Black to the Future: Five Day Event!

OKEMA T. MOORE is an Emmy Nominated, PGA producer, writer, actor, and rising director. She's created content for Lifetime, Netflix, Nickelodeon, DreamWorks, FOX, and Disney/Marvel. Some of that content includes Kenya Barris’ Klutch Academy for BET, Beat Bobby Flay, and The Kitchen on Food Network, Oprah’s Color of Care, Founding In Color Season 2 on Peacock, and Nomad with Carlton McCoy on CNN. She directed a host of digital campaigns for ULTA Beauty, and as an actor can be seen on Season 2 of both Amazon Prime’s Harlem, and Allblk’s Makeup x Breakup, as well as the 2023 BET holiday film, So Fly Christmas.

SHAKESHA WILLIAMS is a renowned filmmaker and the Founder and President at Harlem Fusion Studios. She is a celebrated screenwriter whose short film "My Story" won Best Screenplay. As creator and showrunner of her digital series "Curvy Girls Rock", she continues to break barriers and amplify important voices. As an Ebony magazine-recognized creative, Shakesha brings deep conversations to the airwaves with her award-winning podcast "Shakesha and the White Boy." She's dedicated to empowering creators of color as a mentor and festival co-founder, all while embodying the unstoppable energy of NYC as a devoted wife, mother, and mentor.

FLOYD MARSHALL JR. began his career acting in independent films, television commercials, and radio ads. He transitioned from being in front of the camera to a behind-the-scenes role as an executive producer of his own stage plays and independent films.  Floyd started the IFAP Awards, a film festival geared towards the excellence of independent filmmakers internationally. He also created the Film Collective Short Film Festival.  Floyd also runs the non-profit, the Independent Film Association of Philadelphia where he teaches filmmakers the business of show business. Floyd has been a mentor for women of color in the industry and he’s also a founding member of Men Of Color Unite, an organization geared towards mentoring men of color, fairness, equity, and diversity in Hollywood. Floyd is also the founder of  A Conversation With Floyd Marshall Jr podcast where he interviews people of color in the indie and Hollywood film industry.  Floyd is also the author of Film Bizness, a comprehensive guide on how to navigate making your first film and more.

SHAWN LANDRUM is a multiple award-winning screenplay writer in over a dozen countries, spending the past five years homing his creative talents as a ghostwriter/consultant for T.V. and film. Shawn is a student of all genres, mastering in Comedy, Thriller, Drama, and all Super Powered worlds! Shawn has scripts in different stages of development including a thriller short shooting this summer! Shawn’s a devoted father, husband, son, and is considered to be the best daddy in the whole wide world! (Referred by Willow Landrum age 9).

BIANCA SAMS
Bianca Sams is a Writer/Actor hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area. Her work spans different genres and mediums (plays, television and feature films). Her original pieces are often described as lyrical investigations of found stories out of today's headlines or the pages of history, that ask audiences to face their own complex love affair with misery. She’s drawn to stories that question the roles of women, ethnicity, and family in modern society. Her work often deals with the search for “self” in the collective identity and also explore the underlying connective threads of mankind. She recently finished her MFA in Playwriting at Ohio University. She received her BFA from New York University's Tisch School, where she earned the distinction of being Tisch's first ever Triple Major (Acting, Dramatic Writing, Africana Studies). Awards and honors include Ingram New Works Fellow (Nashville Rep), Warner Brothers TV Writing Workshop, KCACTF Lorraine Hansberry (2nd place), Rosa Parks Award (2nd place), Kennedy Center/Eugene O’Neill New Play Conference fellow, Jane Chambers Student Playwright Award/Athe (2nd place 2013 & 2014), Scott McPherson Playwright Award, The Playwright Center Core Apprentice (2014), Playwright Foundation BAPF (finalist), Eugene O’Neill NPC (semi- finalist), TRI Research Fellowship at Ohio State University, and T. S. Eliot Acting Fellowship, Tracking Board 2016 Young & Hungry List, WriteHerList 2017 and Tracking Board HIT LIST 2018. She previously worked as a writer on Training Day on WB/CBS TV starring Bill Paxton, The Originals on the CW with Julie Plec & Jeffrey Lieber and Titans for DC.com/WB/Berlanti. She’s currently a Supervising-producer on Charmed for CW. Bianca is represented by Echo Lake Management and Verve.

