The Power of TV: Flipping the Script on Work, Family and Care on May 8

The Television Academy Foundation will present “The Power of TV: Flipping the Script on Work, Family and Care,” in partnership with Caring Across Generations and New America’s Better Life Lab, on Wednesday, May 8, from 9-10:30 a.m. PDT.

The free, open-to-the-public event will be held at the Television Academy’s North Hollywood campus with registration at TelevisionAcademy.com/power-of-tv/tickets.

The live event will feature an informative and compelling discussion with Hollywood creatives, caregiving experts and advocates examining the complexities of managing work, family and care to promote more authentic storylines on screen. Drawing from audience research and real-world data, the panel will shine a light on what's missing from the lives of people we see on screen, why that matters, and what storytellers can do to help move media beyond the status quo.

In prepping for the event, organizers noted that an estimated 53 million people in the U.S. provide care to an older or disabled loved one, the majority of the 74 million children under 18 in the U.S. live in households where all adults work, and only 1 in 4 workers have access to paid family leave through their jobs. Yet, on television, navigating the complexities of work, family, and care is rarely part of the story and, when it is, many depictions reinforce traditional gender stereotypes and individualistic mindsets that reinforce inequality in workplaces, wages, and culture.

Additionally, media research demonstrates that mainstream storytelling often relies on individualistic “bootstraps” narratives in which protagonists go it alone in managing work, family, and care – and become “heroes” through individual grit rather than acknowledging the value of interdependence and collective solutions. This event will flip the script on these conventional “hero” and “bootstraps” narratives with practical advice on how and why creatives can shift to a new paradigm of storytelling that recognizes and honors the centrality of care in everyone’s lives – not only because this promotes a culture where managing work, family and care is easier for all, but because new research shows that audiences both crave and engage with stories that accurately reflect their experiences with work, family and care and aspirations for how people’s lives could look different and more supported.

Panelists for the event include actress, advocate and producer Brandee Evans (P-Valley) who is also a member of the Caring Across Generations Creative Care Council; Grey’s Anatomy and Fire Country executive producers and writers Joan Rater and Tony Phelan; Senior Fellow for Gender Equity, Paid Leave, and Care Policy and Strategy, and Founder, Entertainment Practice, Better Life Lab at New America, Vicki Shabo; and Director, Culture Change, Caring Across Generations Lydia Storie. The discussion will be moderated by the Hollywood Reporter’s Senior Editor of Diversity and Inclusion, Rebecca Sun.

In addition to covering a broad range of topics within caregiving that millions of Americans face daily–across childcare, aging and disability care, receiving care for illness or injury, and managing work and family – plus ways to incorporate this more authentically onscreen, the discussion will also help identify opportunities to encourage support for media professionals in the workplace.

“These are deeply human issues that affect us all,” said Tina Perry, chair of the Television Academy Foundation. “This public program will highlight the power of television to shift and advance perspectives while encouraging content creators to delve deeper into more authentic portrayals that better reflect the lives of audiences on screen.”

The event will be held at the Academy’s Saban Media Center, 5210 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. A pre-event continental breakfast will be served for all attendees at 9 a.m. prior to the 9:30 a.m. panel discussion. Admission is free; RSVP is required. To register, visit TelevisionAcademy.com/power-of-tv/tickets.

Caring Across Generations and New America are the presenting sponsors of the event.