For Immediate Release – July 20, 2021
GreenLight Women Redefines Antiquated Notions of Aging in Hollywood
NETWORK WITH THE PROS Academy® and Emmy® Award-winning filmmakers, writers, top media executives and more participate in timely panel discussions
Panel discussions set for Wednesday, July 28 from 7pm- 9pm PDT on ZOOM.
Award-winning Filmmaker Melissa Haizlip Becomes the Third GreenLight Women Filmmaker Grant Recipient. Her Work Will Be Honored With A Panel Event Featuring Blair Underwood, Beverly Bond, Laurens Grant, Anna Maria Horsford, Chaz Ebert, Thomas Allen Harris, Lalah Hathaway, Robert “Kool” Bell and Karen Horne
(Los Angeles, CA — July 15, 2021) – GreenLight Women, a 501(c) (3) organization with a mission to engage, support, and champion accomplished creative and business professionals over the age of 40, announces an upcoming event on July 28, NETWORK WITH THE PROS, a night of energetic panel discussions exploring the subject of widespread ageism in entertainment and media, and how to navigate what’s coming next. The panels will work towards finding solutions on issues we are facing in a rapidly changing world.
NETWORK WITH THE PROS will be held July 28, 2021, from 7 – 9pm PDT via Zoom. Produced by GreenLight Women, the event is being offered FREE OF CHARGE to both members and non-members in response to the economic challenges brought on by COVID.
“We are pleased to have gathered together such an impressive array of brilliant and talented women who are willing to share their thoughts and ideas with us,” said Iris Grossman, GreenLight Women President and Manager at Echo Lake Entertainment. “The accomplished women on our NETWORK WITH THE PROS panels are at the top of their game. Their experience and knowledge can be incorporated into the ever-changing landscape of our business. We want ageism and diversity to be top priorities in Hollywood. Their collective experiences are worth their weight in gold. After all, there is no substitute for experience.”
The panels topics, panelists and moderators for NETWORK WITH THE PROS are:
Introduction by Iris Grossman, President of GreenLight Women / Manager, Echo Lake Entertainment
I. WOMEN WHO PIVOT
Personal journeys of successful writers, directors, producers, executives and other industry professionals as they reinvent themselves to fit the times.
MODERATOR: Dana Sims, Agent
PANELISTS: Lisa Bruce, Producer “Darkest Hour,” “The Theory of Everything” and Amazon’s new series “Welcome to the Blumhouse” Nkechi Okoro Carroll, Executive Producer CW drama “All American” Kelly Edwards, Writer, “Our Kind of People” and author of “The Executive Chair” Marcia Ross, Documentary Producer/Award-winning Casting Director Lisa Bruce, Producer “Darkest Hour,” “The Theory of Everything” and Amazon’s new series “Welcome to the Blumhouse” Nkechi Okoro Carroll, Executive Producer CW drama “All American” Kelly Edwards, Writer, “Our Kind of People” and author of “The Executive Chair” Marcia Ross, Documentary Producer/Award-winning Casting Director
II. AGEISM, THE HIDDEN BIAS
How it affects us, how to thrive and when to fight back.
MODERATOR: Lillah McCarthy, Producer/Executive Consultant/Coach
PANELISTS: Christine Lahti, Academy®, Emmy® and Golden Globe®-winning actress/filmmaker Marion Rosenberg, Personal Manager/Producer Nell Scovell, TV writer, producer and director, Author of “Just the Funny Parts” and co-author “Lean In” Ruby Yang, Academy Award®-winning Producer/Director
III. WHAT NOW?
An industry in flux: where it is headed and how we can have the most impact in a structurally altered industry.
MODERATOR: Ivy Kagan Bierman, Chair, Entertainment Labor Practice at Loeb & Loeb, LLP; Director, Entertainment Track of the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Program, University of Miami Law School
PANELISTS: Hillary Bibicoff, Transactional Entertainment Attorney, Holmes Weinberg Karey Burke, President, 20th Century Television Shannon Gaulding, President, Groundswell Productions Tanya Lopez, Executive Vice President Scripted Programming, Lifetime & LMN Marjan Safinia, Filmmaker, “And She Could Be Next”/IDA President, 2012-2018
About GreenLight Women: GreenLight Women is the first and only 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created by and for accomplished professional women in the entertainment and media industry which focuses on the needs and challenges of women over the age of 40. Founded in 2016, GreenLight Women’s purpose is to fight ageism and provide a community of support and encouragement for the thousands of women who are navigating getting older in a youthoriented business, to help each member achieve individual goals, to promote diversity, to share knowledge and experience and to change antiquated attitudes about aging. GreenLight Women’s commitment to substantive change is reflected in its programs, services and activities, which include Sunday Salons with industry icons; Zoom Talks with prominent women in the entertainment business; Black History Month annual tributes; exclusive screenings; a DEI Town Hall Conversation Series, “I See You, I Hear You”; the Connection Committee’s member career support and industry-related workshops.
Impressively, GreenLight Women never stopped operating during the COVID-19 pandemic. GreenLight Women focused on community outreach by partnering with The City of Hope to help with COVID-19 research, supporting Alexandria House aiding homeless women, donating to “Dress for Success” at the Downtown Women’s Shelter and participating in the Motion Picture and Television Fund’s Daily Call Sheet program which provides conversational support for senior citizens in the community who face isolation. In addition, they provided Sunday Check-in Chats for members who were alone and isolated during the pandemic and their events committee went digital and launched virtual salons with featured guests and timely topics. The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion arm went into overdrive during Black Lives Matter protests and started organizing Town Hall meetings drawing over 150 participants on Zoom. The organization also provides a Film Grant Program. This year’s GreenLight Women Award-winner, Colette, directed by Anthony Giacchino and produced by Alice Doyard, went on to win the Academy Award® for “Best Documentary Short.”
Materials are available here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xly49kmeyicor9v/AAADkW2G1QQ2JgRhOkRijOoba?dl=0
PR CONTACTS:
Carol Marshall Public Relations Inc.
Carol Marshall, carol@cmarshallpr.com
Rachel Kogan, rachel@cmarshallpr.com