WBD Access Fireside Chat

Join WBD Access’ Jamie Hernandez and Charissa Sanjarernsuithikul, an alum of the Warner Bros. Directors’ Workshop, for a conversation on breaking into the industry and building your career as a storyteller in Hollywood. Learn about WBD’s talent development initiatives, and gain tips on how to successfully navigate fellowship programs for writers and directors.

FREE, please RSVP in the ticket link.

About Charissa:

A native Angeleno, Charissa Sanjarernsuithikul is a director whose roots in Hollywood began with her first job as a film projectionist.  Her love of cinematic storytelling led her to USC film school where she discovered the magic of editing and developed skills that would lead to an 18 year career in TV post production.  Working alongside powerhouse Showrunners such as Greg Berlanti, Kevin Williamson, Shonda Rhimes and Aaron Sorkin, Charissa’s editing credits include The Following, The Newsroom and Doom Patrol.  Her love of photography (the ability to visually tell a story in a single frame) combined with her fluency of filmic language and craft of performance have given way to her inevitable true calling: directing.

Charissa’s first steps into directing began with shadowing working episodic directors to enrich her production knowledge of the TV landscape while learning the craft firsthand.  This led to her directing a string of short films with her latest, Post Sentence, winning the Best Women’s Short Award at the 2021 Cleveland International Film Festival.  Her short films rendered her a finalist in the 2018-2020 Disney ABC Directing Program and a participant in the 2018 Sony Pictures Television Diverse Directors Program & 2019 Warner Bros Television Directors’ Workshop.  Charissa’s episodic directorial debut was the Season 2 Midseason Finale of God Friended Me (CBS).  Other series she’s directed include The Rookie (ABC), Good Trouble & The Watchful Eye (Freeform), All American (CW) and Found (NBC).  She is repped by Circle of Confusion.

About Jamie:

Jamie Hernandez’s passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion, plus her background in production, led her to the role of Programs Manager, DEI Pipeline Programs at Warner Bros. Discovery. In this role, she manages some of the talent development programs from WBD Access to connect underrepresented talent to WBD’s content and brands. In addition, she serves as the Chair for the Burbank Chapter of WAVE (Warner Asian Voices Elevated), one of the company’s Business Resource Groups.

Prior to Warner Bros. Discovery, Jamie was at NBCUniversal where she worked in Production & Operations for the Entertainment Content Group. Jamie was part of the team that oversaw all aspects of production management for NBCU networks’ original series & specials and also served as the Global Advisory Committee Co-Lead for Asian Pacific Americans@NBCUniversal Employee Resource Group. She started her career by donning a polyester uniform as an NBC Page.

In May 2021, Jamie was honored with the Woman of Diversity Award by Comerica Bank and The Los Angeles Lakers (her favorite team). Although she does not have much of a sweet tooth these days, she does savor any treats containing “ube” (purple yam). She also enjoys jamming out to BTS.