Television & Film Series Debuts at FAMU

Television and Film Series Debuts at FAMU

Ebony Ivey

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Lee Hall, located on FAMU’s campus, hosted a panel discussion on Thursday evening, which featured prominent television and media experts. The panelists discussed topics from race and slavery, to the upcoming presidential inauguration.  

The Knight Chair Speaker Series, which was hosted by university professor, Francine L. Huff, included FAMU alum and actor, James Bland, screenwriter Sameer Gardezi, TVOne Marketing VP Lori Hall, and Mitzi Miller of Ebony and Jet magazines.

Conversation for the panel discussion included thoughts about how slavery is portrayed in the media, as well as President Elect Donald Trump’s inauguration and how it may impact future film creators of color.

“Trump is an outlet for what has existed for a very long time. He didn’t create bigotry”, said Gardezi on the topic of Trump’s controversial presidency.

Miller followed Gardezi’s statement by saying that there has always been a need for content creators of colors in the film and media industry, even before social injustices began becoming so prominent in today’s society.

James Bland also offered his thoughts on racial tensions. “White people get very uncomfortable with very honest situations,” he said. He furthers explains that students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities are at the forefront of change, and should work to encourage and inspire the next generation.

Bland, who graduated from FAMU’s school of Business, tapped into his passion for filmmaking while earning his college degree. Bland’s new Youtube series “Giants” which he produced, edited, directed and stars in, includes a powerful scene of racial tension.

In “Giants” premiere episode, Bland has an encounter with an older white lady who is interested in painting him in the nude to reflect on the social injustices of many African American males. Offering his opinion on innocent men losing their lives, Bland admits that he was truly frustrated with the situation and wanted to showcase it in the episode.

The web series, which premieres in late January, was one in which Bland admits to using as an outlet for many of his personal life situations.

Lori Hall of TVOne, who has also had a hand in some of Tyler Perry’s films, was the most outgoing and upfront out of all of the evening’s panelists. Hall was quick to offer her answer to several exhilarating questions.

Hall began an interesting conversation about the television series, Scandal, that features a black female lead. Hall begins to provide statistics on television series that include black leads and television series that are black targeted.

Approximately 70 percent of Scandal’s viewing audience is white. Although the series features a strong black woman in a prominent position, the audience is not black targeted. In fact, it was said that some even critique the show. As hostess Francine Huff said, “Where are Olivia’s black girlfriends?”

Dexter Martin, FAMU university baseball player and journalism student, admittedly enjoyed the speaker series. “Networking, establishing  and making a name for yourself was what I took away from the panelists.”

Additional information on the Knight Chair Speaker Series can be found on social media website Twitter, using the hashtag “knightchairspeaker”, which features audience members’ thoughts and favorite parts of the evening.