Schwarzman Center Hosts Conversations with Leading Women in Entertainment

Jane Park

November 18, 2022 at 2:34 am

Special correspondent

Jane Park, Staff Photographer

Being a creative is not easy – the path to success is almost never straightforward.

This is especially true for female creatives. On November 17, three leading women in the entertainment industry — Broadway producer Daryl Roth, theater executive Kamilah Forbes and publishing CEO Zibby Owens ’98 — gathered at the Yale Schwarzman Center for a panel discussion on their status as prominent figures similar but unique experiences in their fields.

When asked to share their stories and experiences, Roth, Forbes and Owens spoke about their journey to success, a tumultuous but fulfilling one. When Rose began her career as a producer, she said few experienced producers were willing to direct women.However, she has learned to overcome the stereotypes associated with women in leadership positions

“People will say to you, ‘Women take things too personally,’ Ross told the crowd. “I’ve heard it 100 times, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, we’ve heard it.’ That’s why we’re great. “

Rose added that she was always mindful of being the last voice in the room, not the loudest.

This axiom drives her diversity advocacy work in the theater production industry. In an interview with the news, Rose described how she was motivated to find theater work for her gay son, Jordan. She recalls taking Jordan to an Ian McKellen show, showing him that “in the theater, you can be who you are.”

Creative work “carried” Owens through a challenging time in her life after her family died from COVID-19.

“I’ve actually found this pandemic to be an opportunity to be more productive and creative in how I create communities around books and put the words of authors into people’s hands,” Owens said. “I took my podcast, and made it an Instagram Live show for the first three months … I started a virtual book club, which I still do, and wrote essays that eventually became an anthology.”

Owens has not followed a straightforward journey in her creative career. In fact, Owens’ decision to take writing seriously was sparked by the death of her close friend Stacey Sanders ’98, who was killed in an attack on September 11, 2001.

“I decided, among other things that made me rethink my whole life and the meaning of life, that if I was going to get killed at my desk, doing my job, I’d better devote myself to what I was doing. I can no longer sit around and pitch Pepperidge Farm cookies for an ad agency,” Owens said.

In the conversation, Forbes recalled her years in Howard University’s theater program, where she met many “classic” black playwrights, including Adrian Kennedy and Douglas Turner Ward.

Still, she noticed a generational gap in black representation, which led her to found a hip-hop theater festival and eventually collaborate with artists like Danny Hawk and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

“I don’t exactly see a reflection of my generation,” Forbes said. “We did a lot of August Wilson, but as a 19-year-old student, I didn’t have a role to play. I’m from the hip-hop generation. So the play I’m really interested in is ‘How does my culture and intergenerational voice Reflected on stage?’”

Both Owens and Forbes reflect on the uncertainty of COVID-19; during this time, both their teams are working to make content more accessible and responsive to the needs of their audiences.

As an important center for African-American culture and the arts, the Apollo Theater is dedicated to responding to the national outrage surrounding the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, Forbes said.

But the pandemic has required theaters to connect with audiences across different mediums. The Forbes team teamed up with HBO to produce a film based on the book “Between Me and the World” by Ta-Nehisi Coates. The film will be released in November 2020.

Despite the difficulties and uncertainties of a career in entertainment, all three panelists urged students to follow their instincts and passions.

“You have to actually wear a blindfold at some point,” Ross said. “Just bring what you think is right for you. If it’s right for you, it’s right. If it’s a failure, that’s a word I’m using in quotes because I don’t believe in failure, and you have nothing but yourself One can blame, you learn from it and move on. It’s hills and valleys, hills and valleys.”

The Schwarzman Center was donated in 2015.