Leslie Cohen is Senior Vice President of Content Acquisitions for WarnerMedia, HBO/HBOMAX responsible for acquiring films from major studios, independent suppliers, international partners, and Latin content-including films, concerts, comedy specials, and series. In addition to the staple of film content for the platform, Leslie acquires artist-forward films for Warnermedia’s 150 such as Academy Award Winning Drive My Car. Leslie is currently Executive Producer on the 150 project Brownsville Bred, winner of the Audience Award at SXSW 2022 as well as a producer on HBO Latino’s Habla series.
J.D. Dillard has established himself as a director and writer to watch, with an extraordinary ability to captivate audiences through authentic yet innovative storytelling. Dillard’s next big screen endeavor is the highly-anticipated historical war epic DEVOTION, which Sony Pictures will release domestically in October 2022. The film stars Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell as Jesse Brown and Tom Hudner, a pair of U.S. Navy pilots who risked their lives during the Korean War and became some of the Navy’s most celebrated wingmen. Dillard directs the deeply personal feature from a script written by Jake Crane and Jonathan Stewart, based on the book by Adam Makos.
Karen Horne is Senior Vice President, Equity and Inclusion, Programs, WarnerMedia. As a senior executive with over 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry, she has been recognized as a Diversity and Inclusion pioneer and pipeline builder. Since coming to WarnerMedia in March of 2020, Horne has been involved in creating and implementing multiple pipeline programs that aim to amplify the voices of underrepresented communities. These programs give talented individuals, who would otherwise not have the opportunity, access to the entertainment industry to showcase their talent. She has brought expertise gained from her career to create cohesive programs, ranging from entry-level to mid-career, that service the entire enterprise. These programs support expansion in areas that have not traditionally been serviced (i.e., virtual production, games, news and sports, animation, comedy, etc.).
Kellyn Smith Kenny is the Chief Marketing and Growth Officer at AT&T where she is responsible for deepening customer relationships, accelerating growth, and elevating AT&T’s premium position. Over the past several years, AT&T has launched groundbreaking programs with the NBA, WNBA, Tribeca Festival, #SeeHer, Cloud9 and more to underscore the importance of representation and to elevate underrepresented voices. Kellyn is passionate about the role brands play in reflecting and promoting diversity, and honored to help select this year’s winner of AT&T Presents: Untold Stories.
DeWanda Wise is a critically acclaimed American actor and filmmaker. Wise will make her blockbuster debut this Summer starring as Kayla Watts in “Jurassic World Dominion,“ followed by the highly anticipated Showtime adaptation of Lisa Taddeo’s “Three Women” in the Fall. Addition credits include her first leading role in ABC’s “Firelight,” her breakout role as Nola Darling in the Netflix adaption of "She's Gotta Have It,” hit comedy “Someone Great” by Jenn Kaytin Robinson, and playing Swan opposite Kevin Hart in the Sony/Netflix film “Fatherhood” among others. Select stage credits include Atlantic Theater Company's "Fireflies," originating the roles of 'Nina' in Dominique Morisseau's "Sunset Baby,” and ‘Mercy’ in “Flight,” directed by Liesl Tommy, David Mamet’s “Race,” and "In the Continuum.”cAn Ambassador for NAMI, DeWanda is committed to reducing mental health stigma, and systemic change towards accessible care for all.x
Rosanna Arquette has worked with world renown directors including Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, John Sayles, Luc Besson, David Cronenberg, Hal Ashby, Allison Anders, and many more. Rosanna can most recently be seen in Showtime's THE L WORD: GENERATION Q and Ryan Murphy's Netflix series RATCHED alongside Sarah Paulson. She also played the female lead in the movie ETRUSCAN SMILE produced by Academy Award winner Arthur Cohn starring alongside Brian Cox. Rosanna has just completed a movie that Eleanor Coppola has directed alongside Rita Wilson entitled LOVE IS LOVE IS LOVE. Rosanna is in the feature film HOLY LANDS with Jonathan Rhys Meyers for Studio Canal. In addition, she was one the leads on the YouTube Originals series SIDESWIPED with Carly Craig in which Jason Sudeikis produced. She also did an arc of episodes on the critically acclaimed Showtime series RAY DONOVAN starring Liev Schreiber and another arc on the HBO Lena Dunham series GIRLS. She has starred in many critically acclaimed movies such as PULP FICTION, DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN, SILVERADO, BABY IT’S YOU, and AFTER HOURS to mention a few.
Lucy Boynton is a dazzling talent whose affable poise and enigmatic performances are making an indelible mark across entertainment. Boynton will next be seen in Fox Searchlight’s CHEVALIER. Directed by Stephen Williams and opposite Kelvin Harrison Jr., Boynton will play Marie Antoinette. She will also be seen in Scott Cooper’s THE PALE BLUE EYE for Netflix, opposite Christian Bale and Harry Melling. Release dates for either film have yet to be announced. Currently, Boynton can be seen in BritBox’s three-part series WHY DIDN’T THEY ASK EVANS?, opposite Will Poulter and directed by Hugh Laurie as well as the ITV produced, AMC + acquired THE IPCRESS FILE alongside Joe Cole and Tom Hollander. Boynton made her acting debut as a young Beatrix Potter in Chris Noonan’s MISS POTTER, for which she received a nomination for Best Supporting Young Actress in a Feature Film at the Young Artist Awards and marked her breakthrough role as the female lead in John Carney’s SING STREET. In 2018, Boynton starred alongside Rami Malek in the Golden Globe Award-winning BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY. Additional credits include Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series, THE POLITICIAN, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, directed by Oscar-nominated Kenneth Branagh and Danny Strong’s REBEL IN THE RYE.
