Creator of history making Pose joins summit

AUCKLAND, AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND, Thursday 22 August 9.00am (NZST) - Steven Canals, the creator, executive producer, writer and director of the history making Emmy and Golden Globe nominated and Peabody Award winning series POSE, has been announced as a speaker at The Power of Inclusion summit on 3 and 4 October in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand.

POSE has the largest cast of transgender actors in TV history and has been lauded for its representational storytelling both in front of and behind the camera. The ballroom scene in 1980s and 90s in New York serves as a backdrop for the burgeoning LGBTQ community and family.

Canals will join other announced speakers such as Rt Hon Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and writer and director Niki Caro (The Whale Rider, upcoming Mulan).

Canals approached Ryan Murphy (Glee, American Horror Story) with a script and an idea, and together with Murphy and Brad Falchuk co-created the series which has catapulted inclusive storytelling on the small screen. Now in its second season, POSE was nominated for two Golden Globes this year including Best Television Series - Drama and is nominated for six Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series. It also won a Peabody in 2018 for Entertainment. Currently it is second season in which Canals also had his directing debut, the series has been announced for series three.

Of coming to Aotearoa New Zealand involved in The Power of Inclusion, Canals said “I'm elated to be a guest at this critically important summit and eager to engage my fellow storytellers in a global conversation around representation and inclusion in film and television."

The Power of Inclusion summit will bring people together, presenting a myriad of world views and positing future action to create a more inclusive industry and world; all enveloped in the special environment that Aotearoa New Zealand and its peoples have to offer.

Speakers include writers, directors and producers making ground breaking work; activists, founders, executives and researchers from companies and initiatives leading the way in inclusion; top tier US studio and SVOD executives; and leading practitioners from Aotearoa New Zealand.

POSE screens in the US on FX, is available on SKY and NEON in New Zealand and on Foxtel in Australia.

The summit will be hosted by the New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) and Women in Film and Television International (WIFTI), with support from The Walt Disney Studios.

The NZFC also acknowledges The Motion Picture Association Scholarship programme, which will provide 150 tickets for people working or studying in the screen sector who are low or unwaged or belong to a community underrepresented in the screen sector. Registration for scholarship tickets closes 4 September 2019. Details here.

The full list of speakers announced to date are below.

Full programme and final speakers to be announced. For more information including registration, please go to powerofinclusion.co.nz.

#powerofinclusion | i: @nzfc | t: @nzfilmcommissh | f: @nzfc

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