GETTING PLAYED

Fourth Annual Symposium on Equity in the Entertainment Industry and Awards

Friday, March 9, 2018

12:30pm-3:30pm

Stanford University

FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Bldg 01-300, #300 (first floor)

Map: http://maps.stanford.edu/ada/pdf/ADAMAP01-300.pdf

Doors open at noon. Seating is first come.

Keynote: Patricia Velásquez

ACTING CAREER

Velásquez has appeared in foreign films such as such as “Le Jaguar” and “Zapata.” However, she is best known for her role as Anck Su Namun in “The Mummy” and “The Mummy Returns.” Velásquez was critically acclaimed for her debut stage performance in the lead role of “School of the Americas” at the Public Theater in New York City. The play was produced by Philip Seymour Hoffman and written by Jose Rivera. Velasquez has appeared on many popular television shows including “American Family,” “CSI: Miami,” and “Arrested Development.” As a result of her high-profile life as a celebrity-activist, Velásquez was a guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show, a frequent judge at Ford Models’ Supermodel of the World contest and is frequently featured in main stream media as a Latina celebrity. Velásquez received the “Best Actress” award in the “Women’s Feature” category of the 2015 North Carolina Film Festival for her performance in “Liz in September”.

FILM PRODUCER

Velásquez’ first experience in film production was as executive producer of “Cenizas Eternas,” an independent film in which she also played the lead role. Most recently, Velásquez was the associate producer and lead actor in “Liz in September,” a film directed by acclaimed director Fina Torres. As an actor and producer, Velasquez is constantly working on interesting and challenging new projects.

PUBLISHED AUTHOR

In her autobiography, “Straight Walk: A Supermodel’s Journey to Finding her Truth” (pub date: February 2015), Velásquez recalls her triumphant journey from poverty to international acclaim. In this intimate and inspiring memoir, she courageously reveals her personal truth.

AWARD-WINNING ACTIVIST

As an Artist for Peace, Velásquez is a celebrity advocate for UNESCO. She received the “Women Together” award at the United Nations in 2009 and the Solidarity Award in November 2010. The La Femme Festival, a premier festival that focuses on platforming women filmmakers, has honored Velásquez with their 2015 Humanitarian Award.

SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR

In 2011 Velásquez successfully founded Taya Beauty, an organic line of beauty products created from the super-botanicals of the rainforest, Taya Beauty skincare and hair care products are grown in environmentally sustainable programs in South American indigenous communities. Taya Beauty is now sold all over the world through QVC and The Shopping Channels

SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS ACTIVIST

Concerned about the living conditions of Latin American indigenous groups like the Wayuu group in Venezuela, Velásquez founded Wayúu Taya Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public and funding ways to improve conditions of Latin American indigenous groups, respecting their cultures and beliefs.

SPEAKERS

TRACY CAMP is an actor, an activist, a mathematics instructor at Laney College, and a mother to a 15-year-old black son. Because of her son, she is hyper aware of how media and entertainment perpetuate stereotypes and lead to implicit bias. Tracy is always on the lookout for positive representations of black men in media and entertainment for her son and for society (so society won’t fear her son), and they are not easy to find. Tracy has performed with TheatreWorks, Pacific Conservatory Theater, San Jose Rep, San Francisco Opera, and the Aurora Fox in Colorado. She is a board member of AlterTheater Ensemble. A native of Oakland, CA, Tracy is a recipient of the Theater Bay Area Titan Award and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity and the American Guild of Musical Artists.

DR. CAROLINE HELDMAN is an Associate Professor of Politics at Occidental College in Los Angeles and the research director for the Geena Davis Institute for Gender in Media. Her research specializes in media, the presidency, and systems of power (race, class, gender). Dr. Heldman co-edited Rethinking Madame President: Are We Ready for a Woman in the White House? (Lynne Rienner, 2007) and authored Protest Politics in the Marketplace: Consumer Activism in the Corporate Age (Cornell University Press, 2017), Women, Power, and Politics: The Fight for Gender Equality in the United States (Oxford University Press, 2017), The New Campus Anti-Rape Movement (Lexington, 2018), and Gender and Resistence in the 2016 Presidential Election (Praeger, 2018).

