Program Overview
The Young Entertainment Professionals (YEP) program nurtures the development of talented individuals at the start of their media and entertainment journey with mentoring and education, introductions to industry leaders, invitations to events, and access to resources that will further their careers. Through active participation in HPA, YEPs gain lifetime access to a community of peers and other professionals to help set the course of their careers in this industry.
The 2026 YEP Class
Alara Keskil, Company 3
Julissa Padilla, MakeMake Entertainment/Netflix
Michael Binder, Pixelogic Media
Amy Chew, Paramount Global
Steven Hu, Tech Align Group
Nicolas Cantrell, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Fatima Kundiri, NBCUniversal
Malisa Perng, Antoinette Media/Caught in the Act
Ryan Wellence, Blue Vishnu
Sarah Bistany, Light Iron
YEP participants are chosen in an annual selection process.
YEPs have frequent opportunities to take center stage. YEPs have been seated on panels at the HPA Tech Retreat and at the SMPTE Annual Technical Conference, produced a webinar series, and contributed columns to the HPA NewsLine e-newsletter.
Incubated in 2016 by the Women in Post committee, YEP advances the organization’s goal of cultivating and encouraging the next generation of worthy entertainment professionals to follow a career in the media content industry.
