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AMAANI LYLE         KATHLEEN TARR, JD         ELIZABETH KRISTEN, JD         RUSSELL ROBINSON, JD         SARAH MOSHMAN        CHRISTAN CAGIGAL

AMAANI LYLE

Amaani Lyle has been immersed in one communications medium or another for more than 25 years. Currently a freelance strategic communication expert, social media maven, and 18-year Air Force veteran, Lyle has used her pen, camera, and keyboard to cultivate a global audience of tens of thousands who follow her work.

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A résumé that includes projects spanning from America Online in its heyday to Nickelodeon to MTV to NBC and even the Pentagon and the White House seems implausible, if not impossible … if not downright crazy.

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But somehow, if Lyle unfurled the (nod to vinyl) “EP” version of her credits, it would include all those stints and more.

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Lyle moved to Los Angeles in 1977 and attended arts-focused schools before her acceptance to Emerson College in Boston, Mass., where she majored in Film.

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After interning on several indie films in Los Angeles, in 1995 Lyle was selected as one of the first bloggers in the United States as an online travel writer for America Online. Among thousands of other hopefuls, Lyle’s writing samples stood out with five other selectees, who traversed the country in a van to document and share their journey.

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Lyle returned to LA to produce Tim Conway, Jr’s online talk show “Late Net” (arguably one of the first podcasts in existence), where she booked talent and wrote interview segments for guests such as Billy Zane, Sherman Hemsley, Tim Conway, Sr, and Eva Marie Saint.

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Soon, a producer with Nickelodeon discovered her knack for comedy writing and invited her to join the crew at “All That,” which had just begun production at Paramount Studios after moving from its Orlando, Florida-based location.

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Lyle thrived as a writer’s assistant and creative contributor to “All That” and later “Kenan and Kel,” before taking a job at MTV to work on “Singled Out.” Upon her return to Nickelodeon for another season of Kenan and Kel, Lyle was offered a writer’s assistant job on the ever-popular sitcom “Friends.”

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Her experience there was historic, a first for any woman of color to be on the creative team for the show, that currently yields more than 1.6 billion search engine results and still resonates with millions of fans in dozens of countries, 16 years after ending its 10-season run in 2004.

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Seeing the horrifying events of 9/11 unfold helped solidify Lyle’s decision to voluntarily pause from the entertainment industry writ large and accept a newspaper writer and editor assignment in Germany after enlisting in the U.S. Air Force.

Following renewed interest from multiple media outlets in the landmark case “Lyle vs. Warner Bros.” thanks to the Me Too movement, Lyle has granted a number of interviews to discuss diversity, inclusion, and sexual harassment issues in creative workplaces. She continues her freelance communication and travel journalism endeavors and lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with her cat, Harper.

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KATHLEEN TARR, JD

Kathleen Tarr is a University of California, Berkeley and Harvard Law School graduate, Advanced Lecturer at Stanford University in the Program in Writing and Rhetoric, Writing Specialist for Stanford's Public Policy Program, and former Skadden Fellow (“legal Peace Corps”). During law school, Kathleen assisted in the authorship of Japan’s first university-level sexual harassment policy, and as a Skadden Fellow, she developed some of the U.S.’s first public interest outreach programs to disabled female military veterans.

 

Kathleen has authored several publications including Theatre Bay Area's "White Paper on Achieving a Safe and Inclusive Bay Area Theatre-Making Environment" (2018), "The Arduous Ride(r) to Inclusion" (2018), and "Bias and the Business of Show: Employment Discrimination in the 'Entertainment' Industry" (2016) which was touted by filmmaker, screenwriter, and activist Maria Giese as the most important document published on the issue of discriminatory hiring practices in Hollywood that year. "Bias and the Business of Show" evolved from Kathleen’s General Session presentation with special guests Amy Pietz and Edward James Olmos at the 2015 State Bar of California Annual Meeting and is companion to this annual Symposium on Equity in the Entertainment Industry and Awards at Stanford University.

 

2020 marks the sixth Getting Played symposium, named after Kathleen's documentary on (un)equal employment opportunities in the entertainment industry which received Honorable Mention in the 2010 International Black Women's Film Festival. Kathleen has produced two other films that were official selections in film festivals: her short animation "I Have All The Feelings" (2014 International Black Women's Film Festival) and her short sci-fi film "Early Aliens" (2015 ASTRONOMMO: Speculative Fiction on Film + Black Women). Overlapping these myriad careers, Kathleen’s acting credits encompass stage, film, commercials, television, and video games including "House M.D.", Sundance award winner "Dopamine", "Sim City," and 2019's "Bennett's War." She is also a Women’s American Football League draftee and indoor rowing world record holder.

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ELIZABETH KRISTEN, JD

Elizabeth Kristen is the Director of the Gender Equity & LGBT Rights Program and a senior staff attorney at Legal Aid at Work (“LAAW” -- formerly known as Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center). Over the past 18 years, she has worked tirelessly to secure justice for victims of discrimination who otherwise would not have legal representation.  Ms. Kristen attended Berkeley Law, graduating in 2001.  Upon graduation, she served as a law clerk for Judge Browning on the Ninth Circuit. Ms. Kristen began her public interest career as a Skadden Fellow at LAAW in 2002. In 2012, she was selected as a Harvard Law Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow.  In 2015, she received a “California Lawyer of the Year” award from California Lawyer magazine for her work on the Title IX high school athletics class action case Ollier v. Sweetwater Union High School Dist., 768 F.3d 843 (9th Cir. 2014).  She has been named a Northern California Super Lawyer since 2016.  She co-wrote LAAW’s amicus brief in support of Amaani Lyle’s California Supreme Court case.

