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Canon Club: Issue No. 4
Welcome to the fourth issue of DEG’s Canon Club Newsletter!
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(from l.) Amy Jo Smith of DEG, Kira Baca of Ateliere, Canon Club Co-Chair Meri Hassouni of Giant Worldwide, and Dr. Kejo Archer of Warner Bros. Discovery. | |
Canon Club members and supporters gathered in late July at Ateliere Creative Technologies for a Summer Salon and Mentoring Mixer. The event featured an inspiring discussion with Dr. Kejo Archer (r.) of Warner Bros. Discovery and Kira Baca (second from l.) of Ateliere. Dr. Archer detailed her personal and professional development, and the lessons learned along the way, weaving in the importance of mentorship. Attendees then participated in table discussions about what mentorship means to them. A warm DEG thanks to salon host Ateliere, and all who attended. | |
WOMEN TAKE THE STAGE AT ENTECH SUMMER SYMPOSIUM | |
DEG recently hosted its first EnTech Summer Symposium, drawing hundreds of attendees for a half-day packed with learning, demos, and networking opportunities. The day's conference program consisted of informative panels and discussions, with prominent women in the industry sharing key insight on topics such as AI and catalog restoration. | |
DEG President and CEO Amy Jo Smith kicks the day off with a welcome and a discussion on how DEG members can take advantage of new technologies. | |
One of the day's most well-received programs was a panel on navigating the ever-changing legal landscape of AI in entertainment. Holly Leff-Pressman of ScreenEngineASI moderated. | |
Kira Baca of Ateliere (l.) moderated and Laura Florence of Fremantle (r.) spoke on the day's first Technology Use Case panel, on how to maximize revenue using AI-driven workflows. | |
Photographs by Skyler Barberio | |
Technology Use Case: Catalog Restoration & Archiving was the day's biggest panel. Paramount Pictures' Andrea Kalas (l.) moderated and IDC LA's Daniela Bocchetti spoke (r.). | |
The day concluded with DEG and Media Play News' 40 Under 40 in Home Entertainment Reception. Keep scrolling to meet this year's honorees! | |
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Sony Pictures Entertainment
April Cozart
Director, Digital Transactional Customer Experience
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Sony Pictures Entertainment
Rachel Klein
Senior Manager, Digital Distribution
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Sony Pictures Entertainment
Shaalini Sellvaratnam
Senior Digital Marketing Manager
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Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Rachel Creagan
Senior Manager, Global Creative Services
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Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Hallory Sindelar
Senior Digital Marketing Manager
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Vizio
Nicole Baio
Director of Platform Insights and Watchfree+ Partnerships
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The Walt Disney Company
Dorothy Ballowe
Senior Manager,
Direct-to-Consumer Communications, Disney Entertainment
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Warner Bros. Discovery Content Sales
Gaianeh Avanessian
Director, Business Development and Licensing
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Warner Bros. Discovery Content Sales
Jennifer Buss
Manager, Sales Planning and Library Management
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Warner Bros. Discovery Content Sales
Melissa Schall
Director, Strategy and Business Plannimg
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Congratulations to women who have recently joined or been promoted to prominent positions at our member companies. | |
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FilmRise
Katherine Weinstein
Director of Content Sales and Distribution
Formerly Content Acquisitions Manager
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Lionsgate
Chase Brisbin
EVP, International SVOD &
Head of FAST Channels
Formerly EVP, Worldwide TV & Digital Distribution
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NBCUniversal
Jeanne Mau
SVP, TV Programming Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Formerly SVP, Diversity and Inclusion at CBS Corporation
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Sony Pictures
Louise Heseltine
SVP Corporate Communications
Formerly VP Corporate Communications
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Did a female executive recently join or receive a promotion at your company, or were they honored for any industry awards?
Email cayla@degonline.org to recognize them in our next newsletter!
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“We’re just excited that anime is on this clip, that it’s getting so much recognition, not just Oscars and Golden Globes, but reviews. There’s just so much positive momentum."
- Gita Rebbapragada, COO of anime streamer Crunchryoll, speaking at this year's Television Critics Association's summer tour, on anime's upward trend and how Crunchyroll engages with fans.
Read more
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Rebbapragada also spoke at
this year's EnTech Fest.
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Simone Biles & Team USA Women's Gymnastics Gold Medal Lead Big Tuesday Olympics Audience For NBCU
Deadline
Tuesday saw a total audience delivery of 34.7 million viewers across NBC, Peacock and the company’s other digital platforms, according to data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics. That’s nearly double the 18.4M that tuned in for the opening Tuesday of the Tokyo Olympics — though that shouldn’t be a surprise, because by now it’s clear that interest is up across the board for this year’s Summer Games. Simone Biles made a victorious comeback during the women’s gymnastics team final alongside Suni Lee, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, and Hezly Rivera. Read more
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American Women Are Unapologetically Wielding Political Power
Wall Street Journal ($)
With Vice President Kamala Harris’s sudden ascension to the top of the Democratic ticket, a woman is again trying to beat Trump in a presidential race—and the machinations of Pelosi, the former House speaker who worked to pressure President Biden out of the race, helped put her in that position. Another woman, Nikki Haley, was the last candidate standing against Trump in the GOP primary. In 2024, seismic shifts in the politics and perception of gender have given women more societal license to wield power unapologetically—even as they confront an electorate more polarized along gender lines. Read more
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Apple and FX’s Diverse Storytelling Leads to Historic Emmy Nominations Success
Variety
While things mostly went as expected, a few standouts are worth noting. Apple TV+ and FX have positioned themselves as true competitors against long-dominating networks like Netflix and HBO/Max. Moreover, in a hard-won battle for representation, the Indigenous community and women of color have made significant strides, suggesting that the television landscape has finally turned a corner regarding diversity and inclusion. Read more
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This Barbie’s Job Is Orchestra: How ‘Barbie The Movie: In Concert’ Arrived in the Real World
IndieWire
It’s not surprising that a juggernaut film like “Barbie” would eventually have a second life as a go-to for amphitheater-sized live screenings. But IndieWire is happy to report that “Barbie’s” concert era has come together in the most “Barbie” way possible. Folks looking to see the film with a live instrumental performance of Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt’s score — and their songs — will be treated to the Barbieland Sinfonietta, an all-female orchestra conducted by Macy Schmidt, at the Hollywood Bowl. Read more
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Could ‘Real Housewives’ Elect a President?
