UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. —  A quartet of women who have built successful careers in the entertainment industry will be featured in a first-ever "Women of Color in Hollywood" panel discussion at Penn State.

The free public event begins at 6 p.m. April 10 with a group of writers and producers who boast of a variety of accomplishments and credits discussing their careers and sharing advice in the Flex Theatre of the HUB-Robeson Center.

Panelists include:

• Charlotte Casey, an award-winning filmmaker of “Sunday’s Child,” which premiered at several national film festivals, including LA’s Outfest (2021) and Santa Fe International Film Festival (2022), receiving awards from “HollyShorts” (SAGIndie Award) and “Long Beach QFilm Festival” (Best Screenplay). Her assistant directing credits include the recently wrapped first season of “1923” as well as series such as NBC’s “The Brave” and CW’s “Roswell, New Mexico.”
• Laura Nava, a writer on the upcoming Netflix series “Ransom Canyon” who also worked on the Golden Globe-nominated Hulu show “Casual.” She has also worked as a writers’ assistant on shows like the CW’s “Hart of Dixie” and “Reign.” Nava, who was born and raised in Los Angeles and earned two degrees from UCLA, intended to become a lawyer but the death of her mother prompted three months of travel across two continents and 26 cities — which helped reveal a passion for writing.
• Cori Uchida, who is part of a husband-and-wife writing team with Adam Lash. They currently serve as co-executive producers of ABC’s “The Company You Keep” and hold the same roles for AMC’s “Parish,” which is due out in early 2024. Their credits include “Reprisal, “The Thing About Pam,” “Marco Polo” and “Altered Carbon,” among others.
• Yasemin Yilmaz, who serves as a co-executive producer for “NCIS,” the most watched drama series in the world. She has written Netflix’s first original Turkish series, “The Protector,” and AMC’s animated series “Pantheon.” She previously served as a writer for “The Exorcist” and has written scripts set in China, Haiti, Italy and many other places.

The panel discussion is sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications.