Top Women to Discuss Highs, Lows of Entertainment Industry at Pepperdine Symposium

A two-day symposium in November at Pepperdine University in Malibu will address the challenges facing women in the entertainment industry. 

Women in Hollywood: 100 Years of Negotiating the System is set for Nov. 15-16, according to organizers. 

“Women in creative, business, and legal roles still face a scarcity of opportunities in entertainment,” said Professor Thomas J. Stipanowich, Academic Director of the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University School of Law. “We hope this event will help advance the discussion on how to manage conflicts and relationships, both personal and professional, in order to successfully negotiate the system.”

Speakers will include Nell Scovell, co-author of Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In; Nina Jacobson, producer of The Hunger Games; Melissa Rosenberg, screenwriter of The Twilight Saga; Lucy Fisher, producer of Divergent; historian and author Cari Beauchamp; Victoria Riskin, former president of the Writers Guild of America; and Tom Sherak, former president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

The evening will conclude with a reception, called “Lean In: Honoring the Next Wave of Hollywood Women Leaders,” at the Malibu Jewish Center and Synagogue, featuring a library exhibit and panel discussions on the pioneers of the entertainment industry.

Online registration is available at law.pepperdine.edu/straus/training-and-conferences/women-in-hollywood.htm.