red-carpet awards night — a welcoming festival for independent voices.
Club 230 Fifth · nomad
Festivals · Passes & tickets — see festival siteQ&A