The 3rd annual MACRO X HBCU Entertainment Summit is set and it’s gonna be good!
The in-person event will take place October 23 at Atlanta’s Atlantic Station. The fest will host an array of panels and programming, a pitch competition, food trucks, giveaways and feature series and film screenings. In addition, this year’s summit will also be available to students at HBCUs across the country via livestream on TikTok starting at 12 noon EST.
The inaugural summit debuted on the campus of Howard University in 2019 with the mission to engage and educate students on the vast careers, opportunities and paths in the media and entertainment fields. This year’s event will include appearances by Aunjanue Ellis, Prentice Penny, Nicole Ari Parker, Nicco Annan, Young Nudy and Stephen “Dr.” Love as well as a host of entertainment industry executives.
The event is open to students and alumni from Atlanta HBCU’s – Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Morris Brown College and Spelman College as well as aspiring media and entertainment professionals in the Atlanta area. All attendees must register here to attend. Attendees must provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the event.
The summit will team with SheaMoisture to present Watch Them Work, MACRO’s digital docuseries that follows two current HBCU student scholar-business owners.
In addition, the summit will feature the MACRO X Beats Film Pitch Competition and Live Nation will host a panel discussing the different facets of careers in the live entertainment industry, while also speaking directly with students to offer insight into current and future career opportunities.
To close the summit, Warner Bros. will host an advanced screening of King Richard, the highly anticipated drama that follows the journey of Richard (Will Smith) and Oracene Williams (Aunjanue Ellis) as they guide daughters Venus and Serena Williams on their path to changing the sport of tennis and the world forever.
Read the schedule of events below.
12:00pm: Doors open. Music by DJ Jash Jay and DJ Rayymon Beats.
12:30pm: All The Way Live. Presented by Live Nation.
A moderated discussion about careers in the live music industry.
Panelists:
Jason “J” Carter, Co-founder & Chief Marketing Officer, One Venture Group and Founder, ONE Musicfest
Michael Carney, Booking, Live Nation Urban
Rahshiene Taha, Vice President, Head of Properties/IP Development, Live Nation
Shavonne L. Dargan, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Marketing, CURATeD by Live Nation
1:00pm: The Playbook: Charting Your Unique Path to Hollywood – A Virtual Panel
This virtual panel will educate viewers on the strategies, skills and mindset needed to get a foot in the door. What to do and what not to do when building a personal network, how to make a great impression and what it takes to survive and thrive in media and entertainment will all be discussed.
Moderator: Khalid Jordan, Director of Development, MACRO Television Studios
Panelists:
Jermaine Johnson, Manager, 3 Arts Entertainment
Prentice Penny, Writer/Producer/Director, Insecure, Uncorked
Salena Rochester, Vice President, Current Production & Development, NBC Universal Media, LLC
2:00pm: Damn, That’s A Job?!?: Dream Driven Careers
This roundtable discussion focuses on utilizing skills that are often undervalued and/or overlooked and turning them into incredible careers. Executives will speak on redefining what it means to be a storyteller in this business, creating one’s own lane and manifesting dreams by activating one’s unique skills, gifts and interests.
Panelists:
Arthur Lewis, Creative Director, Fine Arts and Artist Space, United Talent Agency (UTA)
Jon Gist, Vice President, 360 Marketing & Brand Strategy, BET Networks
Provi Fulp Ramphal, Costume Designer, Queens, Black Lightning
3:15pm: Screening of MACRO Presents: Watch Them Work. Powered by SheaMoisture.
This digital docuseries, follows two current HBCU students (Clark Atlanta University’s Darris Rushing and Howard University’s Rachel Motley) as they handle their books and their business while they do the seemingly impossible: run their own successful enterprises while juggling the demands of a full course load at their respective schools. In the two episodes featuring these two scholar-business owners, viewers will learn their successes, their challenges and their why in this engaging web series that will be followed by a fireside chat to discuss.
In Conversation:
Darris Rushing, Celebrity Wardrobe Stylist, Love & Hip Hop Atlanta
Rachel Motley, Graphic Designer
Simone Jordan, Global Head, Purpose & Brand Partnerships, SheaMoisture
4:15pm: In Conversation With: Nicco Annan, Actor, P-Valley
4:45pm: MACRO x Beats Film Pitch Competition: MACRO and Beats offered current students, 2020 and 2021 graduates of Atlanta’s Morehouse College, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University and Morris Brown College the opportunity to pitch their passion film project to top Hollywood executives. The executives will evaluate and provide constructive feedback to three finalist teams on their big idea for the next great film. One team will win the opportunity to attend the Beats Black Creators Summit later this year as well as The 5th Annual MACRO Lodge at Sundance Film Festival in January 2022.
The Judges:
Autumn Bailey Ford, Producer, Tulsa, Black Bear
Nicole Ari Parker, Actress, Empire, Star
Stephen “Dr.” Love, Producer, They Cloned Tyrone, The Land
6:00pm: A Live Performance by Young Nudy
7:30pm: Screening of King Richard. Powered by Warner Bros. Pictures. Followed by A Virtual Post-Screening Q&A with Aunjanue Ellis. Moderated by Stacey Walker King, Chief Brand Officer, MACRO: Regal Cinemas 18, 1380 Atlantic Drive, Atlanta. Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green (Monsters and Men) from a script by Zach Baylin. Armed with a brazen plan, Richard Williams (Will Smith, who also produced) is determined to write his daughters Venus and Serena into history. Training on Compton, California’s neglected tennis courts, the girls are shaped by their father’s unyielding commitment and their mother’s balanced perspective and keen intuition, defying the seemingly insurmountable odds and prevailing expectations laid before them. Aunjanue Ellis (If Beale Street Could Talk) stars as the girls’ mom and Richard’s wife, Oracene Williams.