Edwards has starred in many features, including his memorable turn as "Goose" in the blockbuster feature Top Gun. Other feature film credits include: Motherhood, Flipped, Zodiac, Thunderbirds, Forgotten, Playing By Heart, The Client, Miracle Mile, Mr. North, Hawks, Pet Semetary II, Delta Heat, Landslide, The Sure Thing, Gotcha, Revenge of the Nerds, Heart Like a Wheel, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Edwards recently starred in both the Apple + series WeCrashed and the Netflix mini-series Inventing Anna, created by Shonda Rhimes. Other television credits include Law and Order True Crimes: the Menendez Murders, Zero Hour, Girls, Blue Bloods, Billions, Northern Exposure. He also starred in the series, It Takes Two, opposite Richard Crenna, Patty Duke, and Helen Hunt as well as the telefilms In Cold Blood, El Diablo, Hometown Boy Makes Good, Going for the Gold: The Bill Johnson Story, High School USA and The Killing of Randy Webster. Edwards made his feature directing debut with My Dead Boyfriend in 2016. He also directed several episodes of ER. Edwards was an Executive Producer of the HBO biopic Temple Grandin, which won multiple Emmys and Golden Globes.
Niki Karimi is a self-taught visual artist best known for her works as filmmaker, writer , photographer, actress and producer. She is recognized as a pioneer for young generations and female filmmakers in Iranian Cinema. She began working in cinema from age 18. She worked with Abbas Kiarostami from 1996 to 2005 as his assistant, camera operator and actress. Her performance in the film "Sara" garnered critical acclaim and she was awarded best actress at the San Sebastian Film Festival and the Nantes Film Festival. She has been nominated for several acting awards at other festivals and holds 60 acting credits. In 2001, she began her career as a filmmaker creating a documentary entitled "To Have Or Not To Have". In 2005 she made her feature film directorial debut with her film entitled "One Night" which screened at Cannes Film Festival. She followed her directorial debut with "A Few Days Later" which premiered at the Rome Film Festival. Other films of hers such as “Final Whistle'' and “Night Shift” also screened at acclaimed film festivals around the globe. Her most recent film “Atabai” was nominated in five sections at Fajr Film Festival including the Asia Pacific Screen Award, as well as screening at the Cambridge Film Festival.
Azazel Jacobs was raised within the blocks of the Tribeca Film Festival, where his 2017 film “The Lovers” had its world premiere before its successful release by A24. His most recent film, “French Exit”, was released by Sony Picture Classics in 2020 and earned a Golden Globe nomination for its lead actress, Michelle Pfeiffer. Other film credits are “Terri” and “Momma’s Man”, and TV credits include the acclaimed “Doll & Em”, “Mozart In The Jungle”, and an upcoming animated children's show, “Fables”, narrated by Rickey Gervais.
Academy Award nominee Anne Archer has had a successful film career and can most recently be seen in Hulu's THE DROPOUT. Anne has starred in such films as PATRIOT GAMES, CLEAR & PRSENT DANGER, THE ART OF WAR, GHOST OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST, Robert Altman’s Short Cuts and most notably, FATAL ATTRACTION for which she was nominated for a BAFTA and a Golden Globe. Anne was also recently seen in Showtime's THE L WORD. In addition to Film & Television, Anne is also an accomplished theater actress who starred in a successful run of THE TRIAL OF JANE FONDA at London’s Park Theatre and has supported and produced independent cinema such as THE SQUEEZE.
Oge Egbuonu is a multi-disciplinary artist. As an award winning filmmaker, writer, actor and thought leader, her work is focused on innovative storytelling which includes creating and directing the VOTE 2020 campaign for Levi’s as well as there global campaign “The Beauty of Becoming” and her directorial debut documentary (In)Visible Portraits which was acquired by Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) and premiered on March 2, 2021. Prior to creating (In)Visible Portraits, Oge produced films like LOVING (Oscar nominated film starring Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga about Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court case which legalized interracial marriage in the United States) and EYE IN THE SKY at the independent production company Raindog Films alongside co-founders Ged Doherty and Academy Award®-winning actor Colin Firth. Oge also previously held a seat on the board of the Diversity Committee for the BRIT Awards, where she collaborated on revamping the voting academy and tackling diversity and inclusivity within the music and film industries.
Aidan Quinn has starred in more than 50 feature films including Desperately Seeking Susan, Stakeout, The Playboys, Avalon, Benny and Joon, Legends of the Fall, Michael Collins, Practical Magic, Songcatcher (Special Jury Prize at Sundance) and most recently Blacklight. In Ireland he starred in This is My Father (IFTA nom. for Best Actor), Song for a Raggy Boy (IFTA nom. for Best Actor), Return to Sender (IFTA Nom. for Best Actor) and Conor McPherson's The Eclipse for which he won the IFTA award. His television credits include the ground breaking AIDS drama An Early Frost (Emmy nom. for Best Actor), Empire Falls, Weeds, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (Emmy nom.), Elementary, Law & Order: SVU and the currently streaming The American Guest (HBO Max) in a terrific starring performance as Theodore Roosevelt. Aidan started his career on stage in Chicago and starred on Broadway in A Streetcar Named Desire and Off-Broadway in Sam Shepherd's Fool for Love and Lie of the Mind. Most recently he starred in Horton Foote's The Young Man From Atlanta at the Signature Theatre.
Rose Troche is an award-winning writer, director and producer in film, television and new media. Her features include the queer classic, Go Fish, Bedrooms and Hallways and the Safety of Objects. Her extensive work in television includes, Six Feet Under, Shameless, The L Word (where she served as writer, director and co-EP), Vida, Ginny & Georgia and many others. Her work in the VR space include the Perspective Chapters: One and Two, IfNotLove and most recently, We Live Here. Her most recent feature, My Fake Boyfriend will be released this summer.