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RUSSELL ROBINSON, JD

Prior to joining UC Berkeley, Robinson was Professor of Law at UCLA. Robinson graduated with honors from Harvard Law School (1998), after receiving his B.A. summa cum laude from Hampton University (1995). Robinson clerked for Judge Dorothy Nelson of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1998-99) and for Justice Stephen Breyer of the U.S. Supreme Court (2000-01). He has also worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel (1999-2000) and the firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld in Los Angeles, practicing entertainment law (2001-02).

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Robinson’s scholarly and teaching interests include antidiscrimination law, race and sexuality, law and psychology, constitutional law, and media and entertainment law. His publications include: “’Playing It Safe’ with Empirical Evidence: Selective Use of Social Science in Supreme Court Cases About Racial Justice and Marriage Equality,” 112 Northwestern Law Rev. 1565 (2018); “LGBT Equality and Sexual Racism,” 86 Fordham L. Rev. 2739 (2018); “The Afterlife of Homophobia,” 60 Ariz. L. Rev. 213 (2018); “Unequal Protection,” 67 Stan. L. Rev. (2015); “Diverging Identities,” in After Marriage: The Future of LGBT Rights, NYU Press (2015); “Marriage Equality and Postracialism,” 61 UCLA L. Rev. 1010 (2014); “Masculinity as Prison: Sexual Identity, Race, and Incarceration,” 99 Calif. L. Rev. 1309 (2011); “Casting and Caste-ing: Reconciling Artistic Freedom and Antidiscrimination Norms,” 95 Calif. L. Rev. 1 (2007); “Uncovering Covering,” 101 Nw. U. L. Rev. 1809 (2007); “Perceptual Segregation,” 108 Colum. L. Rev. 1093 (2008); “Structural Dimensions of Romantic Preferences,” 76 Fordham L. Rev. 2787 (2008); and “Racing the Closet,” 61 Stan. L. Rev. 1463 (2009).

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SARAH MOSHMAN

Sarah Moshman is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker and TEDx speaker whose work has been featured on Upworthy, Marie Claire, CNN, and Good Morning America. After directing two short documentaries about female empowerment in young women, (Girls Rock! Chicago (2010) and Growing up Strong: Girls on the Run (2012)) she set out to direct her first feature doc The Empowerment Project: Ordinary Women Doing Extraordinary Things (2014) which has been screened over 700 times around the US and around the world in schools, groups, organizations and corporations starting conversations about gender equality. With Indieflix as the distributor, the film has been sponsored by major brands like Nordstrom, American Girl and Microsoft to spread this message far and wide. Sarah's second feature doc, Losing Sight of Shore follows the incredible journey of four women who rowed across the Pacific Ocean. The film was released globally in 190 countries on Netflix in May 2017. NEVERTHELESS is Sarah’s third feature documentary which takes a look behind the headlines of #MeToo and Time’s Up to shine a light on the sexual harassment crisis and use the power of cinema for change. Sarah is dedicated to telling stories that uplift, inform and inspire as well as showcase strong female role models on screen.

Prior to focusing on documentaries Sarah worked as a field producer on the hit ABC show Dancing with the Stars for 10 seasons as well as shows on NBC, MTV, Lifetime, Bravo and the Food Network. She also directs branded content for EllenTube, Tastemade, Mattel, AT&T and more. Sarah is an inspiring public speaker and an adjunct professor in documentary film, passionate about empowering the next generation of storytellers.

 

CHRISTIAN CAGIGAL

A first generation American of Spanish and Central American descent, Christian Cagigal has been performing his trademark blend of theatre, storytelling, and magic as an Artist-in-Residence at EXIT Theatre, in San Francisco, since 2006, and internationally since 2009. He's a former member of The San Francisco Mime Troupe and a regular performer at the world famous Magic Castle in Hollywood, California. He’s a Guest Curator for Odd Salon SF, Co-Producer of Odd Salon NYC, and Resident Magician for the Tenderloin Museum in San Francisco.

He's been named a Finalist for the Theatre Bay Area Award for Best Solo Performer; recipient of a Mastermind Award by the SF Weekly; and five-time winner of the Best Magician of the Bay Award by the San Francisco Bay Guardian. He's the Cofounder of the annual Fog City Magic Fest, and the current owner-operator, since 2016, of the San Francisco Ghost Hunt Walking Tour. 

His previous shows include, the popular Pandora Experiment, the long-running OBSCURA, the secretive happenings of The Collection, and the critically acclaimed Now and at the Hour  which has been seen in New York, Montréal, Chicago, New Orleans, Minneapolis and San Francisco. The performance film of Now and at the Hour, directed by award winning filmmaker H.P. Mendoza, is due out soon.

Christian has consulted for A.C.T.'s MFA program, Shotgun Players, Crowded Fire Theatre Company, Marin Shakespeare Company, EXIT Theatre, Wilderness, and Tilted Frame.

Christian can also be seen in the independent, power-pop, musical film, Fruit Fly written and directed by H.P. Mendoza.

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Kathleen Tarr
Elizabeth Kristen
Russell Robinson
Sarah Moshman
Christian Cagigal
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