Tema Staig

Tema Staig is the Executive Director of Women In Media, an organization that she founded in 2010.  In 2016, in response to the many excuses for why people weren’t hiring women behind the scenes in entertainment, she created the Women In Media (WiM) Crew List, a Google doc that went viral.  She took Women In Media 501(c)3 in 2017, transitioning the grassroots community into a vibrant organization and establishing the searchable crew list database as the go-to place to find, vet, and hire women above and below the line.

Ms. Staig has been in the film industry since earning her master’s degree from the Tisch Department of Design for Stage and Screen in 1999. She is a Production Designer/Art Director with a background in scenic art and theater design. She is best known for her work on the feature films Kissing Jessica Stein, Happy Hour, Battlefield America, and American Splendor as well as commercials and music videos. She was a pilot IFP Project Involve: NY Fellow.

Tema Staig produced three short films in 2019 through Women In Media’s CAMERAderie Initiative, including Blood and Glory and Cherry Lemonade which screened at Tribeca. In 2021, she produced 4 CAMERAderie films which are currently on the festival circuit. She also produced the award winning short, Present: A Moment In the Future, directed by Jacqueline Kim (Star Trek: Generations, The West Wing, Advantageous).

Ms. Staig has been a professor at LA City College, the Associate Course Director for Art Direction at LA Film School, and faculty for film and television design at Santa Monica College. 

Ms. Staig is LA County Woman of the Year for 2023.

Known as a moderator, keynote speaker, and panelist, she is thrilled to share her enthusiasm for film, film history, and women in the workforce. Inquiries can be made here: www.temastaiglive.com