An original Saturday Night Live writer, Alan Zweibel is a five-time Emmy Award winner who created classic material for Gilda Radner, John Belushi, and all the Not Ready for Primetime Players. From SNL, he went on to become a major force in such landmark TV series as It's Garry Shandling’s Show (which he co-created and produced) and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Most recently, he co-wrote and produced the feature film Here Today with Billy Crystal (who also directs and stars with Tiffany Haddish). Theatrical contributions include his collaboration with Crystal on the Tony Award-winning 700 Sundays, Martin Short’s Broadway hit Fame Becomes Me, and six off-Broadway plays, including Bunny Bunny — Gilda Radner: A Sort of Love Story, which he adapted from his best-selling book. Zweibel is the author of 11 books, including his cultural memoir, Laugh Lines: My Life Helping Funny People Be Funnier and the Thurber Prize-winning novel, The Other Shulman.
A two-time Sundance film festival director, Dawn Porter has emerged in the entertainment industry as a leader in the art of storytelling; directing and producing critically acclaimed projects that have impacted generations of people from all walks of life. Credits include Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry’s documentary series on mental illness and mental well-being, the 2022 NAACP Image Award-nominated “Rise Again: Tulsa and the Red Summer” (National Geographic) Emmy® Award-nominated documentaries, “The Way I See It” (Focus Features) and “John Lewis: Good Trouble” (CNN, Magnolia Pictures) and HBO’s critically acclaimed Gideon’s Army.
Nanfu Wang is an award-winning Chinese filmmaker based in the U.S. She is a recipient of the 2020 MacArthur Genius Grant. Her feature documentaries include Hooligan Sparrow (Sundance 2016), I Am Another You (SXSW 2017, Special Jury Prize winner), One Child Nation (Sundance 2019, Grand Jury Prize Winner), and In the Same Breath (Sundance 2021). In her films, Wang creates intimate character studies that examine the impact of authoritarian governance, corruption, and lack of accountability on the lives of individuals and the well-being of communities. With the rigor of an investigative journalist and immersive, emotionally powerful storytelling, Wang interrogates notions of responsibility, freedom, and truth.
Winter entered the business with co-starring roles on Broadway in THE KING & I and PETER PAN and came to prominence in movies such as Warner Bros' hit THE LOST BOYS and the BILL & TED franchise. As a filmmaker, Winter's narrative features include the cult classic FREAKED and the critically acclaimed FEVER, which screened in the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes. Recent feature documentaries are SHOWBIZ KIDS, which garnered a Critics Choice nomination for Best Score and ZAPPA, a Critics Pick in the New York Times and nominated for Best Music Documentary by the Critics Choice Awards. The anticipated third installment in the Bill & Ted franchise, BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC, opened in 2020 as the number one movie in the U.S. Previous documentary work includes award-winners THE PANAMA PAPERS, DEEP WEB and DOWNLOADED. Winter's next documentary, THE YOUTUBE EFFECT, premieres at Tribeca.
Since 2016, Penelope Bartlett has worked with the Criterion Collection and is currently the director of programming for their streaming service, The Criterion Channel. She previously held positions at the Chicago International Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival (!) and the Glasgow Film Festival. She was also the director of programming for the 2016 Palm Springs Shortfest, and was a programmer and writer for the website shortoftheweek.com. She has also produced several short films, and served on juries and panels at festivals around the world.
Carlos A. Gutiérrez is co-founding executive director of Cinema Tropical, the media arts non-profit organization, which is the leading presenter of Latin American cinema in the U.S. As a guest curator, he has presented several series at numerous institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, Film at Lincoln Center, the Guggenheim Museum, Film at BAM, and Anthology Film Archives. In 2007, he co-curated the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar and currently serves as artistic director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Latin Wave film festival and as co-director of Cinema Tucsón. He sits in Film Forum’s Board of Directors and has served as a juror for various film festivals including Mar del Plata, New Orleans, Morelia, Seattle, and SANFIC. He has served as both expert nominator and panelist for the Sundance Documentary Fund, Tribeca Film Institute’s Latin America Media Arts Fund, and the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative.
Debra Winger was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in An Officer and a Gentleman, Terms of Endearment and Shadowlands. Films include Cannery Row, Urban Cowboy and Mike’s Murder with mentor & director James Bridges, Bernardo Bertolucci’s Sheltering Sky; Leap of Faith; Wilder Napalm; Forget Paris, Radio, A Dangerous Woman, and Betrayed directed by Costa Gavras. She also produced and starred in Big Bad Love written and directed by Arliss Howard. Debra was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Jonathan Damme’s Rachel Getting Married and starred in Azazel Jacobs film The Lovers with Tracy Letts. She was the subject of a 2003 documentary Searching for Debra Winger, and produced the documentary Gasland which was nominated for an Academy Award and helped ban hydro-fracking in the state of New York. Television includes HBO’s Sometimes in April & In Treatment, Steve Conrad’s Patriot and Ultra City Smiths; and Joseph Gordon Levitt’s Apple+ series Mr. Corman. Simon and Shuster published her first collection of essays entitled undiscovered in 2010.
Lisa D’Apolito is an Emmy nominated director/producer and former actress. She directed the documentary Love, Gilda - the story of the beloved comedian Gilda Radner. Lisa is currently in post-production on Shari & Lambchop - the magical life of Shari Lewis and her sidekick puppet friends and Pyuniverse -the world of prolific cult director Albert Pyun. Lisa is also adapting Gilda Radner’s recently discovered short stories into a narrative comedy film. Her entertainment company 3 Faces Films is dedicated to exploring intimate stories of unsung heroes through documentary, commercials and narrative films.
After 12+ years at ESPN Films, Libby Geist moved to Words + Pictures as the Executive Vice President, Documentaries in 2021. The award-winning producer is tapping into her deep unscripted roots to develop, produce and finance docs and docuseries across all genres. At ESPN, Geist garnered numerous awards including three Peabodys and executive produced groundbreaking projects including The Last Dance, 30 for 30, and O.J.: Made in America, which won an Academy Award in 2017. She also launched 30 for 30 Podcasts, created Nine for IX, and helped launch ESPN+.
