A diverse group of execs, artists, athletes and thought leaders from the worlds of sports, entertainment, music, media and politics attended the CAA Amplify event in Ojai, Calif., on Thursday, and CAA President Richard Lovett indicated the annual conference will continue into the foreseeable future. Attendees and speakers at this year's conference included musical artist will.i.am, screenwriter/director Gina Prince Bythewood, actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw, screenwriter Alan Yang, director Jon Chu, producer and actress Heather Rae, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra;comedian Aubrey Plaza, former Obama senior advisor Valerie Jarrett, former National Security Advisor Susan Rice, actor Jesse Williams, Chobani Founder & CEO Hamdi Ulukaya, Knicks coach David Fizdale and Titans RB Derrick Henry. CAA debuted Amplify last year as a gathering aimed at embracing diversity and promoting inclusion, and Lovett revealed that the agency launched the event after he attended some of the most prestigious conferences in the world and was alarmed to learn that "less than 10% of the attendees and speakers were women and people of color." Noting the tough and divisive political climate in the country now, Lovett said it was important to stay positive and energized. "That is why we'll be (here) next year and the year after that and the year after that," he said.
CARMELO LOOKS TO ENTERTAINMENT: Thunder F Carmelo Anthony spoke on a panel with "Empire" co-creator Lee Daniels and "Luke Cage" showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker. Anthony produced a documentary on Mike Tyson in '08 and said on the panel that he wants to be involved in more entertainment projects in the future. Anthony said he was especially interested in being involved in stories about people who have overcome adversity. "To me it's more about those overcoming stories. ... Stories nobody wants to tell, nobody wants to touch," Anthony said. Asked about social justice issues in sports and athletes speaking out, Anthony praised the NBA for giving players a platform and supporting them for "being who we are." Anthony said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver "has done a great job." For the second year in a row, CAA unveiled a new initiative at the Amplify conference, releasing the "Amplify Database" composed of 808 television writers of color. The database, which includes people with at least one writing credit on a broadcast, cable or streaming television project in the last five years, was made available to networks, studios, showrunners, and other key industry decision-makers starting Thursday. CAA last year unveiled research showing films with diverse casts are likely to outperform films with non-diverse actors.
