TONYA LEWIS LEE is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker, award-winning author, successful entrepreneur, and tireless women’s health activist. Her creative work and her advocacy often explore the personal impact of social justice issues. Through her documentaries and her books, she has easily reached tens of millions with her important health messages. Aftershock (Hulu), a feature-length documentary she co-directed and co-produced, highlights the United States’ maternal mortality crisis. It received numerous awards including a 2024 DuPont-Columbia Award, a 2023 Peabody Award, a 2022 Sundance Special Jury Impact for Change Award, and a 2023 Emmy Award nomination.

As a television producer, Tonya served as Executive Producer on the episodic series She’s Gotta Have It (Netflix) and wrote and produced The Watsons Go to Birmingham (Amazon). As a film producer, she produced Monster (Netflix), which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. She is also president of her own production company, Madstone Company Inc. When she’s not focused on being behind the camera, you can find Tonya in front of her computer crafting stories. She co-authored three children’s books with her husband Spike Lee. The highly-praised Please, Baby, Please; Please, Puppy, Please; and Giant Steps to Change the World have sold over one million copies. Tonya tackled adult fiction with Crystal McCrary Anthony, co-writing The Gotham Diaries (Hyperion) which was hailed as “vicious,” “funny” and “juicy” by Publisher’s Weekly. She has also penned guest editorials for prestigious media outlets including The Hollywood Reporter. Tonya’s staunch advocacy for women’s health and dedication to activism has drawn her to be a spokesperson for the US Department for Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health as well as a member of the Board of Trustees of the March of Dimes and a Board Emeritus of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. She has received numerous awards and recognition for her work including being named to the 2023 Forbes 50 Over 50 list. As an entrepreneur, Tonya founded and became CEO of Movita Organics, an organic vitamin supplement company. For the past decade, it has provided a premium vitamin supplement to the marketplace and created an opportunity to bring to the forefront critical conversations about how women can access and achieve optimum health. Media outlets consistently invite Tonya to share her thought leadership around women’s health, healthcare inequalities, and social justice. She has reached millions through her appearances on ABC News, CBS Mornings, ABC’s The View, and NBC News Now. Tonya has been featured on dozens of podcasts and radio shows including NPR, The Steve Harvey Morning Show, Capehart, The Stephen A. Smith Show, The Breakfast Club, and more. From being a keynote speaker to engaging in panel interviews, Tonya has addressed audiences as large as 10,000 virtually and in person. Planned Parenthood Federation of America, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Harvard University, and Walmart are just a few of the prestigious organizations, universities, and companies who have invited her to speak.

Tonya is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and The University of Virginia School of Law. She is a member of the Writer’s Guild of America, the Producers Guild of America, and the Television Academy. Tonya is happily married to her husband, Spike Lee, has two adult children, and lives in New York.

CANDI CARTER is an e-commerce executive. From 2022 to 2024, Carter joined the e-commerce production company, Knocking.com, as Chief Content Officer. Before this role, Carter was an executive producer/showrunner for ABC. Carter joined The Tamron Hall Show as Executive Producer and Showrunner in March 2020. Prior to joining Tamron Hall, Carter served as Executive Producer of the iconic daytime TV show, The View, for five seasons.

Carter began her career at CNN, moved on to WISN-TV, the ABC affiliate in Milwaukee and in 1995 Carter joined The Oprah Winfrey Show in Chicago. In 2011, Carter raised capital and co-founded New Chapter Entertainment. As CEO, her Chicago-based production company originated, developed, and produced unscripted TV shows for broadcast, cable, syndication, and new media.

In her spare time, Carter runs an organization called, “We’ve Got Friends”, a non-profit dedicated to helping teens with special needs develop friend groups of their own.

Carter is also a member of NY Women in Film and Television, The National Association of Black Journalists, The Links Incorporated, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two children.

TYSON BIDNER is a producer, husband, and father with over 25 years of experience in the film and television business.

Recent credits include producing all seasons of The Bear (FX), Darren Aronofsky’s Academy Award-winning The Whale (A24), American Sports Story:Aaron Hernandez (FX), Ramy (Hulu), Mo (Netflix), On the Count of Three (Annapurna)  Home Videos (HBO), More Feelings (HBO/Max), The Americans (FX), Succession (HBO), The Looming Tower (Hulu), Iron Fist (Netflix/Marvel).

Other credits include working with some top directors: Joss Whedon (The Avengers), Joel and Ethan Coen (Inside Llewyn Davis, True Grit, A Serious Man), and Sam Mendes (Away We Go). He was also Production Supervisor and Assistant Director of Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha and Mistress America.

He also worked on Sex and the City, Stuart Little 2, Annie, White Collar, Birdman, Third Watch, The Apprentice, and Captain America.

Bidner is an Emmy award-winning producer; along with the Golden Globe, he has won multiple PGA and Peabody awards, a DGA award and a BAFTA and AFI acknowledgement in 2023 & 2024.

SAM BISBEE is an Emmy Award-winning and Independent Spirit and Peabody
Award-nominated producer and founding partner of Park Pictures Features. Over the last decade, Sam and Park Pictures have produced the Sundance Sloan Award winner ROBOT AND FRANK, the Golden Globe-nominated INFINITELY POLAR BEAR (Sony Pictures Classics), the Independent Spirit Award winner OTHER PEOPLE (Netflix), the Sundance Audience Award winner THE SENTENCE (HBO), which went on to win a Primetime Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking, the Criterion Collection film FAREWELL AMOR (IFC), the BAFTA winning and Indie Spirit nominated EARTH MAMA (A24/Film4) and, most recently, Daughters (NETFLIX), the winner of the 2024 Sundance “Festival Favorite” award. Sam is a member of both Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and BAFTA.

