Canon Club
Canon Club | Where Women in Entertainment and Technology Meet
DEG is dedicated to helping cultivate a vibrant community for women in entertainment and technology. DEG’s Canon Club strives to be a place where women at all levels and in all sectors of our business are welcome to share knowledge and build their business networks. In 2023, after a few years of mostly virtual events, Canon Club returned to multiple in-person events all over Los Angeles, including the Hedy Lamar Awards in November at Paramount.
In 2026, the Hedy Lamarr Awards will be held November 2, at Google’s campus in Playa Vista (Los Angeles). Other upcoming events this year include an October networking and mentoring salon in New York.
Email meegan@degonline.org to be included on the mailing list so you don’t miss out.
For Sponsorship Opportunities, please email Andi Elliott (Andi@degonline.org).
Hedy Lamarr Award for Women in Entertainment and Technology
Austrian-American actress Hedy Lamarr was a Hollywood legend who is best known for her roles in many film classics, including Samson and Delilah, The Strange Woman, and Tortilla Flat. She was also a lifelong inventor whose innovative work included pioneering “frequency hopping,” which became the foundation for spread spectrum technology. Conceived by Lamarr and composer George Antheil for radio guidance systems and patented in 1942, this highly secure technology resists interference and dropout, and is utilized today for a variety of cellular, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth applications.
In the spirit of knowledge sharing and inspiration for all women in the business of home entertainment, DEG has created the Hedy Lamarr Awards to recognize and inspire pioneering work by the multi-faceted female leaders in our industry today.
2026’s Hedy Lamarr Award for Innovation in Entertainment Technology recipient is Melody Hildebrandt, CTO of Fox Corporation (pictured, top l.), a technology innovator at FOX for almost 10 years, who sets the comprehensive technology strategy for the company. Before becoming CTO, she previously served as the company’s Chief Information Security Officer and as the President of its research and development subsidiary, Blockchain Creative Labs. In her current role, Hildebrandt leads the development, design, and implementation of emerging technologies across the FOX enterprise, spanning FOX Sports, FOX News, FOX Entertainment, FOX Television Stations, and Tubi Media Group.
At the same time, the Hedy Lamarr Inspiration Award will be presented to Darcy Antonellis, former President Technical Operations and Chief Technology Officer at Warner Bros., and former CEO of Vubquity (second from top l.), who throughout her career distinguished herself as both a leader and a role model for emerging engineers. At Warner Bros., she led the studio’s digital transformation and investments across its technology and services-based portfolio within production, distribution, and IP protection. At Vubiquity, she leveraged advanced computing and cloud-based technologies to enable faster, more agile, and highly customized content delivery. Before joining Warner Bros., Antonellis held various executive positions at CBS spanning network, sports, and news. These assignments earned three Emmys for technical production and engineering innovation.
DEG named Shobana Radhakrishnan, Senior Director of Engineering for Google TV at Google (second from top r.) the 2025 recipient of its Hedy Lamarr Award for Innovation in Entertainment Technology.
DEG presented its first Hedy Lamarr Award in 2017 to Academy Award-winning actor and advocate Geena Davis, Founder and Chair of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (bottom l.). The following year, DEG presented Nonny de la Peña, CEO Emblematic Group (bottom r.), with the award. The 2019 award was presented to Dean Willow Bay of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism (third row, second from r.), with the 2020 award bestowed on Sara DeWitt, VP of PBS KIDS Digital (third row, second from r.). Poppy Crum, Former Chief Scientist at Dolby Laboratories (third row l.) was named the 2021 award winner. Paulette Pantoja, Founder & CEO of Blu Digital Group (second row r.), was the 2022 recipient. Dean Elizabeth Daley of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts (second row, second from r.) was the inagural recipient of the Hedy Lamarr Inspiration Award in 2023. Shalini Govil-Pai, VP and General Manager of TV Platforms at Google (second row, second from l.), received the award in 2023. Caroline Chan, VP, The Edge Group of Intel (second row l.), received the award in 2024. Wendy Aylsworth, CEO and CTO of Walden Media (top r.) received the Hedy Lamarr Inspiration Award in 2025. DEG created the Innovation Award to recognize female executives in the fields of entertainment and technology who have made significant contributions to the industry.
DEG also presents the Hedy Lamarr Achievement Award for Emerging Leaders in Entertainment Technology, which recognizes female college students whose studies in the fields of entertainment and technology have shown exceptional promise. The 2026 award honors Sarah Mashiat of Princeton University.
Get to Know Our Canon Club Advisory Board
Recent Canon Club Events
(top l.) Canon Club hosted a successful Spring Leadership Salon at Iyuno’s headquarters in Burbank, which featured
DEG Board Director Katherine Pond of Vizio (r.) in conversation with Iyuno’s Nicky McBride (c.) Canon Club Chair Meri Hassouni (l.) kicked off the event on a high note.
(bottom l.) Topics that McBride and Pond discussed key tenets of leadership, including authenticity, mentorship, and empowerment of team members.
(r. ) For a second year in a row, Canon Club members met up at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, hosted by Giant Worldwide’s Meri Hassouni.
Advisory Board
Meri Hassouni, Cineverse, Senior Vice President, Sales [CHAIR]
Paulette Pantoja, Blu Digital Group a Transperfect Company, Chief Executive Officer
Karin Gilford, Movies Anywhere, Senior Vice President/General Manager
Michele Edelman, Matchpoint, Executive Vice President, Technology & General Manager
Yolanda Macias, Cineverse, Chief Motion Picture Officer
Nadia Haney, NBCUniversal, Vice President, Commercial Licensing and Partnerships
Darcy Antonellis, Board of Directors: Cinemark, Xperi, Bango plc, Vionlabs AB Former President and CTO Warner Bros. and CEO, Vubiquity Inc.
Terri Davies, Trusted Partner Network, President
Andrea Downing, PBS Distribution, President
Teresa Phillips, Spherex, Co-founder & CEO
Katherine Pond, Vizio, Group Vice President, Platform Content, Partnerships, and Programs
Erica Maria Dionne, NBCUniversal, Senior Vice President, Global Business Operations
Lindsey Green, The Walt Disney Company, Senior Vice President, Content Sales and Distribution