CHAZ EBERT (Executive Producer) is the CEO of several Ebert enterprises, including the President of The Ebert Company Ltd, and of Ebert Digital LLC, which publishes RogerEbert.com, a film-reviews website that serves as an archive of Ebert's film reviews in addition to new reviews from contributors. She is President of Ebert Productions, Chairman of the Board of The Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation, and Co-Founder and Producer of Ebertfest, the annual film festival now in its 18th year, held in Champlaign, Illinois, in collaboration with the UIUC College of Media. Chaz served as an executive producer and guest on Ebert Presents: At the Movies. She was featured in the 2014 documentary Life Itself about Ebert, and served as an executive producer of the 2019 film Selah and the Spades.
RON GILLYARD (Executive Producer) is a producer and executive whose dynamic career in music, film, and marketing spans over 25 years. Gillyard enjoyed a remarkable career in the music and entertainment industry, working with such artists as Stevie Wonder, Luther Vandross, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Bebe and Cece Winans, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Will Smith, and Alicia Keys, to name a few. Gillyard entered the film world as co-producer of the award-winning documentary MAURICE HINES:: BRING THEM BACK. Additionally, Gillyard has also had the pleasure of producing the award- winning Broadway-bound musical, BORN FOR THIS. Gillyard serves on the board of the Center Theater Group LA and the advisory board of the Boston Arts Academy (Boston, MA). In his other life, Gillyard is a partner and Chief Growth Officer of Quantasy + Associates [Q+A], an award-winning full-service marketing agency whose partial client list includes Spotify, Steve Harvey, Kevin Hart/Laugh Out Loud, Wells Fargo, the US Census, and Honda Motors.
MELISSA HAIZLIP (Producer | Director | Writer) is an Emmy-nominated, Peabody Award-winning filmmaker based in New York. Her work responds to pressing social issues at the intersection of racial justice, social justice, activism, and representation. Female transformation and empowerment are at the core of all of her ideas, with the goal being to advocate and amplify the voices of women and people of color. Melissa’s feature documentary, Mr. SOUL!, has been awarded the Peabody Award for Best Documentary 2022. The award was announced by Morgan Freeman. The film was shortlisted for the 93rd Oscars for Best Original Song. The film won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture), and was nominated for two more, including Outstanding Documentary (Film), and Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Motion Picture). Mr. SOUL! won the Black Reel Awards for Outstanding Independent Documentary. Mr. SOUL! was nominated by the Guild of Music Supervisors for Best Music Supervision for a Documentary. Melissa was nominated by the Cinema Eye Honors for Outstanding Achievement in Debut Feature Film. Mr. SOUL! won the 2020 Critics Choice Documentary Award for Best First Documentary Feature. The film received five Critics Choice nominations, including Best Documentary Feature, Best Archival Documentary, Best Historical / Biographical Documentary, and Best Narration, for which Melissa was acknowledged as Writer. In 2019, Mr. SOUL! was a finalist and won a prize for the inaugural Library of Congress Lavine / Ken Burns Prize for Film, a new, annual prize that recognizes a filmmaker whose documentary uses original research and compelling narrative to tell stories that touch on some aspect of American history. The film won Best Music Documentary at the 2018 International Documentary Association Awards. Mr. SOUL! premiered at Tribeca and screened at 50 festivals, receiving 16 Jury and Audience Awards for Best Documentary, and the 2019 FOCAL Award for Best Use of Archival Footage in an Entertainment Production. To date, Mr. SOUL! has received 34 Nominations and won 19 awards including 14 Film Festival Awards. Melissa directed and produced CONTACT HIGH: A VISUAL HISTORY OF HIP-HOP and produced YOU’RE DEAD TO ME (2013) directed by Wu Tsang, about a grieving Chicana mother coming to terms with the loss of her transgender child on Día de los Muertos. The film won Best Short at the 2014 Imagen Awards, and screened at over 50 festivals and museums. Melissa’s two-channel art films have been exhibited by the Hammer Museum Los Angeles Biennial, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, and Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Melissa received the 2021 GreenLight Women Filmmaker Grant Award. She has been awarded grants from the Ford Foundation JustFilms, National Endowment for the Humanities, International Documentary Association, National Endowment for the Arts, Black Public Media, Firelight Media, ITVS, Awesome Without Borders, and Puffin Foundation. Melissa went to Yale University, and has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Jacob Burns Film Center and Musical Theatre Factory. She's currently co-executive producing an original docuseries on women in hip-hop for Netflix, and is featured in the CNN original series THE STORY OF LATE NIGHT. Instagram & TikTok: @mrsoulthemovie Twitter: @mhaizlip @mrsoulthemovie