Join Tristan J and a panel of fabulous Black & queer working screenwriters & showrunners for a candid conversation on screenwriting representation, and the power of identity. This panel discussion will highlight and celebrate Black creatives who are proudly a part of the LGBTQIA community. 

PANELISTS

HILLIARD GUESS - Hilliard Guess (Director of Development at Showrunner Ben Watkins' Blue Monday Productions; Host of Screenwriters' Rant Room Podcast) is a writer/producer who has written on shows such as The Russo Bros SYFY series DEADLY CLASS and was recently the EP/Showrunner of the indie digital series TICKER (Best Series at 2021 World Internat'l Film Festival). He has made a name for himself in the indie world and has built a strong career that's made him invaluable, managing sets, in numerous writers/development rooms, and producing TV/Film from script-to-screen. Hilliard is a powerful voice in the writing community, promoting diversity and inclusion, and dedicates his time to the WGAW (Co-Chair - Committee of Black Writers [he co-penned the viral article DEAR HOLLYWOOD in 2020], Co-Chair of The Education Committee, member of the LGBTQ+, Latinx, and Genre Committees). He is building a name for himself across social media as the longtime host/moderator of the popular Screenwriters Rant Room, as well as the WGAW 3rd & Fairfax podcasts where he interviews A-list writers/producers from our favorite film and TV shows.

BEAU DEMAYO is an American screenwriter hailing from Central Florida, the last of six children adopted from around the world. He started his career as a creative executive at Disney-ABC and Focus Features, helping oversee projects such as GRAVITY FALLS and ATOMIC BLONDE. He later transitioned into writing, working with Julie Plec on several seasons of CW’s THE ORIGINALS. DeMayo has served as a supervising producer and writer on hit shows like Marvel’s MOON KNIGHT and Paramount+’s STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS and as a writing-producer on Netflix’s THE WITCHER. He also produced and wrote Netflix’s hit anime THE WITCHER: NIGHTMARE OF THE WOLF. DeMayo currently spearheads the long-awaited, upcoming animated series revival of Marvel’s X-MEN ’97 as both executive producer and head writer.

DAVINA HEFFLIN (she/her), originally from Pittsburgh, PA, received her MFA in Screenwriting from Chapman University but upon graduating, realized that her true passion lay in representation. Since then, Hefflin has dedicated herself to identifying diverse voices, building them up and helping them tell the stories that will have a positive and lasting impact on the industry. Hefflin comes to Verve from Gersh where she started as an assistant, before quickly climbing the ranks in the TV Lit department.

CHARLIE PEPPERS is an African-American, LGBTQ+ writer who was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Charlie’s love for writing began at the early age of 8 when he would accompany his mother who was a PA to various sets. Rather than playing with toys or video games, Charlie lost himself in reading scripts. Charlie then began journaling which quickly evolved into writing short stories, plays, and graphic novels. In addition to writing, Charlie is a dedicated community organizer in East Hollywood. Recently he sold his TV pilot, BROOKLYN SO DEAD, to MGM Studios. He was also a story editor on Rian Johnsons’s series POKERFACE.

ALLIE MORGAN - Allie is a Black lesbian filmmaker from the Midwest. She studied entertainment business at Los Angeles Film School and screenwriting at New York Film Academy. Writing and directing credits include her short films SISTERS, CUPID'S CHOKEHOLD, and SHATTER, which have been nominated for multiple awards and showcased at film festivals internationally. She is passionate about telling stories for women of color and the LGBTQ+ community, and her goal is to reflect these communities in fresh new ways in her films and television shows.

A deep and engaging discussion on the role of Black Women in entertainment and the growing need for projects written and produced by women of color.
 

PANELISTS

Mika Frank - Staff Writer
Mika began her storytelling career as a singer/songwriter. Mika soon realized that a career as a teen R&B singer was not what she wanted for herself. Mika then went on to become a trauma pharmacist. Mika rekindled her love for writing after starting a dating blog. When Mika discovered the world of film and television writing, she refocused her talents and moved to Los Angeles. Mika has since placed as a semi-finalist in the 2018 AFI Directing Workshop for Women and a finalist in the 2019 WeScreenplay Contest. Mika has written and directed the web series, My Girlfriend is Black, and several short films. Mika pens complex female-driven stories that explore the intricacies of strong women in unique worlds. Mika currently works as a staff writer on a network series.
 

