Author Archives: dragon

MUSTAPHA KHAN – director/writer

Mustapha Khan is an Emmy Award-winning film, television and commercial director. His credits include: the multiple award-winning documentary House on Fire, the critically-acclaimed television film Reflections of a Native Son, the primetime PBS NATURE Series Wild TV, the Emmy-Nominated Sesame Street’s 25th Anniversary Special and the new independent action feature, Rocksteady.

Mustapha’s commercial credits include national spots for clients such as: Coca-Cola, Honda, Nickelodeon, Burger King, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Bristol-Myers Squibb, the Children’s Defense Fund, Save the Children, the Legal Aid Society, Sesame Workshop, HBO, PBS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Actors and artists he has directed includes: Bill Cosby, Alicia Keys, Gloria Estefan, Snoop Dogg, Quincy Jones, Dave Chappelle, Ray Charles, Mya, Missy Elliott. LL Cool J, Queen Latifah, Maya Angelou, Sean Kingston, Savion Glover, Elmo, Big Bird and all of the Sesame Street Muppets.

Mustapha is a graduate of Harvard University and was a Rotary Scholar anthropologist in East Africa before becoming a filmmaker.  He lives in New York with his wife, jewelry designer Allyson Smith, and their two dogs, Boyo and Little Bootsy Collins.

TOMMY WALKER- director

Tommy Walker, born to Mrs. Walker and the Right Reverend Bishop John T. Walker, the first African American Episcopal Bishop in Washington DC, graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelors of Arts in History. He began his career in 1985 working in postproduction for National Geographic’s Explorer series. In 1991 Walker was the production manager for the PBS documentary “Mandela in America, ”which followed Mandela on his first visit to the United States. In 1998, Walker served as a segment producer on the PBS documentary “Tutu and Franklin-A Journey towards Peace,” which followed Archbishop Desmond Tutu, John Hope Franklin and 21 students to the 21st Century Summit on Race and Reconciliation.

Walker has produced and directed big- budget films for Toyota, Mercedes, Daimler Chrysler and Hewlett Packard. Walker has also produced and directed several promotional films for multicultural non-profits such as the Robin Hood Foundation-sponsored Kipp School and Norman Lear’s “Declare Yourself,” a campaign to energize a new movement of young voters.

In 2005 ,Walker co-directed and produced the feature length theatrical documentary, “God Grew Tired of Us,” about refugees from war-torn Sudan, their subsequent immigration to America, and their experience in a Post 9/11 world. The film won Best Documentary as well as the Audience Award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.

In 2004, Walker produced the primetime, Emmy-nominated documentary “With All Deliberate Speed,” a portrayal of the brave souls who fought to integrate America before the civil rights movement began, for Discovery Communications Doc Series. Acclaimed actors and musicians including Alicia Keys, Mekhi Phifer, Larenz Tate, Jeffery Wright, Joe Morton and Terry Kinney brought the words of historical figures to life on camera. Also in 2004, Walker produced “A Southern Town,” which has been a mainstay of programming on Discovery Times Network.

Walker is currently a Executive Producer and partner with Freemind Ventures, the production company responsible for “The Blacklist Project,” an HBO documentary series which reveals the diverse experience of being black in America through portrait style interviews with leading African- American figures.