About Us
Who we are and what we do
The Black TV & Film Collective was created to provide opportunities for Black and African descent artists to achieve economically sustainable careers in all areas of content creation. BTFC is a collective of screenwriters, directors, producers, content creators, editors, cinematographers, animators, agents and other media professionals.
The Black TV & Film Collective started in 2015 with a small group of artists on a mission: friends helping friends create their projects. What started as a simple act to create work, given the dearth of opportunities for Black filmmakers, eventually blossomed into a dynamic and effective meetup group. Our very first office was located in a desolate industrial neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York.
By 2017, we were given 501(c)(3) non profit status, and it has been blue skies ever since. Our members hail from all over, including the continents of Africa, South America, and Europe. BTFC members work in front of the camera, behind the camera, and everywhere in between. Presently, we have members in 5 major media centers in North America: New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Raleigh and Toronto. As we grow, what continues to be at the heart of the Black TV & Film Collective, is friends helping friends create.
Today, with over 1300 members in major media hubs across North America, the Black TV & Film Collective is a development and production hub for Black and brown content creators and professionals. BTFC has supported over 200 projects since its founding in 2015. Our members have created award winning work that is screened nationally and internationally, on the big screen, TV and streaming platforms such as Hulu, Mubi, Netflix and Amazon.
Staff
Yhá Mourhia Wright
Programs Director
READ BIOYhá Mourhia Wright is a bicoastal, multi-hyphenate artist from San José, CA. In May 2016, she graduated with her MFA in Acting from the Actors Studio Drama School. Upon graduation, she founded her production company, YháWright Productions, and developed the company’s first original series, #LoveMyRoomie, now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. During her previous time as the Senior Video Producer for MadameNoire, she simultaneously led production for three digital shows: Listen to Black Women, In This Room, and Healthy Her. Yhá Mourhia has had the pleasure to interview beloved talents such as Kim Fields, Robin Givens, Dawn-Lyen Gardner, Ester Dean, and Emil Wilbekin.
Additional Credits Include Spot A True Period Piece (Short Film, Producer, Assistant Director); Pillow Talk streaming on BET+ (Supporting); The Basement (LABryinth Theater Company, Writer). Her most recent podcast, Inside Out Podcast, can be found on iHeart Radio, Spotify, and Apple Podcast. In 2022, Yhá Mourhia will be releasing her upcoming short film, Don’t Be Desperate.
Kellianne "Kelli" Rae Jordan
Membership Coordinator
READ BIOKelli is a multi-passionate creative who serves her community as a prolific producer, writer and actor for theater and film. Kelli is eager to create social impact by telling entertaining stories that highlight the depth of life for people of color throughout the diaspora. She has produced many short films with indie filmmakers, including the award-winning short film “The Park”, which centers the mental health of Black men.
Kelli recently completed her latest short film, Just Friends, a story about Black love inspired by her grandparents who were married over sixty-five years. Kelli is also honored to serve Black filmmakers as the Membership Coordinator for the Black TV & Film Collective.
Board of Directors
Kibi Anderson
Vice President
READ BIOKibi serves as Vice-Chair of the Board at the Black TV & Film Collective. She is an LA based business executive and Emmy Award winning producer with over 18 years of experience in strategy, business development, media, entertainment, tech, finance and entrepreneurship. Working in Executive roles at Red Table Talk (President), Bloomberg Media (Head of Digital Strategy & Business Development), ABC News (Senior Manager, Business Strategy and Operations), and Broadway Federal Bank (VP/ Business Development Manager) she’s become recognized for her ability to mix comprehensive industry insight, entrepreneurial acumen, and strategic communications skills to build digital businesses and brands globally.
Kibi received her MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business and is a Cum Laude graduate of Harvard University, where she earned a BA degree in East Asian Studies.
You can follow her on FB, Twitter or Instagram @kibianderson.
Justin Lewis
Chair / President
READ BIOJustin serves as Chair of the Board at the Black TV & Film Collective, leveraging his background in strategy, technology and consulting to propel the organization forward.
