LOS ANGELES — The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers and the Hollywood Post Alliance Women in Post presented “Wendy Aylsworth in Conversation with Friends” to a full house in conjunction with the SMPTE 2013 Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition on Monday.
“Leaders and mentors like Wendy are doing wonderful work to attract more women to the business, and the strong interest in this sold-out event shows how inspiring and valuable the connections among women are for our industry,” said SMPTE Executive Director Barbara Lange.
During the luncheon, SMPTE President Wendy Aylsworth, who is also the senior vice president of technology at Warner Bros. Technical Operations, joined Jacki Morie, CEO of All These Worlds, and Poppy Crum, senior scientist at Dolby Laboratories, in a discussion about what it takes to be a woman working in the entertainment and media technology industry.
“Women are a fundamental part of the media and entertainment technology workforce, and the future will rely on finding the best talent for technical and executive roles,” said Eileen Kramer, executive director of HPA.
A number of points arose from the event, including the need to focus on creativity and mentorship. Aylsworth spoke of the importance of thinking creatively to attract more women to a business that will continue to need the best and brightest talent, and Morie provided practical ideas for making it happen. Crum emphasized the importance of having a mentor "to encourage you and to allow you to make mistakes" in the process of exploring new ideas and possibilities.
