Guest Speaker: NANCY CHEN

Nancy Chen is currently Director, Human Resources for the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group. In this role, she acts as a thought partner to Universal's Finance, Business Development, Data Strategy, Communications, and Business & Legal Affairs teams. She also champions Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion through programming components such as Sponsorship and Mentorship programs.

Nancy has been working in HR over ten years and began at NBCUniversal first supporting the Los Angeles-based NBC and Telemundo TV stations. She then transferred to support the Parks & Resorts business with Universal Studios Hollywood, before making the switch to the Film business. Prior to her career in HR, Nancy spent four years in the logistics and supply chain industry working in Sales and Operations.

Guest Speaker:  MARK ZEE

Mark Zee is Vice President, Global Content Licensing at The Walt Disney Company.  In his role, he negotiates 3rd party content licensing deals with US and global SVOD and AVOD partners.  In addition, he manages 1st party business with Disney’s D2C platforms and networks, which includes developing content strategies.  His responsibilities cover both features and series.

Mark serves on a Disney DEI Council, with a particular focus on transparency and accountability.  He has also been actively involved in combatting anti-Asian hate.  In his previous roles at Disney, Mark handled US, Canada, and global EST and TVOD licensing as well as international digital distribution strategy.

Prior to joining Disney in 2014, Mark worked in theatrical distribution at 20th Century Fox and investment management in Houston, TX.  During his twenties, he was an actor and television host based in Singapore, where he starred in over a dozen series, including the International Emmy-nominated First Class.  Mark received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and his MBA from UCLA Anderson.

Mark is a Chinese-American-Brazilian and proud immigrant, who was born in Brazil and raised mostly in Minnesota.  He currently lives in Santa Monica, CA, where he has been weathering the pandemic with his rescue cats, Prince and Bowie.

Guest Speaker: MILAN CHAKRABORTY

Milan Chakraborty is the Head of Film at Marginal MediaWorks, where he oversees all of the company's efforts in independent, studio and streaming film.  He is a 15 year veteran of the film industry and has produced and executive produced about 20 films. Milan began his career at Warner Bros Pictures and New Line Cinema in production finance and accounting where he reviewed budgets from $5-$200M films, and was active globally on the production teams for "Batman Begins" (London); "Superman Returns" (Sydney); "V for Vendetta" (Berlin); and "History of Violence" (Toronto).  Following Warner Bros, Milan began independently producing and co-financing and since 2008 has produced over 15 features including "My Friend Dahmer," released in November 2017 and “Certified Fresh” by Rotten Tomatoes.  He was also an Executive Producer for Sam Levinson's breakout film, "Assassination Nation," which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival; on "Plus One" starring Maya Erskine which won the Audience Award at the 2019 Tribeca Film Fest; and "The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain," which won both Audience and Jury Awards at the 2019 Austin Film Festival. The film is written and directed by David Midell and executive produced by Morgan Freeman, Lori McCreary and Gary Luccesi of REVELATIONS ENTERTAINMENT. Most recently Milan Executive Produced "The Dark & the Wicked," a genre thriller written and directed by Bryan Bertino ("The Strangers"). Additionally, Milan is a producer on REARRANGED written by and based on the life of Zarna Garg. REARRANGED was a 2019 Nichol semi-finalist as well as the winner of the 2019 Austin Film Festival best comedy script.

Marginal MediaWorks is a cross-platform content studio with projects across feature film, series, animation, interactive and audio.  At Marginal, Milan oversees a fast-growing slate of over two dozen feature films in various stages of development and production, with projects across major studios and streamers.  The company was founded in 2018 by Sanjay M Sharma with a focus on genre and popular storytelling from under-represented voices or outsider perspectives.

Guest Speaker:  ANDY PARK

Andy Park is the Director of Visual Development at Marvel Studios. He studied as an Art/Illustration major at both UCLA and Art Center College of Design. His career began as a comic-book artist fulfilling a childhood dream and illustrating such titles as Tomb Raider, Excalibur, and Uncanny X-Men for companies like Marvel, DC, and Image Comics, among others. After a decade in the comic book industry, he made a career switch and began working as a concept artist in video games. He was one of the leading artists designing the various worlds and fantastical characters/creatures of the award-winning God of War video game franchise for Sony Computer Entertainment of America. Park joined the Visual Development Department at Marvel Studios in 2010 as a visual development concept artist, designing characters and keyframe illustrations for The Avengers, and has since worked on every single Marvel Studios film for the past 11 years including the previously highest grossing film of all time in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. Six years ago, Park was promoted to lead the department as the Director of Visual Development on several projects including the past and future films: Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2, Thor: Ragnarok, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel, Black Widow, WandaVision, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, The Marvels, Thor: Love and Thunder, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3.

Moderator:  AKIRA EGAWA

Akira Egawa is the Director of Cinema Partnerships at The Walt Disney Company. She oversees execution of in-theater marketing and promotions for The Walt Disney Studios, 20th Century Studios, and Searchlight Pictures films. Prior to joining Disney through a historic company merger, she was with Twentieth Century Fox for 11 years on the In-Theatre Marketing team working on a diverse slate of films including Avatar, Deadpool, and 12 Years A Slave. 

Akira was born in Los Angeles and raised in Tokyo, Japan. She moved back to Los Angeles on her own to attend the University of Southern California as an undergraduate. 

She is currently an active member of the Diversity and Inclusion Impact Team at Disney where she focuses her efforts on fostering an inclusive community and culture within the company.