Variety Announces Initial Programming for Power of Women Conversations Presented by Lifetime
Variety has reimagined its popular Power of Women luncheon as a virtual summit to take place on Oct. 28 and 29. The conversations will celebrate female executives, producers, and talent who create content that inspire and promote social good.
This year’s Power of Women issue, to be released on October 28th, will feature the Women of “Grey’s Anatomy.” The story will celebrate the show’s influence throughout the years. As part of the Power of Women conversations, Ellen Pompeo (Star and Producer); Chandra Wilson (Star and Director); Debbie Allen (Executive Producer, Director, Recurring Star) and Krista Vernoff (Executive Producer and Showrunner) will sit for a roundtable discussion on what’s to come for the upcoming season and how the show has always empowered dynamic female leadership – in front of and behind the camera.
Fair Fight Action Founder Stacey Abrams alongside award-winning filmmakers Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortés will participate in the panel “All In: Why Women Will Determine the 2020 Presidential Election.” The dialogue will focus on the urgent role women have in the upcoming election and what is necessary to increase voter turnout.
Variety’s Business Editor Cynthia Littleton will conduct a keynote conversation with Ann Sarnoff, Head of Studios and Networks Group, WarnerMedia. The discussion will focus on the future path for WarnerMedia, inclusion in the workplace and managing creative organizations.
Littleton will also speak with one of America’s leading voices in finance, Mellody Hobson, Co-CEO and President of Ariel Investments. Hobson will discuss the state of the content industry and the status of female executives, investors and entrepreneurs in media and entertainment.
Jessica Chastain and Kelly Carmichael will delve into how their new female-run production company is creating content with female protagonists and their upcoming projects including “355” and “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.” Variety’s Editor-at-Large, Kate Aurthur moderates.
The “Women in Music Roundtable” will cover a conversation with female leaders in the music industry on how to advance and create space for more female artists to succeed within the business. It will include speakers Ethiopia Habtemariam, President, Motown Records; Fadia Kader, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Music, Instagram; Carianne Marshall, Chief Operating Officer, Warner/Chappell Music; Ty Stiklorius, Manager, Friends At Work. Shirley Halperin, Executive Editor of Music, Variety will moderate.
A Female Founders Roundtable, moderated by Shelley Zalis, CEO, The Female Quotient, features Arianna Huffington, Founder, Thrive Global, Huffington Post; Katie Echevarria Rosen Kitchens, Founder, FabFitFun; Tracy Sun, Co-Founder, Poshmark; Sarah Leary, Co-Founder, Nextdoor and Venture Partner, Unusual Ventures; and Shan-Lyn Ma, Co-Founder and CEO, Zola.
iHeartMedia will conduct a conversation with Kim Azzarelli, CEO and Co-Founder of the Seneca Women Podcast Network and Gayle Troberman, President and Chief Marketing Officer of iHeartMedia about their multi-year partnership to produce women-led podcasts across the iHeart network.
“Power of Women remains one of Variety’s most important editorial initiatives, and one of the industry’s most dynamic events,” said Variety’s Group Publisher and Chief Revenue Officer Michelle Sobrino-Stearns. “Thanks to the creative partnership with Lifetime, whose participation has been critical to the success of Power of Women, we are able to make this year’s series of conversations free to watch and open to the public.”
“As our lives have vastly changed in the last six months, the resilience of women has been put to the test,” said Amy Winter, EVP and Head of Programming, Lifetime and LMN. “We have had to adapt and evolve so we are thrilled that The Power of Women Event has been reimagined to showcase the important messages and work from these incredible women in a way that reaches even more people.”
The summit is free to attend but requires registration at https://variety.com/powerofwomenconversations/.
More conversations will be announced in the upcoming weeks.
In addition to Lifetime continuing as presenting partner, premier partners include iHeart Media and Providence St. Joseph’s Health. Cadillac is joining for the first time as an official partner with MGO CPA as a supporting partner of the virtual summit.
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