STAN LATHAN (Executive Producer) is an accomplished producer and one of Hollywood’s most prolific directors of television and film. Lathan has directed pilots for many popular sitcoms, including: MARTIN, MOESHA, THE PARKERS, THE STEVE HARVEY SHOW, AMEN, THE SOUL MAN, REAL HUSBANDS OF HOLLYWOOD, and many more. He directed episodes for such shows as SANFORD & SON, ROC, HILL STREET BLUES, MIAMI VICE, SESAME STREET, and many others. He also directed the 1984 feature film, BEAT STREET. Lathan executive produced and directed all seven of Dave Chappelle's comedy specials for Netflix, HBO, and Showtime. For the more recent specials on Netflix, Lathan has won an Emmy Award for directing, two Emmy’s for executive producing, and three Grammy Awards. For three seasons, Stan directed the acclaimed series SOUL!, created and hosted by Ellis Haizlip. Lathan also directed the Haizlip produced dance special “ALVIN AILEY MEMORIES AND VISIONS.” Additionally, Stan directed dramas for distinguished PBS Series such as GREAT PERFORMANCES, AMERICAN PLAYHOUSE, and AMERICAN SHORT STORY. He also produced and directed the pioneering public affairs programs BLACK JOURNAL and SAY BROTHER. In 1990, with partner Russell Simmons, he launched HBO’s groundbreaking DEF COMEDY JAM. In 2003, Lathan and Simmons won a Peabody Award for their DEF POETRY series on HBO. Lathan also produced, directed, and won a Tony Award for DEF Poetry Jam on Broadway. In 2009, Lathan staged and directed An Evening of Poetry, Music and Spoken Word, hosted by President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama in the White House. Stan Lathan received the 2004 Diversity Award and the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Caucus for Producers, Writers and Directors. He has received the Visionary Artist Award from the Harlem School of the Arts, the Trailblazer Award from the Apollo Theater, and six NAACP Image Awards.
RISHI RAJANI (Executive Producer) Born in London, raised in upstate New York and Portland, Oregon, Rishi Rajani discovered his love of producing while attending NYU. He went on to work for 20th Century Fox, UTA, Paradigm, and Studio 8 where he rose through the ranks to become a development executive working in both film and TV. Rishi joined Hillman Grad Productions in June 2018 and currently serves as President of Production and Development. Since then, he has been an Executive Producer on the shows BOOMERANG, TWENTIES, and THE CHI, produced the Sundance award winning film THE 40-YEAR-OLD VERSION and continues to manage Hillman Grad’s ever-growing slate of films, TV shows, podcasts, commercials, and music videos. As a passionate advocate for diversity in storytelling he could not be more excited to be working for a company that continues to provide opportunities, break down barriers, and push the culture forward.
STEPHANIE T. RANCE (Executive Producer) began her career in entertainment after college in 1990, working in the A&R Department at SBK/EMI Records. She eventually became the A&R Marketing Director and worked on award-winning projects such as Frank Sinatra’s (Duets I ,II ), Prince, Jon Secada, D'Angelo, Gloria Estefan and a plethora of others. In 1999, Stephanie became the Marketing Director at Larry Flynt’s CODE Magazine, a fabulous but short-lived lifestyle magazine for men of color. Her marketing impact was immediate as she created strategic alliances with top-notch celebrities and luxury brands. After CODE, Stephanie has held various executive marketing positions at Fortune 500 companies. It was at this time that she realized that her calling was in brand marketing and event planning and established the creative outlet, Run&Shoot Filmworks, Inc., with her husband Floyd A.B. Rance III. Founded in 2002, the Academy accredited Run&Shoot Filmworks Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival is one of the fastest growing film festivals in the country. Recognized for their impeccable selection of films, premiere screenings, and welcoming environment, Floyd and Stephanie have made a lasting mark in the entertainment industry. In addition to the film festival on Martha's Vineyard and their new festival in Denver, CO called The Color Of Conversation Film Series, Stephanie and Floyd have also proceeded to produce outstanding visual work for several clients including, Family Dollar, HBO, Martell Cognac, Reebok (Allen Iverson and NY Giants) and Footlocker. Stephanie is also on the board of Sweet Blackberry, actor Karyn Parsons' organization that tells Black stories via films, IWF, The Denver Art Museum (marketing alliance) and The Commission on Cultural Affairs for the Mayor’s office in Denver, CO. Stephanie is also a featured speaker at Georgetown University. She speaks with marketing students about the impact of social media and starting your own business. Stephanie has won numerous awards in digital marketing and was most recently awarded a Black Woman in Media award her work with the film festival and supporting the works of people of color.
