Thought-Provoking Ideas for Increasing Diversity in Entertainment Engineering

Metadata

Publisher: SMPTE — White Plains, NY, USA
Doc Type: Journal Article
Content Type: Original Research
Abbreviated Title: SMPTE Mot. Imag. J
Volume: 125, No. 2, pp. 50–60
Abstract: With the average age of the SMPTE members increasing, we need to attract younger engineers to strengthen our ranks and our future. By widening our search to fully include women and minorities, we can maximize the opportunity to attract top engineers, while broadening the demographics, perspectives, and capabilities of our industry. This paper is a compilation of essays by women engineers in the entertainment industry, including three women of color, with observations, ideas, and recommendations on how to increase and sustain diversity.The essays include: “Start Early through Partnerships with High Schools and Universities,” by Andrea Berry“Increase Gender and Ethnic Diversity with Internships,” by Marilyn Pierce“Take a Risk—Give Opportunities to Young Women and Minorities,” by Renu Thomas“Women in Technology—More than a Pretty Face,” by Jennifer Zeidan“Colleagues Are Colleagues, No Matter Their Demographic,” by Kellie McKeown“How to Create Demographically Blended Engineering Teams,” by Cindy Hutter Cavell“Mentoring 101,” by Wendy AylsworthIt is hoped that these suggestions will be widely read, considered, and implemented, so the entertainment industry can benefit from the talents and energy of all demographics.
Publication Date: 2016-03-01
DOI: 10.5594/j18689
ISSN: Print: 1545-0279 | Electronic: 2160-2492
Link: https://doi.org/10.5594/j18689
Author(s): Kellie McKeown
bio
After managing spaceflight hardware development for NASA, Kellie McKeown transitioned to Television Broadcast where she successfully managed software and hardware development projects and organizations for Sony, Sportvision, Digidesign audio division of Avid, StorerTV and as director of engineering for TiVo. McKeown began McKeown Consulting in 1998. Her forte is guiding software vendors to evolve their engineering organizations, procedures, and processes to successfully deliver to large broadcast clients. McKeown graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in Computer Science. Details at www.mckeownconsulting.tv and www.mckeownconsulting.com.
Wendy Aylsworth
bio
A SMPTE Fellow, Wendy Aylsworth has spent 26 years in entertainment technology, focusing on bringing emerging technologies into production and distribution usage. Her work has included introducing NextGen technologies to television, high-frame-rate capability to movie theaters, standardizing D-Cinema in SMPTE and ISO, and animation. Aylsworth is currently the Past President of SMPTE and volunteers at both the Television Academy and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences.
Renu Thomas
bio
Renu Thomas is executive vice president, Media Operations, Engineering and IT for Disney|ABC Television Group. She reports to Ben Sherwood, co-chair, Disney Media Networks and president of Disney|ABC Television Group. Thomas ensures strategic alignment of investments, initiatives and business growth, including global expansion, new markets and new product/service development/deployment. Thomas was formerly senior vice president, Technology and Operations, Disney|ABC Networks Group responsible for direction and management of all television functions across U.S. Domestic Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior, Freeform (ABC Family), Disney|ABC Domestic Television (Syndication) and Radio Disney. Thomas joined The Walt Disney Company in 2007 as vice president of Operations for ABC News. Prior to joining, Thomas held a director of production position for MacNeil/Lehrer Productions and was director of Studio Operations at NBC Universal. Thomas graduated from Cornell University with a BS and ME in Operations Research & Industrial Engineering.
Andrea Berry
bio
For more than 30 years, Andrea Berry has served as an award-winning broadcast media executive, for the Fox and CBS television networks. She led technical teams for high profile events including the World Series, the Olympic Winter Games, NFL, NCAA, and NASCAR. As a Broadcast Operations leader, Berry held key roles launching new cable and broadcast television networks and overseeing network Digital Media Management initiatives. Berry earned a bachelor's degree in computer science, minoring in electrical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology. She holds Executive Certificates in Management and Leadership from M.I.T. and in New Media Management from USC. An advocate for developing young people's skills in leadership and S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) education, Berry serves on the Boards of the NAB Education Foundation and the Sports Video Group. She was recently recognized by the Alliance for Women in Media for STEM Leadership in Media.
Marilyn Pierce
bio
Marilyn Pierce began her television career after high school at the Dallas County Sheriff 's Department. After a stent at GTE doing installations and repairs, she returned to broadcasting at the Dallas PBS/NPR station as a master control operator. She's lived and breathed Master Control ever since. She worked up the engineering ladder from local stations to the national network operations center in Washington, D.C., as a senior engineer for PBS. She is now at Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network as one of the directors of engineering for master control and program distribution. Pierce has worked both sides of the broadcasting industry as vendor and customer.
Cindy Hutter Cavell
bio
Cindy Hutter Cavell joined Cavell Mertz & Associates technical consultants in 2010. As vice president and senior engineer, she assists TV and radio station clients in all phases of RF and technical facility engineering and design. She worked as director of engineering for Sprint Nextel during the 2 GHz BAS band relocation project, served as general manager for the Fox Sports Net nationwide program playout facilities, and has been chief engineer at several television stations across the country. Cavell spent 15 years as a field technical manager at ABC news prior to her foray into local television, managing large remote broadcasts overseas for news coverage. She participated in three Olympic Games for ABC, for which she shared in Emmy Awards for Technical Achievement. Cavell holds a B.S. degree in journalism from the University of Kansas.
Jennifer Zeidan
bio
Jennifer Zeidan started in the industry as an intern at Cisco System's Cisco TV in 2008 where she learned live television and master control. She transitioned to production engineer after graduating from Santa Clara University and began technical management of large-scale events and broadcasts for Cisco. Five years later, she found herself in a real-life “The Newsroom” at the Qatar-based news corporation Al Jazeera Media Network. As a broadcast engineer stationed in Al Jazeera America's San Francisco Bureau and AJ+ Headquarters, she helped launch Al Jazeera America and AJ+, Al Jazeera's newest digitalonly, millennial-geared network. After moving from corporate television to news, the time came to step into the world of film. Zeidan is now a media systems engineer at Lucasfilm's Industrial Light and Magic and enjoying new adventures in film.
Keyword(s): Diversity, Women, Minority, People Of Color, Demographics, Engineering, Careers, Recruiting, Hiring, STEM, STEAM, Students, Graduates, High School, College, University, Internship, Mentoring
Copyright: © 2016 Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, Inc.

