On Friday, the White House Council on Public Engagement and Domestic Policy convened more than 20 leaders from across the entertainment industry to discuss incorporating accurate mental health stories into content in movies and series. This roundtable is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s continued efforts to address the national mental health crisis as part of President Biden’s unified agenda.
Administration officials and entertainment leaders highlighted recent actions taken by President Biden, including strengthening mental health workforce and system capacity, connecting more Americans to care, and creating healthy, supportive environments. We talked about it. As part of the conversation, participants will explore opportunities for positive storylines around mental health, lessons learned from previous campaigns to model positive behavior through entertainment, and depictions of people with mental health issues. We discussed how to delicately navigate the. Participants agreed to continue the conversation and work together to promote accurate mental health storylines to reduce stigma and increase access to resources.
Management participants include:
- Steve Benjamin, Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President, Director of the Office of Public Engagement
- Neera Tanden, Assistant to the President and Domestic Policy Advisor
- Terry Tanillian, Special Assistant to the President for Veterans Affairs
- Erica Loewe Special Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff for Public Engagement
External participants include:
- Mädchen Amick, actor, director
- Dr. Eric Butter, Chief of Psychology, Nationwide Children’s Hospital
- Michael Costigan, producer
- alexandra daddario, actor
- Robert Disney, host
- Dr. Laura Erickson-Schroth, Chief Medical Officer, JED Foundation
- joely fisher, actor, singer
- Katri Hall, playwright, television producer/creator
- freddie highmore, actor
- Dr. Arianna Hort, Managing Clinical Director, On Our Sleeves
- Beth Houghton, Chief Executive Officer, Youth Welfare Board
- Ashley Kolaya, Mental Health Storytelling Initiative
- bianca lawson, actor
- Ken Lazebnik, author
- Tzi Ma, actor
- John McPhee, Chief Executive Officer, JED Foundation
- Tracy McMillan, author, author
- Dr. David Osher, Deputy Director, American Institute for Research
- Sean Ryan, writer and producer
- Millicent Shelton, director and screenwriter
- David Shore, writer and showrunner
- kal penn, actor, writer
- Lisa Ann Walter, actor, comedian, producer
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