A New York award-winning documentary filmmaker and impact strategist, Sabrina Schmidt Gordon is the producer of QUEST, a New York Times “Critic’s Pick” and has been nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards, a Peabody, and two Emmys. Her directing debut was the Emmy-nominated “BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez” won the Best Film Directed by a Woman of Color award at the African Diaspora International Film Festival. She the co-producer and editor of DOCUMENTED, the story of Pulitzer Prize-winning undocumented journalist, Jose Antonio Vargas. She also produces and edits for The New York Times, The Atlantic, New York Magazine, and Frontline.
LISA ADDARIO is a writer/director. She, with husband Joe Syracuse, has co-written and directed three indie features. LOVER GIRL (Allison Anders’ prod), premiered at TIFF in 1998. Follow up AMATEUR NIGHT is a sex comedy about the couple’s early years in LA. DEAR DICTATOR, based on Addario & Syracuse’s Blacklist script, stars Sir Michael Caine, Katie Holmes and Odeya Rush. Lisa’s award-winning documentary short, LOVE NONNIE, inspired by her centenarian grandmother, can be seen on NY Magazine's The Cut. As a screenwriter, Addario co-wrote Sony’s animated hit SURF’S UP, as well as PARENTAL GUIDANCE, starring Billy Crystal and Bette Midler. She is currently writing PLANT LIFE for Warner Brothers Animation. Her passion project is SCISSOR HAPPY, a script on her childhood growing up with hairdresser parents in the 80’s. It is being produced by Shannon McIntosh (ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, Sony/ Amazon's CINDERELLA).
Golden Globe nominee Pam Grier was discovered by director Jack Hill, who cast her in his women in prison films “The Big Doll House” (1971), and “The Big Bird Cage” (1972). In the early 1970s she became a staple in blaxploitation movies, playing big, bold, assertive women, beginning with Jack Hill's “Coffy” (1973) and was the first African-American female to headline an action film. Grier subsequently played similar characters in “Foxy Brown” (1974), “Friday Foster,” and “Sheba, Baby” (both 1975). She appeared in Sam Shepard’s play “Fool for Love'' and won an NAACP Award for Best Actress in a Play. She went on to win Best Actress Awards for “Frankie and Johnnie” and the Claire De Lune, “The Piano Lesson” by August Wilson. In the late 1990s Grier was a cast member of the Showtime series “Linc's.” She again appeared in the title role of Quentin Tarantino's “Jackie Brown,” a film that partly paid homage to her '70s blaxploitation movies. Between 2004-2009, Pam appeared in the Showtime series “The L Word” and recurred in “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' and “Smallville.” Recently, she performed in the NBC hit drama “This is Us.” She can also be seen starring opposite Diane Keaton, Jacki Weaver, and Rhea Perlman in the feature film “Poms.” Pam is currently starring in the series “Bless This Mess” for ABC premiering this Spring. Additionally, her memoir “Foxy: My Life In Three Parts” is currently being developed into a miniseries.
Amandla Stenberg is one of the most sought-after artists of her generation. Stenberg first gained recognition for her role as Rue in Lionsgate’s THE HUNGER GAMES which earned her an NAACP Image Award and a Black Reel Award in 2013. In 2017, Stenberg starred in EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING, which won Choice Drama Movie at the 2017 Teen Choice Awards. Stenberg also won the 2018 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture. She then garnered international praise as the star of the 2018 film THE HATE U GIVE, after which she co-presented at the Academy Awards alongside civil rights activist John Lewis.
Mara Brock Akil has written and produced nearly 400 episodes of television, truly leaving her mark on Hollywood. Groundbreaking in many ways, Akil created the seminal television series Girlfriends in 2000. During its 8-season stint on air, it was one of the highest-rated scripted shows among African-Americans ages 18-34, and upon it’s 2020 release on Netflix continues to be a fan favorite. Additionally, Akil developed the spin-off series The Game, which premiered in 2006 and continued on for a total of 9 seasons, earning praise throughout its run for its verisimilitude. In 2013, Akil developed her first one-hour drama, BET’s Being Mary Jane, further cementing her ability to tell powerful and engaging stories that speak to women through honest, true-to-life reflections. Unquestionably, Akil’s work put BET scripted series on the map for the first time ever with back-to-back hits gleaning such large audiences. Akil has continued that legacy and passion through her most recent projects, including The CW’s Black Lightning and OWN’s Love Is__.
JUNOT DÍAZ is the author of the critically acclaimed Drown; The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (both Riverhead), which won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award; and This Is How You Lose Her, a New York Times bestseller and National Book Award finalist. His first picture book, Islandborn, (Dial) was a New York Times Bestseller and won the CLASP Américas Award 2019.
Joshua Marston is a Brooklyn-based independent filmmaker and television director. His first film, Maria Full of Grace, won the Audience Award at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, the New York Film Critics Circle award for Best First Film and the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. His second film, The Forgiveness of Blood (available on the Criterion Collection), premiered at the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival, where it was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay. His most recent film, Come Sunday (starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Martin Sheen, Jason Segel and Danny Glover) premiered on Netflix in April of 2018 after having its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2019, Marston was Writer and Producer-Director for the seventh season of Showtime’s Ray Donovan, and was nominated for the Writer’s Guild Award for Best Episodic Drama Screenplay for his work on the show. In addition, he directed the Coney Island section of New York I Love You, starring Cloris Leachman and Eli Wallach, and has directed episodes of The Newsroom, Six Feet Under, American Crime, Law & Order, In Treatment, and The Good Wife. He is a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship (2014) and earned an MA in Political Science from the University of Chicago as well as an MFA in filmmaking from New York University.
Kathrine Narducci's most recent role went viral portraying , '' The Mother #ucking G'' on Euphoria. She is also notably known for her performances in The Sopranos, Godfather Of Harlem and Power. Kathrine was first discovered by Robert De Niro when he sought her out to play his wife in A Bronx Tale. Her other film credits include Martin Scorsese's The Irishman, Clint Eastwood's Jersey Boys, Barry Levinson's The Wizard Of Lies and Bad Education, opposite Hugh Jackman. Ms. Narducci is also a member of the Actor's Studio.
Executive Producer for MTV Documentary Films, Sheila Nevins served as president of HBO Documentary Films and Family Programming, making her responsible for development and production of more than 1500 programs. She has received 32 Primetime Emmy® Awards, 35 News and Documentary Emmys and 42 George Foster Peabody Awards. A New York Times best-selling author, Nevins has been honored with numerous prestigious career achievement awards and inducted into Broadcasting & Cable’s Hall of Fame. She has garnered an IDA Career Achievement Award and the New York Women in Film & Television Muse Award for Outstanding Vision & Achievement.
Sara Bernstein is an award-winning producer and Co-President of Imagine Documentaries, the prolific documentary arm of Imagine Entertainment, overseeing the development and production of premium documentary feature films and series. Bernstein has garnered 10 Emmy wins, 29 Emmy nominations and 11 Peabody Awards, and the documentary features she has supervised have garnered two Oscars and 13 Oscar nominations. Recent projects Bernstein has produced or executive produced include We Feed People (Natgeo/Disney+), Leave No Trace (ABC/HULU), Downfall: The Case Against Boeing (Netflix), Lucy & Desi (Amazon), Julia (Sony Pictures Classics), Coded: The Hidden Love of J.C. Leyendecker (MTV Doc Films), Paper & Glue (MSNBC Films), Gossip (Showtime), DADS (Apple TV+), Rebuilding Paradise (National Geographic Documentary Films), On Pointe (Disney+), We Are the Brooklyn Saints (Netflix), Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel and Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer (Netflix).
Arianna Bocco is the President of IFC Films. Previously, she has spent over a decade overseeing acquisitions for IFC Films and IFC Midnight, the multi-platform film distribution labels owned and operated by AMC Networks, Inc. Throughout her tenure, she has acquired 800+ films for the company, including some of the most revered independent films of the last decade. Prior to IFC Films, Arianna was head of the independent feature packaging division of the Gersh Agency, and previously, she worked at Miramax Films as SVP of Acquisitions. Before Miramax, Arianna was VP of Acquisitions and Co-Production at New Line Cinema and Fine Line Features. Arianna began her career at ICM and The Steve Tisch Company after earning her Bachelor of Arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College. She is a member of AMPAS and BAFTA NY, currently serving as the Board Vice Chair. She currently resides in New Jersey with her dog Henry.
A.J. Jacobs is an author, journalist, lecturer and human guinea pig. He has written four New York Times bestsellers that combine memoir, science, humor and a dash of self-help. Among his books are The Year of Living Biblically, in which he followed the hundreds of rules of the Bible as literally as possible, and Thanks a Thousand, in which he travels the globe to thank everyone who had even the slightest role in making his morning cup of coffee. He has contributed to NPR, The New York Times, and Esquire, among others. He has given several TED talks, including ones about creating a one-world family, and living healthily that have amassed over 10 million views. He lives in New York City with his wife and three sons. He was the answer to 1 Down in the March 8, 2014 New York Times crossword puzzle.
Academy Award nominated actress, Amy Ryan, is well-known for her work on the big and small screen alike, as well as her Tony-nominated work on stage. Ryan recently wrapped a starring role opposite Joaquin Phoenix in writer/director Ari Aster’s DISAPPOINTMENT BLVD for A24. She was last seen starring opposite Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez in Hulu’s ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING and received a SAG award nomination for best comedy ensemble. Some notable film credits include: WORTH, BIRDMAN, CLEAR HISTORY (all with Michael Keaton), LOST GIRLS, LATE NIGHT, STRANGE BUT TRUE, GONE BABY GONE, BRIDGE OF SPIES, WIN WIN, JACK GOES BOATING, CAPOTE, GREEN ZONE, BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE, and KEANE. Television credits include: THE WIRE, THE OFFICE, IN TREATMENT, BROAD CITY and HIGH MAINTENANCE. Her work onstage earned two Tony nominations for A Streetcar Named Desire and Uncle Vanya, and an OBIE award for her performance in Love, Love, Love. Her work at Playwrights Horizons includes On The Mountain and Lisa D’Amour’s critically-acclaimed play Detroit, directed by Anne Kauffman at Playwrights Horizons.
Shane Smith is Director of Programming at Hot Docs, North America's largest Festival and Market for documentary film. Smith previously worked at the Toronto International Film Festival as director of Special Projects, and director of Public Programs. Prior to TIFF he was Executive Producer, In-Flight Entertainment at Spafax, Director of Programming at Channel Zero Inc, Director CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival, Short Film Programmer for Sundance Film Festival, Programmer for Inside Out LGBT Film Festival. Smith has participated on juries and panels at festivals and events around the world.
Roxane Gay’s writing appears in Best American Mystery Stories 2014, Best American Short Stories 2012, Best Sex Writing 2012, A Public Space, McSweeney’s, Tin House, Oxford American, American Short Fiction, Virginia Quarterly Review, and many others. She is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. She is the author of the books Ayiti, An Untamed State, the New York Times bestselling Bad Feminist, the nationally bestselling Difficult Women and the New York Times bestselling Hunger. She is also the author of World of Wakanda for Marvel. She has several books forthcoming and is also at work on television and film projects. She also has a newsletter, The Audacity.
