Wednesday, May 22nd, 2019

3:50 PM - 5:00 PM

Sponsored by Alliance for Women in Media SoCal

Track II: Haas Conference Center, Room 172-173

Women in the Industry: Developing Film, Television, Branding & OTT About Women - A Golden Age in Hollywood and Indie Production

Wendy Sweetmore, Executive Producer, Dreamtime Entertainment (former Senior Exec. MGM/Mark Burnett Productions)

Laverne McKinnon, Executive Producer, Netflix comedy series, Girlboss Studios USA

Marina Grasic, Co-Managing Partner, Oakhurst Entertainment (Crash, Alpha Dog)

Amber Raspberry Mayo, founder, WYD

Jenelle Lindsay, Head of TV, Unanimous Media

Denise Muyco, co-founder and CEO, StratusCore, Moderator

Wendy Sweetmore, Founder/CEO, networkBe (former Senior Exec. MGM/Mark Burnett Productions): Wendy's mission is to empower women and children to reach their highest potential. She achieves this through her entrepreneurial ventures, creating high quality content with a conscience, advocating for women and leading non-profit organizations. A seasoned Media Executive with

 over 25 years of experience working with entertainment companies globally. As a Producer of original high-quality content, Wendy has mastered all aspects of the creative process, including writing, production, development, PR, marketing, brand integration and sales, throughout her distinguished career Career highlights: • As Senior Executive for Mark Burnett Productions during growth stages (now MGM), Wendy created, produced and sold content for domestic and international TV markets. Shows produced by the company during Wendy’s tenure include; The Voice (#1 Series in America), Celebrity Apprentice, Survivor, and Shark Tank, while the company also garnished numerous Emmy Awards. • Worked with Hearst Publications to create content extension for their internationally recognized magazines including: Elle, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire and Seventeen Magazine. • Collaborated with top brands for show development including: Walmart, & P&G • Produced acclaimed TV series including: Oprah’s Big Give (ABC), The Apprentice (NBC), and number #1 comedy show in Australia Just Kidding (Channel 9, Aus). • Created and produced over 120 hours of original programming in the Documentary/Special Feature’s Department for Rupert Murdoch’s UK Network, Live TV. • Creative Director for Foresight, Buena Vista’s UK consulting marketing arm, developing and launched comprehensive marketing campaigns for multi-million dollar films. Personally, Wendy is the Founder of LINA, (Ladies International Networking Association), a professional group for high-achieving women that share their collective knowledge and experience to help others.

Laverne McKinnon is the Executive Producer of the Netflix series GIRLBOSS, and the Co-Founder of K&L Productions, a film & television company created with Kay Cannon.  They have a first look production deal at Sony Television and are passionate about championing underdog and underserved stories. Laverne is also a certified life coach, grief counselor and adjunct professor at Northwestern University. For a significant part of her career, she was a successful programming executive with stints as SVP Drama Development at CBS and as EVP Original Programming & Development at EPIX.  Laverne holds a Masters in Business Administration from Pepperdine University, is the former Co-Chairman of the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (the longest running and most prestigious Asian American & Pacific Islander non-profit) and is a passionate advocate for adoption and foster programs.

Jenelle Lindsay, Head of TV, Unanimous Media: Jenelle Lindsay is an experienced media executive, with twenty years of storytelling, production and development experience. She is currently the Head of TV for Unanimous Media, Stephen Curry's film and TV company. In this role, she oversees scripted comedy and drama, mini-series, streaming films, TV movies, unscripted TV and documentary. She previously served in SVP and VP roles for Sony Pictures Television, Ashton Kutcher's Katalyst Media and Endemol U.S.A. She has also written across genres, first as a TV writer before becoming a TV exec. More recently she wrote, produced and directed podcasts for Gen-Z Media. And this past year she penned a young adult novel while working as Unanimous' Head of TV. Jenelle holds an MA in Film and English from the University of Chicago and a BA in Mass Communications and English from the University of California, Berkeley.

