UnREAL: Making and Unmaking Gender, Race, and Power for TV

ADMISSION:
Admission is free. Reservations required. RSVP beginning Monday, October 9, at 9 a.m.

USC Students, Staff, and Faculty: RSVP
USC Alumni: RSVP
General Public: RSVP

DESCRIPTION:
The Peabody Award–winning Lifetime series UnREAL, about the complex relationship between two female producers of a reality dating competition show, has been lauded for its searing, compulsively watchable take on feminism, race, fantasy, and media. Join us for an evening of conversation about identity, female competition, and what it means to make television today with UnREAL co-creator/executive producer Sarah Gertrude Shapiro, executive producer/showrunner Stacy Rukeyser, USC professors Karen Tongson and Henry Jenkins, and cast members from both seasons of UnREAL: Lindsay Musil ("Beth Ann," Season 2), Meagan Tandy ("Candace," Season 2), and Breeda Wool ("Faith," Season 1).

About the Participants:

Sarah Gertrude Shapiro is the Emmy-nominated, Peabody Award, and AFI Award–winning writer, co-creator and executive producer of UnREAL, which she developed and sold based on the SXSW Award–winning short film she wrote and directed, Sequin Raze. A stalwart supporter of women, Shapiro was one of the early faces of the Broad Focus initiative at A+E and Lifetime. (IMDb, Twitter)

Award-winning writer/producer Stacy Rukeyser is the showrunner and executive producer of UnREAL, and has been a senior writer on the series since Season One.(IMDb, Twitter)

Henry Jenkins formerly directed MIT’s Comparative Media Studies graduate program and is now Provost Professor of Communication, Journalism, Cinematic Arts and Education at USC. His most recent book is Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. In 2015, Jenkins served on the Peabody Awards committee that recognized UnREAL for its achievement in television. (Blog, Twitter)

Karen Tongson is an associate professor of English and gender studies at USC and the author of Relocations: Queer Suburban Imaginaries as well as the forthcoming Why Karen Carpenter Matters. You can hear Tongson on the weekly Pop Rocket Podcast hosted by Guy Branum. (Twitter, USC profile)

Lindsay Musil has appeared in MTV’s Scream, CBS’ NCIS New Orleans, and Lifetime pilot Cinnamon Girls,. Musil is best known as “Beth Ann” in season two of the critically-acclaimed hit UnREAL. Next, she can be seen in CBS’s new series S.W.A.T. and indie film Carter and June. Born in Chicago Illinois, she studied at the University of Southern California. (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)

Meagan Tandy currently stars on Starz Networks hit series Survivor’s Remorse and has recently starred in UnReal, Teen Wolf, The Mayor, and 9JKL. Tandy starred in the films Piranha 3DD and Unstoppable. On television, has been seen on Jane By Design, Necessary Roughness, 90210, CSI: NY, Accidentally on Purpose, 10 Things I Hate About You, Dark Blue, Single Ladies, and the new Beverly Hills Cop. (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)

Born and raised in Illinois, Breeda Wool has appeared in the Amazon series Betas, UnREAL Season 1, UnREAL spinoff The Faith Diaries, feature film AWOL, the female directed horror anthology XX that premiered at Sundance 2017, the Facebook original comedy series STRANGERS, NBC's Midnight Texas, and HBO's Vice Principals. Currently, Wool can be seen along-side an all-star cast in the Audience Network and Stephen King series, Mr. Mercedes. (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)

Check out this Peabody Conversations video featuring UnReal co-creators Marti Noxon and Sarah Gertrude Shapiro along with star Shiri Abbleby where they discuss the premise and conception of the show.

Additional Links:
UnReal IMDb, Official website

Presented by USC Visions and Voices: The Arts and Humanities Initiative. Organized by Karen Tongson (English, Gender Studies, and American Studies and Ethnicity) and Henry Jenkins (Communication and Cinematic Arts).