On December 16, DGA members and guests gathered in the Guild’s New York Boardroom for the Focus on Women Committee’s (FOWC) event, She Persisted… Working for Change. In an enlightening and informative live panel discussion about working for change in their careers, the industry and the Guild, Director/DGA Sixth Vice President Lily Olszewski (Good Morning America), Associate Director/DGA Assistant Secretary-Treasurer/FOWC Co-Chair Joyce Thomas (CBS Media Distribution Center), Directors Marilyn Agrelo (Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street), Deborah Kampmeier (The Gilded Age) and Sasie Sealy (Lucky Grandma), 1st Assistant Director Anastasia Folorunso (The Get Down) and Production Associate Erika Wortham (Good Morning America) shared their stories during a conversation moderated by Director Nora Gerard (CBS Sunday Morning).

Following a welcome from FOWC Co-Chair Maggie Greenwald, these DGA members — who have been succeeding in their careers as Directors, ADs, UPMs, Stage Managers and PAs despite obstacles, opposition and failures — spoke about working in scripted, documentary, live multi-cam productions and commercials and revealed how they fought the odds to follow their dreams. Some of the highlights included Kampmeier recounting how she dealt with initially difficult crew members who subsequently became some of her best collaborators. Olszewski revealed some of the decisions she made to be able to advance her career to its current stage. Agrelo shared how she has tried to break through being pigeon-holed as a Director of children's programming. Sealy described the difficulties in getting funding for projects and how she balances the need to be entrepreneurial in a creative field. Thomas recalled how she overcame setbacks in her early career to become successful. Folorunso spoke about how she advanced to this stage in her career despite not having role models on set that shared her background. And Wortham aired her hopes that the projects she is currently taking on will serve to advance her career.

During the last segment of the discussion, Gerard conducted an audience Q&A where attending members had the opportunity to learn more from the panelists.

Following the discussion, the attendees and panelist gathered around while Co-Chair Annetta Marion gave a toast to the successful FOWC events of 2023 and the hopes for an equally successful 2024 before all enjoyed a holiday-themed reception.

 ABOUT THE PANELISTS:

Marilyn Agrelo Marilyn Agrelo is an award-winning New York-based director and producer. Mad Hot Ballroom (2005), Marilyn's directorial debut, enjoyed a theatrical run of over 24 weeks and was short-listed for Best Documentary Feature at the 2006 Academy Awards. Marilyn's latest film, Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street (2021) had its world premiere at Sundance and won an Emmy in 2022 for Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary. Marilyn's feature film debut was An Invisible Sign, shot in the fall/winter of 2009 and released by IFC Films. She has directed numerous commercials and branded content films that have aired around the world, and several projects for television and new media, including the Emmy-winning children's series Sesame Street, The Electric Company, and Apple TV's The Helpsters.

Anastasia Folorunso Anastasia Folorunso is a 1st AD whose work includes The Get Down, Manifest, Power Book 2: Ghost, Run the World and Harlem. She also hosts and produces the podcast Non Traditional & Ground Pass. She is the Secretary-Treasurer on the Eastern AD/UPM Council and a Co-Chair on the 2nd AD Committee.

Deborah Kampmeier Deborah Kampmeier is an award-winning filmmaker. Her first feature Virgin, starring Elisabeth Moss and Robin Wright, was nominated for two 2004 Independent Spirit Awards. Her second feature, Hounddog, starring Dakota Fanning and Robin Wright, was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Kampmeier made her television directorial debut on Ava DuVernay's series Queen Sugar in 2019. Since then, Deborah has directed episodes of Clarice, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, FBI: International, Tales of the Walking Dead, The Gilded Age for HBO, Harlan Coben's Shelter and Outer Range for Amazon.

Lily Olszewski Olszewski is an Emmy-award winning Director of ABC’s Good Morning America, where she has been for more than 10 years. She broke into the industry as an Associate Director at Spanish language TV station KVEA, where she received her first directing opportunity. After working as a Technical Director/Director at the Univision network in Miami she moved to Telemundo as a full time Director. Her other credits include Late Night with Seth Meyers, Watch What Happens Live, Anderson, Today, Donahue, The Jenny McCarthy Show, Latin Billboard Awards Red Carpet, Premios Fox, Time and Again with Jane Pauley, Quite Frankly with Steven A. Smith, MTV’s The Seven and Countdown with Keith Olbermann. A DGA member since 2015, she currently serves as the Sixth Vice President of the DGA, is a member of the Eastern Directors Council and serves as the Director Category Representative for the Focus on Women Committee.

Sasie Sealy Sasie Sealy is an award-winning director based in New York City with a love of striking visuals and cheeky scripts. Her debut feature film Lucky Grandma premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and had Sasie listed by The New York Times as one of "9 Filmmakers Who Should Be on Your Radar." The film was released theatrically in 2020 to rave reviews and appeared on multiple "Best of 2020" lists. Sasie first got her start in the commercial world until a fellowship with HBO in 2014 led to a chance to direct episodic television and to her first DGA nomination in 2016. She would go on to direct Ivy and Julie, which was nominated for 4 Daytime Emmys. She is currently at work on her next feature.

Joyce Thomas Joyce Thomas, has worked at CBS for almost 40 years, starting as an Associate Director/Technical Supervisor in 1996 at New York's Media Distribution Center. Currently in her second term as Assistant Secretary Treasurer on the DGA National Board, she also co-chairs the Focus on Women Committee and served as Co-Chair on the 2022 Network Negotiations Committee. Her Guild service includes 3 terms as Eastern AD/SM/PA Council Chair, former EDSC Co-Chair, Co-Chair of the AD/SM/PA 75th Anniversary Sesame Street event and DGA Student Film Award Presenter and judge.

Erika Wortham Erika Wortham is a 20-year veteran of the television news business. A graduate of Howard University's School of Communications, she has written/produced/directed Telly Award winning videos for SRB Productions Inc. and produced content for CBS News, New York Post and SK Media. Currently, Erika works as a DGA Production Associate in on-air graphics production for ABC's Good Morning America and is also producing the documentary A Movement: The Black Theatre Project. She is an active member of Directors Guild of America serving as 1st Vice Chair of the Eastern PA/SM/AD Council, 2023 Network Negotiations Committee Member, 2023 DGA National Convention Delegate, DGA Student Film Awards Judge and a Focus on Women Committee Live Directing Mentee.

Nora Gerard (moderator) Nora Gerard has been a DGA member since 1981 and has served on the Network Negotiating Committee, The Focus on Women Committee, The Eastern Directors Council and as an Alternate on the National Board. After graduating from Temple University, she began her career with CBS in New York as assistant to the director on the Thanksgiving and Cotton Bowl parades. She went on to work as an associate director on the CBS Morning News, Weekend News, Evening News, many magazine shows, special events, and was on the original staff of 48 Hours. As a woman in what has historically been a male dominated field, she worked hard to get the opportunity to direct. She persisted and directed prime time shows for CBS News including "Verdict" with Connie Chung and "Street Stories" with Ed Bradley. In 2011 Nora became the director of CBS Sunday Morning.  She was nominated in 2017 and 2020 for DGA awards and received numerous Emmy nominations and awards for her work. She is now retired from CBS News.

About the Committee:

Originally a sub-committee of the Eastern Directors Council, in 2020 the Focus on Women Committee (FOWC) was designated an official and permanent committee of the DGA National Board for women members residing in the Eastern Region. The Committee would like to remind members that while their events are designed with a special focus on women directors, all DGA members are welcome to attend.

• For more about the FOWC and to see coverage of other events, click here to visit the Committee's webpage.