Janine Jones-Clark, executive vice president of Talent and Content at NBCUniversal Film Entertainment Group, delivered the keynote address at TheWrap’s Power Women Summit live kickoff event and shared a story about starting her Hollywood career as a secretary after graduating from UC Berkeley.
“Okay, so for anyone under 30 in the room, I just dated myself tremendously,” Jones-Clark said with a laugh. “The term assistant wasn’t widely used back then. So I’ve been the unconventional hire throughout my entire career. I’ve constantly been the only one in the room to represent my cultural background and perspective.”
Jones-Clark was introduced to an audience of powerhouse entertainment industry women by Universal Writer’s Program alumnus Sarah Cho, a representative of the work that NBCUniversal is doing to diversify the playing field in all areas of the industry. When the program began in 2017, “We wanted to establish a groundbreaking diversity and inclusion department for the feature film industry,” Jones-Clark said. “Although now it seems like a given that a studio would embed diversity, equity and inclusion into its content creation and business functions. Just five years ago, that wasn’t the case at all.
“The ultimate win for me will be when the work we do becomes part of the studio system’s DNA,” Jones-Clark added.
Watch Janine Jones-Clark’s full speech here.
The Power Women Summit is the largest annual gathering of the most influential women in entertainment, media and technology. The event aims to inspire and empower women across the landscape of their professional careers and personal lives. This year’s PWS provides three days of education, mentorship, workshops and networking around the globe – to promote this year’s theme, “Represent.”