DERICK A THOMAS BALTIMORE'S VISIONARY OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN MALE

As a film producer that happens to be black, I've never produced or written a film only with or for blacks actors. True, I mainly produce indie films but that would be more of a reason for me to just have familiar faces I'm use to seeing in my films; or faces I feel comfortable around. Jesus, that one never gets old. When I'm producing my personal films for release or writing scripts for agents I considers all races. I cannot paint a picture of the world with only faces of one race. I'm baffled at how Hollywood studios do it on a major scale. It should be impossible, yet we still see it film release after film release mostly white actors and a jarring lack of diversity. This is an example of how studio execs, producers, casting agents and directors forget to look beyond the familiar face and comfort zone. Get out there and mix it up Hollywood. We are missing out on so much talent not including others. It's really disappointing when diversity brings so many perspectives of story telling to the table. What's even more startling is the acceptance of this being business as usual by nearly everyone in the industry. Most people don't speak up because they don't want to ruffle feathers or be labeled "difficult to deal with" and get blackballed out of working. Being told to "shut up" and know your place, this way really hurt those in a position to speak up. If Hollywood were to open a black run Hollywood Studio, and I do have the education and experience to run such a company, I would obtain scripts with a diverse cast of great actors of all races. I would most certainly fund stories about important black figures in history that have been looked over by Hollywood. I would tell storied from across the vast spectrum of the black experience, action, adventure, love, best friend, wedding, thriller, horror including Sci-fi. Yes, black people love seeing and have written Sci-fi films. Point being, we are a very diverse people and that is not reflected in the films we pay money to go see. I for one am tired of the lack of diversity. I want more from Hollywood. I want more from this world. It's truly time to stand up and be counted among the greats. Let us shout to the roof tops, we are here. Maybe a black run studio is the answer after decades of being looked over by Hollywood. Let's name such a great studio if it were to ever come into existence, Mahogany Studios. Yes, that can be my working title.