nancy vitale, co-founder and director of creative production
Nancy is a creative multimedia and events producer, who believes that great work comes from lively collaboration and having baked goods handy. She recently wrote, directed, and produced Imagination Requested, a video learning series for Pop Culture Collaborative, where she previously produced the Wonderland podcast and many live events. She also served as Director of Live Events for the World Science Festival, directing production and operations for a limited series of media-rich public events in New York City. Previously, she was Senior Producer of Literary Programs at PEN America, where she produced the PEN World Voices Festival each May, created and produced the podcast These Truths, and produced virtual and in-person events that responded to threats to free expression around the world. Past roles also include: Creative Producer for Fuel Change, a culture change agency; Script Development at TV Land; Producing Artistic Director of Noor Theatre, producing Food and Fadwa (New York Theatre Workshop, 2012), The Myth Project (2013, 2014), and the Highlight Reading Series. As a writer, she has developed multiple TV series, and is currently writing a short story collection that will be adapted for television. Past dramatic writing includes the commission and production of Tips to Avoid Rap(e) (NYU Steinhardt, 2015), Coal, the Musical (Little Globe, Santa Fe), Losing Her, a full-length play, Running with Sharks “Pilot,” adapted from her 2013 short film. She earned her M.F.A. in Theatre (Columbia University, School of the Arts), and a B.A. in English (Oakland University, Honors College). Nancy lives in a sweet remote part of Vermont with her family, and enjoys traveling to work on exciting projects.
RECENT PRODUCTIONS
Pop Culture Collaborative’s Imagination Requested - Writer, Producer, Director
CEO Bridgit Antoinette Evans interviewing Exec Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Ai-jen Poo
The Pop Culture Collaborative is a philanthropic resource and funder learning community working to transform the narrative landscape in America around people of color, immigrants, refugees, Muslims, and Indigenous peoples, especially those who are women, queer, transgender and/or disabled. The Collaborative achieves this through partnerships between the social justice sector and the entertainment, advertising, and media industries that help mass audiences understand the past, make sense of the present, and imagine the future of American society.
Nancy has had the incredible fortune to work with the visionaries of the Pop Culture Collaborative for nearly a decade. Her work has spanned creative production for concerts, intimate convenings, the development of a TV show with leading writers, a podcast, and so much more.
Early 2023: In collaboration with Pop Culture Collaborative’s Founders and Director of Learning, Nancy co-wrote, directed, and produced Imagination Requested, a 4-episode learning experience that aimed to define and disseminate the Culture Change methodologies that the Collaborative has been developing.
The series builds upon the podcast she produced for them from 2017-2020 called Wonderland, in which they introduced Culture Change Strategy and the game-changing leaders and artists in the field.
World Science Festival — Director of Live Events
The World Science Festival is a multimedia organization producing original content straddling science, the arts, journalism and education. Founded in 2008, WSF is viewed by many as the premier platform bringing the most transformative ideas at the forefront of discovery to mainstream audiences. With formats spanning innovative works of theatre, film, dance and music, immersive live and virtual experiences, as well as riveting discussions and debates, WSF is lauded globally for its groundbreaking live and digital content featuring world renowned scientists, artists and intellectuals, shifting science to the cultural center. Based in New York City, WSF is distinctive in its commitment to the highest of editorial standards and production excellence, providing worldwide audiences an exciting and impactful view of the near and far future.
Widely known for our annual week-long festival placing science at the cultural core of New York City, WSF’s expanding live events have reached over 3.5 million visitors worldwide, and our digital, educational and broadcast programming has garnered over 250 million views.
The World Science Festival (WSF) approached me weeks before their scaled down 2023 Festival to serve as Coordinating Producer. My role was to ensured that every team, from Media to Editorial to Finance, had what they needed, and that there was clear communication and documentation for work to flow smoothly between departments. I was invited back for the May 2024 Festival as Director of Live Events to direct operations and production for the program as a senior member of staff. Given that many contractors had moved on, I hired and directed a new operations team and marketing manager, and worked with our technical producer to crew production roles. The 2024 WSF also coincided with the World Science Scholars Festival, requiring my team to travel in, coordinate, feed, and entertain 30 of the brightest international high school students and their families to meet future mentors, learn about the WSF, and develop connections for their future careers.
May 2024:
Navigated a tight timeline and limited resources to direct production, editorial development, and operations for the 2024 Spring into Science series of events; achieved 25% increase in audience engagement through marketing and outreach efforts.
September 2023:
Identified gaps in production and operations for the re-launch of the first WSF series after a 4-year hiatus; developed creative solutions to execute a complex slate of media-rich events that increased brand awareness and brought together renowned international scientists for original and inspiring conversations.
PEN World Voices Festival - Senior Producer
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible.
Just before the COVID-19 pandemic, Nancy was hired to produce The PEN World Voices Festival (PWVF) a massive, multi-day festival of literary events across every borough of NYC and in LA. Because of her video and audio producing experience, Nancy transformed the 2020 (PWVF), creating a slate of dynamic readings, panels, and multi-disciplinary events in NYC, LA, and virtually. Her work on the Festival included the following: curating PWVF events to ensure accessibility with events in four languages, offered virtually, and with ASL interpretation, live transcription, and foreign-language translations; writing event and podcast scripts, developing and producing all ancillary video content for social and promotions, securing programmatic, promotional and funding partnerships; and collaborating with the marketing team on the promotional strategy. In 2021, she developed a bespoke virtual event workflow using Crowdcast and Streamyard, recruiting and training a skilled crew of producers for simultaneous events. And in 2022, when PWVF returned in person, she rebuilt the in-person production team for 35 events in the Greenwich Village hub, three in Los Angeles, a massive Emergency Writers Congress at the United Nations, and a series of live-streamed and virtual programs for audiences at home around the the world.
Speech Itself — Senior Producer for PEN America
Jenny Holzer, SPEECH ITSELF, 2022. Light projection at Rockefeller Center, New York. Text: Freedom to Write Index, © 2021 by PEN America. Used with permission of PEN America. © 2022 Jenny Holzer, Member Artists Rights Society (ars), Ny. Photo: Filip Wolak.
Nancy oversaw production on Speech Itself unique projection installation that took place in September of 2022. For 5 nights, the renowned artist Jenny Holzer honored PEN America’s century-long defense of the written word and the fundamental rights that make free expression possible with a powerful new series of light projections that will illuminate three buildings in Manhattan’s iconic Rockefeller Center. The outdoor installation included quotes from more than 60 authors in a visual tribute to the cherished freedoms to write, read, and speak.
Among those whose words will be projected are Ayad Akhtar, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Margaret Atwood, Ron Chernow, Henry Louis Gates Jr., J.K. Rowling, Joy Harjo, Jhumpa Lahiri, Yoon Ha Lee, Toni Morrison, Alejandro Zambra, and Nadya Tolokonnikova of the performance art group Pussy Riot.