Justin Lewis is a retail and technology expert with over 10 years of experience priming organizations for growth. Recently as a consultant for A.T. Kearney, Justin helped companies design new business models and services that aligned to emerging industry and consumer trends. Justin is an authority on the future of retail, and currently advises large retailers on how to enable omni-channel offerings.
Justin graduated NYU Stern with an MBA in Strategy and Entrepreneurship, and has a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Cooper Union.
Huriyyah Muhammad
Founder / President Emeritus
READ BIOHuriyyah is an award-winning writer, director and producer whose projects have been invited to the Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, New Voices in Black Cinema, American Black Film Festival and many others. She is a 2018 Sundance Creative Producing Fellow and recipient of the 2020 Sundance Creative Producing Award for Farewell Amor, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in US Dramatic Competition.
Huriyyah is also co-founder of the Black TV & Film Collective, a 1400-member 501c3 dedicated to developing and supporting artists of color. At the Collective, Huriyyah wears many hats, most of which can be summarized as leading this awesome team and being inspired every day by our members.
Kevin Boyle
Special Projects Committee Chair
READ BIOKevin is a content strategist and attorney based in Los Angeles passionate about the intersection of technology and entertainment. Kevin started his legal career at Greenberg Traurig, P.A. in Miami before moving to Los Angeles to immerse himself in the entertainment industry. His first role was as a development intern at Cary Brokaw’s Avenue Pictures. After several assistant positions, he joined the development team at Gale Anne Hurd’s Valhalla Entertainment. While at Valhalla, he helped develop multiple film and television projects including Aeon Flux, Hulk, and Punisher: War Zone.
Kevin currently assists content creators in strategic planning and intellectual property matters. His most recent creative project was assisting the producers in the release of the second season of Netflix’s Making a Murderer. Kevin has a Master’s degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, a JD from Harvard Law School, and a Bachelor’s in Political Science from Stanford University.
Lemu Coker
Partnerships Committee Chair / Secretary
READ BIOLemu is an executive at Google within the Global Media and Entertainment Partnerships organization supporting broadcasters, sports leagues, and entertainment firms monetize their content. He has more than 15 years experience in strategy, business development, and operations within the Media and Technology space having worked at Google, Twitter, Verizon Media, MTV Networks, Apple, and Myspace.
He has served on the advisory board of AdColor, leadership positions within the Black Googler Network, and advised numerous startups and entrepreneurs. He is a proud husband and father of a son and 5 year old english bulldog, Madiba.
Lemu received his MBA from the University of Michigan, and his B.A. from the University of Connecticut in Mass Media and Marketing Studies.
Inga Glodowski
Fundraising Committee Chair
READ BIOInga is an arts administrator and development professional with a taste for the avant-garde and a strong track record of delivering transformational growth for cultural organizations. She has successfully increased contributed income from diverse sources in all her positions – including fundraising events, major gifts, membership, online giving, planned gifts, corporate sponsorship, and foundation support. She has extensive experience in strategic planning, program design, outcome measurement, grant writing, direct mail, online fundraising, volunteer management, database administration, and prospect research. She has been the Director of Development at The Moth since 2015. Prior to that, Inga served as the Senior Manager of Individual Giving at the Brooklyn Museum, and the Director of Development at St. Ann’s Warehouse. She holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from UW-Madison and a Bachelor’s Degree in Government from Smith College.
Chris Gorges
Communications Committee Chair
READ BIOChris is an independent brand strategy and design consultant, and the founder / CEO of Thompson & Prince and Everharbor. Previously, he was Managing Director at Infinia Group, leading Infinia Ventures, a practice dedicated to serving the startup ecosystem. Before Infinia, he was at Havas Worldwide following a stint as a freelance strategy consultant at creative agencies including Droga5, Clear M&C Saatchi, CHI&Partners, and Firstborn.
Chris has done strategy consulting work in brand, digital, and growth strategy for a wide range of clients including Google, IBM, Spotify, TIAA, Amtrak, Wiley, NYCEDC and the US Department of Defense. Chris mentors and advises startups via a number of accelerator, incubator, and venture capital organizations, including Big Idea Ventures, Acceleprise, XRC Labs, RetailXelerator, VentureOut, Lambda School, First Flight Venture Center, Launch Chapel Hill, and WeWork Labs.
