KEEPING IT REAL:
AI and the Changing Entertainment Landscape
A Conversation with Industry Professionals
Please join the Trustees and Members of the National Institute of Social Sciences and industry professionals for a fascinating evening of conversation, cocktails, and networking. Learn about our organization and hear from entertainment industry professionals working in this new and challenging era of artificial intelligence.
Date: Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Time: 6:30 to 8:30 pm ET (US and Canada)
Venue: The Players, 16 Gramercy Park South, New York, NY 10003
Cocktails and light bites will be served. Space is limited and advance purchase is required. No tickets will be sold at the door. You must be 21 or older to attend this event. Smart casual dress.
The Speakers
Sheri Holman
Sheri Holman is an award-winning novelist and screenwriter. She is currently Executive Producer on Apple's Emmy nominated Palm Royale starring Kristen Wiig, Laura Dern, and Carol Burnett. Prior to that, she was Co-Executive Producer on George & Tammy, a limited series centered on the tumultuous love affair between country legends George Jones and Tammy Wynette, starring Jessica Chastain and Michael Shannon. She has written and produced on Filthy Rich starring Kim Cattrall, National Geographic's limited series, Barkskins, based on Annie Proulx's acclaimed novel, and Netflix Original series, Longmire. Sheri is a founding member of The Moth, and her stories can be heard on the Peabody Award winning Moth Radio Hour and Podcast. She lives with her family in Brooklyn. www.sheriholman.com
Ann Blanchard
Ann Develin Blanchard is a senior Agent in the TV Literary and Packaging department at the leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). A veteran agent, Blanchard represents many of the most prolific, creative, and diverse artists working in television, ranging from writers, directors, playwrights, and writer-performers to Showrunners and production companies. Blanchard is known for her insightful dedication to clients’ long-term career goals and unique “voices,” advocating and fighting for the integrity of artists in the midst of the increased volume and constant change occurring in the media landscape.
Ann is particularly celebrated for representing and building companies for internationally acclaimed IP Brands. In particular, she has built internal representation teams and sold dozens of television and film projects and made studio deals for the Atlantic Monthly, Texas Monthly, New York Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and Buzzfeed. She also works with #1 bestselling authors and household names such as James Patterson and Mitch Albom.
Most recently, Ann has served as a founding member of CAA’s newly revised training program, “Elevate”. Elevate presents a sea change in the training of young agents in Hollywood, relying more on an MBA-style curriculum and less on the time-honored tradition of clerical tasks in the agency mailroom. Ms. Blanchard specifically engineered and manages the “Origin Story” portion of the curriculum, encouraging CAA trainees to understand and implement their own passions in service of not only their own, but especially their clients’, hopes and dreams.
Ann has worked in the television business since 1990, when she started in the mailroom of Triad Artists, which was later acquired by the William Morris Agency in 1992. She spent 15 years at William Morris, where she served as a Senior Vice President, and became one of the industry’s first-ever female television packaging agents. In 2007, she became a television literary manager at Mosaic for four years, prior to joining CAA in 2011.
She has also been on the board of directors for My Friend’s Place, an organization for homeless teens in Hollywood, and she has also served on the board of the Independent Shakespeare Company, the only independent Shakespeare company in all of Los Angeles committed to a diverse interpretation of “The Bard.”
In order to pursue continual professional and personal growth, in 2024-2025, Ann attended and graduated from a year long Executive Coaching program at Brown University in conjunction with ACT. She is now bringing this motivational training and insight to bear on the careers and continuing aspirations of artists and brands alike. Ann is also a proud Deacon at Bel Air Church in Los Angeles.
Ann resides in Los Angeles with her husband Warren Sandy Becker, and has two sons, Reiss Edward and Ryland Arthur. She is a graduate of Smith College, where she majored in Comparative Literature.