BLAIR UNDERWOOD (Executive Producer, Voice of Ellis Haizlip) is an American television, film, and stage actor, director and producer. Blair was nominated for the 2020 Critics' Choice Documentary Award for Best Narration for Mr. SOUL! He won the 52nd NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Limited Series or Dramatic Special for his role as Charles Walker Jr. in the Netflix mini-series "Self-Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker.” Underwood has been nominated 11 times for an NAACP Image Award and this is his 8th win. His other 2020 nomination was for Outstanding Literary Work - Biography / Autobiography for "Olympic Pride, American Prejudice" (Simon & Schuster). He recently starred on Broadway in A Soldier’s Play, directed by Kenny Leon, for which Blair received a Tony Award nomination for Best Lead Actor in a Play. Mr. Underwood is known for playing headstrong attorney Jonathan Rollins on the NBC legal drama L.A. Law for seven years. He has received two Golden Globe Award nominations, and one Grammy Award. Underwood starred in the ABC thriller series Quantico in the series regular role of CIA Deputy Director, Owen Hall. In recent years, he has appeared as Andrew Garner on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The New Adventures of Old Christine, Dirty Sexy Money, Sex and the City, NBC's the Event, City of Angels, the Cosby Show and 21 Jump Street. He received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor for the HBO series, In Treatment. He made his film debut in KRUSH GROOVE, and played memorable roles in SET IT OFF, MADEA’S FAMILY REUNION, Rules of Engagement, Gattaca, and I Will Follow. Mr. Underwood has narrated the documentaries President Barack Obama: The Man and His Journey, For Love of Liberty: The Story of America's Black Patriots, and Olympic Pride, American Prejudice, on the trials and triumphs of Black athletes at the 1936 Olympics. His voice can also be heard as the role of the head crocodile "Makuu" in Disney's The Lion Guard, the animated legacy series of The Lion King. In 2009, the audiobook version of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It, narrated by Blair, Cynthia Nixon and Beau Bridges, won the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.
LENA WAITHE (Executive Producer) An award-winning writer, creator, producer, actor, and CEO, Lena Waithe continues to lead the cultural revolution in Hollywood. Waithe expertly taps into emerging societal trends by speaking to myriad experiences from her unique perspective while challenging audiences to think outside of conventional norms. Through her production company, Hillman Grad Productions, Waithe and her team fight against the status quo by giving marginalized storytellers the opportunity to access the industry and tell their stories. Acclaimed credits include projects like Netflix’s MASTER OF NONE, SHOWTIMES’s THE CHI, BET’s TWENTIES, Universal’s QUEEN & SLIM, Sundance award-winner THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION, and more.
HANS CHARLES (Director of Cinematography) has been nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program: the Ava DuVernay documentary, 13th (2016). Hans Charles is a professor and filmmaker with over ten years of experience in the film industry. Charles has shot for a range of directors including Spike Lee, Ava DuVernay, Nefertite Nguvu, Salim Akil, Gloria LeMort and countless others. Charles’ films have won a BAFTA (British Academy Film Award), a Peabody Award and several Emmy Awards, and have been nominated for an Oscar, and an Independent Spirit award. His projects have screened at festivals all over the world including the New York Film Festival, Urbanworld Film Festival, the New York City Latino Film Festival, OutFest, the Los Angeles Film Festival, the Zanzibar Film Festival, the BlackStar Film Festival, and on Netflix, HBO, ESPN, and Hulu. Charles was recently nominated for cinematography for the award-winning Netflix documentary, 13th. His recent 4-part docu-series WU-TANG CLAN: OF MICS AND MEN premiered at Sundance 2019 and on Showtime, while his docu-series GRASS IS GREENER directed by and starring Fab Five Freddy recently aired on HBO. Hans also lensed CONTACT HIGH: A VISUAL HISTORY OF HIP-HOP, directed and produced by Melissa Haizlip.