Dr. Heldman has been active in “real world” politics as a professional pollster, campaign manager, and commentator for CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, and CNBC. She has also been featured in popular documentaries, including Missrepresentation, The Mask You Live In, The Hunting Ground, Informant, Equal Means Equal, and Liberated. Dr. Heldman was one of many women who went public with allegations of gender discrimination against Bill O’Reilly that led to his firing from Fox News. She splits her time between Los Angeles and New Orleans where she co-founded the New Orleans Women’s Shelter and the Lower Ninth Ward Living Museum. Dr. Heldman also co-founded End Rape on Campus (EROC), Faculty Against Rape (FAR), and End Rape Statute of Limitations (ERSOL).

AUSTIN KU is an actor based in NYC. Austin began his professional acting career in the Bay Area, where he performed with many theater companies including 42nd Street Moon, Berkeley Rep, CCMT, DTC, Foothill Music Theatre (Dean Goodman Choice Award), NCTC, SF Shakespeare Festival, San Jose Stage, Shotgun Players, and TheatreWorks of Silicon Valley. Additional stage credits include the Broadway Tour of David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish (dir. Leigh Silverman); the recent Off-Broadway revival of Pacific Overtures (dir. John Doyle) and Anne Washburn’s Iphigenia in Aulis (dir. Rachel Chavkin), both at Classic Stage Company in NYC; and many regional credits including Delaware REP (The Bells, wr/dir. Theresa Rebeck), Ogunquit Playhouse (IRNE nomination), Shakespeare Theatre of NJ, South Coast Rep (StageSceneLA Award), and Walnut Street Theatre (Barrymore nomination). Film and Television: Creative Control, Sleeping With Other People, “Shades of Blue” (recurring), “Bull” (guest star), “Billions”, “Sneaky Pete”, “The Affair”, “Younger”, and more. Education: Rice University, UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall School of Law), Boston Conservatory, Upright Citizens Brigade. Social Media: @secretaustinman. www.Austin-Ku.com.

MICHAEL GENE SULLIVAN

As an actor and director, Michael’s work includes productions throughout the Bay Area, several national tours, and off-Broadway. He is also a member of the Tony and OBIE award-winning and never silent San Francisco Mime Troupe, with which he has acted in, directed, or written over 30 productions. For over 15 years Michael has also been SFMT's Resident Playwright, each year creating a new comedy that dissects a current political issue. Michael’s non-Mime Troupe dramas, musicals, and satires have been performed at theaters throughout the United States, as well as at the Melbourne International Arts Festival, the International Festival of Verbal Art (Berlin), The Hong Kong Arts Festival, and theaters in Greece, Spain, Columbia, Argentina, Canada, and Mexico. They include the all-woman farce Recipe, his one person show Did Anyone Ever Tell You-You Look Like Huey P. Newton?, his historical drama fugitive/slave/act, and his award-winning stage adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984, which opened at Los Angeles' Actors' Gang Theatre under the direction of Academy Award winning actor Tim Robbins. Michael's 1984 has since toured nationally and internationally and been translated into three languages.

