Actor Mary Lou Kolbenschlag '14 will lead a discussion about how COVID-19 has impacted the entertainment industry with alumni working in various sectors of the business, in order to help students and alumni better understand how to navigate a post-pandemic Hollywood.

Panelists: 

• Mary Lou Kolbenschlag '14 (moderator)
• Shani Am. Moore '02, TV Writer at Netflix, Hulu
• Ben Neumann '14, Manager, Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment
• Simi Prasad '19, Literary Assistant at WME
• Max West '19, Coordinator at ICM

This workshop is open to Princeton students and alumni. Students can register in Handshake and alumni can register here. 

Advance registration is required and registration closes on 7/27 at 5 p.m. EST. The Zoom link will be sent to you the day before the event. 

This event is part of the Arts at Work program, which is designed to provide Princetonians a supportive arts and creative community and opportunities to learn about the realities of life and work in various creative fields. 

Co-presented by Princeton in Hollywood and Lewis Center for the Arts.

Email Satomi Chudasama to request accommodations for this event at least 15 working days in advance.

Bios

Shani Am. Moore '02, TV Writer at Netflix, Hulu

A cum laude graduate of Princeton University, UC Berkeley, Stanford Law School, and UCLA Extension, Shani Am. Moore was most recently a writer on "Sweet Magnolias," a #1 hit drama series on Netflix, as well as on Hulu’s “The Bold Type.” She weaves her life in every script she writes, and shares her personal tales in each story she tells. Prior to becoming a full time working screenwriter, she was the first black female head executive in Dolby's history, and has also worked as a model, college athlete, reporter, prosecutor, TV executive, tech lawyer, and clerk to a federal appellate judge. She’s defended white collar criminals for a lot of money and political asylum seekers for free. Led legal clinics in Africa, and marched with penguins in Antarctica. Shani’s J.D. is one of her greatest strengths; her disability from MS is another. A third is her family roots: the daughter of a Jamaican immigrant, she grew up in a small home in the Bronx with nine other people.

Ben Neumann ’14, Manager, Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment

Ben is a New Jersey native who majored in History while at Princeton. After graduating, he moved to Los Angeles and worked as an agent trainee in the Motion Picture Literary department at United Talent Agency for two years. He has been at Kaplan/Perrone for the past four years, where he represents writers and directors in film and television.

Simi Prasad '19, Literary Assistant at WME

Simi Prasad ’19 is currently an assistant to a feature literary agent at WME. Previously, she interned at production companies Likely Story and Footprint Features and on the set of the short film adaptation of Professor A.M. Homes’ story “Georgica”. She published a novel at the age of fifteen and now aspires to break into television writing.

Simi grew up in London, England, though her accent implies otherwise. She graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Psychology and Creative Writing. She is a proud Matheyite and former HighStepper.

Max West '19, Coordinator at ICM

Max West '19 is currently a coordinator in the Literary Department of ICM Partners, supporting the agency's writers and directors in both features and television. Born and raised in Singapore, he served two and a half years in the Republic of Singapore Navy as a combat diver and naval officer.

His memoir of the experience, How To Forge A Frogman, was published in Singapore by Marshall Cavendish in the summer of 2017 and quickly became a local nonfiction bestseller. Following the completion of his military service, he went on to Princeton, where he majored in English, earned a certificate in screenwriting, and also played for the varsity baseball team