At Hollywood House, A.I. innovation and purpose-driven storytelling took center stage with insights from Noel Braham, Shavone Charles, and Mara Brock Akil.
The first day of Hollywood House at the ESSENCE Festival of Culture opened with two powerful conversations that bridged the future of filmmaking with the of Black storytelling.
Held inside the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, the day’s programming explored how artificial intelligence is reshaping job opportunities in entertainment and offered a rare, intimate moment with one of television’s most celebrated creative forces, Mara Brock Akil.
The morning began with a thought-provoking panel titled A.I. in Action: The Next Era of Jobs in Film, featuring Emmy-nominated director Noel Braham and creative executive Shavone Charles. The conversation focused on the rapidly growing influence of artificial intelligence in film production—from screenwriting, animation, and visual effects to editing and casting—and the urgent need for Black creatives to understand and embrace these evolving tools.
“We’re at a moment where creatives need to be inside the brain of AI, not just consuming it,” Charles said, urging attendees to develop not just user-level knowledge, but critical tech literacy. “These companies market us back to us,” she added, calling for more transparency and ownership in how Black creators engage with digital platforms and data usage…