CELIA COSTAS is an award-winning film producer with an extensive career spanning over 40 films. She has worked as a Location Manager, Assistant Director, Production Manager, and Producer. She earned two Emmys for her work with HBO: one for Angels in America (directed by Mike Nichols) and another for Warm Springs (Joseph Sargent). She was
also Emmy-nominated for For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval
Story and co-produced A Lesson Before Dying, which won Best Picture
in 1999.

Additionally, her work on Angels in America received a Golden Globe, Producers Guild of America Award, Directors Guild of America Award, and a National Board of Review prize. As Executive Producer, other notable films include tick , tick… BOOM! (Lin-Manuel Miranda), A Quiet Place (John Krasinski), The Intern (Nancy Meyers), Closer, and Charlie Wilson’s War (Both for Mike Nichols).

In her spare time, Celia serves on the Board of Trustees at Brooklyn College and runs an Annual Lecture Series in memory of her Classicist father. She also advises The Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, where she mentors aspiring filmmakers.

Throughout her career, Celia has been celebrated for her ability to bring complex stories to life, solidifying her as a major force in the film industry.

JENNIFER FLANZ serves as Executive Producer, Writer and the Showrunner of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. During her 25+ years on the Daily Show team, Flanz has played a significant role in creating content for the show’s linear and not-so-linear programming, including both taped and live coverage, innovative social content, print books, original podcasts and on-the-ground activation spaces. Most recently, Flanz oversaw Jon Stewart’s return to the iconic “news” desk and concurrent transformation of the show’s 30-year format from a solo- to a multi-hosted show, where Stewart hosts alongside a rotation of the Daily Show News Team. This exciting change came after a long stretch of shifts for the marquee brand – from at-home production amid the Covid pandemic, to in-studio production at Paramount headquarters in Times Square, to a successful return to its home studio in Hell’s Kitchen, where it welcomed an in-studio audience for the first time in two years, and concluding with the eventual departure of permanent host Trevor Noah and the transition to all-star celebrity guest hosts behind the Daily Show desk. Flanz is no stranger to the ever-evolving Daily Show landscape, as she was an instrumental figure during the 2015 transition of hosts from Jon Stewart to Trevor Noah and the subsequent rebranding of the show. She has also Executive Produced multiple specials under the Daily Show umbrella, including Desi Lydic: Abroad; Remembering RBG – A Nation Ugly Cries with Desi Lydic; Jordan Klepper Fingers The Pulse – Into The MAGAverse; America Unfollows Democracy; Jordan Klepper Fingers The Globe – Hungary For Democracy; and Remotely Educational. Her producing roles have won her nine Primetime Emmy Awards, three Peabody Awards, a Gracie Award and a Television Academy Honors Award.

In her 35 years in the entertainment industry, AMY HERMAN has covered many bases on the production side of the business from her start in production offices on films such as Hannah and Her Sisters and Heartburn to location work on Goodfellas, Sleepless in Seattle and Quiz Show to production manager on Jerry Maguire, As Good As It Gets, The Horse Whisperer, Noah and Shutter Island.

She has served as an Executive Producer on such films as Sharper for Apple TV and Co-Producer on the Academy Award Best Picture Winner Argo.

She currently is Co-Executive Producer on the upcoming Netflix Series Zero Day and has also served as Producer on the Showtime Series City On A Hill.

She is Emmy nominated for producing HBO’s Paterno starring Al Pacino and also Co-Produced the acclaimed HBO film The Wizard of Lies starring Robert DeNiro and Michelle Pfeiffer, both directed by Barry Levinson.

Amy’s career has taken her to locations as diverse as Malta, Istanbul, Iceland and London and she is based in New York City.

SHRIHARI SATHE is a New York-based Independent Spirit Award-winning producer and director. His credits as producer/co-producer include Jamie Sisley’s Stay Awake, Eliza Hittman’s It Felt Like Love and Beach Rats, Afia Nathaniel’s Dukhtar, Bassam Jarbawi’s Screwdriver, Ritu Sarin & Tenzing Sonam’s The Sweet Requiem amongst others. Sathe’s feature directorial debut – 1000 Rupee Note has received over 30 awards. He has received fellowships from the Trans Atlantic Partners, IFP, Film Independent and Sundance Institute to name a few. In 2016, Sathe received the Cinereach Producer Award. Sathe is a member of the PGA, IMPPA and AMPAS.

MARY JANE SKALSKI’s career spans over 25 years as a producer specializing in taking projects from inception thru release. Credits include Bart Layton’s BIFA awarded American Animals, four films with Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent, The Visitor, Win Win and The Cobbler); Gregg Araki’s Mysterious Skin which premiered at the 2004 Venice Film Festival, Wilson directed by Craig Johnson, Todd Louiso’s Hello I Must Be Going which opened the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, Adam Salky’s Dare, Peter Callahan’s Against the Current, Julian Goldberger’s The Hawk is Dying, Jem Cohen’s Chain and Naomi Foner’s Very Good Girls.  Mary Jane was an executive producer on Pariah, Trick, Putzel, Before You Know It and Philippe Falardeau’s My Salinger Year. Mary Jane started her career at Good Machine, the production and sales company, where she was able to work on the early films of Ang Lee, Nicole Holofcener and Ed Burns, among others.  She regularly teaches in the Graduate Producing Program at Columbia University and is a member of AMPAS, serving on the Producers Branch Executive Committee. She is a graduate of The University of Michigan.

DONNA GIGLIOTTI is one of only eight women awarded an Academy Award for Best Picture. She has been Oscar nominated for producing Hidden Figures, Silver Linings Playbook, The Reader, and Shakespeare In Love (which won a total of eight Oscars).

Gigliotti was Emmy nominated for the 2018 ABC Academy Award telecast, the shortest show in modern Oscar history.