The Power of TV: Democracy in Focus

Fill 1
October 10, 2024

About the Event

A public program of the Television Academy Foundation:

The Power of TV: Democracy in Focus

Television has an incredible reach and impact on viewers across the country. With the 2024 general election on the horizon, this event will dive into the ways both unscripted and scripted content provide opportunities for building civic knowledge and engagement. Speakers will examine the complex relationship between television and democracy, discussing television's power to entertain and inform audiences outside the newsroom. 

Speakers:

  • Valentina Garza, Writer/Executive Producer, The Simpsons; Jane the Virgin
  • Mark Goffman, Writer/Executive Producer, The West Wing; The Irrational; The Umbrella Academy
  • Will Jenkins, Director, Partnership for Public Service
  • Amanda McBaine, Writer/Director/Producer, Girls State
  • Michelle Visage, Television Personality, RuPaul's Drag Race

Moderator

  • Dawn Chmielewski, U.S. Entertainment Business Correspondent, Reuters

Click here to reserve tickets.

This event was made possible with support from the Partnership for Public Service. 

This is a public event of the Television Academy Foundation. Television Academy Members and the public are invited to attend. Each individual may reserve up to two tickets.

Can't make the event? No problem! This event will be recorded and you can watch on TelevisionAcademy.com the week following the event.

The Television Academy Foundation is committed to making member events accessible to everyone. For information about accessibility at the Saban Media Center, please click here.

Seating is subject to availability; first come, first served. Admittance is not guaranteed.

Produced By

This event is presented and hosted
by the Television Academy Foundation.

Fill 1
October 10, 2024
Fill 1
9:30 am to 10:30 am PDT
Location

Wolf Theatre
at Saban Media Center
Television Academy
5210 Lankershim Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA 91601
Google Maps

Complimentary self parking in the structure adjacent to the Saban Media Center.

Speakers



Valentina Garza

Valentina Garza is a Cuban-American comedy writer. A Los Angeles native, she attended U.C. Berkeley, graduating with a degree in Comparative Literature. After completing the prestigious Warner Brothers Writers' Fellowship Program, she began her career in animation writing on FOX's animated juggernaut, The Simpsons, and Seth MacFarlane's Bordertown. Valentina received an Annie nomination for Writing in a Television Production for her work on The Simpsons and won an Environmental Media Award for her episode titled, "Opposites A-Frack".

In addition to her experience in animation, Valentina is best known for her work on the critically acclaimed Jane the Virgin, where she received a Sentinel Award for her portrayal of Breast Cancer in a comedy. She also worked on The Baker and the Beauty, Only Murders In the Building, and the upcoming season of Wednesday. She has sold pilots to ABC, CBS, CW, NBC, FOX, and AMAZON, and is currently a Co-Executive Producer on XO Kitty.


Mark Goffman

Mark Goffman is writer and executive producer on the NBC drama "The Irrational."

Previously, Goffman was an executive producer and writer on the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy and a showrunner on Bull and Sleepy Hollow. Other TV credits include Limitless, White Collar, The West Wing and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Goffman has written on and produced more than 200 hours of scripted television, been nominated for two Writers Guild Awards and won the Entertainment Industries Council SET Award. An episode he wrote of Law & Order: SVU garnered Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominations for Mariska Hargitay. Goffman's feature directorial debut is "Dumbstruck," a documentary about ventriloquists. He has written an upcoming feature film, which Taika Waititi is set to direct. Goffman is directing his first feature film later next year. Goffman began his career as a writer in Brussels for the magazine Commerce in Belgium. He has a master's degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, wrote speeches for state and federally elected officials, consulted for the U.S. military, Department of State and White House.

Goffman has a B.A. from Emory University in economics and philosophy and served as a Master's Thesis Adviser, Fiction Writing Program, at Johns Hopkins University. His first play, "Me Too," has run in Los Angeles and Indianapolis.


Will Jenkins

Will Jenkins leads initiatives at the Partnership for Public Service to inspire future generations of young leaders to public service, help government leaders be more trustworthy and trusted, and tell the stories of public servants rising to big challenges and opportunities. He has served in senior positions across multiple administrations in the White House, the Department of Health and Human Services, and Congress. He has developed leadership programs for hundreds of Congressional staffers and federal agency officials. In the field of creative media, he has trained or advised hundreds of TV, film and digital creators on politics and policymaking through the Sundance Institute, the South by Southwest Festival, the Tribeca Film Institute, POV, the Writers Guild of America, Warner Bros., the American Film Institute, FRONTLINE, MTV and others. He has conceptualized studies on media, democracy, and social issues including When Movies Go to Washington, Movies & Grassroots Community Engagement, Can Hollywood Help Imagine a Future without Plastic, and Watching Out for Democracy.


