Women in Entertainment

Women in Entertainment (WIE) is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 2015 by Renee Rossi and Gretchen McCourt[1] in order to focus on the advancement of women in the entertainment industry.[2] They hold events including the annual Women in Entertainment Summit,[3] first held in 2015 in Los Angeles, CA.[4] The first keynote speaker was Geena Davis, who discussed unconscious bias against women as portrayed in family films.[5] Subsequent conference speakers have included SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris in 2017;[6] [7] Friends executive producer Marta Kauffman in 2018;[8] and Patricia Heaton in 2019.[7] During the annual event, female individuals from the American entertainment industry speak about issues in the industry[7] and report on successes of women in the art form,[9] with panels focusing on various subjects.[8]

In 2018 Women in Entertainment partnered with the Television Academy Foundation to create the Women in Television Summit, a complementary event.[10] They have also partnered with other organizations to highlight women-made content, such as documentary festivals[11] in Santa Monica, California.[12] In 2019, Women in Entertainment and Writers Guild of America West co-presented an event series called In Her Words: Spotlight on Women Writers in Film & TV, featuring screenings of films and live interviews.[10][13]