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TANYA
KERSEY
Note:
this is a summary version. Please click
here to view a more detailed biography of Tanya
Kersey
As one of Hollywood's most respected and well-regarded
entertainment journalists and commentators, Tanya has
her finger on the pulse of what’s happening in
the world of urban entertainment. Throughout her career,
Tanya has developed and earned a reputation for covering
the entertainment industry, focusing on celebrities,
film, television, music, fashion, award shows, special
events and the business of entertainment in a trend-setting,
groundbreaking format.
Among
the countless radio and television programs, and print
and internet publications Tanya has been interviewed
for: The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal,
USA Today, The Hollywood Reporter, Daily
Variety, the Associated Press, the Boston Globe, Entertainment
Weekly, Black Enterprise, the Miami Herald,
Upscale Magazine, Diversity Magazine,
Los Angeles Sentinel, Rolling Out Magazine,
American Legacy Magazine, Turning Points
Magazine, “The Tavis Smiley Show,”
CNN News, KNBC Sunday Morning Live, "BET Tonight" and Biography Channel's "Famous."
Empowerment
has been the guiding force behind every personal and
professional endeavor taken on by veteran entertainment
journalist and festival producer, Tanya Kersey.
Kersey is perhaps best known as the Founder, Publisher
and Editor-in-Chief of the entertainment trade publication,
Black Talent News and its companion website, Blacktalentnews.com;
and as the Founder and Executive Director of the Hollywood
Black Film Festival, an annual 6-day celebration of
black cinema drawing together established filmmakers,
popular film and TV stars, writers, directors, industry
executives, emerging artists and new audiences from
Southern California and around the world.
On
the entertainment beat for more than 15 years, Tanya
has covered a variety of high-profile events such as
the Oscars, Emmys, SAG Awards, BET Awards, and the NAACP
Image Awards; and has conducted countless celebrity
interviews including Ice Cube, Anthony Anderson, Steve
Harvey, Omarion, Mo’Nique, and Bernie Mac, to
name just a few. As a contributing writer/editor,
Tanya’s many essays and articles about the entertainment
industry have appeared in Upscale Magazine, BRE
Magazine, EUR, Target Market News, Raw Story, L.A. Sentinel,
The Portland Observer, The Westside Gazette, Columbus
Post, Black Journalist and Los Angeles Times,
among other publications.
Tanya
can currently be heard on KPFK (90.7FM) Radio as a contributor
and frequent co-host on the “Samm Brown for the
Record” show delivering the Urban Entertainment
Report.
In
2002, Kersey authored and compiled two new publications
- The Black Film Report and the Black Talent
News Resource Directory. The Black Film
Report is the first publication to examine black
films in the domestic and overseas markets, documenting
the production, release and profitability of black films
and analyzing their box office performance. The
Report includes a detailed analysis of the financial
performance of more than 300 films (studio films, mini-majors
and independent films) as it relates to cost-gross ratio,
negative costs, P&A, release patterns, domestic
and overseas box office figures. In addition to
the comprehensive box office data, the report contains
case studies of specific black films and various revenue
performance models, as well as a look at trends in black
films, the biggest box office performers and biggest
losers, and film pipeline revenue streams.
As
a reflection of her ongoing commitment to Blacks in
the entertainment industry, Ms. Kersey has several publications
scheduled for release in 2005. “The Guide
to Black Film Festivals,” co-authored with Jacqueline
Blaylock, Director of Programming, Hollywood Black Film
Festival will be released in the fall, 2005. This
handbook for filmmakers demystifies the film festival
business and walks the reader through the process of
applying to festivals all the way up to effective tools
to help event-goers navigate throughout the festival
grounds to gain that competitive edge.
A
series of career planning handbooks are also in the
works. The third edition of Ms. Kersey’s
“The Performer’s Plan” is scheduled
for a Fall 2005 release. In recognition of the
critical role that planning and preparation play in
the growth and development of a show business career,
“The Performer’s Plan” guides the
actor through the essentials of developing an effective
career plan. Career-planning handbooks for Black writers,
directors and producers are currently in various stages
of development.
Tanya’s
many speaking engagements include delivering the keynote
speech at the 16th Annual Howard E. Mitchell Memorial
Conference Luncheon for the Black Wharton Undergraduate
Association at the University of Pennsylvania's prestigious
Wharton School, two issues forums at the 2004 Congressional
Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference, and regular
appearances at the National Action Network Urban Policy
Roundtable in Los Angeles. She recently spoke
on the issue of ethnic media and publicity at Business
Wire’s “"Best Practices For Targeting
Ethnic Media,” and at the Entertainment Publicists
Professional Society’s "Publicizing to Communities
of Color” conference panel.
Tanya
is a member of Media Industry Advisory Board at West
Los Angeles College; on the Marketing Advisory Board
of the Independent Feature Project/West, and on the
Advisory Board of the FESPACO Paul Robeson Award Initiative.
She is an active member of the Black Entertainment Telecommunications
Association, a Washington, DC-based lobbying group.
She has also served on the Nominating Committee for
the NAACP Image Awards, a distinguished position she
has served with other industry professionals and National
NAACP leaders for five years.
Her
awards and activities include being named a “Living
History Maker” by the prestigious Turning
Point Magazine in recognition for her accomplishments
in publishing. She was named as one of Hollywood's
'Urban Movers and Shakers' by Daily Variety
(November 8, 2002) for her work as publisher/editor-in-chief
of Black Talent News and founder/executive
director of the Hollywood Black Film Festival.
Kersey’s
professional memberships include the African American
Film Critics Association (AAFCA), National Association
of Black Journalists (NABJ), National Association of
Black Female Executives in Music and Entertainment (NABFEME),
the Television Critics’ Association (TCA), the
Black Entertainment and Telecommunications Association
(BETA), and the Independent Feature Project/West.
She is also a member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG),
the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
(AFTRA),
Tanya's
latest venture is as the host and executive producer
of the entertainment newsmagazine show, "Inside
Urban Hollywood with Tanya Kersey," which will
provide viewers with entertainment news analysis, interviews
and in-depth information on the issues of the day that
urban Hollywood will be talking about tomorrow.
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