2021 NYWIFT SUMMIT: THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY RADICALLY REIMAGINED Announced for June

New York Women in Film & Television will present the 2021 NYWIFT Summit: The Creative Industry Radically Reimagined, June 22-25, 2021 from 4-6 PM ET. The annual NYWIFT Creative Workforce Initiative brings together some of the most unique and diverse voices of women working in the entertainment industry to establish forward-moving strategies to create change and mobilize support and leadership for the future. The 2021 NYWIFT Summit will spotlight the best practices of indies and media companies that are actively restructuring their objectives, staffing, and community responses to produce creative projects. In addition, NYWIFT will recognize how the industry has survived the COVID-19 pandemic, showcasing those who are thriving and what lessons were learned during the Black Lives Matter Movement, wave of violence against the AAPI community, financial downturn, and the health crisis.

The four-day virtual conference will feature inspiring keynotes, intimate fireside chats, and insightful panels, followed by daily networking opportunities, covering a range of topics including Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives at WarnerMedia and AMC Networks; Advocates for Change; and Organized Labor and the Future of the Workplace. Each will address some of the most pressing issues for our modern industry landscape as creatives and executives prepare to return to a reimagined workplace of the future.

Confirmed keynote speakers include Christy Haubegger, EVP, Communications and Chief Inclusion Officer, WarnerMedia; Tina Tchen, CEO, Time's Up; and Aisha Thomas-Petit, AMC Networks Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer. Additional panelists will include WarnerMedia Equity & Inclusion SVPs Karen Horne, Samata Narra, Asif Sadiq, and MyKhahn Shelton; Christina Chou, Motion Picture Lit Agent, CAA; Netflix Animation Producer Peilin Chou; filmmaker and educators Christine Choy (NYU) and Renee Tajima-Peña (UCLA); Ann Burdick, General Counsel, WGA East; Maggie Bowman, Director of Programming at International Documentary Association (IDA); Rebecca Damon, Executive Vice President and New York Local President, SAG-AFTRA; Daniel Rosenberg, VP Business Development and Strategic Partnerships, Staff Me Up; Carole Kirschner, Director, Writers Guild of America Showrunner Training Program; Valerie Armstrong, series creator of Kevin Can F***k Himself; J. David Shanks, executive producer, 61st Street; and Victoria Rowell, best-selling author of The Women Who Raised Me. Moderators will include journalists Natasha Del Toro and Simon Moya-Smith. Further keynotes and panelists to be announced.

NYWIFT has also announced the upcoming release of the digital version of New York Women in Film & Television Creative Workforce Summit Journal based on the 2020 Summit: Documentary Makers, Industry Leaders, and Funders in Conversation. The digital release will be available immediately following the 2021 Summit event.

The NYWIFT Summit is hosted with support from the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice, as well as support from the Academy Foundation, WarnerMedia, AMC Networks, Tito's Handmade Vodka, the NYC Mayor's Office of Media & Entertainment, The New York Community Trust, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), David Yurman, eMinutes, and The Tribeca Film Festival.

"We at NYWIFT are thrilled to recognize the executives, creatives, and advocates who have been doing the work for years to build a safer, more equitable, and more inclusive media industry. This last year has brought incredible challenges, and with it, opportunities for growth and re-birth. We look forward to seizing this moment as a turning point toward a brighter future, and are thankful to all of our partners who want to join us for these vital conversations," said NYWIFT Executive Director Cynthia Lopez.

"With the world opening up again, we as an industry have to ask ourselves, 'What kind of world to we want to work in?' Our Summit is a great opportunity to share learnings and best practices from the past year as we strive to keep the workplace safe and undertake a long-overdue social reckoning in this country," said NYWIFT VP of Advocacy Kathryn O'Kane.

"We're working to create safer, fairer, and more equitable workplaces across all industries, including entertainment - but we can't do it alone," said Tina Tchen, president and CEO of TIME'S UP Foundation. "We're proud to join NYWIFT in celebrating the leaders, creatives, and advocates leading the fight for diversity and inclusion in media and hope to build a world where everyone is represented on and off screen."

The virtual program is free and open to the public, with a suggested donation of $15 for NYWIFT members and $20 for non-members to support NYWIFT's on-going advocacy and professional development initiatives.

View the full schedule and register at www.nywift.org.summit.