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.