Early in his career, Chris worked for IBM and Booz Allen Hamilton in Washington, DC. He holds an MBA from NYU Stern and an undergraduate business degree from UNC-Chapel Hill.
Okema T. Moore
Programming Committee Chair
READ BIOOkema T. Moore is a seasoned producer, writer and director who started as a child actor on Sesame Street, cultivating quite a life of experiences since then. These experiences include sharing an EMMY Nomination for a PSA she AD’d, produced and voiced, premiering as a digital series producer at Tribeca Film Festival’s Tribeca N.O.W. 2019, producing the NAACP nominated doc series UNLADYLIKE2020 for PBS, and producing the American Black Film Festival 2019 Best Web Series, Little Apple. She can be seen as a hologram in Brian Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative Legacy Museum in Montgomery, AL and in successful web series such as Makeup X Breakup and the Emmy Nominated Pillow Talk.
Behind the scenes, Okema holds a BS in finance and business from Brooklyn College and a Producing Certification from NYU’s SPS. A member of the Board of Directors of the Black TV & Film Collective, Okema leads Programming.
J.G. Ayodele
Treasurer
READ BIOJibolu “J.G.” Ayodele II is the manager and personal photographer of renowned visual artist, Laolu Senbanjo. As Laolu’s manager, he oversees all aspects of his career as it pertains to the canon and commercial partnerships.
J.G. is also the co-founder of Thando’s, a Lagos and NY based fashion/tech company that is creating a platform for African artists to design unique products for the world through a crowdsourced process. J.G. holds an MBA specializing in Finance, Entertainment, Media, and Technology from NYU – Stern School of Business, a Masters in Accounting from NC State University, and a Bachelors in Business Administration from the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.
Prior to Thando’s, he led the business development efforts of Viacom International Media Networks in Nigeria where he co-created partnerships with brands such as Hewlett Packard and Lufthansa. Prior to Viacom, J.G. worked with Deloitte’s audit practice, and spent five years in Leveraged Finance at Bank of America where he worked on industry agnostic private equity deals. Subsequently, he worked at GE Capital where he originated and closed mid-market to large cap transactions in the Restaurant and Real Estate sectors.
Laura Fielder
Board Member
READ BIOLaura Fielder is a writer, director and producer. Her award winning projects have screened at the Hip Hop Film Festival, the Toronto Black Film Festival, The Katra Film Series, and the American Black Film Festival. Laura’s screenplays have placed in numerous competitions including the BlueCat Screenplay Competition.
Laura is a working member of The Gotham’s Expanding Communities Summit – a cohort of diverse Independent film professionals. She is also a member of NYWIFT. Laura is a graduate of UCLA TFT Professional Screenwriting Program. A classically trained violinist, Laura is an alum of The CUNY Graduate Center (MA, Ethnomusicology).
Letitia Guillory
Board Member
READ BIOLetitia Guillory is a multi-hyphenate creative working in film, television and theatre. Her episodic series, gATES, and feature project, HOUND DOG were recently accepted into the WarnerMedia 150 Innovation Initiative. She produced the award-winning shorts, Pas Honteux (REVOLT TV), and Winston. Her work has been presented at the American Black Film Festival, Hip Hop Film Festival, Blackstar Film Festival, Lincoln Center, P.S. 122, Harlem Stage, BRIC Media Arts and more.
Letitia produces events for NYC Parks and curates the award-winning Movies Under the Stars for Brooklyn, fostering dynamic engagement between communities and filmmakers. She is a member of the Harlem Dramatic Writers Workshop, NYWIFT, Black TV & Film Collective and Dramatists Guild. She is a proud alum of the University of Texas (BFA, Drama), New York University (MA, Performance Studies), Eugene O’Neill National Playwright’s Conference and a Blackhouse Foundation Producers Lab Fellow.
Ron McCants
Board Member & Parity Project Founder
READ BIOMFA, TV writer, playwright; WGA member who has written for Speechless. His plays have been produced in LA, New York and London. Ron’s been a writer for the Disney ABC Writing Program and recipient of multiple playwriting awards and the Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarship for children’s television.
