You are invited to “Celebrating the Soundtrack of Storytelling” in honor of Black Music Month!

Presented by AWD’s Black Directors Advancement Initiative (BDAI) in partnership with Vision & Voices Forum and the Los Angeles Urban League Guild.

This powerful evening brings together visionary creatives whose work lives at the intersection of music, film, and cultural narrative. “Celebrating the Soundtrack of Storytelling” is more than a conversation it is an exploration of how sound shapes story, and how music becomes the emotional architecture of the stories we carry forward.

Moderated by acclaimed songwriter and producer Taura Stinson—an Oscar, Golden Globe, and Emmy-nominated, Critics Choice Award-winning artist—the panel features an extraordinary lineup of industry leaders:

Nneka Onuorah, Emmy Award-winning director
Angela Jollivette, NAACP Image and Stellar Award-winning creative
Ebonie Smith, award-winning music producer and President of Gender Amplified

Together, they will unpack the creative synergy between music direction and the visual storytelling process, revealing how sound design, score, and songwriting elevate narrative, deepen emotional resonance, and ultimately define the success of film and television productions.

This evening is also made possible through collaboration with Vision & Voices Forum, led by Yvette Butler and Yvonne Butler, and the Los Angeles Urban League Guild, organizations committed to amplifying Black voices and cultivating spaces where culture, community, and creativity thrive.

At its core, this gathering honors the architects behind the music the ones who shape how stories feel, not just how they’re seen. Because long after the screen fades to black, it’s the soundtrack that stays with us… and reminds us who we are.

ABOUT OUR MODERATOR:

TAURA STINSON is a Birmingham-born, Oakland-raised, Los Angeles-based Oscar, Golden Globe, and Emmy-nominated songwriter, composer, and librettist. Her work spans film, television, and global stages, with credits including Thelma the Unicorn, Rio 2, CARMEN, Cruella, Beyond the Lights, and Blitz.

A storyteller at heart, Taura’s range extends from writing a song that opened the Olympic Games to collaborating with composers such as Laura Karpman, Nicholas Britell and Raphael Saadiq. Her contributions can be heard in projects including Men in Black, Mudbound, Don’t Look Up, and the documentary STEP, featuring the Critics’ Choice Award-winning Best Song, “Jump.” She has also written original songs for film and television, including work for artists such as Mary J. Blige, Steven Tyler, Usher, Brittany Howard, Brandy, and Jennifer Hudson, among others.

Her television work includes Harlem, Reasonable Doubt, Central Park, The L Word: Generation Q, and the theme song for Marvel’s Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur.

Deeply committed to advocacy and representation, Taura serves on the board of Alliance of Women Film Composers and the SCL Foundation, and chairs the Black Caucus Affinity Group at Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She has also mentored through She Is The Music, GRAMMY Next, and Academy Gold Program.

She is also the founder of Dreaming When I Wrote This Media, a creative home for original music, narrative storytelling for film and television, and independently published books, including her celebrated book 100 Things Every Black Girl Should Know. Her next release, The Gift of Again, co-written with her mother and centered on stroke prevention and recovery, will be released in May 2026.

ABOUT OUR PANELISTS:

NNEKA ONUORAH is a trailblazing, Emmy Award–winning Nigerian-American filmmaker, producer, and activist committed to telling narratively and formally daring stories that re-examine and uplift underrepresented communities. Most recently, she directed Amazon’s #1 documentary, Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words. Produced in collaboration with TIME Studios and Roc Nation, the film chronicles the Grammy-winning rapper’s meteoric rise in the music industry and beyond, earning Onuorah a 2025 NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Directing in a Documentary.

In September 2022, Onuorah made history at the Primetime Emmys by winning Outstanding Directing for a Reality Program for Amazon’s Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls. The acclaimed series, which also won the Emmy for Outstanding Competition Program, follows superstar Lizzo on the hunt for exceptionally talented dancers to join her world tour. The victory marked Onuorah’s first nomination and win, standing as a monumental, historic moment for queer women of color directors at the Emmys.

Building on this momentum and her proven ability to drive cultural conversations, Amazon MGM Studios signed Onuorah to an exclusive first–look TV and film deal in early 2024. A dedicated champion for marginalized voices, Onuorah’s impactful directorial work has been recognized with two GLAAD Media Award nominations for Outstanding Documentary. She earned nominations for her 2017 film The Same Difference, which explored internalized homophobia within the Black lesbian community, and for 2021’s The Legend of the Underground. Premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival before debuting on HBO, the John Legend–produced documentary focused on Nigerian youth bravely challenging their country’s discriminatory anti-LGBTQ laws.

Onuorah has lent her talents to critically acclaimed projects across major platforms, including Netflix’s prison-focused series First and Last; Viceland’s Black queer-focused My House; the NewFest premiere Burn Down The House; and The G Word With Adam Conover, produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions. Through a continuously expanding slate, Nneka Onuorah remains a formidable force in the entertainment industry, challenging conventional narratives and setting new standards for authentic, inclusive storytelling.

After a decade with The Recording Academy’s GRAMMY Awards Department—where she oversaw the World, Gospel/Contemporary Christian, and TV/Film Music categories—ANGELA JOLLIVETTE launched Moonbaby Media in June 2017, a music supervision and production company. Her very first project proved the leap was worth it: overseeing the music and soundtrack for Oprah Winfrey’s faith-based drama Greenleaf. The series not only cemented her reputation, but also earned Angela two major honors—an NAACP Image Award and a Stellar Award—for producing the Greenleaf Season 2 soundtrack.

She also made history by introducing The Voice finalist Koryn Hawthorne on that same soundtrack. Hawthorne’s breakout single “Won’t He Do It” became a Certified Platinum crossover anthem and the longest-running No. 1 by a female Gospel artist on the Billboard Gospel charts, holding the spot for 45 weeks.

Recognized as a trusted tastemaker in faith-based music and talent development, Angela was tapped by BET Networks and Emmy-winning producer Jesse Collins to oversee music creative for Sunday Best Season 9, the network’s hit Gospel competition series. Her vision for discovering new talent extended beyond Gospel as well: she was instrumental in casting D Smoke, winner of Netflix’s global Hip-Hop competition Rhythm + Flow.

Angela’s range spans unscripted, scripted, and film. She supervised VH1’s Black Ink Crew franchise (LA/NY/CHI), giving rising artists a platform to break into pop culture, and later returned to scripted television to oversee the music for Norman Lear’s final series, Clean Slate, now streaming on Amazon Prime. Expanding into film, she recently served as Executive Music Producer for EBONY Studios’ debut documentary, Sincerely LA, a moving tribute to the late basketball legend Kobe Bryant.

EBONIE SMITH is a celebrated music producer, audio engineer, and singer-songwriter, based in the vibrant hub of Los Angeles. As a prominent figure in the music industry, from 2013 to 2025 she held the esteemed roles of senior audio engineer and producer at Atlantic Records.

Ebonie’s remarkable portfolio features notable credits, including the Broadway cast album of Hamilton, Janelle Monae’s groundbreaking Dirty Computer, and Cardi B’s chart-topping Invasion Of Privacy. Notably, Ebonie served as the Co-Chair of the Producers & Engineers Wing of The Recording Academy from 2023-2025, underscoring her dedication to advancing excellence in music production. Beyond her professional achievements, she is the visionary founder and president of Gender Amplified, Inc., a nonprofit organization committed to celebrating and empowering women music producers.

Ebonie’s educational foundation includes a master’s degree in music technology from New York University and an undergraduate degree from Barnard College, Columbia University, solidifying her position as a distinguished leader in the music industry.