About Black Talent News
MISSION STATEMENT
Black Talent News’ mission is to provide — and act as a network for the exchange of — news, information, and education to both African Americans and people throughout the world to the "Black Entertainment Experience," specifically in the television, film, cable, theatre and music industries.
EDITORIAL PROFILE
Black artists have been at the forefront of popular music since the 50s. Black television actors have transformed prime time programming since the 70s. In the 90s, the trend continued with the emergence of top stars in the motion picture industry. Now, in the dawn of this new millennium, Black talent has risen to the top of the charts in all facets of entertainment.
The Black entertainment industry is exploding. And Black Talent News is the medium of industry insiders. It delivers the latest news from film, television, theatre and music — everything from casting to production, from cable to new media and business to general interest news.
Black Talent News is both human interest — incorporating interviews with the industry’s movers and shakers — and how-to, with tips shared from some of the industry’s most influential people on how to succeed. Black Talent News’ unique and quality content features specific editorial written for actors, writers, directors, producers and other industry professionals, along with general entertainment industry news and business developments, black box office reports (grosses and analysis), events calendar, career opportunities listings, film and television production charts, film reviews and thought-provoking editorials.
Like no other magazine, Black Talent News truly reflects the pulse of the business of black entertainment!
BLACK TALENT NEWS ONLINE
BlackTalenNnews.com is the only web site focused solely on black entertainment. From useful content, related resources, expert advice tips and interactivity, It is the world’s first web site dedicated to bringing aspiring, beginning and veteran black entertainment industry professionals together in a virtual community devoted to providing tools, access, information, opportunity, professional resources, and a networking forum for the exchange of ideas and information. Launched as a business-to-business site, blackTalentNews.com’s broad appeal and consumer flair has attracted a significant general consumer audience who is interested in what’s new and next in black entertainment. Visitors look to blacktalentnews.com to keep them informed about the latest, the most important, and the most interesting developments in the business of entertainment through the site’s intelligent, compelling and thoughtful, content-rich editorial environment and multimedia coverage of entertainment news.
BlackTalentNews.com features late-breaking entertainment news (film, television, theatre, new media); black box office reports (grosses and analysis); movie reviews, summaries and trailers; industry events calendar; career opportunities; film and television production charts; interviews with leading industry professionals; a weekly e-newsletter, interactive user forums, and links to other industry resources.
BLACK TALENT NEWS IN PRINT
The print publication, Black Talent News, was launched in 1994 as a sole proprietorship by its founder, publisher and editor-in-chief, Tanya Kersey-Henley. Launched in response to market demand, Black Talent News originally began as a 4-page newsletter and quickly evolved into a full-fledged trade publication. It is the only entertainment industry trade publication for African Americans and the leading news source of its kind. Black Talent News is a trade publication with a consumer flair that has a readership of more than 20,000 including industry professionals, industry hopefuls and non-industry people who just have to know the latest about who’s doing what where and when as it relates to Blacks in Hollywood. Black Talent News is sold on newsstands and bookstores in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore, Washington DC, Detroit, San Francisco, Oakland, San Diego and Toronto, Canada. The publication is accredited by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and is a member of the Television Critics Association (TCA) and is widely respected and read by professionals of all races, and at all levels of the entertainment industry.
The print edition of Black Talent News is currently out-of-print.
THE COMPANY
Black Talent News is a hybrid "clicks and mortar," information-driven media company with an on-and-off line component. Black Talent News delivers the latest news from the film, television, theatre, and new media industries – everything from casting to production, from cable to new media and business to general interest news.
THE BTN TEAM
Tanya Kersey (http://www.tanyakersey.com).
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
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: TheLos 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, and "BET Tonight".
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.
Contact: Tanya Kersey
E-mail: tanya@blacktalentnews.com.
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Tel 310.203.1336 | Fax 310-943-2326
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