The Hollywood Reporter
Upcoming Real Housewives of Politics events include a Housewives-themed drag brunch in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 25, which will be attended by both actual Housewives and drag queens impersonating them. Throughout the fall, the group will hold watch parties in different cities timed to Bravo’s programming schedule. “We ask people to get out the vote, we talk about issues, and we watch the shows,” Stamp says. She also runs the Real Housewives of Politics Instagram account, which deploys Bravo memes as political commentary, such as gifs of stunned housewives when President Biden withdrew his candidacy and clips of crying arguments in a post about Project 2025. Read more
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She Benched Alex Morgan. Meet the U.S. Coach Launching a Bold Rebuild
Wall Street Journal ($)
The U.S. women haven’t won a gold medal at the Olympics in more than a decade. And its role as the world’s best team has been surrendered to Spain. Restoring the team to its rightful place would be a daunting job for any coach. But even though Hayes has never led a national team before, those close to her say she has what it takes to turn around history’s best one. “If there is no such thing as a unicorn coach… Emma’s as close as you can get to one,” said Robbie Udberg, who spent seven years as an assistant to Hayes at Chelsea. “She’s a force." Read more
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Annenberg Study: Lead Roles for Women Dropped 14% From 2022 to 2023
TheWrap
There were 14% fewer girls and women in leading roles in 2023 films compared to the previous year, a new study by Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative has found. Their annual report, “Inequality in 1,700 Popular Films,” crunched representation stats for the 100 most popular films from 2007 to 2023 — tabulating for gender, race/ethnicity, LGBTQ+ identity and disability. Looking just at the top movies of 2023 — famously the year of “Barbie” — the study found that only 32% of speaking characters were girls or women and only 11% featured girls and women in at least 45% of all speaking roles. Read more
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A Development Executive Wrestles With How TV’s New Normal Is Crushing the Job Market
TheWrap Pro ($)
Erin Copen Howard stood silently and watched as her five-year-old son Odin scrolled intently through YouTube Shorts videos on the living room TV, while his seven-year-old sister Aurora traveled through the “My Movie” Roblox-verse on her tablet. Minutes later, Odin slapped on a VR headset and journeyed into “Penguin Paradise,” his arms flailing about as he shouted to other contestants inside the game. “This is the death of television,” Copen Howard, 44, told TheWrap. “That’s all they watch, YouTube Shorts. And it breaks my heart.” Read more
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Beauty Brand Madison Reed Bets on Women’s Sports with UConn Basketball Partnership
CNBC
The University of Connecticut has struck a deal with beauty brand Madison Reed in a wide-ranging partnership that includes court-naming rights; name, image and likeness deals; and career development opportunities. Exact terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the partnership is in the multimillion-dollar range, according to Madison Reed. As part of the deal, Madison Reed will sponsor UConn’s Gampel Pavilion and XL Center with court-naming rights for the next three years. The school’s men’s and women’s basketball teams play in these venues. Read more
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The Share of Women Running Global 500 Companies Falls to Just 5.6%
Fortune ($)
Women run 5.6% of businesses on this year’s Global 500—down from 5.8% this time a year ago. In total, female CEOs lead just 28 out of 500 companies on the list of the world’s largest businesses by revenue. That lags behind the Fortune 500, which measures the largest U.S.-based companies by revenue. There, women have crossed the 10% threshold and now run 10.4% of Fortune 500 businesses. On this year’s Fortune 500, the share of businesses led by female CEOs stayed flat from a year prior.In total, the 2024 Global 500 list accounts for $41 trillion in annual revenue. That gargantuan number shows how important leadership of these businesses is—these 500 CEOs are responsible for one-third of global GDP. Read more
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How Women Business Owners Are Using Artificial Intelligence
Forbes ($)
Women business owners can use AI-powered tools to save time and money. AI can streamline and automate basic tasks such as inventory management, invoicing, social media, financial management, and marketing, leaving women business owners with more resources to focus on growing their businesses. Tools like Notion allow women business owners to centralize all their work in one place, manage projects and optimize processes. Others like Planful help women business owners run certain financial aspects of their business, from finance and accounting to sales and marketing. Read more
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More Women Are Working Than Ever. But They’re Doing Two Jobs.
Wall Street Journal ($)
Women now hold a record 79 million jobs, and the share of women in their prime working years who are employed or seeking work now stands at 77.9%, up from 75.8% five years ago. But it’s not time for a victory lap just yet. The same work-from-home opportunities that have enabled many moms in particular to enter or rejoin the workforce are also shackling them with fresh responsibilities. Many say they are effectively working two full-time jobs: managing their households and their careers. Read more
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