HITS

To close out the program Feb. 27 at the Smart Hollywood Summit in Los Angeles, the minds behind Women in Technology: Hollywood (WiTH) will bring a collection of industry executives and renowned UCLA lecturer Dr. Iris Firstenberg to the stage, to offer new perspectives on what it takes to be a leader today.

“Provocative thinkers question established assumptions about what is possible, and seize opportunities invisible to others,” said Firstenberg, adjunct professor at UCLA’s Department of Psychology and Anderson School. Her keynote address — “Harnessing Hurricane VUCA to your Leadership Advantage” — will look at what it takes to lead in an industry that’s full of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA).

Facing an anything-but-predictable future, attendees will hear how they can develop their own “Leadership Doppler Radar” to help predict what’s ahead in the upcoming storms media and entertainment firms are facing.

Following Firstenberg’s keynote, five of the WiTH Leadership Award winners from 2017 and 2018 will take the stage for the panel “Upgrading Your Leadership Code,” where they’ll share their success stories, their inspirations, and what’s worked — and what hasn’t — in their leadership experiencers.

“We’ll discuss what it takes to lead during times of great change, what the future of work may look like with an inclusive lens and what new type of leadership emerges,” said Cybill Miklaszewski, director of technology and co-chair of women in tech for 21st Century Fox. She’ll moderate the panel, featuring Susan Cheng, EVP of content tech and operations for Warner Bros., Denise Evans, EVP of operations for FilmTrack, Deborah Fiorella, SVP of IT for NBC Universal Theme Parks and Resorts and co-founder of TechWomen Los Angeles, and Cindy McKenzie, CIO of Deluxe Entertainment Services Group and co-founder of STEM Advantage.

“While our keynote and panel are sponsored by Women in Tech: Hollywood, the programming of that content is deliberately designed to be inclusive to women AND men,” said WiTH co-founder Nadya Ichinomiya. “In these times of accelerated disruption, learning pragmatic strategies to level up your game is critical. And increasing your network has never been more vital.”

This year’s Smart Hollywood Summit is being produced by MESA’s Smart Content Council with sponsorship by IBM Watson, MarkLogic, EIDR, Hammerspace, human-I-T, Independent Security Evaluators (ISE), KlarisIP, Testronic, FilmTrack, OnPrem, Mediamorph, RSG Media, Vistex, Vubiquity and Bob Gold & Associates. To register click here.