Cablefax The Magazine October 2022 - 37

Jason Sarlanis
President, Crime and
Investigative Content, Linear
and Streaming
Warner Bros. Discovery
Sarlanis wouldn't be in the television
industry if it weren't for one woman-
Rosie O'Donnell. " This woman doesn't
get nearly enough credit for being the
pioneer she is, " he says. " She showed
us all that by entertaining people we
could open their hearts and minds. "
He's worn plenty of hats since diving
into the media landscape, spending
the last year helming ID after leading
development for all original programming
at TLC and lifestyle and relationship
content for discovery+. He's
challenged his team to lead the conversation
when it comes to true crime
content, guiding them to quick turnarounds
on timely specials like " Gabby
Petito: ID Special Report, " which
became ID's highest-rated special of
2021.
How do benefits need to improve to
become inclusive of all families and
individuals? Too much of corporate
America's focus on DEI sidelines the
LGBTQ+ experience. This time of accountability
is incredible, but we must
lean on companies to put emphasis on
the entire spectrum of those who are
" othered. " From sexual orientation and
disability to race and age, our corporations
need to do a better job at multitasking
when it comes to diversity.
CablefaxDiversity.com
Tini Sevak
VP, Audiences and
Data, CNN International
Commercial
CNN Worldwide
Sevak is a data master, leading a
team that supports more than 90%
of CNN's revenue through renewal
efforts for top clients. She often participates
in Pride events and started
a group called " Let's Talk About It, " a
safe space for women to discuss mental
health, fertility and more. Variety is
improving when it comes to LGBTQ+
programming, but Sevak thinks there
is room for improvement across children's
content. " I have a 2.5-year-old
daughter and when I watch TV programs
with her, they are all defined
by the traditional family structure that
I would have grown up with: a mom
and a dad, " she says. " The world has
evolved in terms of what defines a
family and I would love for kids programs
to reflect this and teach kids
that it's OK to come from a house with
two moms, two dads, only one parent,
to be adopted... the list goes on. "
Favorite
media
milestone
in
LGBTQ+ history? There were two
pivotal moments that inspired me to
be me. 1) watching the off-Broadway
musical " Rent " and 2)
" The L Word. "
It wasn't until that show and the
mainstream appeal that I realized my
co-workers and society could potentially
accept me for me.
October 2022
Taylor Sibbern
VP, Business Development
Tubi
Sibbern is a massive part of why Tubi
claims one of the biggest and best libraries
in the streaming space. She's
one of the founding employees of
the company, building the AVOD's
Content Partnerships team from the
ground up, and it now serves more
than 400 programming partners.
Sibbern also spearheaded Tubi's first
Pride celebration, and has worked
closely with content providers to ensure
the service always has a meaningful
amount of LGBTQ+ content.
" We now see a significant number
of movies and TV shows that have
LGBTQ+ characters, but we still often
see those titles referred to as 'LGBT
Movies' as opposed to just 'Romance
Movies' or 'Drama Movies,' " she says.
" The identity of the main characters
shouldn't necessarily dictate the
genre or categorization of a title, so
there's still a level of representation
normalization that we're lacking in
media. "
How do benefits need to improve to
become inclusive of all families and
individuals? Every company and every
path has a different benefit stack,
but there are often similarities in the
lack of inclusive support. There needs
to be a better standard for the benefits
offered and the transparency during
interview processes.
37
PRIDE
http://www.CablefaxDiversity.com
Cablefax The Magazine October 2022

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