10th anniversary Getting Played Symposium on Equity in the Entertainment Industry and Awards
FREE and open to the public. Walk-ups welcome.
Tickets / RSVP : www.eventbrite.com/e/10th-anniversary-getting-played-symposium-tickets-1028827529837
Livestream link available 24 hours before event to those who RSVP.
WHEN: 2pm-3:30pm, Saturday, October 19, 2024
WHERE:
Berkeley Public Library
Third Floor Community Room

2090 Kittredge Street

Berkeley, CA 94704
Accessible venue with elevator to the third floor. Within two blocks of Downtown Berkeley BART Station.
If you require American Sign Language interpretation during the Symposium, please contact organizers before October 5, 2024: ktarr[at]stanford[dot]edu.
Venue Website: www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org/locations/central-library
ABOUT
The Getting Played Symposium on Equity in the Entertainment Industry and Awards was found ten years ago by Kathleen Antonia Tarr, a lawyer, educator, and award-winning vocalist with over twenty years of film, television, video game, commercial, and stage credits including Dopamine (Sundance winner), House, MD (Fox), Trauma (NBC), Sim City, Time Crisis 3, and productions with American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Mime Troupe, and more. A former Skadden Fellow ("legal Peace Corps"), Kathleen was inspired to eradicate the inequities she witnessed in the field of entertainment. She produced a feature length documentary Getting Played: Who's Playing You?! – Honorable Mention at the 2010 International Black Women's Film Festival – and in 2014 these Getting Played symposia. Kathleen presented the 2015 General Session for the State Bar of California with her guests Amy Pietz and Edward James Olmos and subsequently authored law review article Bias and the Business of Show: Employment Discrimination in the “Entertainment” Industry.
The Getting Played symposia endeavor to engage distinguished panels and audiences in conversation about solutions to the current inequities from casting to greenlighting that shape what we see on screens and stages throughout the nation and world. Getting Played symposia also reserve time to honor a select few courageous heroes who advance Industry equity in their everyday lives through pivotal actions that are typically less visible and recognized. This year's 10th Getting Played Symposium will focus the conversation on the role of online spaces in advancing equity in the local theater community, where its founder's entertainment career began. What are your thoughts? As ticket buyers, what are you noticing, including about your own engagement? As performers, how have opportunities changed over the years? As producers, do your choices evolve to meet community demands for more equitable theater? Join the conversation!
PANELISTS
Michael Gene Sullivan is an award-winning actor, writer, director, blogger, and teacher committed to developing theatre of social and economic justice, of political self-determination, and musical comedy. Michael is an alum of the nationally-acclaimed Playwright's Foundation, a Djerassi Center Artist Fellow, and in 2022 was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Kendal Murray is a senior at Stanford University majoring in Symbolic Systems. She is the president of Stanford Students in Entertainment and the Production Officer (Vice President) of BLACKstage, a theater group originally founded by Issa Rae and Tracy Oliver, which provides the opportunity to tell Black stories, uplift Black voices, and celebrate Black artistry. She is dedicated to addressing current inequities in representation, whether they are found on stage or screen.
Salim Razawi is a director, casting consultant, and theatre artist working widely through the Bay Area. His directorial credits include Once on This Island for Contra Costa Civic Theatre, Mean Girls for the City of Milpitas, School of Rock and Legally Blonde for the City of Pleasanton, The Shape of Things, and Into the Woods for Town Hall Theatre. He worked as a teaching artist for companies including American Conservatory Theatre and Berkeley Rep. salimrazawi.com
Devon LaBelle is a multidisciplinary visual artist and craftsperson. She has fueled over 150 Bay Area productions with the physical artifacts that make them work. Devon is a resident artist with Crowded Fire Theater, a company member of Shotgun Players, and Properties Master at Contra Costa Civic Theatre.
MODERATED by founder Kathleen Antonia Tarr
The 2024 Getting Played Symposium is sponsored by Stanford University's Program in Writing and Rhetoric.