Amanda McBaine

Amanda McBaine has been filmmaking partners with Jesse Moss for twenty years. They directed "Boys State," which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was released by Apple Original Films and A24. The film won the 2021 Primetime Emmy Award for Best Nonfiction Film and they received DGA and Emmy nominations for Outstanding Directorial Achievement. President Barack Obama named "Boys State" one of his favorite films of 2020. Recent work includes "The Mission," which premiered at the 2023 Telluride Film Festival, and was released by National Geographic Documentary Films and Picturehouse. Their previous film "The Overnighters" won the Special Jury Prize for Intuitive Filmmaking at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and was distributed by Drafthouse Films and Netflix. "Boys State" and "The Overnighters" were both shortlisted for the Academy Award for Feature Documentary. Earlier work together includes "Mayor Pete" for Amazon Studios, "The Bandit" for CMT, and "Speedo: A Demolition Derby Love Story."

Michelle Visage

Multiple Emmy and Producer's Guild Award winning, internationally renowned television personality, radio show host, podcast host, platinum-selling recording artist and author, Michelle Visage has made a name for herself in the entertainment industry, across multiple mediums for the past three decades.

Visage initially rose to fame as a member of the girl group (A&M) Seduction in the early 1990s, with their platinum-selling album "Nothing Matters Without Love," that spawned multiple hits that climbed the billboard charts. Visage was also featured on the best selling soundtrack of all time [35 million copies sold], THE BODYGUARD [Warner Brothers Pictures], with her remake of Bill Withers' "It's Gonna Be A Lovely Day," that she wrote and sang. Visage was immediately signed to Arista Records by Clive Davis himself.

Today, Visage can be seen as head judge on the multiple Emmy Award winning show, RuPaul's Drag Race, alongside iconic host, RuPaul. The reality competition show leaves fans wanting more each week with Michelle's rapid-fire quick wit, impeccable sense of style and signature sass, as the judges decide who will stay or "Sashay Away." Her work extends across some of the international spinoffs including "RuPaul's Drag Race UK" (BBC3, BBC1, and WOW Presents Plus) where she can be seen next to RuPaul, Graham Norton and Alan Carr.

Visage's judging expertise can also be seen on the Paramount+ hit series, Queen of the Universe - the world's first all drag queen singing competition - in addition to her time on both seasons of the IFTA-nominated Ireland's Got Talent.

Michelle was recently announced as the new host of Drag Race Down Under (Stan TV, TVNZ, and WOW Presents Plus).

In addition to her iconic work as a judge, Visage serves as the host of companion series RuPaul's Drag Race: Whatcha Packin'?  - the weekly series where she sits down with the eliminated queens to discuss life and fashion, earning herself another Emmy nomination this time for Whatcha Packin'. Fans have also seen Visage on her reality show How's Your Head, Hun? where she and her family kept everyone's spirits high during lockdown. In 2019, Visage competed and dominated in UK's biggest show, Strictly Come Dancing, leaving after a controversial dance off. She was the fan favorite and fell in love with the world of dancing!

Visage has also been a staple on morning radio for 17 years, hosting and co-hosting programs on various stations such as WKTU 103.5 [New York], HOT 92.3 [Los Angeles], SUNNY 104.3 [West Palm Beach, FL], WMIA [Miami] and Sirius XM, to name a few. In this time, Michelle has recorded thousands of commercials and delivered even more live reads. She was the co-host of the hugely successful RuPaul's What's the Tee? With Michelle Visage podcast, which won a 2018 Webby Award as well as the show having been downloaded over 50 million times and is now the host of her own podcast on the BBC entitled "Rule Breakers with Michelle Visage" and has a weekly Fabulous Friday night show on BBC radio 2 in the UK.

She is also the author of bestseller "The Diva Rules" [Chronicle Books], offering advice for living life to the fullest, and finding success no matter what hand you're dealt.

Visage currently splits her time between Los Angeles and London. She shares her life with her husband of 28 years, two great kids and two rescue pups.

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