Armenian Film Society has announced the second edition of its Armenian Women in Film and Entertainment panel, hosted in honor of International Women’s Day.
The panel, which will be held on Thursday, March 7 at LOOK Cinemas in Glendale, will bring together a group of leading Armenian women who work in the film and entertainment industries. The speakers will share their experience of what it is like to work in film and entertainment, including details on their backgrounds, their journeys to their current roles, as well as successes, failures and lessons learned along the way.
The panel will be moderated by Sona Movsesian, co-host of the popular podcast Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, and will consist of Joanna Bush, Anna DerParseghian, Alex Hedison and Teni Karapetian.
Attendees will have an opportunity to network after the panel discussion during a social hour at LOOK Cinemas’ bar and lounge. Proceeds from ticket sales will go directly to the development of Armenian Film Society’s programs.
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Joanna Bush
Joanna Bush started her concept art career at Section Eight, the former production company of Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney, illustrating on The Good German, Ocean’s 13 and The Informant!, as well as designing the opening sequences to Soderbergh’s Che: Part One and Che: Part Two. She worked closely with director Ang Lee and production designer David Gropman on Life of Pi, traveling to Taiwan to work on development, production and post-production on the film. Bush has illustrated on five feature films that have been nominated for an Academy Award for Production Design, including two that won – La La Land and Mank. In 2022, she became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She most recently worked for Steven Zaillian in post-production on his upcoming Netflix series, Ripley.
Anna DerParseghian
Anna DerParseghian began her career in business management at the age of 16 and has worked in virtually every role in the industry throughout the years, slowly learning every angle of the business along her journey, until she was made co-owner/partner in 2010 and quickly became managing partner in 2015. Today, she continues to manage the boutique firm based in Sherman Oaks, which boasts some of Hollywood’s A-listers as clients. Their client list includes talent both in front of and behind the camera, various touring musicians and comedians and many high-net-worth individuals in the entertainment industry. DerParseghian is one of a handful of female managing partners in business management.
Alex Hedison
Alex Hedison is an internationally acclaimed photographer, artist, director and actor. Born in Los Angeles of Armenian descent, she has exhibited in galleries throughout Europe, the United States and Asia. Her photographic work is in public and private collections worldwide, including the Beth Rudin DeWoody collection, Barclays Capital, Participant Media and the Grunwald Collection at the Hammer Museum. Hedison’s most recent solo exhibitions include the opening of FRIEZE Seoul 2023, Von Lintel Gallery, Los Angeles, H Gallery Paris, Photo London and Paris Photo. Her work has been featured in Art Forum, Gold Circle, The Genius List, Curator, Point Contemporain and The New Yorker. Her acting career spans numerous television roles, including a pivotal character in the cultural phenomenon The L Word. A critical voice in both the artistic and LGBTQ+ communities, she directed the documentary short film Alok, featuring Alok Vaid-Menon, which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. This thought-provoking documentary short explores compassion as a catalyst for social transformation and inspires viewers to embrace personal freedom beyond the binaries that divide us. The film is produced by Natalie Shirinian, Elizabeth Baudouin and Meggan Lennon and executive produced by Jodie Foster.
Teni Karapetian
Teni Karapetian is director of Film Publicity at Netflix. She got her start in public relations doing corporate communications for Artistdirect. She left music to get into television publicity at Sony Pictures Television, eventually transitioning into film in 2001. She spent a cumulative 14 years working for Sony Pictures with a nearly two-year stint at The Weinstein Company in between her two tenures at Sony. During her time at Sony, Karapetian was part of two campaigns that won the Publicist Guild Award – The Social Network and The Interview. After leaving Sony, she went on to run National Publicity at STX Films, where she worked on over 25 campaigns starting with The Gift, the studio’s first feature film release, the Bad Moms franchise and The Upside. Karapetian took on her role as director of Film Publicity at Netflix in 2019 and has worked on hits such as The Mother starring Jennifer Lopez, Day Shift starring Jamie Foxx and most recently Lift starring Kevin Hart. Karapetian is a graduate of UCLA where she earned her bachelor of arts in American Literature and Culture. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children.
Sona Movsesian (Moderator)
Sona Movsesian is an executive assistant, author and media personality who has been the personal assistant of late-night talk show host Conan O’Brien since 2009. Movsesian has become a fan favorite and a regular feature on all things Team Coco. She currently co-hosts Conan O’Brien’s podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend. In 2022, she released a humorous how-to book titled The World’s Worst Assistant, which became a New York Times best seller.
About Armenian Film SocietyFounded in 2015 by husband and wife Armen and Mary Karaoghlanian, Armenian Film Society is the leading nonprofit organization that champions Armenian films and unites Armenian filmmakers. Armenian Film Society operates the Armenian Film Festival in Glendale, California, which launched in 2023 on the occasion of the centennial of Armenian cinema. The inaugural film festival drew in over 1,500 attendees and held the premiere of Michael Goorjian’s Amerikatsi, which became the first-ever Armenian film to be shortlisted for Best International Feature Film at the Academy Awards.
Guest Contributor