2020 Annual Event Details

Featuring:

• Keynote Speaker, Bonnie Hammer, Vice Chairman, NBCUniversal in conversation with CNBC Senior Media & Entertainment Correspondent, Julia Boorstin
• Member Networking
• Panel Session: Integrating D&I into Corporate and Content Strategy featuring Kamala Avila-Salmon, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group’s first Head of Inclusive Content, and Jen Hollingsworth, COO of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group

When:  Tuesday December 8th at 4:30pm PT

Bonnie Hammer is Vice Chairman, NBCUniversal. As a strategic advisor to Jeff Shell, CEO, she leverages her strong business and creative experience, broad industry relationships and long-standing commitment to prosocial advocacy to further company initiatives.

In her 40 plus year career, Hammer been involved in every facet of the television business, often being tapped to position emerging platforms for success. In her previous role as Chairman of the Universal Studio Group, she strategically aligned NBCUniversal’s content business for the global market, bringing together the company’s three powerhouse studios -- Universal Television, UCP and NBCUniversal International Studios -- under one umbrella. Prior to her studio purview, Hammer was Chairman, Direct-to-Consumer and Digital Enterprises, overseeing the creation of Peacock, NBCUniversal’s new streaming platform.

Hammer moved to Peacock after serving as Chairman, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment where she had executive oversight of leading cable brands USA Network, SYFY, Bravo, Oxygen, E! Entertainment and Universal Kids. Under Hammer's leadership, these cable networks experienced tremendous growth domestically and internationally. During her tenure at USA, the network was the most-watched entertainment cable channel for record-setting 13 consecutive years. She also grew the network’s profitability by and impressive 33%. As her portfolio grew, Hammer developed SYFY into a global brand by extending its reach to 116 countries worldwide, guided Bravo to top 5 cable network and directed the growth, both domestically and internationally, for E! Entertainment. She also created and oversaw two award-winning production studios, UCP and Wilshire Studios, as well as the digital business Bluprint.

In addition to leading network growth Hammer also cultivated a roster of award-winning series and talent. Under her leadership, USA, SYFY and UCP recorded 167 Emmy award nominations and series such as “Monk,” “Mr. Robot,” “The Sinner,” “Homecoming,” “The Act,” “Dirty John” and “Battlestar Galactica” were regularly lauded by the Television Academy, HFPA and Screen Actors Guild. “Mr. Robot” and “Battlestar Galactica” also received Peabody and AFI awards.

In 2016, with a move that Variety Magazine described as “blowing up the cable TV management playbook,” she centralized all original scripted content for the portfolio under one team and formed a new division tasked with developing forward-thinking planning, Strategy and Commercial Growth.

Earlier in her career, Hammer was an original programming executive at Lifetime Television Network, where she executive produced several award-winning documentaries for the network’s acclaimed Signature Series. She was honored with the Lillian Gish Award, several Cine Golden Eagles and the National Association for Youth’s Mentor Award. Before coming to New York, Hammer executive produced “Good Day!” for WCVB in Boston, and produced the series “This Old House,” “Infinity Factory” and “Zoom!” for PBS.

As a leader, Hammer sought ways to use her platforms to promote social inclusivity. She created and launched a pro-social campaign designed to fight hate and discrimination in America, “Erase the Hate,” in 1994. The initiative received a coveted Governors Award from the Television Academy for its groundbreaking documentaries and specials, community programs and educational materials.

Throughout her career, Hammer has been lauded for both her executive prowess and her dedication to social responsibility. She was named the 2019 “Executive of the Year” by The Hollywood Reporter. She is also consistently included on The Hollywood Reporter’s “Power 100” list and was named “Most Powerful Woman in Entertainment” by the publication. Hammer is regularly included on Fortune’s “50 Most Powerful Women” list, Forbes’ list of “The World's 100 Most Powerful Women” and Vanity Fair's annual “New Establishment” list. In 2008, Hammer received the Anti-Defamation League’s Entertainment Industry Award; she has since chaired ADL’s National Entertainment Advisory Council. For her professional contributions, Hammer has been honored by UJA Federation of New York with the group’s Steven J. Ross Humanitarian Award, the Matrix Award from New York Women in Communications, and the prestigious Crystal+Lucy Award from Women in Film. She was also inducted into Broadcasting & Cable's Hall of Fame.

