The Producer’s Journey: Courage, Clarity, and Craft
In a rapidly evolving industry landscape, how are producers adapting, innovating, and holding the line? Join us for a candid keynote and panel discussion with leading voices who are meeting today’s shifting realities with vision, resilience, and creative drive. From labor negotiations and expanding platform options to global opportunities and increasingly savvy, more selective audiences, this session offers hard-earned insights—and real talk—on what it takes to keep producing through change. Pepperdine University’s Engage Symposium, sponsored by the Institute for Entertainment, Media, and Sports (IEMS) and the Multicultural Theatre Project (MTP), is a signature AFM event where creative entrepreneurs have the opportunity to learn from high profile industry professionals.
Moderator:
Dr. Joi Carr, Professor of English and Film, Pepperdine University
Keynote Speakers:
Stephanie Allain, Producer (Hustle & Flow, Dear White People), Founder Homegrown Pictures
Suzanne Farwell, Producer and Co-Founder, Resonate Entertainment (The Holiday, It’s Complicated, The Intern)
Presented by Pepperdine
Speakers
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Joi CarrProfessor of English and Film, Pepperdine UniversityDr. Joi Carr, Professor of English and Film, is the Director of the Film program at Pepperdine University. She also serves as an Academic Director for the Institute for Entertainment, Media, and Sport. She is the recipient of three teaching awards from Pepperdine and recently finished a visiting faculty appointment at Harvard University. She is an author. Notably, her second publication, Boyz N the Hood: Shifting Hollywood Terrain (2018, Revised Edition 2023), is a seminal monograph on filmmaker John Singleton and his history-making film. Her forthcoming book releases in 2026 include, Voice: African American Women and Vocation, which features interviews with provocative women across a range of industries, from iconic songstress, Chaka Khan, to business pioneer, Kathy Hughes of Radio One and TV One and Movies, Myth, Culture, and Me, which explores spectatorship. As a seasoned actor and singer-songwriter, Dr. Carr is active in the entertainment industry and serves as an elected official for SAG-AFTRA as a Convention Delegate, as an Alternate Board Member for SAG-AFTRA’s Local and National Boards, a member on the National EEO and Women’s Committees, and as Chair of the LA Host Committee. She has been on the AFM stage bringing thoughtful engagement as a moderator since 2016.
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Stephanie AllainProducer (Hustle & Flow, Dear White People), Founder Homegrown Pictures -
Suzanne FarwellProducer (The Holiday, It’s Complicated, The Intern)