Women in Entertainment

What if AI is not here to replace creativity, but to unlock more of it?

In this episode of the Women in Entertainment Podcast, Renee Rossi and Jocelyn Westerhold sit down with Michelle Kwon of Runway, the AI research and creative technology company helping shape the future of audiovisual storytelling. Michelle explains how Runway works across video generation, image generation, audio, editing, pre-visualization, post-production, and enterprise partnerships with major studios and companies.

Michelle also takes listeners inside Runway’s expanded partnership with Lionsgate, sharing how the technology is being used across film, scripted television, games, education, legal, and security teams. She breaks down common misconceptions around generative AI, including the idea that it can instantly create a full movie, copy existing works, or replace the entertainment industry. Instead, Michelle frames AI as a powerful, iterative creative tool that still depends on strong storytelling, collaboration, and human talent.

The conversation explores how independent filmmakers, students, studios, marketers, and creative teams are adopting AI, why accessibility matters, and how tools like Runway may help more original stories find their way to audiences.

Listen to learn:
- How Runway is being used in pre-production, production, and post
- What the Lionsgate and Runway partnership looks like in practice
- The biggest misconceptions about AI in entertainment
- How AI tools helped projects like Everything Everywhere All at Once and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
- Why generative AI may open doors for more independent and original storytelling

The Women in Entertainment Podcast presents thoughtful conversations with leaders across entertainment, from film and television to media and gaming, and everything in between, as we talk about what it takes to make your mark in the industry, lessons these incredible people have learned along the way, and how they have found their way in an ever-changing environment.

With in-depth conversations and pre-submitted listener questions, each episode provides candid advice for navigating today’s entertainment industry, giving listeners an inside look at how key players got their start, and guidance for building the necessary toolkit to bring careers to life in film, TV, music, theater, graphics, writing, animation, and beyond.

Listen on Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/5AfPfPQ...
Listen on Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast..
Listen on Audible: ⁠https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a85..

#WomenInEntertainment #MichelleKwon #RunwayAI #Runway #GenerativeAI #AIInEntertainment #Filmmaking #FutureOfFilm #CreativeTechnology #Lionsgate

Jane Musky has spent decades creating the rooms, streets, seasons, and visual worlds that make unforgettable stories feel alive.

In this episode of the Women in Entertainment Podcast, Jane looks back on the creative path that began with a fifth-grade vision for a Mary Poppins set and grew into an extraordinary career in production design. She shares how theater training shaped her hands-on approach, how early collaborations with Ethan and Joel Coen led to Blood Simple and Raising Arizona, and how films like Ghost, Glengarry Glen Ross, and When Harry Met Sally became defining chapters in a career built on instinct, research, collaboration, and craft.

Jane also opens up about her creative process, from reading the beginning and ending of a script first to mapping characters through the spaces they inhabit. She reflects on advocating for When Harry Met Sally to be filmed in New York, designing the rainy, kinetic world of Glengarry Glen Ross, and stepping into a new role as director of her documentary Off Season, a portrait of Block Island life, community, and what it means to get along across difference.

Listen to learn:
- How Jane Musky first discovered scenic design
- Why When Harry Met Sally had to be a New York story
- How production design shapes character, tone, and memory
- What makes a set, location, and crew creatively click
- Why her documentary Off Season focuses on community and connection

The Women in Entertainment Podcast presents thoughtful conversations with leaders across entertainment, from film and television to media and gaming, and everything in between; as we talk about what it takes to make your mark in the industry, lessons these incredible people have learned along the way, and how they have found their way in an ever-changing environment.

With in-depth conversations and pre-submitted listener questions, each episode provides candid advice for navigating today’s entertainment industry, giving listeners an inside look at how key players got their start, and guidance for building the necessary toolkit to bring careers to life in film, TV, music, theater, graphics, writing, animation, and beyond.

Listen on Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/5AfPfPQ...
Listen on Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast..
Listen on Audible: ⁠https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a85..

#JaneMusky #WomenInEntertainment #ProductionDesign #WhenHarryMetSally #Ghost #GlengarryGlenRoss #BloodSimple #RaisingArizona #BlockIsland #OffSeason #WomenInFilm #FilmDesign #EntertainmentPodcast

Jenny Jackson knows books from every angle as a longtime editor, a bestselling novelist, and a storyteller fascinated by the complicated ties that shape us.

In this episode of Women in Entertainment, Jenny joins us to discuss The Shampoo Effect, her highly anticipated follow-up to Pineapple Street. She opens up about rediscovering writing during the pandemic, why her creative process changed dramatically between books, and how she learned to let go of scenes that helped her understand her characters but did not ultimately belong on the page.

Jenny also shares a thoughtful look at the emotional architecture of friendship: the childhood bonds, family friendships, secrets, tensions, and trust that inspired the world of The Shampoo Effect. As both an editor and author, she reflects on revision, bad reviews, the pressure of a second novel, book tours, screen adaptations, and the strange vulnerability of putting fiction into the world.