Hammer currently serves on the Board of Directors of eBay and IAC/InteractiveCorp. She also sits on the AFI Board of Trustees, the Board of Governors for the MPTF Foundation and serves on the strategic planning committee for Boston University’s College of Communication.

Outside the office, Hammer is also an accomplished photographer who has had her work displayed in several galleries and in leading publications such as Time magazine and The Boston Globe. She holds a bachelor's degree in communications and a master’s degree in media and new technology from Boston University. She also received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Boston University in 2017.

Julia Boorstin has been a CNBC Media and Entertainment Reporter since 2006. Her previous experience includes Fortune Magazine and CNN Headline News. Julia received her Bachelor’s Degree from Princeton University.

Kamala Avila-Salmon’s career thus far spans marketing and entrepreneurial endeavors in music, film, television, and even games. After graduating cum laude from Harvard University with a B.A. in Government, Kamala followed her passion for music back to her hometown of New York and began her career in the marketing department of RCA Records. There she worked with a diverse group of artists from American Idol winners to indie singer-songwriters, honing her skills and climbing the ladder. Kamala then joined Bad Boy Records, the legendary hip hop label founded by Sean “Diddy” Combs, as a marketing executive where she envisioned and executed multi-million dollar marketing campaigns for artists like superstar, Janelle Monae.

Following Bad Boy, Kamala took a short break to attend Harvard Business School, earning her MBA, before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a new dream- to diversify the powerful images and messages disseminated by Hollywood. She spent two years at Universal Pictures in their Leadership Program, rotating through various departments within the studio with a focus on Theatrical Marketing before transitioning to the TV side with NBC Entertainment as a marketing strategy executive, responsible for the market positioning and key promotional messages for top network shows, like The Voice and Law & Order: SVU.

Witnessing the film and TV worlds undergo the same kind of disruption and reinvention as the music industry before it, Kamala set her sights on transitioning to the digital side of the entertainment ecosystem and was recruited to join Google Play, where she was responsible for consumer-facing marketing campaigns promoting Google Play Music and Google Play Movies. Following Google Play, she joined YouTube TV, Google’s entry into the new and already competitive world of live TV streaming services prepared to give traditional cable a run for its money, as the Partner & Content Marketing Lead. Her work was recognized on Cablefax’s inaugural Affiliate Marketing Hot List. She next joined Facebook, first as a senior content marketer and then as the first Inclusion Strategy Lead for the Consumer Marketing team, focused on inspiring the Facebook brands to ship more inclusive and culturally relevant work. While there, she was named one of AdWeek’s 2019 Young Influentials, an honor given to individuals who are “changing the way we think about branding.”

In 2020, Avila-Salmon joined Lionsgate as the Motion Picture Group’s first Head of Inclusive Content, a new role aimed at developing and implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and strategies to increase and reflect global diversity in Lionsgate’s filmed entertainment. In this role, she will work cross-functionally as a partner to help guide decisions around MPG creative content as well as liaise with the studio’s corporate groups to support internal D&I processes and initiatives. As she creates these systems, she will have a voice in all MPG creative processes (including the greenlight process, content
development, production, casting, marketing, and international sales), reporting to the studio’s COO.

Kamala was born in Kingston, Jamaica and immigrated to New York City as a child with her parents. She freely credits their constant example of hard work, discipline, and drive as the source of her achievements thus far, and any successes to come. Kamala lives with her husband and her too-cute-for-words son, Langston.