Steve McPherson is the former president & chairman of the ABC TV Entertainment Group, overseeing both the studio and network operations.  Under his visionary leadership, he is credited with orchestrating one of the most dramatic network turnarounds in history, transforming  ABC’s fortunes with iconic shows like Lost,Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Dancing With The Stars, and Modern Family. Throughout his 25 year career McPherson has held positions at Witt/Thomas/Harris productions, Fox, ABC Productions, NBC, and the Walt Disney Company and is also responsible for an unparalleled list of classic TV shows, like the CSI, Scrubs, Monk, and The Amazing Race just to name a few. He is regarded as one of the most influential programmers of his generation and has been awarded close to 10 Emmy awards and separately won best show in comedy, drama, animation and reality.

Steve McPherson is the former president & chairman of the ABC TV Entertainment Group, overseeing both the studio and network operations.  Under his visionary leadership, he is credited with orchestrating one of the most dramatic network turnarounds in history, transforming  ABC’s fortunes with iconic shows like Lost,Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Dancing With The Stars, and Modern Family. Throughout his 25 year career McPherson has held positions at Witt/Thomas/Harris productions, Fox, ABC Productions, NBC, and the Walt Disney Company and is also responsible for an unparalleled list of classic TV shows, like the CSI, Scrubs, Monk, and The Amazing Race just to name a few. He is regarded as one of the most influential programmers of his generation and has been awarded close to 10 Emmy awards and separately won best show in comedy, drama, animation and reality.

Illeana Douglas is an award-winning film and television actress, writer, director, and producer. Beginning her career as a stand-up in New York, she was once asked to dub screams for The Last Temptation of Christ, leading to a long collaboration with director Martin Scorsese, during which she appeared in several of his films including GoodFellas and Cape Fear. She has appeared in numerous television shows in guest and recurring roles, including The Larry Sanders Show, Frasier, The Drew Carey Show, Grey's Anatomy, and Entourage. She was nominated for an Emmy for her performance on HBO's Six Feet Under, and was a regular on the hit NBC series Welcome to Sweden. Her web series Easy to Assemble has won 6 Webby Awards and has ben viewed over 40 million times. Her first book "I Blame Dennis Hopper: A Life Inside and Outside Movies" came out in December 2015.

Illeana Douglas is an award-winning film and television actress, writer, director, and producer. Beginning her career as a stand-up in New York, she was once asked to dub screams for The Last Temptation of Christ, leading to a long collaboration with director Martin Scorsese, during which she appeared in several of his films including GoodFellas and Cape Fear. She has appeared in numerous television shows in guest and recurring roles, including The Larry Sanders Show, Frasier, The Drew Carey Show, Grey's Anatomy, and Entourage. She was nominated for an Emmy for her performance on HBO's Six Feet Under, and was a regular on the hit NBC series Welcome to Sweden. Her web series Easy to Assemble has won 6 Webby Awards and has ben viewed over 40 million times. Her first book "I Blame Dennis Hopper: A Life Inside and Outside Movies" came out in December 2015.

Kenya Barris is a prolific writer and director, known to many as the creator of the hit Emmy winning series Black-ish, a show loosely based on his own life. After leaving ABC he signed a 9-figure deal with Netflix to direct his first feature film, You People, starring Jonah Hill and Eddie Murphy which is out now. Some of his other writing credits include the 2017 comedy Girl’s Trip, the new Disney+ Cheaper by the Dozen film, and Amazon’s Coming 2 America.

Kenya Barris is a prolific writer and director, known to many as the creator of the hit Emmy winning series Black-ish, a show loosely based on his own life. After leaving ABC he signed a 9-figure deal with Netflix to direct his first feature film, You People, starring Jonah Hill and Eddie Murphy which is out now. Some of his other writing credits include the 2017 comedy Girl’s Trip, the new Disney+ Cheaper by the Dozen film, and Amazon’s Coming 2 America.

Rachel Watanabe-Batton is a film and television producer and founder of production company, Contradiction and Struggle. Some of her many credits include By Any Means Necessary, I Pity The Fool with Mr. T, HBO’s Cutting Edge, her debut narrative film Once You’re In, and most recently the Disney+ original film, Sneakerella, which was nominated for 11 Emmy awards, winning 4 of them.

