EmmoLei Sankofa, Arbel Bedak Join AWFC Leadership and Board of Directors
The Alliance For Women Film Composers (AWFC) has announced their new leadership team and board of directors election results, and we’re thrilled to congratulate Spectra composer client EmmoLei Sankofa (she/her) and Spectra owner/agent Arbel Bedak (he/him) on taking on roles within the organization. EmmoLei is entering the second year of her two-year term as a board member and has been elected as Vice President of Outreach and Inclusion, and Arbel has been newly elected to a two-year term as a board member.
Spectra is proud to be a Silver-level supporter of the AWFC and support the work of this organization. Arbel’s position on the board of directors is another way to contribute and support the work of promoting gender diversity in the scoring space and shining a light on the amazing women and non-binary composers creating amazing music. The stats are still dire, and there is much work to be done! If you’re interested in joining us in supporting the work of the AWFC, please click here to make a donation.
View the full leadership team and board of directors in the below images, and read the full press release from returning co-presidents Allyson Newman and Heather McIntosh below. Congratulations EmmoLei, Arbel, and all of the leadership and board members, and thank you for continuing to support the important work of the AWFC!
From the Co-Presidents of the AWFC:
We are thrilled to continue our work as co-presidents of the Alliance for Women Film Composers and we appreciate you trusting us to lead this amazing organization. We would like to welcome our new Vice President of Outreach and Inclusion, EmmoLei Sankofa and our Secretary, Daisy Coole who will join us and our treasurer Thomas Mikusz on the leadership team. We would also like to give a warm welcome to our new board members, Aisling Brouwer, Arbel Bedak, Holly Amber Church, and Sandrine Rudaz.
Our amazing Administrative Team also has some additions: Kezia Tomsett will now serve as UK Coordinator and Tina Pepper as EU Administrator in order to strengthen our visibility in Europe and to serve our membership better.
We would like to use this opportunity to thank our outgoing leadership (Sharon Farber and Esin Aydingoz) and board (Chanda Dancy, Nami Melumad, Laura Karpman, Starr Parodi). We are so appreciative of you! Please find the full list of our leadership, board, advisory board and admin HERE.
While we still face very real challenges in terms of hiring practices within our industries, this past year has been one of great collaboration and community building, especially our allyship with the Composers Diversity Collective, Film Fatales, Women in Film, ReFrame, QUE (Queers United in Entertainment), Mamas in Music, L Acoustics, The SCL, Vancouver International Film Festival, and The Recording Academy.
Over the past few years our international representation has grown exponentially thanks to our UK and EU committees. If you are based in those regions, please look out for new events and opportunities to connect with other members. If you are based in an area where the AWFC isn't currently represented, please reach out to our UK team at ukeurope@theawfc.com or our European team at awfceurope@theawfc.com us so we can help facilitate further composer community building in your region.
We are very excited for the launch of It Takes A Village - a new communication and support network for caregivers working in the music industry created in partnership with Mamas in Music and the AWFC. This online community platform is currently looking for moderators to be a part of this support network. Please join us via the form you will find in this newsletter.
Recently, ReFrame released the "Gender & Hiring in Film 2024" report. We are thankful to them for shining a light on the inequality in hiring practices for women and gender diverse composers. From the report, "The role of composer continues to see a decline in gender-balanced hiring year-over-year. In 2024, eight films in the Top 100 hired a woman to score their film, a decrease from 2023's 10 and included only one woman of color, a decrease from three last year". Please take a look at this report.
ReFrame Gender & Hiring in Film 2024
This year we will continue to create events, panels, festival outreach and much needed industry reports that connect, inform and support our ever-growing membership. Keep an eye out for our new website and make sure to update your member profile in the directory, so studio executives and creative collaborators can find your incredible work. Please be aware that your profile will only be visible if you upload a picture and add information. We also encourage you to join an AWFC committee. This is an opportunity to get to know other members and become more active in the organization. More on how to join a committee in the following weeks.
In addition, we will continue our Spotlights and Spotify playlists in order to amplify the work of our members via social media. And we will continuously curate and support education events/panels and workshops both virtual and in person.
Please keep an eye out for our monthly Jumping off Point zoom sessions. It is a great opportunity to get to know us and learn more about the industry. These sessions are not recorded which creates a space for open dialogue to ask us anything. See you soon!
