On July 24, several Unit Production Managers, Assistant Directors, Associate Directors and Stage Managers participated in a session of online networking and conversation during the mixer event, Diversifying the Director's Team. The event was specifically designed for the Guild's women and ethnically diverse Director's team members and provided an opportunity for the participants to make connections and establish relationships for the future. Hosted by the DGA Committee of Joint Co-Chairs (CJC) — a group that brings together the co-chairs of the African American Steering Committee (AASC), Asian American Committee (AAC), Eastern Diversity Steering Committee (EDSC), Focus on Women Committee (FOWC), Latino Committee (LC), and the Women’s Steering Committee (WSC) Committees to explore avenues for leveling the playing field for DGA members — the mixer featured online breakout sessions with production team members who have hiring authority.
The mixer kicked off with a welcome from WSC Co-Chair Liz Ryan, who also served as one of the VIP guests, and spoke how these mixer events offers a chance to build associations that members can carry through their careers. The other participating VIP guests then introduced themselves, each of whom spoke briefly about the importance of building a diverse crew; after which event coordinator Stephenie Galvan exhorted the attendees to make the best of these meetings in the virtual breakout sessions with the VIPs.
About the Diversifying the Director's Team VIPs:
 1st AD, Stage Manager Tracey L. Smith Baumert
Smith Baumert is a 1st Assistant Director, Associate Director and Stage Manager whose resume includes series such as Cherish the Day, K.C. Undercover, I Didn’t Do It, The Affair, Good Luck Charlie, Cuts, Wanda at Large, Living Single and That’s So Raven. A DGA member since 1994, she also served two terms as Western AD/SM/PA Council Chair, an Alternate on the National Board, on two Negotiating Committees, Diversity Committee, Co-Chair of the Women’s Steering Committee, Alternate Co- Chair of the African American Steering Committee and is a member of the Western AD/UPM Council’s 1st AD Committee. |
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 UPM Nicci Freeman
Freeman’s UPM credits include Khalili Dastan's feature, The Way; Michael M. Scott’s movie for television, Second Sight; episodes of Rhett and Link’s Buddy System, Noah’s Arc, The Vegas Show with Sheena Easton & Brian McNight; and short films including Eddie Perez’s The Test of Time, Beni Atoori’s Good God Bad Dog, Tony Mitchell’s The Garden, and Tony Scott’s Beat the Devil. Freeman has been a member of the DGA since 2011 and has served as the AD/UPM Category Representative for the African American Steering Committee from 2016-2018. |
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 UPM Victor Hsu
A graduate of the Assistant Directors Training Program, Hsu has produced shows such as Freaks and Geeks, Arrested Development, Transparent and Truth Be Told. He is currently a Producer and UPM on Season 15 of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Hsu joined the DGA in 1979 and served as the Chair of the Western AD/UPM Council from 2015-2017. |
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 UPM Kati Johnston
Johnston’s UPM credits include features such as Nicole Kassell's A Little Bit of Heaven and Troy Miller’s Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!; Stephen Kay's movie for television, Justice for Natalee Holloway; and episodes of Bull, Limitless, Wild Card, Blue Bloods, Imagination Movers, Royal Pains, The Naked Brothers Band and Law & Order. Johnston joined the DGA in 1997 and currently serves as an alternate on the Eastern AD/UPM Council. |
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 UPM Debra Kent
Currently working on Showtime’s critically acclaimed series, Billions, Kent’s UPM credits include features such as Nancy Savoca's The 24 Hour Woman and Bryan Buckley's New Jersey Turnpikes; movies for television such as Taylor Hackford's Dangerous Liaisons and Jeffrey Bell's Exit 19; and episodes of Sex and the City, Allegiance and Limitless. Kent joined the DGA in 1988 and has served on the Eastern AD/UPM Council. |
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 UPM Mark Moran
Currently in post-production on Michael Bay's feature, Ambulance, Moran’s UPM credits also include features such as Miguel Arteta's Yes Day, Andy Fickman's Playing with Fire, Haifaa Al-Mansour's Nappily Ever After and Parker’s DGA First-Time Feature Film Award-nominated film, The Birth of a Nation; as well as the series Full Circle and Ghost Whisperer: The Other Side. Moran joined the DGA in 2009. |
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 UPM Jeanine Rohn
Rohn has been involved with independent film for over 20 years. Her UPM credits also include features such as Brad Martin’s Confessions of an Action Star, Ramin Niami’s Paris and Pamela Simon-Jensen’s Something Else; and episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Sirens and The Sarah Silverman Program. Rohn joined the DGA in 2002. |
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 UPM Liz Ryan
Since her start as a DGA Trainee in New York, Ryan has worked on over 70 movie and television productions throughout the world as a Director, Producer, Production Manager or Assistant Director and is currently developing her own projects. Her UPM credits include features such as Maria Burton’s A Sort of Homecoming; John Sayles’s Go for Sisters and Walter von Huene’s Ancient Warriors; Beth McCarthy-Miller’s movie for television, Amy’s Brother; and series such as Everything’s Gonna Be Okay, Station 19, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and Aquarius. A DGA member since 1985, Ryan serves as a co-chair of the Women’s Steering Committee, is an elected member of the DGA National Board and the Western AD/UPM Council and is a member of the DGA Diversity Task Force. She also sits on both the boards of the Directors Guild-Producers Pension and Health Plans and the Directors Guild-Producers Training Plan and has served on the Guild’s Negotiating Committees. In 2008, Ryan received the DGA Frank Capra Achievement Award in recognition of her career achievements and service to the Guild. |
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 UPM Barbara Stoll
Currently a producer on the series Never Have I Ever, Stoll’s UPM credits also include the series Indebted, Rules of Engagement and Normal, Ohio; and Dwight Hemion’s television documentary special, Baryshnikov on Broadway. She has been a DGA member since 2000. |
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 UPM Mary Rae Thewlis
Thewlis’s Producer/UPM credits include the series The Americans, Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. A DGA member since 1993, she has served on the National Board since 2005, and currently serves as the DGA National Vice President, a Trustee on the Directors Guild-Producers Pension and Health Plans as an ex-officio on the Eastern AD/UPM Council and as chair of the East Coast Training Program. She is also currently serving on a committee chaired by Directors Steven Soderbergh and Paris Barclay for the Return to Work guidelines designed to keep the industry healthy, safe and working. Thewlis received the 2016 Frank Capra Achievement Award for Outstanding Service to the Guild and Career excellence. |
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 UPM Canella Williams-Larrabee
Williams-Larrabee’s UPM credits include features such as Peter Askin’s A Good Marriage, Tom Gormican’s That Awkward Moment and Ash Christian’s Petunia; mini-series such as The Undoing, Flesh and Bone and The Men Who Built America; and series including Raising Dion, Evil and NCIS: New Orleans. A DGA member since 2019, Williams-Larrabee currently serves as the Secretary-Treasurer of the Eastern AD/UPM Council and a is a member of the Eastern UPM Committee.
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About the Committee of Joint Co-Chairs
The Committee of Joint Co-Chairs (CJC) is a group that brings together the co-chairs of the African American Steering Committee (AASC), Asian American Committee (AAC), Eastern Diversity Steering Committee (EDSC), Focus on Women Committee (FOWC), Latino Committee (LC), and the Women’s Steering Committee (WSC), who look for avenues for these committees to work together to increase diversity and inclusion in the industry through meetings, seminars, networking, training and events.