Juvelis is not only a key architect behind the creation and promotion of AMC Networks’ corporate story, culture and brand, but she’s also a force for inclusion and representation. One of the longest-tenured executives on the leadership team, she oversees the company’s corporate press, digital, marketing, social media and internal comms, and also helms its DEI taskforce. She’s also executive sponsor of Elevate, the employee resource group dedicated to empowering the personal and professional growth of women employees and allies, which helped launch a director training program in partnership with the Alliance of Women Directors. Regarding gender bias in shows and characters, she notes, “Progress is being made in that there is now specific focus on gender bias and inclusion in content but there’s still much more room for improvement.”
What’s one way your company has broadened the recruiting process to ensure greater diversity?
We have several initiatives focused on creating a strong pipeline of diverse candidates. Through a partnership with the Alliance of Women Directors, we have a director training program focused on scripted action and thriller content led by directors, showrunners, and department heads from our productions. We also joined a great program called Mentorship Matters that focused on connecting writers of color for a yearlong mentorship that provides opportunities to participate in writers’ rooms, make introductions and participate in networking events.
How would you rate the industry regarding gender bias in shows/characters?
Progress is being made in that there is now specific focus on gender bias and inclusion in content but there’s still much more room for improvement. Our approach to bias and inclusion is to ensure that we’re hiring people of all backgrounds for our productions. Something we’ve been proud to do is partner with #ChangeHollywood to use inclusion riders on every AMC Studios production, which involves a process for hiring and casting that we think will expand our candidate pools and help us develop richer content that better reflects our world. Acting on our commitment, two of our newest productions, “Dark Winds” and “Interview With the Vampire,” have writers rooms made up of over 50 percent writers from underrepresented groups. “Dark Winds” is created by a Native American writer and its episodes are written by primarily by Native American writers and will star a Native American cast, led by actor Zahn McClarnon.