ROBERT GLASPER (Composer) is a pianist, record producer, and award-winning composer. He has been nominated for seven Grammy Awards and has won three Grammys and one Emmy Award. His 2014 album Black Radio 2 was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 56th Grammy Awards. The song "These Walls," on which Glasper plays keys, from Kendrick Lamar's album To Pimp A Butterfly won Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 57th Grammy Awards. The 2017 soundtrack for the film MILES AHEAD, for which Glasper was a producer, won Best Compilation Soundtrack at the 58th Grammy Awards. The song "Letter to the Free," written with Common for the Ava DuVernay documentary 13th, won the 2017 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. His 2012 album Black Radio won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 55th Grammy Awards. Glasper composed the original song, “Don’t Turn Back Now” with vocals by Ledisi for THE APOLLO documentary, and appeared in BLUE NOTE RECORDS: BEYOND THE NOTES. He recently created the soundtrack for Issa Rae’s feature film THE PHOTOGRAPH. Glasper composed and performed the entire score for Mr. SOUL! He composed the original song “Show Me Your Soul,” featuring vocals by Lalah Hathaway. The song is shortlisted for the Oscars for Best Original Song.
DOUG BLUSH (Co-Producer) is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as well as the American Cinema Editors (ACE). His work has been honored with multiple Oscars, Emmys, and Sundance and other major festival awards. His recent credits include, as consulting editor and producer, the 2018 Academy Award winning ICARUS from director Bryan Fogel, as well as the 2013 Oscar-winning 20 FEET FROM STARDOM, for which he also received the ACE Eddie Award for Best Documentary Editing, and the recent HBO documentary THE MUSIC OF STRANGERS: YO YO MA AND THE SILK ROAD ENSEMBLE, both from director Morgan Neville. He was Co-Editor and Associate Producer of Kirby Dick’s THE HUNTING GROUND in 2014 and the Oscar nominated and Emmy winning THE INVIS- IBLE WAR in 2012. Recent work as consulting or supervising editor include the Sundance documentaries JIM: THE JAMES FOLEY STORY, THE MARS GENERATION, CHASING CORAL, ON HER SHOULDERS, DARK MONEY and KING IN THE WILDERNESS, and earlier editorial and producing work includes the popular documentaries WORDPLAY, FREAKONOMICS, OUTRAGE, THESE AMAZING SHADOWS, and SUPERHEROES and over 100 feature and television documentary projects.
SAM POLLARD (Co-Director) has collaborated extensively with many filmmakers, bringing programming that illuminates the Black experience in America to both television and theatrical audiences for over twenty-five years. He has taught editing at NYU Tisch School of the Arts for 30 years. A multiple Emmy Award-winning, Academy Award-nominated director, Sam was nominated for a 2018 Grammy Award for TWO TRAINS RUNNIN'. His director filmography includes the Critics Choice Award-winning MLK / FBI, the six-part documentary television series WHY WE HATE produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and Alex Gibney's Jigsaw Productions, SAMMY DAVIS: I GOTTA BE ME, FRANK SINATRA: ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL, ACORN AND THE FIRESTORM, AUGUST WILSON: THE GROUND ON WHICH I STAND, SLAVERY BY ANOTHER NAME, MAYNARD, and JOE PAPP. As an editor: FOUR LITTLE GIRLS, WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE, IF GOD IS WILLING AND DA CREEK DON'T RISE, CHISHOLM 72: UNBOUGHT AND UNBOSSED, and EYES ON THE PRIZE.
ED GERRARD (Music Supervisor) is the 2017 Grammy Award Winner for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film MILES AHEAD, starring and directed by Don Cheadle. Gerrard is the first in Grammy history to win the award as a “music supervisor,” changing the landscape for category eligibility for the industry. Ed has received the 2021 nomination from the Guild of Music Supervisors for Best Music Supervision for a Documentary for Mr. SOUL! Ed was also the music supervisor for MILES AHEAD, a Sony Pictures Classic release. Additional music supervision credits include the SCREAM trilogy, BLAIR WITCH II, CURSED, THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, and NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU. Gerrard is a co-founder of Impact Artist Management. He began his entertainment career working as an apprentice to the legendary music manager and film producer, Shep Gordon. Gerrard became the first in-house music supervisor at Gordon's Alive Pictures, finding key music for Gordon’s films and forming the beginnings of long-standing relationships with top film directors including a career-long affiliation with Wes Craven. Gerrard has managed the careers of artists including Dr. John, Luther Vandross, Teddy Pendergrass, Alice Cooper, Cassandra Wilson, Michelle Shocked, Gipsy Kings, Jon Cleary, and Amy Helm.
