The new year has brought new faces to important roles at HPA! After several years of visionary leadership, Kari Grubin and Loren Nielsen have handed the WIP chair batons to Payton List, General Manager of Dailies and Media at Picture Shop Los Angeles, and Belinda Merritt, Director, Media & Entertainment North America, pixitmedia. We asked them a few questions about their history with HPA and their vision for the future of Women in Post.
1. How did you first become involved with HPA and WIP?
Payton: I was encouraged early on in my career by my mentor to attend the WIP events, and participate in the Tech Retreats. While still a shy newbie in the industry, I learned a lot and gained confidence in my networking, organizational, and leadership skills by attending and eventually participating in these events. In 2017, when encouraged again by the same mentor, I decided to give back by joining the Young Entertainment Professionals committee as a Co-Chair. It was then that I grew close to the amazing folks in both the HPA and WIP.
Belinda: I can't ever recall a time when I wasn't involved as an attendee of the many Tech Retreats we've done over the years and before that, the ITS. About 10 years ago, my then-client and always-friend Kari Grubin, myself and another friend went to dinner. Kari said I think I'd like to put together a group that will support the women in post-production. If I do, would you like to be part of it? I said yes and never looked back!
2. What have you gotten out of your time as a WIP member?
Payton: The benefits of participating in WIP have been endless. I've gained amazing and everlasting industry relationships, mentorships, and personal friendships. I've gained confidence in myself as a leader, and have learned a lot about the industry and, beyond that, life itself. Most importantly, I've learned the value of participating and giving back to the community that has given me so much. I hope to give back to the community that continues to inspire. Participating reminds me of why I love filmmaking and technology, and also the people behind the magic.
Belinda: I have met and become friends with so many wonderful women in our industry, and those friendships have lasted through the years. We count on each other for information and support. I've given a lot of time to Women In Post but the return has been unmeasurable. It's an honor to work with an organization that gives back to the community, fosters knowledge and diversity and gives our members the opportunity to learn from each other.
3. What are you looking forward to as you begin as co-chair?
Payton: Learning from and getting to know better all the amazing people that are a part of this organization. Also, hopefully bringing more new faces into the community!
Belinda: I think we reached our goals during the first decade of WiP, post covid. Payton and I are looking to bring some new ideas on how we connect with each other and we are also looking forward to interacting with other women's organizations within the M&E community. As well as our sister (or is it brother?) committee NET - Networking, Education and Technology. We've already been discussing co-producing a summer event with them to bring the two committees together so we can learn even more from each other.
4. Any exciting WIP plans for 2022?
Payton: I hope to continue the trend of creating a more inclusive and equitable environment in the industry through collaboration, and bring new ideas to build upon the already amazing WIP group that Kari and Loren have created.
Belinda: We are very excited to kick off the new year at the HPA Tech Retreat in Palm Springs next month. We've always had an overflow crowd at our WiP lunch at the Tech Retreat and although I can't reveal the speaker just yet, it will be a lunch you won't want to miss!
Join and follow HPA Women in Post on LinkedIn so you can stay up to date on WIP gatherings - and reach out to Payton and Belinda if you'd like to be more involved!
North America Stories
02/12/2025
Case Study: How Mid-Atlantic Sports Network Moved to All-IP Distribution in 60 D...
02/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Lee Corso, Coach, Commentator, FirebrandBy Ken Kerschbaumer
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | S...
02/12/2025
SVG All-Stars: Dan Nabors, Senior Director, Remote Engineering, TNT SportsThe veteran tech leader is helping guide Warner Bros. Discovery's at-home' re...
02/12/2025
National Lacrosse League Opens Season With New Cloud-Based Official Replay-Revie...
02/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: The Cinematic Look in Live Production - Bridging Aesthetic...
02/12/2025
SVG India Announces Advisory Board; JioStar's Prashant Khanna Named ChairmanBy Ken Kerschbaumer
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 11:15 am
Print This Story |...
02/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: New AI Production Tools Workshop' Features ESPN, F...
02/12/2025
Written and directed by Hailey Gates, Atropia won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival....
02/12/2025
The lightweight and highly portable CORVUS-RAVEN, recently demonstrated at the V...
02/12/2025
The lightweight, rugged Panther 2 tri-band VSAT delivers high-speed data communications for Internet, VPN connectivity and video transmission over commercial an...
02/12/2025
NGID volunteers in the United States
NGID volunteers in Mexico
NGID volunteers in India
NGID volunteers in Spain
NGID volunteers in Australia
NGID voluntee...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau has issued a reminder that stations in DMAs 111 through 120 must implement its audio descrip...
02/12/2025
SAN DIEGO Sony Electronics today introduced the Alpha 7 V (ILCE-7M5), the fifth generation of its Alpha 7 full-frame mirrorless lineup, powered by the newly dev...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has opened a docket for comments on Nexstar Media Group's proposed $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna and se...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON The National Association of Broadcasters has added a trio of media executives, Veronica Rodriguez, Matt Schnaars and Jeff Warshaw, to its board of di...
02/12/2025
MILAN, Italy Brightcove has released seven new features designed to expand global reach, improve audience engagement, enhance live-streaming quality and streaml...
