‘We’ve Only Touched the Tip of the Iceberg’

Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke mentioned her firm has solely “touched the tip of the iceberg” relating to diversifying its TV and movie slate, and each Salke and AMC Networks’ President of Entertainment Networks Sarah Barnett agree it’s vital to introduce Americans to content material and filmmakers from all around the world.

“There are a long list of voices that need to be represented, and we’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg of those voices,” Salke mentioned at Wrap Women’s Power Women Summit in Los Angeles on Friday. “We’ve been in our personal yard within the U.S., and as you increase to completely different international locations, like India and Brazil, I simply love the flexibility to satisfy storytellers that come from their very own cultures and giving them their reigns to inform a narrative that exists exterior of their very own tradition. It must be that method. Language ought to not be a barrier on these reveals’ world enchantment.”

Barnett added: “For me, the aim of what I do is telling tales that no joke can change folks’s lives in significant methods… Bringing numerous voices to America is one thing so profoundly thrilling and so good for the general holistic physique of labor that everybody right here is knowledgeable by.”

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Both Salke and Barnett are leaders within the business and at their respective corporations, however Barnett famous that it’s vital for feminine leaders to be compassionate and understanding, but additionally trustworthy and direct. “The constant examining of oneself can help women feel like they don’t have to be robotic,” she mentioned.

When requested what progress they wish to see inside the subsequent 5 years, each Salke and Barnett pointed to “Fleabag” creator and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge. “I take a look at her and I take a look at the tales she tells and the freedoms she has a lady in her 30s she has that tie into how she will inform tales which might be feminist, however which might be additionally f—ed up and humorous and never orthodox and taking part in with what it means to be a feminist,” Barnett mentioned. “I look at that, and what I want is for that to continue and there to be women bursting out of the corners to tell extraordinary stories like Phoebe.”

Salke added, “That show is a big show for Amazon and it’s driven by the fearless vision of one person. It’s fearless.”