VINCE JOHNSON (Associate Producer) works as a publicist at David Magdael & Associates in Los Angeles, assisting on the campaigns to help launch films at numerous film festivals, including Sundance, SXSW, Toronto and Tribeca; publicity for theatrical releases. He also builds strategies for awards campaigns. For the past two years, Vince has worked as a festival adviser at the Cinematografo International Film Festival in San Francisco. Originally from Sacramento, he graduated from San Francisco State University before getting his start with publicist Karen Larsen in San Francisco.
LEONARD JOSEPH (Associate Producer) is an award-winning filmmaker based in New York. His recent work includes the film CONTACT HIGH: A VISUAL HISTORY OF HIP-HOP. Joseph produced, directed and wrote the short film DREAMS AT THE END OF THE ROPE (2010) with Reverse Angle Productions, an independent film and television production company he founded in 2008. The film received the Gold Remi award at the 43rd Annual WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, honorable mention at the 9th Urban Mediamakers Film Festival Atlanta, and was an official selection at the International Black Film Festival of Nashville. He is currently developing, writing and editing new projects.
DAVID MAGDAEL (Associate Producer) With over two decades in PR/marketing for award-winning documentary films, indie features and broadcast content, David Magdael and his company DAVID MAGDAEL & ASSOCIATES have become an important leader in the field. From Oscar®/awards campaigns to theatrical releases to broadcast premieres, Magdael is one of the top media strategists in entertainment. He’s a longtime member of AMPAS and is the co-director of the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival since 1997. He has served as a mentor at the Sundance Institute Docu Producers Lab, Film Independent, IFP and other media/filmmaker organizations sharing expertise and knowledge. Films include: A THOUSAND CUTS, MUCHO MUCHO AMOR, Mr. SOUL!, SOFTIE, FINDING YINGYING, FOR SAMA, 63 UP, MINDING THE GAP, ABACUS, SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL, TONI MORRISON: THE PIECES I AM, QUEST, THE DISTANT BARKING OF DOGS, SCIENCE FAIR, LA 92, THE SQUARE, MIDNIGHT FAMILY, THE APOLLO, EMANUEL, WALK RUN CHA CHA, LIFEBOAT, BLACK SHEEP, ERNIE & JOE, HALSTON, MCQUEEN, UNITED SKATES, CHARM CITY, MAD HOT BALLROOM, TROUBLE THE WATER, SUPER SIZE ME and more. In addition, Magdael is a Co-Executive Producer for 76 DAYS, Associate Producer for PIER KIDS, RAMBLIN FREAK and Mr. SOUL!, and an Executive Producer for DROPS IN THE OCEAN.
LAURENS GRANT (Consulting Producer) is a voting member of both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - Documentary Branch (Oscars) and the Television Academy (Emmys). She is also a 3-time Emmy and Peabody award-winning filmmaker and a Sundance Institute filmmaker fellow. Her filmmaking career has taken her all over the world. Her films include BLACK IN SPACE: BREAKING THE COLOR BARRIER; STAY WOKE: THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT, and JESSE OWENS. She produced the films THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF A REVOLUTION, and FREEDOM RIDERS, and was a consulting producer on UNITED SKATES.
GIOVANNI P. AUTRAN (Editor) is an Emmy award-winning filmmaker. His recent editing work and verité style shooting can be seen on the docu-series, TIME: The Kalief Browder Story, produced by Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, and the documentary feature, THE LEGEND OF SWEE' PEA, produced by Carmelo Anthony and released by Saboteur Media.
BLAIR McCLENDON (Editor) edited the documentaries WHOSE STREETS?, HALE COUNTY, THIS MORNING THIS EVENING, CONTACT HIGH: A VISUAL HISTORY OF HIP-HOP and THE ASSISTANT. He won Best Editor at Sundance for the award-winning short LAPS. His films have also screened at Tribeca, SXSW, DOC NYC and Cannes.
ANNUKKA LILJA (Editor) is a Finland-born New York-based film editor. Her recent feature documentary work includes David Alvarado's documentary BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY, which premiered at SXSW in 2017 as well as Josh Fox's HOW TO LET GO OF THE WORLD (And Love All the Things Climate Can't Change) which premiered in 2016 at Sundance.