Amber Raspberry Mayo, founder, WYD: Amber Raspberry Mayo has been at the forefront of digital, local and innovative marketing for 15+ years. Best known for the “Ellen Selfie” snapped with a Samsung device at the 2013 Oscars, Amber has worked with global brands, national media and top sports properties. Her media strategy and buying experience spans both online and offline platforms with customized campaigns from $200 to $1 billion. In 2017, she founded WYD, a marketing accelerator for trailblazers interested in rapid growth and branding. The agency was created for the growing cannabis industry as well as technology entrepreneurs. During The Next Big Thing marketing campaign for Samsung from 2012-2015, Amber led media and partnerships negotiating big moments on network television, high profile partnerships and 360 integrations including Oscars, NBA Finals, AMAs, Billboard Awards, NBA All Star, NFL on NBC, NFL on FOX and many others. She led and negotiated the 3-year relationship with the NBA across 6 categories including defining a new category (wearables) and driving innovation in technology & sports.  Amber also negotiated all content terms to drive into technological development, lead marketing and content strategy of the LeBron James sports app. Never shy about working with startups, Amber also stints with LeBron James’ Uninterrupted and Chinese tech company, LeEco. She also worked for Roc Nation on the launch of Tidal and other projects. Amber’s deep video game experience spans roles with Activision and Electronic Arts (EA). She was the first head of media at EA responsible for all media and integrations for over 100 video games during her tenure. Amber also created the first integration for actor/comedian Zach Galifiniakis’ Between Two Ferns talk show and Need for Speed with Charlize Theron. As the global media director at Activision, Amber managed all activation for Skylanders and other brands. Amber started her career at the creative advertising agency, Wieden+Kennedy, as a media assistant on the Nike team where she learned the fundamentals and value of creating memorable moments. One of her first projects was creating disruptive marketing moments for Nike at the Boston Marathon. Amber learned local marketing by working at a small agency in Chicago before returning to Wieden+Kennedy. She went on to manage seasonal launches from digital to out-of-home for Starbucks and managed EA’s media spend and partnerships before moving to Activision and launching the new franchise Skylanders (among many others). Originally from Alaska, Amber moved to Oregon to attend Willamette University. She now lives in Los Angeles with her husband and beloved cats.

Marina Grasic has produced or executive produced such films as Academy Award© Winner “Crash,” which made over 200 million worldwide, “Alpha Dog,” “Smart People,” “New York, I Love You” and “Welcome to Me.” With over 20 years of experience in the film and television industry, Ms. Grasic has an extensive know how as a Producer, Executive Producer, Finance Attorney, and Executive. A former entertainment attorney with a JD in international law, Ms. Grasic was co-founder and COO of Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and built it into one of the leading independent feature film companies dedicated to the production of high-quality independent films. As an entertainment attorney, Ms. Grasic was involved in more than 200 film transactions with studios and large independent production companies, including such pictures as “The Aviator,” “Terminator 3,” “Around the World in 80 Days,” “End of Days,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “The Legend of Bagger Vance,” “The Bachelor,” and “Autumn in New York”. Previously, Ms. Grasic partnered with producer Chuck Gordon (“Die Hard,” “Field of Dreams”) setting up international output deals for major feature films and a revolving line of credit of $500M. Currently, she is a Partner at Oakhurst Entertainment with four films in pre-production.

Denise Muyco, Co-Founder and CEO, StratusCore: Denise Muyco is co-founder and CEO of StratusCore, a content production technology company that is moving digital content production into the cloud. Denise has nearly 20 years of experience in the film industry as a serial entrepreneur. She founded StratusCore in 2011 to enable artists and content producers to take advantage of emerging cloud technology to streamline the content creation process and make it more cost effective for artists and studios alike. Previously, Denise founded OneView Technologies (acquired by HP Enterprise) which offered software to manage rights for films played on airplanes, cable networks and on-demand hotel services. In the late '90's she was the head of product management for AtomFilms (acquired by Viacom) where she helped produce some of the first internet-exclusive films and animations. Denise has a Bachelor of Arts in political economics, as well as a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington. Denise is a Board Member of the Motion Picture Production Industry Association and collaborates directly with industry guilds and associations.