The Team
Co-Executive Producer Reuben Cannon was Producer of Down in the Delta directed by Maya Angelou, The Women of Brewster Place (with Oprah Winfrey), and Get on the Bus (Spike Lee). He was also Producer, with Tyler Perry, of Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea’s Family Reunion, Why Did I Get Married, Daddy’s Little Girls, Meet The Browns, The Family That Preys, Madea Goes To Jail, and Madea’s Big Happy Family. Reuben was also Executive Producer for the comedy series Tyler Perry’s House of Payne.
Co-Executive Producer Marquetta Glass was a Co-Exective Producer of the Hallmark series Spirit Table with Dr. Maya Angelou, Celebrate Christmas with Maya Angelou, Hallmark Hall of Fame–The Run Away, Olympics-2000, Amazement Awaits. Glass created the 2011 business alliance with BET to produce Soul Mates featuring Maya Angelou & Common.
Michael Kantor joined American Masters as the series’ executive producer in April 2014 during its 28th season on PBS. An Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker, Kantor has worked on projects for PBS, HBO, Bravo and 20th Century Fox. His PBS series include Broadway: The American Musical (hosted by Julie Andrews), Make ‘Em Laugh (hosted by Billy Crystal) and Superheroes (hosted by Liev Schreiber). He served as executive producer of Give Me the Banjo with Steve Martin, and distributes the American Film Theatre series including Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance, starring Katharine Hepburn, and Chekhov’s Three Sisters with Laurence Olivier. Kantor has co-authored three books, served as a Tony nominator, and teaches producing at the School for Visual Arts in NYC.
Chris Gardner, CEO of Happyness!
Raymond earned writer and producer credits for the award-winning documentary film PHUNNY BUSINESS: A Black Comedy and is currently serving as a executive producer on two new documentary films, Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise and All The Queens Horses with Kartemquin Films. The founder of All Jokes Aside, he has served as a consultant on comedy and talent to producers at NBC, HBO, Comedy Central, B.E.T, Second City, and Just For Laughs Comedy Festival. Raymond recently completed his first book, All Jokes Aside: Stand Up Comedy Is A Phunny Business released by Agate Publishing.
Director of Photography Keith Walker was D.P. of Mavis! (the Mavis Staples story, HBO 2016), Bill T. Jones: A Good Man, (American Masters), Steve James’ Head Games, and No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson (ESPN 30 for 30), Alex Gibney’s Catching Hell (ESPN’s 30 for 30), and Bob Hercules’ Forgiving Dr. Mengele. Keith was also the primary D.P. for Oprah Prime (OWN) and has shot for CBS’ 60 Minutes for over 20 years.
Editor David E. Simpson edited Life Itself (the Roger Ebert documentary directed by Steve James) which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. David also edited Bob Hercules & Gordon Quinn’s Bill T. Jones: A Good Man (American Masters, 2011), Steve James’ Head Games (2012), and Bob Hercules’ Forgiving Dr. Mengele (winner of the Special Jury Prize, Slamdance 2006).
Editor Lillian Benson was one of the original editors of the landmark series Eyes on the Prize. She has gone onto to edit many award-winning documentaries including Get in the Way: The Journey of John L. Lewis, Wounded Knee (Stanley Nelson) and Great Performances: The Alvin Ailey Dance Company (PBS).
Composer Stephen James Taylor past projects include scoring the documentary Tom Bradley: Bridging the Divide (2015), Southside With You (2015), People Are The Sky, (2015), Marvel’s TV Series The Black Panther, Universal’s The Adventures of Brer Rabbit, Disney’s Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas (for which he won Best Original Score at the 2004 DVDX Awards), Teachers Pet, a Disney animated feature and many of Charles Burnett’s films including To Sleep With Anger and the blues documentary, Warming By the Devil’s Fire produced by Martin Scorsese, and the 1996 orchestral suite for Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics. He has received 4 Emmy Nominations.