Light refreshments will be served
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YVETTE LEE BOWSER—Bowser is a writer/producer, and the president of SisterLee Productions. She is the first and youngest African American woman to create and run her own television series, Living Single, and has the distinction of executive producing and shepherding 10 series to primetime, cable, and streaming platforms. She began her career in television as an apprentice writer on the series A Different World, where she wrote 25 episodes and became a producer during her five-year tenure. Bowser moved on to produce Hangin' with Mr. Cooper before creating the seminal series Living Single when she was 27. Bowser also created the romantic comedy, For Your Love, and developed and served as showrunner for the hit series, Half & Half. Additionally, Bowser consulted on several drama series, including Lipstick Jungle, and helped launch ABC's black-ish. She was also executive producer and showrunner for the Netflix show Dear White People, and Run The World on Starz. Currently, Bowser is the executive producer and showrunner for the Onxy for Hulu dramedy Unprisoned, starring Kerry Washington.
JOY GORMAN WETTELS—Wettels is the founder of JOY COALITION, an impact producing venture with a focus on premium, purpose-driven content for a global audience. She currently serves as executive producer for Unprisoned, Tracy McMillan’s semi-autobiographical exploration of the effects of incarceration on a family, which premiered on Hulu in March. She produced Eyes on the Prize: Hallowed Ground (HBO Max), the Netflix sereis 13 Reasons Why, which started a global conversation around teen suicide, mental health, and sexual violence and remains one of Netflix’s most viewed series of all time. Wettels also produced Apple TV’s critically acclaimed series Home Before Dark, inspired by the true story of 9-year-old journalist Hilde Lysiak.
CARLA BANKS WADDLES—Waddles, a native Detroiter, studied journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill School, but quickly realized she could scratch her creative itch by spending more time in the Radio, Television, Film Department. She took the only scripts she had written in those classes (A Different World spec and an original screenplay) to apply and get accepted to the Graduate Screenwriting Program at the University of Southern California. This officially marked her move to Los Angeles and the beginning of her 20-plus year career in television. She has written and produced over a dozen television shows including That’s So Raven, Half & Half, Hit the Floor and Good Girls. She is currently the showrunner and executive producer on Bel-Air, and was also the showrunner on One Love. Looking to mentor other writers and share her craft, she returned to teach at Northwestern. She is the founder of Babycakes Productions.
LANE LYLE— Lyle was born and raised in Silicon Valley, five minutes from where Steven Spielberg grew up— the two narrowly missed each other by a measly 50 years. Lane got her start writing plays for her cousins to perform at Nana’s house and filming sketches with her theater friends. After attending Chapman University and getting her degree in film production, Lane spent several years working as a production assistant on everything from small indie movies to HBO’s Westworld to Comedy Central’s Roast Battle (She also taught Zumba on the weekends.) Lane spent the last five years working for SisterLee Productions, apprenticing showrunner Yvette Lee Bowser on Netflix’s Dear White People and Run the World on STARZ, as well as coordinating her development slate. She recently got her first writing credit on Onyx’s Unprisoned, which premiered this past March on Hulu.