Born in Cali, Colombia, Liliana Maria (Lily) Percy Ruiz immigrated to Miami with her family at the age of four. She has worked as an associate editor at MovieMaker magazine, and as a producer for StoryCorps and NPR’s “All Things Considered” on the weekends, where she produced the series “Movies I’ve Seen A Million Times.” In 2012, she received the Religion Newswriters Association Radio/Podcast Religion Report of the Year Award for her profile of four Roman Catholic Womenpriests. Lily was one of the founding team of four of the On Being Project, where she was the Executive Producer of On Being Studios, and produced the national public radio show and podcast, On Being with Krista Tippett, as well as created the podcasts Poetry Unbound and This Movie Changed Me, which she also hosted. Lily is currently the Head of Production at Gimlet Media, a part of Spotify Studios.
Avery Trufelman is an alumna of the design podcast 99% Invisible, and the creator of its spinoff show Articles of Interest. She has also created and hosted the podcasts for The Cut and Curbed, from New York Magazine.
Jane Coaston is the host of the New York Times podcast "The Argument" and the author of a weekly subscribers-only newsletter for the times. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband.
Josh Dean is an author, journalist, podcast host and the co-founder of Campside Media, the narrative non-fiction podcast studio behind such critically acclaimed hits as Chameleon, Suspect, Fallen Angel, and Hooked. He is the co-creator and host of three audio documentaries — The Clearing, Chameleon: Hollywood Con Queen, and Hooked, which was a finalist in the Podcast of the Year category at this year’s Podcast Academy Awards. In his role as an Executive Producer at Campside, Dean also oversees numerous limited series hosted by other journalists, as well as the company’s global podcast and filmed documentary efforts. He has written two books (with a third underway) and is a longtime contributor to numerous national magazines. Josh lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two sons.
Rachel Ghiazza joined Audible in 2019 as SVP for Content Acquisition and Development and became EVP, Head of US Content in 2020. Prior to Audible, Rachel was at Spotify where she held a variety of roles including leading the Global Content Experiences team and was a key contributor to Spotify’s global growth and success. Rachel also held leadership roles in the Content teams at Viacom and Yahoo!. She has a background in information systems and broad experience in content strategy, development, and acquisition for music, video, TV and podcasts. She has an MBA from the University of Southern California.
Anna Sale is the creator and host of the interview podcast Death, Sex & Money from WNYC Studios about "the things we think about a lot and need to talk about more." She’s also the author of the book Let's Talk About Hard Things and lives in Berkeley.
Manoush Zomorodi is the host of TED Radio Hour. She is a journalist, podcaster and media entrepreneur, and her work reflects her passion for investigating how technology and business are transforming humanity. Zomorodi is a co-founder of Stable Genius Productions and is the co-host and co-creator of ZigZag, the business podcast about being human. She also created, hosted, and was managing editor of the podcast Note to Self in partnership with WNYC Studios, which was named Best Tech Podcast of 2017 by The Academy of Podcasters. Prior to her time at WNYC, Zomorodi reported and produced around the world for BBC News and Thomson Reuters, including a few years in Berlin.
N(ora). K. Jemisin is a New York Times-bestselling author of speculative fiction short stories and novels, who lives and writes in Brooklyn, NY. In 2018, she became the first author to win three Best Novel Hugos in a row. She has also won a Nebula Award, two Locus Awards, and is a recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship. Her short fiction has been published in pro markets such as Clarkesworld, Tor.com, WIRED, and Popular Science; semipro markets such as Ideomancer and Abyss & Apex; and podcast markets and print anthologies. Her novels, a novella, and two short story collections are out now from Orbit Books. Her novels are represented by Lucienne Diver of the Knight Agency. She is an emeritus member of the Altered Fluid writing group. In addition to writing, she has been a counseling psychologist and educator, a hiker and biker, and a political/feminist/anti-racist blogger. Although she no longer pens the New York Times Book Review science fiction and fantasy column called “Otherworldly” (which she covered for 3 years), her reviews can still be found online.
GARY WHITTA is the former Editor-in-Chief of PC Gamer magazine and now an award-winning screenwriter best known for THE BOOK OF ELI and ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY. He also wrote several episodes of the television series STAR WARS REBELS, and was writer and story consultant on Telltale Games’ THE WALKING DEAD, for which he received a BAFTA award for Best Story. His most recent project, BATMAN: FORTRESS, an original eight-part series for DC Comics, debuts in May.
Kiki Wolfkill leads 343 Industries’ transmedia and entertainment efforts. She is an Executive Producer on the recently released television series HALO on Paramount+ in partnership with Amblin Entertainment and Showtime. As a passionate storyteller both in and out of games, Kiki brings together her production background and her creative leadership to deliver on expanded storytelling and experiences in Halo’s expansive universe. Kiki joined 343 Industries in 2009 as Executive Producer and was responsible for building the internal “Halo 4” game team and shipping “Halo 4.” An industry veteran of over 20 years, Kiki’s career in games began in the visual arts, where she was the Director of Art of Microsoft Studios. Her past credits include the Project Gotham Racing and Forza Motorsport franchises, as well as classics like Fable, Crackdown, Gears of War, and Mass Effect. In 2013, Kiki was named one of the 10 Most Powerful Women in Gaming by Fortune Magazine, one of Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business in 2017, and one of the 50 Most Influential Women in Seattle by Seattle MET magazine in 2018.
Global Chief Content Officer, Mediabrands
Brendan Gaul is one of the world’s foremost leaders in advertising and entertainment. His recent producing projects include the 2021 TribecaX Best Feature winner, Dear Santa, distributed by IFC Films which Gaul produced for USPS and 5B for Johnson & Johnson. The latter, which was co-directed by Academy Award nominee Dan Krauss and Oscar winner Paul Haggis, and distributed by Verizon Media/RYOT Films, was the first branded feature to ever earn, and to date, maintain a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score as well as premiere as an Official Selection at Festival de Cannes. Gaul also serves as Global President of Mediabrands’ new indie development and production entity, TRAVERSE32.
Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy & Development - Adobe
Ann Lewnes is Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy & Development of Adobe, one of the largest and most diversified software companies in the world. Ann has held the position of Adobe CMO for over a decade. Under her leadership, the Adobe brand has become synonymous with creativity, digital marketing and the design and development of transformative digital experiences. In addition to its consistent focus on creativity, Adobe’s marketing organization pioneered the company’s shift to digital — deploying advanced digital marketing technology, establishing an insight-driven culture, and setting a template for marketing’s impact on business. As EVP of Corporate Strategy & Development, Ann also leads Adobe’s corporate strategy and strategic M&A efforts globally. Prior to Adobe, Ann spent 20 years building the iconic Intel Inside brand as VP of Marketing. Ann has been named one of the world’s most influential CMOs by Forbes and one of the most innovative CMOs by Business Insider. The American Advertising Foundation elected her into its Hall of Achievement. In 2019, Ann was inducted into the American Marketing Association’s Hall of Fame. In 2020, she received the New York Women in Communications Matrix Award. Ann received her B.A. in Political Science and Journalism from Lehigh University, where she sits on the Board of Trustees. She also currently serves on the boards of Mattel and Sundance Institute. Believing everyone has a story to tell, Ann is a strong advocate for empowering diverse creators, including women, youth and other under-represented groups.
Chief Marketing & Communications Officer and President, Healthcare, Mastercard
Raja Rajamannar is leading Mastercard’s innovative marketing transformation, including the development of its Priceless experiential platforms and the creation and deployment of cutting-edge marketing-led business models. He continues to evolve the brand’s identity, pioneering Mastercard’s transition to a symbol brand and launching its breakthrough sonic architecture. Raja serves as President of the World Federation of Advertisers. In 2021, he was listed in the Top 5 of Forbes’ World’s Most Influential CMOs and named Adweek’s Grand Brand Genius. He is among Business Insider’s Top 25 World’s Most Innovative CMOs and was recognized as the Association of National Advertisers Educational Foundation’s Marketer of the Year. He is the author of the Wall Street Journal best-selling book “Quantum Marketing.”
Executive Vice President, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Pfizer Inc.
As Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Sally Susman leads engagement with all of Pfizer’s external stakeholders overseeing communications, corporate responsibility, global policy, government relations, investor relations and patient advocacy. She also serves as vice chair of The Pfizer Foundation. Before joining Pfizer in 2007, Susman held several senior communications and government relations roles at Estée Lauder and American Express. Earlier in her career, she spent eight years on Capitol Hill focused on international trade issues and was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs in the Clinton Administration. Currently, Susman serves as co-chair of The International Rescue Committee, one of the world's largest humanitarian aid organizations, and on the board of WPP, the U.K.-based global advertising and marketing company. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2021, Forbes named Susman one of the World’s Most Influential CMOs for leading Pfizer’s brand refresh and shaping the narrative around the company’s Covid-19 vaccine.
VP, Global Brand Marketing and Creative - Indeed
Jennifer Warren is Vice President of Global Brand Marketing and Creative at Indeed, responsible for growing Indeed’s brand leadership position globally. She has held this position for over 4 years. She is most proud of being a part of Indeed’s mission in Helping All People get jobs, and her team’s work in amplifying their mission and values to champion inclusive hiring. Last year, Fast Company recognized Indeed as a Brand that Matters, and they were listed on Fortune’s list of Brands that are Changing the World. Prior to Indeed, Jennifer is a three-time CMO who started her career on the advertising side where she found her passion in developing and growing purpose based brands, and saw the impact of great creativity. She has used that experience to lead 2 successful SuperBowl campaigns: RadioShack’s "The 80's Called" which was ranked among USA Today’s Ad Meter’s Top 5 SuperBowl Ads; and Indeed’s “The Rising” which was one of 3 SuperBowl Ads receiving Ad Age’s 5 Star Review and won Twitter’s SuperBowl Audible award for the associated #NowHiring social campaign. Jennifer has received the notable ANA Hall of Achievement award; is an Ad Age Woman to Watch; and is a Top CMO for creativity recipient awarded by the The CMO Club.
Myriam Achard is the voice and face of PHI internationally. Her mission is twofold: to promote the development of local and international artistic avant-garde, while paving the way for new creators. Since 2006, she has worked with Phoebe Greenberg to promote PHI's creative impulse, driven by an ambitious message: to develop and promote artistic innovation in the world. Thanks to its efforts, the group today occupies a prominent place in the artistic avant-garde, both as producer and distributor. PHI exports its creative impulse to three continents, from New York to Tokyo, via Venice. As head of new media partnerships and public relations, Myriam Achard travels the world in search of the most innovative and immersive works in order to present them in Montreal.
Antoine Cayrol is a French producer with 15 years of experience in the production of immersive works, transmedia documentaries, short films, music videos and high-end commercials. He is the co-founder of Atlas V, a company that specialises in the development, production and distribution of virtual, augmented and mixed reality works. Some of their award-winning projects are Gloomy Eyes starring Colin Farrell (Annecy Cristal 2019, SXSW best narrative 2019), Spheres starring Jessica Chastain (Venice International Film Festival Grand Prize 2018) and Vestige (Peabody Award 2019). Further ground-breaking XR works produced by Antoine with his previous company, Okio Studio, include I, Philip (2016) and Alteration (Sitges audience award 2017). Antoine was also the founder and CEO of Fatcat Films, a company he sold to the audiovisual group Première Heure. He completed a master's degree in Communication and Media and another in Literary and Artistic Intellectual Property Law.
Ingrid Kopp is a co-founder of Electric South in South Africa, a non-profit working with interdisciplinary artists across the Africa to develop, produce and distribute immersive work. In this role, she produces and facilitates an annual residential lab, and is an executive producer on award winning VR projects, including The Other Dakar, Le Lac, Azibuye – The Ocupation, and Container. Along with MIT’s Open DocLab and Dot Connector Studio, she produces Immerse, a monthly publication on emerging nonfiction storytelling. Until 2020 Ingrid curated the Tribeca Storyscapes program for interactive and immersive work at the Tribeca Film Festival. Before moving back to South Africa in 2015 Ingrid was director of the Interactive Department at the Tribeca Film Institute. She started her career at Channel 4 Television in the UK.
