Cablefax The Magazine - October 2021 - 41

Dejanae Gibson
Associate Producer
HGTV
In under two years, Gibson's title has changed from intern to production coordinator to associate producer,
a promotion she took on while working remotely during the pandemic. She never missed a beat and
even took on more responsibilities, including overseeing greenlight meetings when a senior director took
family leave. That doesn't mean there haven't been challenges. Gibson shifted into remote work just three
months after moving into the coordinator role, and it took her some time to establish a strong boundary
between work and self. " With this new experience, I believe workplaces should and are prioritizing people's mental and emotional
health. Leadership and colleagues understand that we are human and deserve rest, reassurance, and support, " she says. Gibson uses
that wisdom to guide her as she spearheads HGTV's Advancing Cultural Equity (ACE) initiative, which seeks to increase exposure and
partnerships with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in front of and behind the camera. She identified and collected details for
more than 80 potential BIPOC talent within the home/lifestyle genre, helping the programming team double the number of BIPOC-led
greenlight projects from four in the first two quarters of 2020 to nine by the last two quarters of 2020. In 2021, Gibson got another five
BIPOC-led projects greenlit.
Swathi Narahari
Creative Development Manager
Group Nine Media
Narahari recently made the move to Group Nine Media, the company behind several well-known digital
media brands, including Thrillist and The Dodo. She reached this new rung on the corporate ladder after
a successful run as development coordinator at production company Blue Ant Studios. At Blue Ant, she
worked closely with Chief Creative Officer and Content Co-President Laura Michalchyshyn to support
the team on project management efforts and coordination for priority projects, including recent Peacock
breakout documentary series " Epstein's Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell. " Others are noticing Narahari's rising star. Earlier this year, she
was selected from a pool of 4,500 applicants as one of the 25 young individuals to be honored with a slot in Lena Waithe's Hillman Grad
Productions inaugural mentorship class of rising creatives. The 10-month-long Hillman Grad Mentorship Lab supports creators and
storytellers from diverse backgrounds through personalized instruction from industry professionals. Narahari's successes come with
COVID-19 as a backdrop. She started at Blue Ant last fall in a virtual setting, finding a way to connect with mentors and peers. " COVID
made me realize that although an office is not required to do your day-to-day job well, personal connections and relationships are often
stronger with some level of in-person contact, " Narahari says. " In my industry, it's crucial to foster relationships with managers, agents,
execs, and talent, so making the time to either visit L.A. or New York for personal touchpoints matters. "
Kevin Wong
Manager, Distribution & Digital Content Licensing Research
A+E Networks
FAST [Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV] channels have skyrocketed over the past 18 months, and
helping keep track of it all is A+E Networks' Wong. He led the creation of the company's FAST business
reporting, providing high level analysis for leadership and pulling out key takeaways that help drive
business decisions for A+E intellectual property. Wong has played a key role in strategy meetings that
help determine what FAST Channels to launch, developing proprietary AVOD/SVOD viewership estimates
and forecasting models using mathematical & statistical methods to highlight risks and opportunities. He may be under 30, but he's
already accumulated impressive experience. Before joining A+E, he held roles at WarnerMedia, Apple and NBCUniversal. He joined A+E
in 2019, so he didn't get a lot of in-office time in before the pandemic. " The methods for connecting with colleagues have changed but
the intentions have stayed the same, " he says. " I used to be able to strike up a conversation while complimenting someone's bag in
the hallway but that has become harder to do. Today, I have found it just as satisfying to hear someone get excited as they talk about
their new hobby or brief me on a documentary they recently watched. While it's nice to be physically in the same space, it may not
always be necessary. "
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October 2021
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