02/12/2025
BCNEXXT, the developers of the advanced playout platform Vipe, today announced a new Service Provider Partner agreement with NPC Media, the Australian managed p...
02/12/2025
DPA Microphones today announces the immediate availability of its new N-Series Digital Wireless Microphone System for customers throughout the U.S. In addition ...
02/12/2025
Hiltron Communications reports a well attended and successful Space Tech Expo exhibition, held at the Messe Bremen from Tuesday November 18 through Thursday Nov...
02/12/2025
The beginning of September saw Riverfire by Australian Retirement Trust, in association with Channel 9 and Triple M, kick off the 2025 Brisbane Festival in spec...
02/12/2025
SGM Lighting is pleased to announce an exciting new partnership with ACT Entertainment, under which ACT will serve as the exclusive distributor for SGM's ne...
02/12/2025
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that Telia, the second largest telecom operator in Norway, is modernizing its broadband network with the company's i...
02/12/2025
European cloud data protection specialist Keepit is expanding its sales network in the DACH region and has gained TIM AG, one of the leading value-added distrib...
02/12/2025
Featured products at ISE 2026
This year s ISE 2026 theme "Push Beyond" reflects Calrec s direction of travel. The company is dedicated to supporting the AV an...
02/12/2025
Czech Television, the national public broadcaster, has deployed one of the largest LiveU live production projects in the region for live sports and news coverag...
02/12/2025
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics, has announced the release of v8.2 software for its ZEN and ZEN-W Series, bringing advanced cinematic camera se...
02/12/2025
Global provider of video streaming software and services, Accedo, and OTT platform provider, Magine Pro, have signed a binding agreement to carve out and merge ...
02/12/2025
With proven success in broadcast, OTT, and content supply chains, K.S Avinash set to scale Skandha's service-first approach across APAC
Skandha Media Servi...
02/12/2025
AJA Video Systems has joined the RAVENNA community, a network of partners devoted to advancing the RAVENNA standard for distributing real-time audio over intern...
02/12/2025
HUNT VALLEY, Md. Sinclair and its wholly-owned subsidiary One Media Technologies have released a new report focused on how ATSC 3.0, the IP-based NextGen TV sta...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau has issued a reminder that stations in DMAs 111 through 120 must implement its audio descrip...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON Members of the Advanced Television Systems Committee have elected four industry veterans to three-year terms on the organization's board of direc...
02/12/2025
A new survey from S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan highlights how important social media is for younger consumers, with Gen Z spending 5.1 hours a day on so...
02/12/2025
Faculty Notes: Fall/Winter 2025 Recent accomplishments, releases, and events by Berklee faculty.
December 1, 2025
By
Editorial Staff
The cast of Kind of M...
02/12/2025
Ring In The Holidays With Our Biggest Sale Ever On Ivory II Pianos!From now until December 31st, you can save 50% or more on every Ivory II piano and collection...
02/12/2025
Back to All News
Made in America: How Stranger Things' Electrified the US Economy
Entertainment
02 December 2025
GlobalUnited States
Link copied to cl...
02/12/2025
Back to All News
Culinary Class Wars' Season 2 Trailer Teases New Rules, R...
02/12/2025
At AWS re:Invent, NVIDIA and Amazon Web Services expanded their strategic collab...
01/12/2025
L3Harris and PentenAmio formalise their teaming agreement at MilCIS 2025, streng...
01/12/2025
Artemis II is NASA's first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. The crew, from left: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Vic...
01/12/2025
IRVINE, Calif. Wooden Camera has introduced its new Accessory Collection for the Canon EOS C50. The new lineup includes a low-profile, gimbal-ready cage, expand...
01/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for its Dec. 18 Open Commission Meeting that will include a vote on a report an...
01/12/2025
In most years, a graph of annual local TV ad spending is about as predictable as an electrocardiogram of a reasonably healthy patient in a doctor's office. ...
01/12/2025
Many industries have seen big-ticket hardware turn into software. Switchers, though, demand a combination of real-time performance and sheer bandwidth that has ...
01/12/2025
GENEVA Shanghai will host the next quadrennial Radiocommunication Assembly (RA-27) and World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-27), Oct. 11-Nov. 12, 2027. This...
01/12/2025
NEW YORK Just in time for Giving Tuesday tomorrow (Dec. 2), the Broadcasters Foundation of America is seeking out donations to help television and radio industr...
01/12/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Net Insight CEO Crister Fritzson has informed the company's board that he will retire from the video transport and media cloud technology ...
01/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils Hilarious, Heartwarming Trailer for Upcoming F...
01/12/2025
Back to All News
A Down to Earth, All Too Relatable Hero: Cashero' Teaser ...
The new year has brought new faces to important roles at HPA! After several years of visionary leadership, Kari Grubin and Loren Nielsen have handed the WIP chair batons to Payton List, General Manager of Dailies and Media at Picture Shop Los Angeles, and Belinda Merritt, Director, Media & Entertainment North America, pixitmedia. We asked them a few questions about their history with HPA and their vision for the future of Women in Post.
