Stamped from the Beginning: Q&A with The Producers

WFTV members are invited to this online discussion with executive producer and producer of upcoming Netflix documentary Stamped from the Beginning, Mara Brock Akil and Alisa Payne, in conversation with historian Olivette Otele. 

Oscar-winning director Roger Ross Williams brings Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s best-selling book Stamped from the Beginning to life, using vivid animations and leading female scholars to explore the history of anti-Black racist ideas.

There will be an opportunity to ask the panel questions during the last 15 minutes of the session.

Event Schedule

18:25: Please join the webinar waiting room

18:30: In conversation with Mara Brock Akil, Alisa Payne and Olivette Otele. 

19:15: Audience Q&A

19:30: Finish

Stamped from the Beginning

Oscar-winning director Roger Ross Williams brings Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s New York Times bestseller to the screen with Stamped from the Beginning. Published in 2016, Dr. Kendi’s National Book Award winner chronicles the entire story of anti-Black racist ideas and their staggering power over the course of American history. Williams’ documentary adaptation uses an innovative animation process that blends live action with the art of the era to illuminate figures and moments both well-known and obscure, both historical and contemporary. Leading female academics and activists such as Dr. Angela Davis, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Brittany Packnett Cunningham, Dr. Jennifer L. Morgan, and Dr. Kendi guide viewers through a searing account of how racist tropes and imagery were developed and enshrined in American culture. Directed and produced by Williams (Cassandro, Music by Prudence, Love to Love You, Donna Summer), Stamped from the Beginning is executive produced by Dr. Kendi and NAACP Image Award winner Mara Brock Akil (Girlfriends, The Game, Being Mary Jane).

Mara Brock Akil, Executive Producer

Mara has written and produced 400+ episodes of television, leaving an immeasurable impact not only on Hollywood, but on the world for generations. Akil created the seminal television series Girlfriends, an honest exploration of the multi-faceted nature of Black womanhood, then developed the spin-off series The Game. She has since produced multiple culture shifting series that celebrate the complexity of humanity, including Love Is ___, and Being Mary Jane. She was honored with the prestigious Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award by NATPE in 2019 and inducted into Northwestern’s Medill Hall of Achievement in 2017. Other accolades include: Essence Visionary Award, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter Showrunner Power Lists and Women in Entertainment Power100. In 2020, Akil signed a deal with Netflix to produce television shows for the streaming platform under her new banner, story27 Productions, where she continues to expand her accomplished legacy and uplift the talent of tomorrow.

Alisa Payne, Producer

Alisa's producing career spans over 20 years, boasting a diverse array of credits.  These credits include the much anticipated feature film adaptation of Stamped from the Beginning for Netflix, based on Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's eponymous book, the acclaimed HBO film special Between the World and Me, The Conversation: Revolution based on The NYTimes Op Doc series A Conversation on Race, the pivotal 2016 Democratic National Convention, and a host of short films, television series and specials.

She is the Co-Executive Producer for an upcoming 6-part docuseries for Imagine / Disney+ and is the producer of the short film Women Count (Sundance Institute /Times Studios).

Her work has garnered prestigious recognition, including a Gracie Award, and has been nominated for several esteemed awards, including an Emmy, Critic's Choice Award, NAACP Image Award, and Cable Positive Award.

Olivette Otele, Historian 

Olivette Otele is a Distinguished Research Professor of the Legacies and Memory of Slavery at SOAS, University of London. Her area of research is colonial, post-colonial history and memory studies. Otele holds a Ph.D. in History from Université Paris La Sorbonne, France and received an honorary doctorate in Law from Concordia University in Canada in 2022. She is a Fellow, a former Vice President of the Royal Historical Society and a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales. She was the recipient of several prestigious national and international research grants. Otele was a judge of the International Man Booker Prize, has written numerous scholarly papers and books, and she is also a regular contributor to the press, television and radio programs in Britain, the US and France. Otele is broadcaster and a consultant for films and documentaries such as Chevalier in Cinema in 2023, on Disney+ and African Queens airing on Netflix (2023). Her latest books include an edited volume, Post-Conflict Memorialization: Missing Memorials, Absent Bodies (2021) and African Europeans: an Untold History (2020). She works with policy makers and other institutions to engage with the histories of colonial slavery and restorative justice strategies (See Welsh Government Report and the Guardian Newspapers project Cotton Capital ).

How will the online event work?

This event will be live streamed via Zoom.us. Viewing details will be sent via your confirmation.

Attending participants will not be visible to others and will be muted throughout the session. After the talk, there will be an opportunity for audience members to ask their questions to the panel by using the Q&A feature.

This event is for existing WFTV members only.

If you are not a member and would like to join, membership costs just £100 + VAT/yr , please click here or email admin@wftv.org.uk

At WFTV, we want our events to be accessible for everyone. If you have any access requirements, please let us know in advance and we will do our best to accommodate you. Please contact admin@wftv.org.uk and we will get back to you as soon as possible.