On May 12, the DGA’s African American Steering Committee hosted a networking mixer that brought DGA members in contact with production executives from the Black Entertainment Television (BET) network.
Greeting the participants in the Guild’s Los Angeles boardroom, BET’s President of Original Programming/DGA Director-member Loretha Jones presented the welcome. Representing a variety of BET programs like The Game, Reed Between the Lines and The Mo’Nique Show, the producers and executives included: BET Senior Vice President Charlie Jordan Brookins; Vice Presidents of Production Mike and Graig Hutchison; Vice President of Talent Robi Reed; Director of Production Fonda Anita; Senior Directors of Original Programming Tamara Gregory, Jae Kim, and Regina Thomas; Senior Director of Original Programming Development Austyn Biggers; Senior Director of Post Production Sheila Cole; Executive Producers Mara Brock Akil, Salim Akil, Jacque Edmonds Cofer, Arthur Harris, Warren Hutcherson, Don Kurt, and Kenny Smith; and Consultant Glenn Harvey.
The event then broke into a series of brief one-on-one meetings between the program executives and DGA members.