KATHLEEN ANTONIA TARR

Symposium founder and organizer, Tarr is also a lawyer, filmmaker, writer, performer, and lecturer in Stanford's Program in Writing and Rhetoric. She served in the "legal peace corps" as a Skadden Fellow representing disabled veterans prior to working for Legal Aid and continues to assist veterans with claims before the Department of Veterans Affairs. Kathleen delivered the General Session at the 2015 State Bar of California Annual Meeting, Delights, Diversions, and Discriminations: The Bias and Business of Show, a session joined by 2016 Symposium Keynote Amy Pietz. The University of San Francisco Law Review published Kathleen's subsequent article Bias and the Business of Show: Employment Discrimination in the “Entertainment” Industry, an article about which film director, screenwriter, and activist Maria Giese writes, "This new article by Kathleen A. Tarr is the MOST IMPORTANT DOCUMENT published on the issue of discriminatory hiring practices in Hollywood since The New York Times published the ACLU letter to the EEOC in May 2015." As Kathleen Antonia, she has accumulated numerous television, film, commercial, and stage credits including her own productions, most recently Early Aliens, Official Selection of the ASTRONOMMO film festival. Kathleen's documentary Getting Played: who's playing you?! received Honorable Mention at the 2010 International Black Women's Film Festival and inspired this symposium.

CHRISTINE KUNEWA WALKER

Independent Spirit Award Nominated producer, Christine Kunewa Walker is a distinguished feature film producer and the CEO of the Provincetown Film Society which operates the Provincetown International Film Festival, the Waters Edge Art House Theater, and the Gabby Hanna Provincetown Film Institute. Walker is also the founder and former president of Werk Werc Works, a film finance and production company based in Minneapolis. She is also co-founder of the Provincetown Women’s Media Summit and Women’s Media Action Coalition.

Walker’s feature film producing credits include: STAY THEN GO, directed by Shelli Ainsworth, DARLING COMPANION directed by Lawrence Kasdan starring Diane Keaton and Kevin Kline; THE TURIN HORSE by Hungarian auteur Bela Tarr which was awarded the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize and the Fipresci International Press Prize at the 2011 Berlin Film Festival; the Sundance Film Festival premiere film THIN ICE directed by Jill Sprecher with Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin and Billy Crudup; HOWL directed by academy award winning directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman starring James Franco as the beat poet Alan Ginsberg along with Jon Hamm, and David Straithairn; the Todd Solondz directed LIFE DURING WARTIME which won Best Screenplay at the Venice Film Festival in 2010 and was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards. Walker also co-wrote and produced OLDER THAN AMERICA starring Adam Beach and Bradley Cooper; FACTOTUM starring Matt Dillon, Lily Taylor and Marisa Tomei, and line produced the academy award nominated AMERICAN SPLENDOR. Christine’s awards and recognitions include the Twin Cities Film Festival Northstar Award for Excellence; National Board of Review Freedom of Expression Award for HOWL, Producer’s Guild of America Diversity in Producing Award, the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Utah, the McKnight Feature Film Development Award; Independent Spirit Award nomination for best new producer, and the Sundance Institute’s Mark Silverman Producing Fellowship Award among others.

ABOUT

Getting Played: who's playing you?! is a 2010 documentary about inequities in the entertainment industry and inspiration for this symposium. Not only are Industry workers subjected to rampant employment discrimination, entertainment media shapes who we are. Whether one compares the increased support of marriage equality to the number of LGBT characters on television, or the objectification of women in our society to the sexualization of female characters across all media, it is clear that the images we see every day - including those that are fictional - compel our thoughts and behaviors en masse. Join us as we engage a distinguished panel in a conversation including about solutions to the current inequities from casting to directing that shape what we see on the big and small screens. We will conclude our afternoon by honoring a select few courageous heroes who advance Industry equity in their everyday lives.

AWARDS (announced on March 9, 2018 at the symposium)

The Symposium's awards recognize otherwise unheralded contributions to equity in the entertainment industry. While those honored possess impressive lists of other, more publicly appreciated accomplishments, the lesser known courageous and critical actions for which they are awarded serve as inspiration, modeling for us all what we might also contribute. Past award recipients have been honored for refusing to write alternative character demographics for producers' commercial interests, refusing to audition as a stereotype, appealing to government agencies to investigate industry discrimination, and investing their attentions and dollars only in those productions that support a more equitable world view. This year's honorees continue the tradition.