Women In Entertainment Summit 2016: Knocking On The Glass Ceiling

The mood at the Arclight Women’s second annual Women in Entertainment Summit (WIE) was particularly somber November 10^th.  Two days after the 2016 Presidential Election, many attendees who anticipated a Hillary Clinton win would shatter the country’s highest glass ceiling found themselves instead grappling with feelings of betrayal and shock.  How do you advance the fight for equality between the sexes when President-Elect Donald Trump has made horrendous statements ranging from the value of a female's physical appearance to his billionaire’s prerogative to grab women in whatever body part he pleases?  As many panelists would re-iterate throughout the day, those issues were the reason WIE was more important than ever to keep the commitment to change rolling forward.  By the end of the day, participants hoisted their “Glass Ceiling” commemorative drinks high at the cocktail reception, siting Clinton’s own words:  “Never stop believing that fighting for what’s right is worth it.”

WIE Executive producer Gretchen McCourt welcomed the day’s participants who packed the Arclight’s historic Cineramadome by reminding them the summit was “not just a woman’s outlet, this is a place where we are exploring challenges of diversity, sexuality, gender and career evolution.” With panels including “Gender & Sexuality”, “Saudi Arabia’s First Filmmaker” and “Fostering the Next Generation”, the highlight of the day was not only defying diversity but establishing inclusivity.  The WIE suggest participants remember their goal needs to expand beyond breaking through the door.  They need to ensure once they gain access to the room their voice needs to be respected and taken seriously in the discussion.

Casting director Leah Daniels-Butler, a twenty plus year veteran in the business and award winner for her work on “Empire”, noted she spent years breaking into the casting world during “Solving Hollywood’s Diversity Problem.” Once she established herself as a talented casting director, many producers only approached her with “ethnic” or “urban” content.

“I had to (prove to) them I could find the best actor for the character, regardless of their ethnicity,” said Daniels-Butler.

Echoing this sentiment was Susan Wright, CEO of Criterion Group. Wright’s company represents below-the-line talent, with a high concentration of makeup artists and hair stylists.  Wright described sending in the resumes of talented, award winning artists who have worked on a diverse range of projects to producers who would occasionally reject the artisan because they’ve worked on “urban pictures.” She’s had to inform producers that the artist can handle a white woman’s blonde hair just as well as black woman’s dark hair.

“I’m tired of having these types of conversations,” said Wright, who subsequently stated she’s working with a group on a new, yet-to-be announced genre that will be fully inclusive.

In the later afternoon session “The Golden Age of Women and Television”, panelists Betsy Beers, Partner and Executive Producer of ShondaLand, Empire Executive Producer and Showrunner Ilene Chaiken, Rob Thomas, creator of “Veronica Mars” and co-creator of “iZombie” and “Party Down” , Co-Executive Producer at STAR Jessica Sharzer, Amenda Hill, Chief Marketing Officer, A&E Networks ad moderator Kirsten Schaffer, Executive Director, Women in Film, discussed how they have focused on breaking racial and gender stereotypes both in front of and behind the camera. Changes have come from initiatives as simple as changing the gender of day players such as lawyers and scientists in the background to reflect more women to ensuring there is an equal balance of women in the writers’ room.  They also emphasized the importance of encouraging members of the staff to speak up and share ideas – a means that will further foster the next generations.

“If you have a great idea, we want to hear about it,” said Sharzer.

To learn more about the WIE Summit and WIE events held year round, please visit:

 http://www.arclightwomen.com/