Learn about the foundational elements of sexual harassment law; how the law is applied as a practical matter in business settings; and how those principles can be applied to film productions to create safer, more inclusive sets.
SPEAKERS
Ruby Hunt, HR Manager for Dallas Museum of Art
Ruby, who has served as the DMA's Director of Human Resources since 2017, steps into her new role as the inaugural Chief Human Resource Officer, where she will continue to direct the Museum’s human resources operations by recruiting top talent and delivering best-in-class onboarding, development, coaching, and counseling. With nearly 15 years of experience in HR, including recruitment, training, benefit plan design, performance management, engagement, employee relations, 401k planning, succession planning, and diversity, equity, and inclusion policy implementation, Hunt has led the successful reengineering of the Museum’s HR strategy and processes and continues to evolve its practices. Her expertise in employee affairs has been successfully demonstrated during the institution’s temporary closure due to COVID-19.
Geenah Krisht, freelance film producer
Geenah is a producer from Little Rock, Arkansas. For the last six years, she's freelanced in commercial, music video, short, and feature film production. Before that Geenah was an in-house producer for Dallas-based indie film company Dreamfly Productions and LA-based production company Ten East Ten West Productions where she developed, casted, and produced non-scripted television pilots. In 2015, Geenah won a Telly Award for her producing work on The FAME, a late-night-style talk show for the Dallas Cowboys. In 2017, Geenah was a production manager and producer on feature film 1985 starring Cory Michael Smith, Michael Chiklis, Virginia Madsen, and Jamie Chung. It premiered at SXSW and sold to Wolfe Releasing. Geenah has also spent time producing commercials and music videos for clients such as Uber, Old Spice, ACLU, Zac Brown Band, Doja Cat, Tyga, A$AP Ferg, and more. She’s been a self-starter and skilled multi-tasker since her undergraduate career at Southern Methodist University, where she earned degrees in both journalism and film and media arts. Geenah currently resides in Los Angeles.
Alana Ackels, Labor/Employment attorney at Bell Nunnally
Alana Ackels advises employers on how to minimize risk, protect their businesses, and navigate the multitude of state and federal laws governing the employer-employee relationship. She prepares employment agreements, confidentiality agreements, non-competition agreements, employee handbooks, and other policies that mitigate risk for employers. She also prepares injury benefit plans for employers who choose to opt out of workers compensation in Texas, and she manages the plan roll-out for companies that go non-subscriber.
Licensed in Texas and California, she has extensive experience litigating disputes in state and federal courts and arbitration. Selected by her peers as a Super Lawyer Texas Rising Star every year since 2015, she routinely defends employers in claims involving discrimination, harassment and retaliation; wage and hour claims; trade secret litigation; and non-compete matters. Ackels also litigates complex business disputes, non-subscriber negligence claims, certain employee benefit challenges under ERISA, and insurance coverage disputes.
Alana spends much of her time counseling clients on ways they can minimize risk in their handling of labor and employment matters. She assists employers in terminations of employment, conducts workplace investigations, provides strategic advice for successful corporate transitions, manages reductions in force, coaches businesses on how to navigate leaves of absence, and audits companies for compliance with wage and hour laws. She regularly provides training seminars for management and human resources professionals on a wide range of labor and employment topics.
Brent Turman (moderator), WTxFF Board Member & Commercial Litigation attorney at Bell Nunnally
Brent's commercial litigation practice covers a variety of matters including business disputes, intellectual property, complex arbitration and civil RICO actions. He represents clients ranging from startups to high net worth individuals to Fortune 50 companies. From 2017-2020, Brent has been recognized by his peers as a Super Lawyers "Rising Star" for business litigation.
Before Brent’s legal career, he was an Associate Operations Producer for ESPN / ABC College Football. In addition, Brent produced commercials, industrial videos, in-arena entertainment, and music videos for clients throughout North America. Brent has continued to use this experience to assist clients in the Entertainment, Media and Sports industry by preparing and reviewing relevant contracts and navigating clients through business disputes. Outside of the office Brent produces short films and co-hosts Hilltop Hoops, the podcast for Southern Methodist University men’s basketball fans. He was also a Remote Producer for the XFL’s re-launch in 2020.