Erica Land - Genre Feature Writer (recently sold a film to Lifetime)
Erica Land is a drama writer with a background in journalism, music, and sketch comedy. Erica specializes in horror and sci-fi with levity, a brand born from her experiences growing up in Texas with eight diverse siblings who often used levity to survive difficult times. Currently based in Los Angeles, she has won Roadmap Writer's Diversity Initiative, written for two NBC Sketch Showcase productions, and has been a Finalist for NBC's WOTV, Final Draft's Big Break Competition, and a Semi-Finalist for ABC's and WB's writing programs. Erica is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, where she studied cello and earned a master's degree from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. She has also studied with Jen Grisanti, Script Anatomy, Roadmap Writers, and Second City Hollywood.

Angela Harvey - Writer/Producer 

Angela Harvey launched her entertainment career with a trans media experience for the pop culture smash Teen Wolf. That online work earned her a Webby Award and a spot in the show’s writers room. After a hundred episodes of Teen Wolf, Angela went on to serve as a writer/producer on Salvation (CBS) Station 19 (ABC), and American Horror Story (FX) among others. Along with her work in entertainment, Angela is proud to serve on the Board of Directors for CARE Action, the political advocacy arm of a global anti-poverty agency. She also serves on the Board for the Writer’s Guild of America’s PAC.

Lamonia Deanne Brown - Creative Executive/ Film Festival Specialist

Lamonia Deanne Brown is the founder of The Gilchrist Group LLC., she consults entertainment companies in the areas of content development, strategy and communications, and live events. She specializes in film festival production and programming, sponsorship management/activations, and content innovation. She is the Festival Director for the Essence Film Festival, which launched in 2022 as part of the Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans with the goal of building the largest Black global film and arts gathering in the world. Lamonia currently serves as the co-chair of the Women of Color Caucus for the Writers Guild of America East, and on the board for the Washington D.C.-based Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. 

Our most celebrated panel from last year brings back some wise and insightful Black genre TV writers working in the genre space.  It'll be a frank discussion about nearly everything under the sun, including career advice, breaking in, writing craft, reps, favorite genre tv/films, and of course, what it's like being Black and a genre tv writer. to share their insights and wisdom​
 

​​​​​​Panelists:
Bianca Sams (Charmed, Don't Look Deeper, Titans, The Originals, Training Day)
 Brandon Schultz (Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Short Treks)
Christina M. Walker (Flash, October Faction, Salvation, Still-Star Crossed)
 Lamont Magee (Green Lantern, Black Lightning, The Quad)
 Natasha M. Hall (Saint X, Virgin River, AfterShock Comics)

Co-Moderators: Aadip Desai and James Moorer

Panelist Bios:

Bianca Sams
Bianca Sams is a Writer/Actor hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area. Her work spans different genres and mediums (plays, television and feature films). Her original pieces are often described as lyrical investigations of found stories out of today's headlines or the pages of history, that ask audiences to face their own complex love affair with misery. She’s drawn to stories that question the roles of women, ethnicity, and family in modern society. Her work often deals with the search for “self” in the collective identity and also explore the underlying connective threads of mankind. She recently finished her MFA in Playwriting at Ohio University. She received her BFA from New York University's Tisch School, where she earned the distinction of being Tisch's first ever Triple Major (Acting, Dramatic Writing, Africana Studies). Awards and honors include Ingram New Works Fellow (Nashville Rep), Warner Brothers TV Writing Workshop, KCACTF Lorraine Hansberry (2nd place), Rosa Parks Award (2nd place), Kennedy Center/Eugene O’Neill New Play Conference fellow, Jane Chambers Student Playwright Award/Athe (2nd place 2013 & 2014), Scott McPherson Playwright Award, The Playwright Center Core Apprentice (2014), Playwright Foundation BAPF (finalist), Eugene O’Neill NPC (semi- finalist), TRI Research Fellowship at Ohio State University, and T. S. Eliot Acting Fellowship, Tracking Board 2016 Young & Hungry List, WriteHerList 2017 and Tracking Board HIT LIST 2018. She previously worked as a writer on Training Day on WB/CBS TV starring Bill Paxton, The Originals on the CW with Julie Plec & Jeffrey Lieber and Titans for DC.com/WB/Berlanti. She’s currently a Supervising-producer on Charmed for CW. Bianca is represented by Echo Lake Management and Verve.

