Jessica Alba, Quinta Brunson, Dwyane Wade, Steven Yeun and more are among the list of Hollywood speakers and attendees for the Creative Artists Agency’s Amplify Summit 2023.
The invitation-only event kicks off on June 26 in Ojai, Calif., and will convene leading artists, thought-leaders, and executives of color from the industries of entertainment, sports, media, brands and technology. While there, invitees will have the opportunity to explore business and social justice initiatives, as well as potential collaborations that could “accelerate transformational change in rooms of leadership and popular culture,” according to the event’s organizers.
Related Stories
“CAA Amplify has long utilized CAA’s role as conveners and connectors to create business opportunities for our communities, bringing decision makers together in one room,” CAA’s Natalie Tran, who has been a lead organizer for the summit since its inception. “Now, more than ever, the collective expertise and influence of the CAA Amplify network are essential to drive stronger collaborations in storytelling and partnerships that will help spark change across our industries.”
The complete list of attendees frequently straddle multiple industries and titles, and have notable award nominations and wins. That includes actors Lupita Nyong’o, Yeun, Xolo Maridueña, Thuso Mbedu, Yara Shahidi and Jillian Mercado; directors Ava DuVernay and Blitz Bazawule; showrunners Quinta Brunson and Sierra Teller Ornelas; recording artists Chloe and Halle Bailey, and Becky G.; comedians Roy Wood Jr. and Ego Nwodim; NBA pro-athletes Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul; author Anand Giridharadas; media personality Tabitha Brown; The Honest Company founder Alba and CEO Carla Vernón; Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson; president of the Ford Foundation Darren Walker; and co-founder and CEO of Inflection AI, Mustafa Suleyman, among other leaders.
Sponsors for the CAA Amplify Summit 2023 are Frito-Lay North America, the foods division of PepsiCo, Inc. and leading global alternative asset manager, TPG. Additional support comes from financial services company Wells Fargo.
The annual summer summit is among several initiatives from CAA Amplify. That includes the CAA Amplify Town Hall, special livestreamed events addressing urgent social issues. Its inaugural iteration was held in June 2020, where more than 11,000 artists and cross-industry leaders attended to discuss the state of race in America and actions to help end systemic racism. In April 2022, CAA’s Full Story Initiative partnered with UCLA’s Center for Scholars & Storytellers (CSS) to examine the business impact of Authentically Inclusive Representation (AIR) in film, producing a study that found films with higher AIR scores perform better at the box office and have more favorable critic and audience reviews.
Other work includes an October 2020 study on the demand for TV featuring diverse on-screen talent, producing in partnership with entertainment analytics leader Parrot Analytics; in December 2018, partnering with shift7 to examine the correlation between female-led films and box office success, and the box office implications of films that pass the Bechdel Test; and in June 2017, the CAA Motion Picture Cast Diversity Index, which helped determine the correlative factors of diverse casting, diverse audiences, and box office success, and their broader implications.
