Event Details
Tuesday November 9, 2021 3:00 pmvia Zoom
Part of the NY Skins Fest
What does it mean to be a creative in today’s nonfiction television industry? What are the highs and lows in terms of creativity and on the business side? How does a documentarian or investigative journalist get their work funded and what are the logistics once they do? Learn from an accomplished group of nonfiction writer-producers about how they got into this line of work and how to navigate the industry. Gain a bird’s eye perspective of how a documentary television show gets made.
About the Panelists
Claire Gordon
Claire Gordon is the showrunner and executive producer of the Emmy-nominated Netflix docu-series EXPLAINED, produced by Vox Media, which recently released its third season and fifth spin-off miniseries. Previously, she was a senior producer for two Emmy Award-winning seasons of the HBO show LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER, and an award-winning investigative journalist at Al Jazeera America, primarily covering campus sexual assault. At LAST WEEK TONIGHT, the segment she produced on state abortion restrictions won Television Academy Honors for using television to power social change. She’s also won a Peabody and SurvJustice’s first-ever journalism award for improving the prospect of justice for survivors of sexual violence.
Jade Lewis
Jade Lewis is an Associate Producer with Jigsaw Productions. She’s been with them since 2019 and previously Coordinated on HBO’s MURDER ON MIDDLE BEACH, Netflix’s HOW TO FIX A DRUG SCANDAL, and AppleTV’s/Podcast’s THE LINE – coming this fall on November 19th. She has also been part of the Jigsaw unionizing efforts. The union recently was voluntarily recognized and will be moving into contract negotiations soon.
Lanishia Washington.jpg)
Lanishia Washington is freelance Production Coordinator currently working at Story Syndicate. She has recently worked on FAUCI for Nat Geo and GENERATION HUSTLE for Jigsaw/HBOMax. Lanishia began her film career working in accounting before transitioning to production management. She’s a committee member on the organizing campaign for Jigsaw Productions. As a proud Bronx native and Brooklyn College alum, Lanishia is an advocate for diversity and inclusion.
Chinisha Scott (Moderator)
Chinisha Scott is a producer, writer, director, and multi-media artist working in TV, film, and live production. She has worked with major media & arts institutions including McGee Media, Firelight Media, Left/Right TV, VICE, NPR, Carnegie Hall, and more. She spent over a decade at DCTV, where she was the Associate Director of Youth Programs and a teaching artist – instructing NYC high school and college students in social justice and self-advocacy through the art of filmmaking. Her work on the PBS special OUR CAMERAS, OUR STORIES (a DCTV production) has been recognized with a NY Emmy nomination (2015) and a Robert F. Kennedy Award in Journalism (2016). Chinisha is a certified Prince super-fan and cheerful nihilist with a penchant for witty, sometimes self-deprecating humor. She attended The New School where she received her MA in Media Studies, and a BA in Cinema Studies with a minor in African-American Studies from the CUNY Macaulay Honors College, cum laude.
The NY SKINS FEST, presented by New York University, showcases Native American films and filmmakers, and runs from November 6th – 15th, 2021.