Listen to learn:
- Why Jenny believes there is no single “right” writing routine
- How "The Shampoo Effect" explores lifelong friendship and family dynamics
- What becoming an author taught her about editing with more empathy
- Why second books come with a different kind of publishing pressure
- How Jenny thinks about adapting her novels for television

The Women in Entertainment Podcast presents thoughtful conversations with leaders across entertainment from film and television, to media and gaming, and everything in between; as we talk about what it takes to make your mark in the industry, lessons these incredible people have learned along the way, and how they have found their way in an ever-changing environment.

With in-depth conversations and pre-submitted listener questions, each episode provides candid advice for navigating today’s entertainment industry, giving listeners an inside look at how key players got their start, and guidance for building the necessary toolkit to bring careers to life in film, TV, music, theater, graphics, writing, animation, and beyond.

Purchase "The Shampoo Effect" at https://amzn.to/4evHNH7

Listen on Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/5AfPfPQ...
Listen on Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast..
Listen on Audible: ⁠https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a85..

#JennyJackson #TheShampooEffect #PineappleStreet #WomenInEntertainment #WomenInEntertainmentPodcast #Books #Authors #WritingLife #Publishing #BookPodcast #WomenWriters

Shana Stein knows that bravery isn’t the absence of fear; it’s being afraid and doing it anyway.

In this episode of Women in Entertainment, Shana opens up about her path from theater kid to producer to episodic director, sharing how early experiences at William Morris, AFI, and on independent films led her into television, where she found a creative home on Monk. Over seven seasons and hundreds of casting sessions, she developed the actor-first approach that would become central to her directing style.

Shana also speaks candidly about the responsibility many women feel when stepping into leadership roles, especially in rooms and on sets where they may be the only woman present. From championing inclusive hiring on 90210 to navigating high-stakes work on The Boys and intimate emotional storytelling on The Testaments, she shares how preparation, humility, collaboration, and trust shape her process. Her perspective is a powerful reminder that leadership is not about control; it’s about creating the conditions for people to do their best work.

Listen to learn:
- How Shana transitioned from producing to directing
- Why Monk became her creative training ground
- What it means to lead while carrying fear and responsibility
- How she approaches actors, trust, and emotional scenes
- Why inclusive hiring starts with who gets invited into the room

The Women in Entertainment Podcast presents thoughtful conversations with leaders across entertainment from film and television, to media and gaming, and everything in between; as we talk about what it takes to make your mark in the industry, lessons these incredible people have learned along the way, and how they have found their way in an ever-changing environment.

With in-depth conversations and pre-submitted listener questions, each episode provides candid advice for navigating today’s entertainment industry, giving listeners an inside look at how key players got their start, and guidance for building the necessary toolkit to bring careers to life in film, TV, music, theater, graphics, writing, animation, and beyond.

Listen on Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/5AfPfPQ...
Listen on Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast..
Listen on Audible: ⁠https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a85..

#ShanaStein #WomenInEntertainment #WomenInEntertainmentPodcast #TheBoys #TheTestaments #Monk #90210 #WomenDirectors #WomenInTV #WomenInFilm #FemaleFilmmakers #CreativeLeadership

Karen Pittman is moving through her career with a mantra that feels both personal and powerful: no lack, no scarcity, all abundance.

In this episode of Women in Entertainment, Karen reflects on a season of extraordinary momentum, from filming The Morning Show Season 5 to stepping deeper into Forever Season 2. She shares how Mia Jordan’s evolution on The Morning Show mirrors what many women of color experience in business. She also opens up about the collaboration behind Mia’s transformation, from conversations with writers and producers to the intentional choices behind her look, wardrobe, and presence.

Karen also discusses why playing Dawn Edwards in Forever arrived at exactly the right time in her life. After waiting for a nuanced portrayal of Black motherhood, she found a character who is unapologetic, powerful, loving, and deeply human. She speaks candidly about leaving And Just Like That, trusting timing, honoring her late mother, and preparing to tell her own stories as a writer and producer.

Listen to learn:
- How Karen Pittman approaches abundance, timing, and career risk
- What Mia Jordan’s Season 4 transformation meant to her
- Why Dawn Edwards represents a new vision of Black motherhood
- How Pittman chooses roles that resonate culturally and personally
- Why inclusion is essential to the future of American cinema

The Women in Entertainment Podcast presents thoughtful conversations with leaders across entertainment from film and television, to media and gaming, and everything in between; as we talk about what it takes to make your mark in the industry, lessons these incredible people have learned along the way, and how they have found their way in an ever-changing environment.

With in-depth conversations and pre-submitted listener questions, each episode provides candid advice for navigating today’s entertainment industry, giving listeners an inside look at how key players got their start, and guidance for building the necessary toolkit to bring careers to life in film, TV, music, theater, graphics, writing, animation, and beyond.

Listen on Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/5AfPfPQ...
Listen on Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast..
Listen on Audible: ⁠https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a85..

#KarenPittman #WomenInEntertainment #TheMorningShow #ForeverNetflix #MiaJordan #DawnEdwards #BlackMotherhood #MaraBrockAkil #FeedingAmerica #WomenInFilm