Variety Announces Program for Inaugural Women of Awards Season High Tea

Variety will host a new edition of its acclaimed High Tea event series celebrating the women of awards season on Nov. 16 in Los Angeles, spotlighting the trailblazing women behind the year’s most praised films. The event follows the inaugural High Tea: Celebrating Female Directors in April.

The intimate afternoon will feature candid conversations with female contenders across all categories. From filmmakers and costume designers to actors, High Tea: Celebrating the Women of Awards Season will feature women whose creative vision is shaping the current and future film landscape.

The event will kick off with welcoming remarks from Variety’s publisher and co-president, Dea Lawrence.

Variety’s senior artisans editor, Jazz Tangcay, will sit down with filmmakers of “Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender,” “Tangles” and “Tenzing” to discuss the passion that fuels their work and how they drive the narrative to tell important stories. Tangcay will also speak with acclaimed costume designers of “Michael,” “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” “The Odyssey” and “Wildwood” about how their work shapes the narratives of their respective films.

Ruth Madeley, “Being Heumann”; Nia Long, “Michael”; and Marion Bailey, “Tender Loving Care” will join Variety’s director of features, Emily Longeretta, to speak about their celebrated and powerful projects they helped bring to life.

The afternoon will feature “Nothing to See Here: Watts,” an unscripted documentary that gives 20 residents of Watts in South Los Angeles the cameras and control to tell their own stories. Variety co-editor-in-chief Cynthia Littleton will speak with the film’s producer and co-directors.

With the support of 20th Century, Apple Original Films, Bleecker Street Media, IFC, Laika, Lionsgate, Paramount+, Universal Pictures and Watts Productions, the event will celebrate these accomplished women for their creative contributions, while fostering meaningful dialogue around female storytellers and leadership within the entertainment industry.

“Variety has long championed the voices shaping our industry, with women playing a vital role in its evolution,” said Dea Lawrence, publisher and co-president of Variety. “High Tea celebrates the achievements of women in film and the importance of amplifying the voices and perspectives of female artists.”

With High Tea, Variety continues to honor excellence in storytelling, highlighting influential contenders and changemakers shaping the season through thoughtful conversation, connection, and celebration.