He was most recently a staff writer on Chicago Fire, but he’s written a music video for Nas and worked on Marvel’s Falcon and The Winter Soldier. He runs an organization aimed at improving the career outcomes of marginalized writers through data.
Arinze Onugha
Board Member
READ BIOArinze is an attorney. He currently serves as a senior associate in the New York office Sullivan & Worcester LLP, a full-service corporate law firm. His legal practice consists of representing institutional investors, including regulated funds of funds, family offices and pension plans, making alternative investments in domestic and offshore special situations, growth, buy-out, venture capital, real estate and other private investment funds and co investments. He also represents fund sponsors in the organization, structuring and operation of their private funds. In addition, he assists institutional investors with secondary transactions to purchase or sell portfolios of private fund interests.
Apart from serving clients, Arinze provides black entrepreneurs with helpful information on how legal strategy is essential in the success of one’s business, as well as other business-related concepts. He provides this information through social media outlets, lectures and, occasionally, music.
Derrick Pete
Board Member & Parity Project Advisor
READ BIODerrick Pete received his MFA from UCLA’s acclaimed Film & TV Screenwriting graduate program. While in the program, he was honored with the prestigious Showcase Award for best screenplay, gaining the attention of Hollywood agents and producers. Recently, Pete has turned his attention toward expanding his creative territory, adding producing and directing to the equation.
To date, he has produced and directed three music videos and four short films. He produced the award-winning short film, Six Letter Word, starring Rumer Willis for AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women.
Advisory Board
Kai Akira
Director, Story Artist, Character Designer (Netflix)
Thembi Banks
Writer, Producer, Director (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Only Murders in the Building)
Janine Sherman Barrois
Showrunner, Writer (Criminal Minds, ER, Claws)
Effie Brown
CEO & Producer (Gamechanger Films)
Deniese Davis
CEO & Producer (Reform Media Group)
Cassian Elwes
Producer
Guetty Felin
Filmmaker/Teacher/Curator
Hilliard Guess
Producer/Writer (Hilldog Productions)
Eric Haywood
Writer/Director/Producer (Mill Road Media, Inc.)
Mynette Louie
Emmy-Award Winning Producer (I Carry You With Me)
Jeff Melvoin
Showrunner/Producer/Writer/Author (Killing Eve)
Kaita Mpambara
Writer
Hurriyah Muhammad
Producer/Writer/Director
Ekwa Musangi
Writer/Director
Ramfis Myrthil
Filmmaker/Producer/Writer
Peter Ramsey
Director, Sony Pictures Animation
Aida Rodriguez
Comedian/Writer (Dancing With Raymond Productions)
Bianca Sams
Writer/Actor
Malcolm Spellman
Writer, Prouder (Empire, Falcon and the Winter Soldier)
Aaron Rahsaan Thomas
Writer, Producer (BET Studios, SWAT)
Eric Wallace
Actor
Ben Watkins
Showrunner/Writer/Director/Producer (Blue Monday Productions)
Partners
Gotham Film & Media Institute
The Gotham Film & Media Institute is a not-for-profit dedicated to finding, developing and celebrating the people and projects that shape the future of story.
Tribeca Film Institute
Tribeca Film Institute champions storytellers to be catalysts for change in their communities and around the world.
Wavelength Films
Wavelength is an award-winning film studio committed to developing, producing and financing films that tell great f**king stories.
Cinereach
Vital stories, artfully told.
Ablecine
Supporting content creators with equipment, services & knowledge.
TCS Films
TCS provides cinematographers and productions with professional motion picture equipment rental and support as a leading supplier in New York for 40 years.
Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television Inc. (SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment and a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation.
Department of Motion Pictures
The Department of Motion Pictures produces narrative and documentary features and series, with a focus on ambitious, cinematic, and emotionally resonant storytelling.
National Association of Latino Independent Producers
NALIP seeks to change media culture by advocating and promoting the professional needs of Latinx artists in media.
NYC Women Filmmakers
NYCWF is a non-profit 501c3 organization dedicated to advancing the careers of women, non-binary & GNC creators in Film, TV & Media.
Impact24PR
Impact24, Inc. is a full-service entertainment public relations agency.
News & Events
Read what we’ve been up to lately, and check out our upcoming calendar of events