Brandon Schultz
Brandon Schultz is a writer for Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Short Treks. Before writing on ST: Disco, Brandon was the writers’ assistant! He wrote and produced "Blood Thirsty," an animated short featured on New Line Cinema's "Blade Trinity" DVD release, wrote a 1-shot comic book for Marvel Comics and Atlantic Records, and co-wrote and developed the breakthrough award-winning comic book "Blokhedz.” Brandon is also the President, Co-Founder, and Producer for Street Legends Ink, a busy animation and design studio with clients including brands like Disney, Paramount, New Line Cinema, Image comics, Simon & Schuster, Adidas, Carhartt, Gatorade, Nestle, Nike, BWA/Chiat-Day, Cartoon Network, Jive Records, Def Jam, and more. He has also created programs for high school youth, acted as a jurist for Pan African Film-Fest, and has spoken on writing for animation, hip hop and comics, and Black masculinity in fiction at USC School Of Cinema/TV, Georgia State University, and Brown University. Brandon is co-producing the reboot of the classic Hip Hop film Krush Groove in collaboration with Warner Bros. He’s a proud graduate of Morehouse College.
 

Christina M. Walker
Born on a Naval base in Japan and raised in the military town of Virginia Beach, Christina always knew her life would take her to incredible places. After living abroad for three years in Naples, Italy, she returned seeing the world through a different set of eyes. She obtained a degree in Mass Media from Henderson State University, and told stories by working in television news for each of the major affiliates across the U.S.. However, yearning to return to her true passion, writing, she studied Screenwriting in Chicago, then moved to Los Angeles.

In 2016, this passion assisted in earning her a slot with the Disney/ABC Program staffing on the Shondaland show Still Star-Crossed. This break gave her the unique opportunity of writing in NYC for the show, and traveling to Spain to produce two episodes of the series. Since the program Christina staffed on CBS’s Salvation, Netflix’s October Faction, and freelanced on BET’s Tales. Most recently her talents have put her in the high-concept and action space working on Seasons 8 of CW'S The Flash.
 
Lamont Magee
Lamont Magee is a consulting producer on the just-announced Green Lantern series set to air on HBO Max. Prior to Green Lantern, Magee served as a writer/producer on the CW’s Black Lightning for the duration of the series’ four season run and is currently developing a live-action streaming series for DC Comics. Magee has written for Dreamworks, Marvel, Disney, and LucasFilm Animation in the animation space and is currently developing a trio of comic books for the Mad Ghost banner. Magee has penned several theatrical projects which are in varying stages of development including BUFFALO FLATS, a film directed by Emma Westenberg, co-written by Magee, and produced by MGM, which is set to ramp up production later in the 2022 calendar year. Magee is also an executive producer on the Array/Netflix release DEFINITION PLEASE starring Sujata Day and Ritesh Rajan and executive produced by Datari Turner, Mindy Kaling, and Ava DuVernay. Magee is repped by manager Adam Robinson at The Rookery, Adam Levine, Kyle Jensen, Rich Rogers and Melissa Darman at Verve and attorney Matt Rosen at Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher.

Natasha M. Hall 
A bicultural, first-generation American, Natasha’s family immigrated from Barbados to New York City where she grew up straddling two worlds. One was a strict, traditional Caribbean household, and the other was Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn during the crack epidemic. The two were so different, they often seemed like surreal fantasies. As a result, Natasha now writes 1hr. dramas and fantasies about characters struggling to define themselves, about belonging and love. Currently co-developing a graphic novel for AfterShock Comics and writing a drama podcast for iHeartRadio, Natasha recently finished a Story Editor position on HULU’s upcoming drama, SAINT X. She wrote for season four of NETFLIX's VIRGIN RIVER. She is AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL’s 2020 AMC ONE-HOUR PILOT WINNER, is an alum of the 2020-2021 ViacomCBS WRITERS MENTORING PROGRAM, and her work has been recommended by Showrunners Jenny Klein, Declan de Barra, and M. Raven Metzner, as well as Liz Benjamin, and Writer/Director, Sofia Alvarez. Repped by Industry Entertainment and UTA, and once part of HBO’s original series team, Natasha is a graduate of Syracuse University and Teachers College at Columbia. During the latter, she also taught English through Teach For America in the South Bronx.

