Mentors on the Mic: Your guide to pursuing a career in the Entertainment industry

Amy Koppelman is the author of two critically acclaimed novels, A Mouthful of Air and I Smile Back. Her recent directorial debut for A Mouthful of Air stars Amanda Seyfreid, Finn Wittrock, Jennifer Carpenter and Paul Giamatti. She received her undergraduate degree from University of Pennsylvania, and an MFA in fiction from Columbia University. Koppelman and her screenwriting partner adapted I Smil...

Tony Goldwyn is an American actor, producer, and director, known for playing the role of President Fitzgerald Grant III in the ABC drama “Scandal.” He has acted in films, such as “Ghost,” “The Last Samurai,” “The Last House on the Left,” “The Mechanic,” “Divergent,” “The Divergent Series: Insurgent,” and “The Belko Experiment.” Recently, he was seen in the movie, “Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Do...

What is your Definition of Success?⁠ ⁠I chose some of my favorite answers to this question from our Season 2 Mentors for a quick (>10) min episode. Some answers may inspire you, some may make you laugh, and others may force you to rethink your own definition. This episode features answers from:⁠ 📺 President of Production and Development at Wayfarer Studios Andrew Calof Full Episode - Season 2; Ep...

What is your Definition of Success?⁠ ⁠I chose some of my favorite answers to this question from our Season 2 Mentors for a quick (>10) min episode. Some answers may inspire you, some may make you laugh, and others may force you to rethink your own definition. This episode features answers from:⁠ 📺 Showrunner/Writer Mark A Altman (Pandora on CW) Full Episode - Season 2; Episode 12 📺 Producer Crea...

What is your Definition of Success?⁠ ⁠I chose some of my favorite answers to this question from our Season 2 Mentors for a quick (>10) min episode. Some answers may inspire you, some may make you laugh, and others may force you to rethink your own definition. This episode features answers from:⁠ 📺 5x Emmy-winning Executive Producer and Director Rob Burnett (Late Night with David Letterman, Fundam...

What is your Definition of Success?⁠ ⁠I chose some of my favorite answers to this question from our Season 2 Mentors for a quick (>10) min episode. Some answers may inspire you, some may make you laugh, and others may force you to rethink your own definition. This episode features answers from:⁠ 📺 VP of Disney TV Animation (Current series and Diversity) Jay Francis⁠ (Episode 2.7) 📺 Showrunner &...

Sneak peek for Season 3, beginning Monday, January 10th, starring TV/Film Actor and Director Tony Goldwyn. Tony's credits include Scandal, Ghost, Tarzan, The Last Samurai, Divergent, and more. Currently, he is in King Richard (in theaters and available on HBO MAX right now), as well as The Hot Zone: Anthrax, playing on National Geographic and available soon on Hulu. In this episode, we talk about:...

Andrew Calof is the President of Production and Development of Wayfarer Studios, most recently responsible for CLOUDS on Disney+ and led by JANE THE VIRGIN's Justin Baldoni. Prior to joining Wayfarer Studios, Calof served as Vice President of Creative Affairs at Amblin Partners. In his five years with the company he oversaw development and production of tentpole films such as OFFICE CHRISTMAS PART...

ROB BURNETT is the writer/director of the feature film The Fundamentals of Caring, which was the closing night film at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. He is as a five-time Emmy Award-winning executive producer and head writer of The Late Show with David Letterman. In the course of his career he has received 34 Emmy nominations. Burnett began his career with David Letterman in 1985 as a 22-year-ol...

Marta Kauffman is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning television writer, producer, and showrunner behind the hit series Friends and Grace & Frankie. After graduating from Brandeis University, Kauffman got her big break alongside David Crane when their pilots Dream On (1990) and The Powers That Be (1992) were green-lit. The pair then launched Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions with Kevin Bright and be...

Carole Kirschner is a sought after Entertainment Career Coach, mentoring Showrunners, TV Producers, Writers, Executives, and more. Carole was a senior level creative Television Executive, before becoming the Vice President of Steven Spielberg’s first Amblin Television. She also created the CBS Diversity Institute Writers Mentoring program and helped develop the curriculum for WGA Showrunner Traini...

Kara Barnett is currently the Creative Director of Strong Black Lead at Netflix (Editorial & Publishing). She is a TEDx Talk speaker, a former Senior Producer and Writer of Branded Content at BET, and has over 10+ years in unscripted casting, development, brand/product integration, editing and more. She had her start as a Casting Associate Producer on America’s Next Top Model, before working diffe...

