The Women In Media hosted a Black Carpet Genre Brunch and Panel to celebrate and honor five talented women for their outstanding achievements in the industry held at Taix French Restaurant on Sunday, June 23, 2019. The five ladies were each presented by a different Toast Master as Women In Media Executive Director Tema Staig moderated the conversation with the panel.
Amazon Original Movies Development Executive Brandon Harris praised Writer Emily Carmichael (Pacific Rim: Uprising, Jurassic World 3, The Adventures of Ledo and Ix). Carmichael was ecstatic, “Writing Jurassic is awesome! It’s fun collaborating with the director. If you like dinosaurs, Jurassic World 3 in 2021.”
Screenwriter, Producer, and Television Showrunner Justin Marks (The Jungle Book, Counterpart, Jungle Book 2) introduced Director Hanelle Culpepper (Star Trek: Picard, Supergirl, The Flash, Lucifer). Hanelle Culpepper is the first woman ever to direct any Star Trek episodes. “Today, so many women are getting that first shot. There are so many women to thank,” said Culpepper.
Editor Jonathan Alberts (Better Living Through Chemistry, Wristcutters: A Love Story, The OA) applauded Director Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian, Jessica Jones, Fear the Walking Dead, Mr. Robot). Chow expressed, “I’ve seen a lot of changes in the last 1.5 years as in diversity. For the first time, it’s a positive thing being an Asian woman. In collaboration, I look for people with different backgrounds that have interesting personalities and experiences.”
Supervising Sound Editor Greg Hedgepath (Straight Outta Compton, The Hunger Games, The Incredible Hulk) announced Supervising ADR and Dialogue Editor Bobbi Banks (Men in Black: International, Punisher: War Zone, Dead Presidents). Banks is a past President of the Motion Picture Sound Editors and the current Chair of A2020 Initiative Diversity/Inclusion at The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Banks emphasized, “It’s really important to mentor and bring young people up. It’s also about being more sensitive about unconscious bias.”
Set Decorator Danielle Berman (Aquaman, Furious 7, Iron Man 3, The Fate of the Furious, The Nice Guys) toasted Supervising Art Director Desma Murphy (Aquaman, Furious 7, Criminal Minds, Iron Man 3, The Fate of the Furious). Murphy was very proud of her work in Aquaman, “For Aquaman, I was to come in and design Italy. We ended up building the entire thing. I created this beautiful piazza and it was a dream.”
The brunch concluded with the announcement of the CAMERAderie Initiative finalists from Emmy winning Producer/CAMERAderie Producer & Women in Media’s Secretary Allison Vanore announcing the three finalists out of 139 script submissions. The three finalists for the CAMERAderie Initiative were Satinder Kaur for Blood & Glory, Aisha Ford for Cherry Lemonade, and Maritte Go for Illipino. The selected finalist projects will be produced and funded by Women In Media.
For future events and more information, please visit https://womennmedia.com/.
