Robert Townsend

Award-Winning Filmmaker & Former CEO of the Black Family Channel

Martin Short

Iconic Comedian, Actor & Writer; Known for "Only Murders in the Building"

Craig Shoemaker

Comedian, Actor, Writer

Tyler Perry

Actor, Writer, Producer, Comedian & Director; CEO of Tyler Perry Studios

Dan Levy

Emmy-Winning Showrunner, Writer, Actor, Director & Producer, Best Known for "Schitt's Creek"

Spike Lee

Academy Award-Winning Writer, Producer, Actor & Director; Best Known for "BlacKkKlansman" & "Malcolm X"

Dan Futterman

American actor and screenwriter

Charles S. Dutton

Actor & Director Known for "Roc" and "The Piano Lesson"

Angela Bassett

Award-Winning Actress & Co-Founder of Bassett/Vance Productions

dream hampton

Cultural Critic, Award-Winning Filmmaker & Executive Producer of "Surviving R.Kelly"

Kiki Layne

Actress Known for "If Beale Street Could Talk" and Netflix's "The Old Guard", "Coming to America 2"

Rick Famuyiwa

Director, Producer & Screenwriter; Known for "The Wood" and "Brown Sugar"

Charles Stone III

TV, Music Video & Film Director Known for "Drumline" and "Paid in Full"

Salim Akil

Director of Popular TV Shows Including "Black Lightning" & "Being Mary Jane"

Millicent Shelton

Music Video & Television Director

Bradford Young

Oscar-Nominated Cinematographer Known for "Arrival" & "When They See Us"

Tim Story

Film Director Known for "Ride Along" & "Think Like A Man"

Phil Lord and Chris Miller

American Film and Television Writers, Producers, Directors, Actors, and Animators, Best Known for Films "Cloud With a Chance of Meatballs," "The Lego Movie," "21 Jump Street," and "22 Jump Street"

Cynthia Erivo

Singer-Songwriter & Grammy & Tony Award-Winning Actress; Known for "The Color Purple," "Wicked" & Portraying Harriet Tubman in "Harriet"; Vice President of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts

Bert V. Royal

Screenwriter, Playwright & Former Casting Director

Patricia Resnick

Writer, producer, director

Jennie Snyder Urman

Television Producer known for "Jane the Virgin"

Jeannie Gaffigan

American actress, producer, and comedy writer

Greg Berlanti

Writer, Producer

Richard Ayoade

English Actor, Writer, TV Presenter, and Director

Jenni Konner

Producer, "Girls"; Co-Founder of the Lenny Newsletter

Scott Rosenberg

Executive Producer of CBS' "Zoo"

Jaime Paglia

Television Writer, Producer and Director; Known for "Eureka" and MTV's "Scream"

Ava DuVernay

Academy Award-Nominated Director & Producer Known for "Selma," "13th" & "When They See Us"

How Film Changes the Way We See the World | Ava DuVernay | TED

Jay Duplass

Star of Amazon's Series "Transparent" & Writer of HBO's "Togetherness"