Mark A. Altman is a television and motion picture writer/producer/director who is currently the Showrunner/Executive Producer of the CW series, Pandora which is distributed by Sony Pictures Television worldwide and streams exclusively on Amazon Prime in the United States. Previously he served as Co-Executive Producer of The Librarians (TNT), Agent X (TNT), Castle (ABC), Necessary Roughness (USA) a...

Felicia Pride is a writer and an award-winning filmmaker. She was a writer on Ava DuVernay’s “Queen Sugar” for two seasons and is currently a writer on ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy.” She developed a drama pilot, a book adaptation, with NBCUniversal and sold a pilot to 20th Century FOX. She sold the erotic romance Deeper to Universal Pictures and is the co-writer and executive producer of the 2020 feature...

Sandy Vee is a Grammy winning French Producer, selling over 120 million singles and records worldwide. He won a Grammy for Rihanna’s first single “Only Girl (In the World)," which debuted at #1 on the top of the U.S.A. Digital Song chart and Billboard Hot 100. It marked the latest career plateau for French producer/songwriter Sandy Vee’s meteoric rise to the top of the pop charts. The song has gon...

Winter Dunn is an award winning producer, director and actress. She produced Numa Perrier’s debut feature film, JEZEBEL which premiered at SXSW 2019 and was awarded Best Narrative Feature at the American Black Film Festival that same year. JEZEBEL has been acquired by Ava DuVernay and is currently streaming on Netflix. Previously, Winter served as a producer / director for media maven Condé Nast E...

Bob Ellis is an American music executive and manager who has worked with musicians including Billy Preston, Chaka Khan, Meat Loaf, Rufus, Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood and many others. Bob joins the show to spill about the music industry and how social media has impacted the industry and music quality. Stay tuned in to hear the crazy story of how Bob and Michelle met! In this episode, we talk about:...

Jay Francis is the Vice President of Current Series and Diversity and Inclusion at Disney Television Animation. He has over 15 years’ experience in managing the creative direction of series’ production, and has worked on award winning shows including Phineas and Ferb, Big City Greens, and Amphibia. Jay plays an important role in driving the push for more authentic storytelling that represents the...

Jenny Ravitz is a NYC-based casting director at Jonathan Strauss Casting. She is currently casting shows including NBC's hit shows Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Chicago Med. She has years of knowledge of the casting industry after working at some of the top casting offices in New York City. Jenny is here to share her journey and provide an inside look at what it is like to help create a Chicago univer...

Chris Mann is a vocalist, musician, and actor who has performed as the lead in just under 700 shows of “The Phantom of the Opera” during his first major acting debut. He got fourth place on The Voice in 2012 and has continued to soar through the music industry with Billboard charting releases of his studio albums Roads, Constellation, and his most recent release, Noise. Chris joins the show to sha...

Jill Hoppenheim is the owner and creative director at Bagg Street Productions, an award winning creative content agency known for creating captivating marketing campaigns, branded content, and  scripted series for TV/Film including 24, Homeland, The Handmaid’s Tale, Glow, Family Guy and more. Jill has over ten year’s experience in entertainment marketing and breaks down her track to success. In th...

Ben Giroux is an Actor, Director, and Producer best known for his role as The Toddler on Nickelodeon’s Henry Danger and Danger Force. He is also known for voicing Mikey Munroe in the animated series Bunsen is a Beast on Nickelodeon. His other TV credits include Psych, NCIS, Bones, Sam & Cat, Hart of Dixie, FML, and The Big Show Show. His success carries off screen where he has amassed over 4.5 mil...

Julie Schubert is an Emmy award-winning Casting Director. She has brought some of the best actors to beloved movies and shows. Some of her most notable credits include House of Cards, Daredevil, Luke Cage, Manifest, The Departed, The Devil Wears Prada, 50 Shades Darker, 50 Shades Freed and more. Julie has climbed the ladder from intern to director and is joining us to spill some of her secrets to...

Beau Black is currently writing music for 3 shows and 2 TV Features for Disney. He is an Emmy nominated composer, songwriter, musician, voice actor, and producer.   In this episode, we talk about: •  Being nominated for a 2017 Daytime Emmy Creative Arts Award for composing the song “Sisi Ni Sawa” from The Lion Guard •  Writing music for Commercials including m Commercials such as Aveeno (with Jenn...

In Napolean Hill's book Think and Grow Rich, he describes Mastermind Groups as: “A friendly alliance with one or more persons who will encourage one to follow through with both plan and purpose.” Mastermind Groups are a valuable form of peer-to-peer mentorship, uniting you with your colleagues in an effort to grow and build your business. What better way to share the importance of Mastermind Group...