The 3rd Annual NYU Sports Film Festival will kick-off with a WME speaker panel featuring agents Carlos Fleming and Benjamin Simoné! Their discussion on sports media and marketing will be moderated by Professor Gina Antoniello.
About Benjamin Simoné: Benjamin Simoné is a partner at WME. His current talent roster includes Serena Williams (926 Productions), David Beckham (Studio 99), Christian Pulisic, Stu Holden (Fox Sports),Kid Mero, Marcus Samuelsson, Action Bronson, Adam Richman, Geoffrey Zakarian, Rachel Maddow (Surprise Inside) Neil deGrasse Tyson, and David Grutman (Groot Hospitality) among others. Clients in the documentary space include Oscar winner, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson (Summer of Soul) W. Kamau Bell (We Need Talk About Cosby & United Shades of America) Sacha Jenkins (Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues, Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men), and Yon Motskin (Dirty Money, The Family); and he represents production companies Boardwalk (Cheer, Last Chance U), eOne, ITV America (Love Island), Lightbox (two-time Oscar winners for Man on Wire and Searching for Sugarman), Lucky 8 (60 Days In), Mass Appeal (Nas, Hip-Hop 50), Part 2 Pictures (This Is Life w/ Lisa Ling & Taste The Nation w.Padma Lakshmi), Pulse Films (Lewis Capaldi), Spoke Studios (Buying Beverly Hills) and Vice Studios (Superpower & Flee).
Prior to joining WME, Simoné was an A&R Director at Columbia Records. Although the majority of his work is in Non-Scripted Television, he frequently works across the entire agency including the music division; with clients Questlove, BlackThought (The Roots/215), Janelle Monae (Wondaland), Joey Badass, Teyana Taylor, Macklemore, Andy Grammar and SZA.
About Carlos Fleming: As a Department Head of WME Basketball, Carlos Fleming oversees career management, marketing strategy, recruiting and staffing for the department. WME Basketball established itself as a full service basketball agency in 2021 in a joint venture with Bill Duffy and Associates (BDA). As a result of this partnership, the agency now represents over 60 NBA clients including Luka Doncic, Joel Embiid, DeAndre Ayton, Jimmy Butler, RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, Candace Parker, Sabrina Ionescu, Anfernee Simons and others. Throughout his career Carlos has represented the number one tennis player in the world (Venus Williams); the number one NFL Draft Pick (Cam Newton); the number one American professional male soccer player (Christian Pulisic); the number one professional female golfer (Michelle Wie) and the top-rated NCAA Men’s basketball player (Chet Holmgren). Carlos played collegiate tennis at Kansas University where he was an All-American. He started his career at IMG as an agent in the tennis division where he represented clients including Venus and Serena Williams, James Blake, Nick Kyrgios, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga and others.
About Gina Antoniello: Gina Antoniello, a sports communications executive with over a decade of experience in the field, joined New York University as Assistant Clinical Professor of Sport Management in August 2020. Antoniello last served as Head of Communications for the XFL’s New York Guardians, where she was the primary architect of the communications strategy, leading both business and football communications and player development programs. Prior to joining the ranks of professional football, Antoniello held leadership roles in the NBA, with both the Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors organizations. She has also appeared on national and regional network television as a courtside reporter for G League basketball games where she earned the sideline spot on broadcasts for ESPN, NBA TV, YES Network, and MSG Network from 2015-2019. She brings eight years of teaching experience to NYU, after serving as an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s MS of Sport Management program, of which she is also an alumna. Gina received her undergraduate degree from Wake Forest University in Communications.
The 3rd Annual NYU Sports Film Festival will start its second day of events with a panel featuring award-winning sports film producers Carolyn Hepburn, Andrew Mayz, and George Veras!
About Carolyn Hepburn: Carolyn Hepburn is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning producer who joined ESPN Films in 2022. She has produced over 50 titles, and her works have premiered at prestigious festivals such as Sundance, Berlinale, Cannes, Tribeca, Telluride, Toronto, San Sebastian and New York Film Festival. Her work has been seen on and distributed by Netflix, PBS, HBO, AppleTV+, Amazon, Hulu, Showtime, CNN Films, and IFC.
Recent films include Love To Love You, Donna Summer (Berlin International Film Festival, HBO Documentaries & Polygram), Victim/Suspect (Sundance Film Festival, Netflix); American Pain (CNN Films); Unfinished Business (Tribeca Festival); The Return of Tanya Tucker featuring Brandi Carlile (SXSW Audience Winner, Sony Pictures Classics); In The Same Breath (HBO Documentaries, Oscar shortlisted); The Velvet Underground (Cannes Film Festival, Apple+ & Polygram, Oscar shortlisted); The Mole Agent (Oscar nominee); A Thousand Cuts (Emmy, Gotham and IDA winner); One Child Nation (Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner, Amazon Studios, Oscar-shortlisted); Life, Animated (Oscar nominee and winner of three Emmys); Weiner (Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner, IFC Films, Oscar shortlisted). Hepburn is currently working on Candace, about WNBA player Candace Parker, which will be the first feature film for ESPN’s W. Studios.
About George Veras: George Veras is the former Chief Operating Officer and Producer at the Professional Football Hall of Fame. He is a 10x National Sports Emmy Award winning producer and director of national television live events and documentaries. In his career spanning multiple decades, he has worked with ABC Sports, CBS Sports, NBC Sports, ESPN, the History Channel, the Cleveland Browns, and NFL Network.
About Andrew Mayz: Andrew Mayz is an Archival Producer, Researcher, and Storyteller specializing in documentaries. Working on a wide range of both feature length and short films, his work has appeared on Netflix, HBO, PBS, VICE, ESPN, The New York Times, and more. His recent credits include Netflix’s BILL RUSSELL: LEGEND about NBA Legend and Civil Rights Activist Bill Russell, and HBO’s HOSTAGES on the Iran Hostage Crisis. His writing has been published by Pitchfork Media, and his one-act opera was featured as part of New York Opera Fest 2018.