Digital Speakers

Integral to the fabric of Ivy film festival is out ability to foster dialogue between industry professionals and emerging creatives. Though we are unable to hold our physical festival week this year, it remained imperative to us that we find a was to maintain this exchange of ideas

An Academy Award-nominated actor and screenwriter, Sacha Baron Cohen is an iconic actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Best known for his creation and portrayal of legendary characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, Admiral General Aladeen and Erran Morrad, Baron Cohen has also acted in Adam McKay’s TALLADEGA NIGHTS, Tom Hooper’s LES MISERABLES, Tim Burton’s SWEENEY TODD and Martin Scorsese’s HUGO. In 2020, he wowed audiences and critics alike with his work in two timely films: BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime For Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, for which he won two Golden Globe Awards - for Best Lead Actor Comedy and Best Picture Comedy - and make Baron Cohen the first person in Golden Globes history to win two awards for the same film character; and in Aaron Sorkin’s TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7, for which he received Academy Award, Golden Globe and SAG nominations for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal as legendary activist Abbie Hoffman. Additionally, Baron Cohen is a founding member and leading voice for Stop Hate for Profit, a coalition that calls out the social media companies who profit from the proliferation of conspiracy theories, racism, and hateful rhetoric on their platforms.

Emmy-nominated writer, producer, New York Times best-selling author, director and actor Mindy Kaling has been named one of the brightest voices of her generation. At 24, Kaling joined the eight person writing staff at NBC’s “The Office”. During her eight seasons at the show, she wrote twenty-six episodes (more than any other writer) and was nominated for an Emmy—the first for a woman of color in any writing category.

Next Kaling created the “The Mindy Project” for Universal Television, a show that she starred in and executive produced from 2012 to 2017. Kaling wrote 24 episodes of the 117 episodes created for the six season series. In 2012, Kaling was named to the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World List. She was honored with the 2014 Glamour Women of the Year Award and most recently was a 2019 ELLE Women In Hollywood honoree.

Kaling’s latest release is the critically acclaimed series, “Never Have I Ever” for Netflix. Season 1 reached 40 million homes in its first four weeks of release and has been picked up for a second season by Netflix. Recently, it was announced that Kaling will write, produce and star in an untitled comedy for Universal opposite Priyanka Chopra, co-written with Dan Goor. The duo are also currently penning “Legally Blonde 3” which will star Reese Witherspoon. Kaling is also currently working on her HBO Max series, “The Sex Lives Of College Girls”.

In between all her ventures, Kaling has released two New York Times bestselling comedic memoirs: “Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)” and “Why Not Me?”, and in Oct 2020 she released a new collection of essays in partnership with Amazon called “Nothing Like I Imagined.”