Lynette Howell Taylor, Sara Murphy, and Nastasya Popov ’13 Join the 15th Annual Archer Film Festival
The student-led panel will explore how women are redefining authorship, leadership, and creative influence across the film industry.
Los Angeles, CA (April 14, 2026) — Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences President Lynette Howell Taylor, 2026 Academy Award-winning producer Sara Murphy, and 2025 SXSW filmmaker Nastasya Popov ’13 will speak to students, aspiring filmmakers, and cinephiles of all ages at the 15th annual Archer Film Festival on Friday, April 17, 2027. The event will take place at 6:00 p.m. at the Pacific Design Center’s Silver Screen Theater.
The panel’s theme, “Women Behind the Camera: Shifting Power in Film,” will not only examine how power is evolving in the entertainment industry, but how these three powerful filmmakers and industry leaders are actively reshaping the stories we tell and the systems that bring them to life.
The Archer Film Festival, organized and led by students, celebrates films where women are a central creative voice, whether behind the camera or in front. It seeks to empower female filmmakers, amplify the voices of those often overlooked in the industry, and advance the art form by inviting teen artists from around the world to share their work with the Los Angeles community. Event sponsors include Boardwalk Pictures, Warner Bros. Television, Mark Gordon Pictures, The Kennedy/Marshall Company, Paramount, Campfire Studios, Apache Digital, and Jack Tar Pictures.
Lynette Howell Taylor currently serves as the President of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Most recently, Howell Taylor produced The Accountant 2, starring Ben Affleck for Amazon/MGM, and Roofman, directed by Derek Cianfrance and starring Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst for Paramount Pictures. Both films were released theatrically in 2025. Howell Taylor’s other film producing credits include the Academy Award-nominated film A Star Is Born, The Accountant, Big Eyes, The Place Beyond The Pines, Half Nelson, and Blue Valentine. Howell Taylor served as Executive Producer on the HBO Emmy-nominated limited series I Know This Much Is True and produced the 2020 Academy Awards. She is a member of Women in Film, a Reframe Ambassador, a Sundance Creative Producers Advisor, and a founder of the Horizon Award.
Sara Murphy is a film and television producer who most recently released One Battle After Another, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, for which she won the 2026 Academy Award for Best Picture. Murphy also produced Licorice Pizza, nominated for Academy Awards including Best Picture, and Never Rarely Sometimes Always, which premiered at Sundance and Berlin and earned seven Independent Spirit Award nominations. Other credits include Grammy-nominated ANIMA, starring Thom Yorke, and Barry Jenkins' If Beale Street Could Talk, an Oscar-nominated film that won Best Picture at the Independent Spirit Awards. A two-time John Cassavetes Award nominee, Murphy won for Land Ho!. Other projects include If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, which premiered at Sundance and Berlin, and The History of Sound, which premiered at Cannes and Telluride.
Nastasya Popov is a director and writer whose breakout feature, Idiotka, was acquired by Utopia following its world premiere at SXSW 2025, where it was praised as a hilarious and winning debut. The film stars Anna Baryshnikov, Camila Mendes, Julia Fox, Benito Skinner, Owen Thiele, and Saweetie. Nastasya’s documentaries and shorts have played at the Palm Springs and Hamptons International Film Festivals and more, and have won numerous awards. Nastasya holds a B.A. in Creative Nonfiction and Slavic Literature from Northwestern University and was the recipient of a Gilman Scholarship to study screenwriting abroad at FAMU in Prague. An alum of The Archer School for Girls, Popov was a founding member of the Archer Film Festival.
Following the panel, the festival will screen a selection of finalist films. This year, the festival received over 300 student-produced film submissions from over 50 countries worldwide. More information can be found at the Archer Film Festival website: archerfilmfestival.org
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The Archer School for Girls nurtures the fearlessness, compassion, and resilience girls need to pursue their brilliance. Backed by research and supported by expert faculty, Archer prepares girls to become confident, ethical leaders in the 21st century. Archer was founded in 1995 by three visionary women who believed that girls thrive in an environment of their own. Thirty years later, its tremendous growth to 500 students on a seven-acre historic Sunset Boulevard campus is a testament to its role as a model of the girls’ school renaissance.
For more information, follow The Archer School for Girls on LinkedIn and Instagram @archerschoolforgirls or visit archer.org.
The Archer School for Girls admits students of any race, color, religion, national and ethnic origin, sexual orientation or other legally protected status to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national and ethnic origin, sexual orientation or other legally protected status in its hiring or in the administration of its educational policies and programs, admissions policies, financial aid programs or other school-administered programs.
The Archer School for Girls’ mission is to educate students in an environment specifically designed for girls. As such, the school will consider any candidate for admission who identifies as a girl. Once admitted to Archer, all students in good academic standing who abide by Archer’s code of conduct and who meet requirements for graduation will be eligible to receive an Archer diploma, regardless of any change in sexual identity or other legally protected status.
