Panelists to Discuss Harnessing Power of Hollywood Community for
Edutainment Programs Supporting Global Development
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – (July 20, 2022) – The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) and the Narrating Behavior Change Program of the World Bank, in collaboration with former NASA producer Michael Carbajal, today announced the panelists participating in the first in a series of Global Forums focused on the growth of edutainment programming around the world and the use of entertainment media with educational objectives.
Confirmed panelists include Christopher Bailey, Arts & Health Lead, World Health Organization; Madeline Di Nonno, President/CEO, Geena Davis Institute; Helen Hoehne, President, HPFA; Edwin Ikhouria, Executive Director, ONE Campaign Africa; Paul Katz, Founder/CEO, Entertain Impact; Maher Nasser, Director Outreach Division, Global Communications Department, United Nations; Victor Orozco, Senior Economist and Edutainment Lead, World Bank; with Arianna Legovini, Director the Development Impact Evaluation, World Bank as event moderator.
The debut HFPA-World Bank Global Forum Zoom event is scheduled for Wednesday, July 27, 2022 from 11 AM-1 PM PT (2-4 PM ET) and can be viewed at https://www.worldbank.org/en/events/2022/07/19/global-challenges-require-global-solutions-innovative-partnerships-between-the-entertainment-and-development-sectors
“For the debut forum in our series, we have curated an incredible panel featuring experts in their respective fields,” comments Carbajal. “The panelists will demonstrate through their presentations and discussions how high-quality edutainment can be a game changer as we address today’s global challenges.”
While previous World Bank forums focused on publicly funded productions for audiences in developing countries, the new HFPA-World Bank forums will explore the challenges and opportunities for public-private partnerships to systematically scale up investments in edutainment, including with the LA-based industry and its celebrities. The online event will be publicly available and will target both the entertainment and development sectors.
Edutainment promotes and supports programs designed to combat poverty, gender inequality and climate change, among others. These issues are at the core of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) frameworks of investors, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries to address today’s global challenges.
These new HFPA-World Bank forums will tackle issues such as harnessing the power of entertainment and popular culture to support development goals and help educate, empower and motivate communities around the world to action.
Born in White Plains, New York, Michael Carbajal is an award-winning producer who began his career in film and television at NASA headquarters, where he worked on documentaries and interactive features as Senior Content Producer. He was a member of the NASA Television production team that won the Primetime Emmy Award, recognizing television engineering excellence on the 40th anniversary of the televised Apollo moon landing. The team was also awarded the coveted Webby and Adobe MAX awards and was featured on CNN.
After NASA, Carbajal transitioned to the private sector as a content producer, specializing in unscripted documentaries and docuseries. From new findings at Machu Picchu to the latest advances in artificial intelligence, his interests remain fixed on discovering humanity’s potential, whether finding it in the past or speculating on the future. He also held positions at MTV Networks and Google.
Under the banner of his film company, Trendline Films, Carbajal is currently in production on the film Split Decisions, starring the late Kristoff St. John, Mia St. John, Sugar Ray Leonard, ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosely, and others. Carbajal is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and has served on its awards and events committees. He is a Constellation Circle donor of the Motion Picture Academy Museum and a member of Mensa. He currently resides in Los Angeles.