(1.00 Hours General CLE, including 0.25 ethics)
Learn about the foundational elements of sexual harassment law; how the law is applied as a practical matter in business settings; and how those principles can be applied to film productions to create safer, more inclusive sets.
SPEAKERS
Ruby Hunt, HR Manager for Dallas Museum of Art
Ruby, who has served as the DMA's Director of Human Resources since 2017, steps into her new role as the inaugural Chief Human Resource Officer, where she will continue to direct the Museum’s human resources operations by recruiting top talent and delivering best-in-class onboarding, development, coaching, and counseling. With nearly 15 years of experience in HR, including recruitment, training, benefit plan design, performance management, engagement, employee relations, 401k planning, succession planning, and diversity, equity, and inclusion policy implementation, Hunt has led the successful reengineering of the Museum’s HR strategy and processes and continues to evolve its practices. Her expertise in employee affairs has been successfully demonstrated during the institution’s temporary closure due to COVID-19.
Geenah Krisht, freelance film producer
Geenah is a producer from Little Rock, Arkansas. For the last six years, she's freelanced in commercial, music video, short, and feature film production. Before that Geenah was an in-house producer for Dallas-based indie film company Dreamfly Productions and LA-based production company Ten East Ten West Productions where she developed, casted, and produced non-scripted television pilots. In 2015, Geenah won a Telly Award for her producing work on The FAME, a late-night-style talk show for the Dallas Cowboys. In 2017, Geenah was a production manager and producer on feature film 1985 starring Cory Michael Smith, Michael Chiklis, Virginia Madsen, and Jamie Chung. It premiered at SXSW and sold to Wolfe Releasing. Geenah has also spent time producing commercials and music videos for clients such as Uber, Old Spice, ACLU, Zac Brown Band, Doja Cat, Tyga, A$AP Ferg, and more. She’s been a self-starter and skilled multi-tasker since her undergraduate career at Southern Methodist University, where she earned degrees in both journalism and film and media arts. Geenah currently resides in Los Angeles.
Alana Ackels, Labor/Employment attorney at Bell Nunnally
Alana Ackels advises employers on how to minimize risk, protect their businesses, and navigate the multitude of state and federal laws governing the employer-employee relationship. She prepares employment agreements, confidentiality agreements, non-competition agreements, employee handbooks, and other policies that mitigate risk for employers. She also prepares injury benefit plans for employers who choose to opt out of workers compensation in Texas, and she manages the plan roll-out for companies that go non-subscriber.
Licensed in Texas and California, she has extensive experience litigating disputes in state and federal courts and arbitration. Selected by her peers as a Super Lawyer Texas Rising Star every year since 2015, she routinely defends employers in claims involving discrimination, harassment and retaliation; wage and hour claims; trade secret litigation; and non-compete matters. Ackels also litigates complex business disputes, non-subscriber negligence claims, certain employee benefit challenges under ERISA, and insurance coverage disputes.
Alana spends much of her time counseling clients on ways they can minimize risk in their handling of labor and employment matters. She assists employers in terminations of employment, conducts workplace investigations, provides strategic advice for successful corporate transitions, manages reductions in force, coaches businesses on how to navigate leaves of absence, and audits companies for compliance with wage and hour laws. She regularly provides training seminars for management and human resources professionals on a wide range of labor and employment topics.
Brent Turman (moderator), WTxFF Board Member & Commercial Litigation attorney at Bell Nunnally
Brent's commercial litigation practice covers a variety of matters including business disputes, intellectual property, complex arbitration and civil RICO actions. He represents clients ranging from startups to high net worth individuals to Fortune 50 companies. From 2017-2020, Brent has been recognized by his peers as a Super Lawyers "Rising Star" for business litigation.
Before Brent’s legal career, he was an Associate Operations Producer for ESPN / ABC College Football. In addition, Brent produced commercials, industrial videos, in-arena entertainment, and music videos for clients throughout North America. Brent has continued to use this experience to assist clients in the Entertainment, Media and Sports industry by preparing and reviewing relevant contracts and navigating clients through business disputes. Outside of the office Brent produces short films and co-hosts Hilltop Hoops, the podcast for Southern Methodist University men’s basketball fans. He was also a Remote Producer for the XFL’s re-launch in 2020.
(1.00 Hours General CLE, including 0.25 ethics)