 

Co-Moderator Bio:

Aadip Desai, Staff Writer
Aadip is an Indian American screenwriter, professional chatterbox, and Air Force Brat who has written for THE GOLDBERGS, MIRA ROYAL DETECTIVE, SHARKDOG, and DEW DROP DIARIES. He’s an alum of BAFTA Breakthrough US, Disney TV Writing Program/Fellowship, UCBTLA Diversity Scholarship Program, and AFI dropout. When he’s not writing, working at Roadmap, and parenting two kids and a chug, Aadip is an Advisor/Instructor at the Sundance Institute, runs the LA TV Writers Facebook Group (17.5K members), and serves on several BAFTA juries. He honed his moderating chops as a former co-host/producer of the On the Page screenwriting podcast, President of the Northwest Screenwriters Guild, and by speaking at AFI, NYU, UCLA, USC, BAFTA, WGF/WGAw, CAPE, Humanitas, Final Draft, AFF, podcasts, and more. According to Chef Bobby Flay, Aadip is considered The Worst Cook to appear on Worst Cooks in America.  
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Join us for a Q&A with the creators, followed by a watch party with Roadmap's Tiffany Yarde for her film Dress for Success,

WATCH THE FILM HERE
 

PANELISTS
​​​
Tiffany Yarde (Writer) -Tiffany graduated from Bryn Mawr College with a B.A. in English with a concentration in Creative Writing. Having been raised in public housing by Bajan immigrants has led Tiffany to write about culturally diverse characters struggling with self-acceptance. Tiffany was a fellow in the inaugural class of the Creative Corridor Program and recently co-wrote the short film Bon Voyage which premiered in NYC as part of the Women's Weekend Film Challenge. When not developing content that challenges the monolithic perception of the "Black experience," Tiffany enjoys spending time with her husband and fantasizing about the day when they will be able to kick their 5 children out so they can travel the world. 

Erskine Forde (Director) - A childhood spent consuming library books by flashlight under his blanket or listening to prime-time dramas on the radio laid the foundation for Erskine Forde to become a filmmaker. A chance meeting with a casting director landed him his first film job as a Stand In and a summer working alongside Michael Beach and Lawrence Fishburne, further ignited his love of film. After being mentored in theatre by some of Vancouver's top black talent, Skin wrote 3 plays and directed 2 and soon found himself working in commercials as a PA and chasing his love of music videos. An opportunity to work overseas led him to South East Asia where he worked as an AD for 3 years before returning to live in Toronto where he joined the DGC. Diligence and dedication pushed him through the AD ranks culminating in him becoming the 1st Assistant Director on hit shows such as NBC's Suits and Amazon's, The Expanse before earning the opportunity to direct on Beacon 23. He continues to write and create his own narrative work through his company Indever Films & Entertainment inc.

Mishael Morgan (Actress) - Mishael Morgan was born on July 15, in San Fernando, Trinidad. At the age of five, her family emigrated to Toronto, Canada. Mishael caught the acting bug at the age of ten, during her elementary school's production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat". She never pursued acting professionally, until a chance meeting with her, now agent, David Ritchie. Mishael studied Political Science at York University, and had just accepted an offer to Ottawa University's LLB program, when Ritchie convinced her, to try her hand at acting. Mishael impressed producers at her very first audition, landing her a role in Trey Songz's "Wonder Woman" music video. A short ten months, and a couple of roles later, Mishael scored her first series-regular role as Tracy Dupont-Roymont in YTV's "Family Biz"(2009). Since then, Mishael has continued to make her name known on both the small and big screens. Landing roles on hit television shows like, "The Best Years" (2009), "Republic of Doyle" (2012), and CW's "Beauty & The Beast" (2012). As well as features films like, "Beat The World" (2011), "Casino Jack" (2010) and "Total Recall" (2012). Most recently, Mishael's portrayal of Hilary Curtis on the "The Young and The Restless"(2018), landed her, her first Daytime Emmy Nomination.

Andrea Lewis  (Actress) - Andrea Lewis was born on August 15, 1985 in Pickering, Ontario, Canada. She is an actress and producer, known for Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001), Black Actress (2013) and Cadet Kelly (2002). She has been married to Felix Howard since October 28, 2021.