Richard Wright - Black Boy

Production Biographies

Madison Davis Lacy
(Writer, Producer, Director)

A 20-year veteran of broadcast program management and documentary filmmaking, Madison Davis Lacy, with this latest work, continues to be at the forefront of his craft. Combining his talents as a writer, producer, and director, Lacy produced "Your Loan Is Denied" for PBS' Frontline and "The Whole World's Watching" and "The March On Washington" for the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum, all in 1992. In 1991, Lacy was recognized for his work on Eyes on the Prize II. He wrote, produced, and directed "The Time Has Come" and "Back to the Movement," the first and last films of this eight-program documentary series. Eyes on the Prize II received the Dupont Silver Baton and Madison Davis Lacy received an Emmy for "The Time Has Come." Lacy also served as executive producer for Paris Is Burning, a feature-length documentary by Jenny Livingston.

Guy Paul Land
(Co-Executive Producer)

Guy Paul Land is Washington counsel for the Satellite Educational Resources Consortium (SERC), the nation's leading nonprofit provider of interactive distance learning courses for high schools. SERC is a joint partnership between public broadcasting agencies and state departments of education. Land is a 1979 graduate of Harvard Law School and has completed requirements for a Ph.D. in American history at Harvard where he was a Charles Warren Scholar in American history. Land has written articles for several publications, including: "John Kennedy's Southern Strategy 1956-1960," for the North Carolina Historical Review and "Presidential Republicanism and the Growth of the Mississippi Republican Party," for the Journal of Mississippi History.

Jef Judin
(Co-Executive Producer)

As director of production for Mississippi Educational Television, Jef Judin oversees the development of programming and all aspects of production. His award-winning productions include: "Return to the River: A Television Voyage," "George Ohr: The Mad Potter of Biloxi," and "Dr. Arthur C. Guyton: Searching for Truths."

J.A. Preston
(Narrator)

Star of stage and screen, J.A. Preston has been featured in films including Remo Williams - The First Adventure, Body Heat, and Two Minute Warning; on television in "Roots - The Next Generation," "Magnum P.I.," and "Hill Street Blues"; and on stage in Death of Bessie Smith, Freeman, and Cherry Orchard.

Ngaio Killingsworth
(Director of Photography)

An award-winning videographer, cameraman, and director of photography, Ngaio Killingsworth has worked on productions that include breaking news stories for ABC, CBS, and NBC News; documentaries; educational and industrial productions; and music videos. Killingsworth most recently shot film for Louis Massiah's documentary on the life of W.E.B. Dubois.

Horace Ové
(Director, Dramatizations)

Horace Ové is cited in the Guinness Book of Film as Britain's first Black feature filmmaker. His career as a painter, photographer, and filmmaker spans over a 30-year period during which he garnered recognition and numerous awards. He has produced such films as Baldwin's Nigger, a film about James Baldwin and Dick Gregory; Reggae, the first comprehensive study of the music; Pressure; A Whole In Babylon; and Playing Away. Currently Ové is working on Tales of Colonialism, a six-part documentary series for the BBC.

Adam Zucker
(Editor)

In a ten-year span, Adam Zucker has edited documentaries, films, museum multi-media installations, music videos, and narrative and music programs for PBS, The Discovery Channel, NBC, HBO, and Nickelodeon. His work has included Count Basie: Swingin' the Blues, Hunters in the Sky, The Mafia in America, and Fallen Champ: Untold Story of Mike Tyson.

Randy Klein
(Composer/Performer)

The original music written specifically for Richard Wright - Black Boy, was composed and performed by the award-winning Randy Klein. As a composer for television, radio, theater, recordings, and live performances, Klein earned two gold records for work with recording artist Millie Jackson and is the recipient of the Bronze Apple award from the National Educational Film & Video Festival and the CHRIS award from the Columbus International Film Festival for Funnybones, an educational children's television series produced by Mississippi Educational Television. Additional compositions from Klein include Rhythm Rap Tap and Practice; Practice for Sesame Street; MOVE!, a dance musical commissioned by the Royal Theatre Carré, Amsterdam, and A Future for Every Child, commissioned by the U.S. Committee for UNICEF.

Julia Wright
(Wright's eldest daughter/Special Consultant)

A freelance journalist since 1987, Julia Wright has been researching and writing a memoir of Richard Wright, Daughter of a Native Son, forthcoming from Random House. Much of her professional work has focused on Africa and the Third World, including research in African affairs at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs; assisting the preparation of a biography of Frantz Fanon, the West Indian psychiatrist; and serving as chief editor of the cultural section of the weekly Jeune Afrique. From 1961-66 she lived in Ghana, studying under Dorothy Padmore, widow of George Padmore, advisor on African affairs to Kwame Nkrumah, President of the Republic of Ghana. Upon Mrs. Padmore's death, Wright assumed responsibility for compiling research for Nkrumah's books. She also taught English to journalism students at the Modern Languages Institute in Accra. Her academic work includes studies in psychology, phenomenology, sociology, and journalism at the Sorbonne in Paris and Antioch University in the U.S. Wright's childhood years were spent in Paris with her father. She was 18 at the time of his death.