Shariffa Chelimo Ali, born in Kenya and raised in South Africa, is an international creative leader, director, and academic committed to advancing radical change through the power of art and activism. As a filmmaker, Shariffa's works have been featured at acclaimed film/VR festivals & institutions worldwide including Sundance Film Festival (USA); Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art (South Africa); Brooklyn Film Festival (USA); Pan African Film Festival (USA); Electric Africa VR festival (South Africa) and DOK Neuland (Germany). As a theatre artist and academic Shariffa has taught at NYU, Brooklyn College, Yale University and Princeton University. Past theatre productions include Eclipsed, Detroit '67, Intimate Apparel, We Are Proud to Present...and an original new musical called We Were Everywhere. In 2022 Shariffa was named Elizabeth M. Swayzee Artist in Residence at Miami University where she will be curating the inaugural Black Roots Festival in the spring of 2022.
Yasmin Elayat is an Emmy-award winning immersive director and Co-Founder at Scatter. Scatter is recognized for pioneering Volumetric Filmmaking through its original volumetric film productions and it's AR/VR creativity tools. Scatter’s first product Depthkit is the most widely used toolkit for accessible volumetric video capture. Yasmin directed the Emmy award-winning Zero Days VR (Sundance 2017) a documentary about cyber warfare and the Stuxnet virus, which won the Emmy for Original Approaches: Documentary. Yasmin also co-directed Blackout (Tribeca 2017) and 18DaysInEgypt, which was lauded as one the Moments of Innovation in Participatory Documentary. Yasmin is a co-director of the upcoming The Changing Same trilogy, a Rada Studio and Scatter co-production. Episode 1 premiered at Sundance 2021 and won “Best Immersive Narrative” at Tribeca Film Festival 2021. Yasmin’s work has won multiple awards and exhibited at various festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, SIGGRAPH, Festival de Cannes, and the World Economic Forum.
Amy Zimmerman is an executive producer and entrepreneur focussed on the intersection of new technology, storytelling and environmental conservation. Amy founded and developed the Unity for Humanity grant, program and summit at Unity Technologies which supports creators and their impact driven technology. Her championing of changemaking, real-time 3D content has advanced many immersive projects and technologies worldwide. As mentor, spokesperson and producer for the immersive industry, Amy fosters many collaborations and partnerships that amplify positive community and environmental impact for creator’s work. Her current XR installation is on exhibit and in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution. When she has a moment, you can find her sailing the Pacific or on her alpaca farm in the woods of the Pacific Northwest.
Jessica Alba is a Golden Globe Award-nominated actress, advocate, bestselling author, and Founder of The Honest Company and Honest Beauty. Jessica gained worldwide recognition in James Cameron’s “Dark Angel,” and she has made over 25 feature films that have earned a combined box office total of over $800 million, including “Fantastic Four” and “Sin City.” She is Founder of The Honest Company, is a mission-driven, digitally-native brand focused on leading the clean lifestyle movement, creating a community for conscious consumers and seeking to disrupt multiple consumer product categories. Since its launch in 2012, Honest has been dedicated to creating thoughtfully formulated, safe and effective personal care, beauty, baby and household products. She is on the board of directors of Baby2Baby, which provides low-income children and families with diapers, clothing and basic necessities every child deserves.
Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Darren Aronofsky was born and raised in Brooklyn. Aronofsky heads Protozoa Pictures based in Chinatown NYC. He is currently in post on the upcoming A24 film “The Whale” starring Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, and Samantha Morton. Aronofsky wrote and directed 2017’s “mother!” starring Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem. Before that, Aronofsky made the 2014 box office hit “Noah” starring Russell Crowe, Anthony Hopkins, and Jennifer Connelly. In 2010, Aronofsky received a Best Director Academy Award® nomination for his indie box office phenomenon “Black Swan” starring Natalie Portman, who won a Best Actress Academy Award for her performance. 2008’s "The Wrestler" starring Mickey Rourke won the Golden Lion for the best film at the Venice Film Festival. Previous to that were the acclaimed and award-winning films “The Fountain” (2006), “Requiem for a Dream” (2000), and “π” (1998).
As an actor, Daryl Hannah has created several of the most iconic characters in some of the most beloved and enduring movies of the last several decades: beginning with the indelible classic, Blade Runner, to Splash, Roxanne, Wall Street, Steel Magnolias and both Kill Bill I and II. Daryl is also a writer, director and producer, making both documentaries and narrative films. Throughout her life Daryl Hannah has been a passionate, committed and effective activist and an advocate for a more ethical relationship with each other and all the biodiverse forms of life on Earth.
Dr. Marvel uses climate models, observations, paleoclimate reconstructions, and basic theory to study climate change. Her work has identified human influences on present-day cloud cover, rainfall patterns, and drought risk. She is also interested in future climate changes, particularly climate feedback processes and the planet's sensitivity to increased carbon dioxide. Dr. Marvel teaches in Columbia's MA in Climate and Society Program and writes the "Hot Planet" column for Scientific American. Named one of "15 Women Who Will Save the World" by Time Magazine, she has been profiled by the New York Times and Rolling Stone, and her 2017 TED talk has been viewed over one million times. Before becoming a climate scientist, she received a PhD in theoretical particle physics from Cambridge University, where she was a Gates scholar.
Kathryn Murdoch is the Co-founder and President of the Quadrivium Foundation, which supports powerful, evidence-based solutions for critical societal problems. Kathryn serves on the boards of Unite America, the Climate Leadership Council, SciLine, and the Environmental Defense Fund.