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Kellie McKeown, Wendy Aylsworth, Renu Thomas, Andrea Berry, Marilyn Pierce, Cindy Hutter Cavell, and Jennifer Zeidan; Thought-Provoking Ideas for Increasing Diversity in Entertainment Engineering, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 125, Issue: 2, March 2016); SMPTE, 2016. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/j18689

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Kellie McKeown, Wendy Aylsworth, Renu Thomas, Andrea Berry, Marilyn Pierce, Cindy Hutter Cavell, and Jennifer Zeidan; Thought-Provoking Ideas for Increasing Diversity in Entertainment Engineering, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 125, Issue: 2, March 2016); SMPTE, 2016. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/j18689

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<span class="citation">Kellie McKeown, Wendy Aylsworth, Renu Thomas, Andrea Berry, Marilyn Pierce, Cindy Hutter Cavell, and Jennifer Zeidan; <cite>Thought-Provoking Ideas for Increasing Diversity in Entertainment Engineering</cite>, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 125, Issue: 2, March 2016); SMPTE, 2016. Available at <a href="https://doi.org/10.5594/j18689" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://doi.org/10.5594/j18689</a></span>

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Kellie McKeown, Wendy Aylsworth, Renu Thomas, Andrea Berry, Marilyn Pierce, Cindy Hutter Cavell, and Jennifer Zeidan; <cite id="bib-10-5594-j18689">Thought-Provoking Ideas for Increasing Diversity in Entertainment Engineering</cite>, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 125, Issue: 2, March 2016); SMPTE, 2016
<span class="doi">10.5594/j18689</span>
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