Pittsburgh played host to the 2014 Women in Film and Television International Summit, which brought together industry professionals, including members from more than 40 chapters worldwide for a film and television conference.
This three-day event took place on May 16, 17 and 18 at the Pittsburgh Westin Convention Center. The summit educated, engaged, informed and inspired the attendees through events, panel discussions, workshops and the Opal Awards, which honored Dawn Keezer of the Pittsburgh Film Office, WQED CEO Deb Acklin, Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke and Emmy Award-winning Pittsburgh-based broadcaster Eleanor Schano.
The Ohio-Pittsburgh Local and SAG-AFTRA Executive Vice President Gabrielle Carteris hosted a panel on May 17 titled SAG-AFTRA – After the Merger. The panel was interactive, with audience discussion leading the session. The audience learned the basics about SAG-AFTRA and the benefits of working with our contracts and with our members, as well as the effects of the merger. The audience got a sense of what SAG-AFTRA means to filmmakers and performers, and received an overview of our affordable low-budget theatrical agreements. This was a wonderful experience and great opportunity for SAG-AFTRA to be involved in, and it was an honor for it to be hosted within our local. We were thrilled to have Carteris' experience and knowledge for the session.
This was a fantastic opportunity for attendees to learn more about what is going on in the industry, whether it is about filmmaking, distribution, unions, tax incentives, casting, new media, etc.
Other panels were hosted by Kimberly Skyrme, casting director for House of Cards; Rosemary Tarquinio, VP of current programming for CBS; Pittsburgh native Kim Moses, producer of Ghost Whisperer and her new show, Reckless; Martin Savidge, CNN News correspondent; Steve Hoover and Danny Yourd of Blood Brothers; Lauren Elmer, Sony Pictures; Russ Streiner of Night of the Living Dead; Jerry Gergely, Babylon 5; Mary Ann McBride, EP Entertainment Partners; screenwriter Steve Cuden; Loren Smith, King of the Hill, Madagascar 3; Gigi Durham, The Lolita Effect; and Sally Wiggin, Bafta Yiman, Sheila Hyland, Amy Marcinkiewicz and 30 other speakers!
Details at wiftisummit.org.
This item was originally featured in the June 2014 local newsletter.
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