Rachel Watanabe-Batton is a film and television producer and founder of production company, Contradiction and Struggle. Some of her many credits include By Any Means Necessary, I Pity The Fool with Mr. T, HBO’s Cutting Edge, her debut narrative film Once You’re In, and most recently the Disney+ original film, Sneakerella, which was nominated for 11 Emmy awards, winning 4 of them.

DIONNE WARWICK is a five-time GRAMMY® Award winning music legend, who has become a cornerstone of American pop music and culture. Warwick’s career, which currently celebrates over 50 years, has established her as an internationalmusic icon and concert act. Over that time, she has earned 75 charted hit songs and sold over 100 million records. She began singing professionally in 1961after being discovered by a young songwriting team (Burt Bacharach and Hal David) and had her first hit in 1962 with “Don’t Make Me Over.”  Less than a decade later, she had released more than 18 consecutive Top 100 singles, including her classic Bacharach/David recordings, “Walk on By,” “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” “Message to Michael,” “Promises Promises,” “A House is Not a Home,” “Alfie,” “Say a Little Prayer,” “This Girl’s in Love With You,” “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” “Reach Out For Me,” and the theme from “Valley of the Dolls. ” Together, Warwick and the songwriting team of Bacharach & David accumulated more than 30 hit singles, and close to 20 best-selling albums, during their first decade together. She received her first GRAMMY® Award in1968 for her mega-hit, “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” and a second GRAMMY® in 1970 for the best-selling album, “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again.”  Warwick was also a key participating artist in the all-star charity smash hit single, “We Are the World,” and in 1984, performed at “Live Aid” and hosted and headlined an all-star benefit concert for World Hunger Day in London.  In addition, she was honored by AMFAR in a special reunion performance of “That’s What Friends are For,” alongside Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder at AMFAR’s Anniversary Gala in New York City.   Warwick also received the prestigious 2011 Steve Chase Humanitarian Arts & Activism Award by the Desert Aids Project and was recognized for her stellar career by Clive Davis at his legendary Pre-GRAMMY® Party in Los Angeles.  Adding to her list of landmark honors, Warwick was a 2013 recipient of the coveted Ellis Island Medal of Honor in New York…and she became the first African-American solo female artist of her generation to win the prestigious award for Best Contemporary Female Vocalist Performance—an award only presented to one other legend, Miss Ella Fitzgerald.

DIONNE WARWICK is a five-time GRAMMY® Award winning music legend, who has become a cornerstone of American pop music and culture. Warwick’s career, which currently celebrates over 50 years, has established her as an internationalmusic icon and concert act. Over that time, she has earned 75 charted hit songs and sold over 100 million records. She began singing professionally in 1961after being discovered by a young songwriting team (Burt Bacharach and Hal David) and had her first hit in 1962 with “Don’t Make Me Over.”  Less than a decade later, she had released more than 18 consecutive Top 100 singles, including her classic Bacharach/David recordings, “Walk on By,” “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” “Message to Michael,” “Promises Promises,” “A House is Not a Home,” “Alfie,” “Say a Little Prayer,” “This Girl’s in Love With You,” “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” “Reach Out For Me,” and the theme from “Valley of the Dolls. ” Together, Warwick and the songwriting team of Bacharach & David accumulated more than 30 hit singles, and close to 20 best-selling albums, during their first decade together. She received her first GRAMMY® Award in1968 for her mega-hit, “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” and a second GRAMMY® in 1970 for the best-selling album, “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again.”  Warwick was also a key participating artist in the all-star charity smash hit single, “We Are the World,” and in 1984, performed at “Live Aid” and hosted and headlined an all-star benefit concert for World Hunger Day in London.  In addition, she was honored by AMFAR in a special reunion performance of “That’s What Friends are For,” alongside Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder at AMFAR’s Anniversary Gala in New York City.   Warwick also received the prestigious 2011 Steve Chase Humanitarian Arts & Activism Award by the Desert Aids Project and was recognized for her stellar career by Clive Davis at his legendary Pre-GRAMMY® Party in Los Angeles.  Adding to her list of landmark honors, Warwick was a 2013 recipient of the coveted Ellis Island Medal of Honor in New York…and she became the first African-American solo female artist of her generation to win the prestigious award for Best Contemporary Female Vocalist Performance—an award only presented to one other legend, Miss Ella Fitzgerald.