Markuann Smith (born November 19, 1977, in New York City) is an American actor, producer, and director. He is the Executive Producer of Epix series drama Godfather of Harlem.
Markuann was born in NYC and raised in Harlem. He graduated from Morgan State University minored in theater. [1] He is an American actor, producer, and director who is the Executive Producer of Epix series drama Godfather of Harlem . [2] [3] Markuann's brother, Father M.C., at the outset of the New Jack Swing era, signed a deal with Uptown MCA Records, a Hip Hop and R&B labels of the early 1990s. [1] [4]
He began his career working in production at Black Entertainment Television (BET) after college. [1] [5] He also worked in reality television as the presenter of VH1's Let's Talk About Pep , which featured Pep of Salt N' Pepa, the girl hip-hop trio of the 1990s. [1]
Markuann Smith has appeared on The Dave Chappelle Show, Juice, Poetic Justice , Code Blue , and A Good Day to Die . Also, he plays the Junie Byrd character in Godfather of Harlem. [6] [7]
Russell Wendell Simmons is an American entrepreneur, writer and record executive. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. He has promoted veganism and a yoga lifestyle, and published books on lifestyle, health, and entrepreneurship. Simmons' net worth was estimated at $340 million in 2011.
Forest Steven Whitaker is an American actor, producer and director. His accolades include an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Ellsworth Raymond "Bumpy" Johnson was an American crime boss in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City.
Abdul-Malik Kashie Yoba is an American actor. He is known for his starring role as NYPD Detective J. C. Williams on the Fox police drama New York Undercover and as Yul Brenner in the film Cool Runnings. He appeared as former FBI agent Bill Harken on the Syfy drama series Alphas, as Jim Hudson in Revolution, and as Vernon Turner in Empire. He also starred in the role of FBI Deputy Director Jason Atwood in the ABC political drama Designated Survivor. In 2018, he joined the Netflix drama Seven Seconds as a member of a support group for parents who had lost their children. He also appeared in Jordan Peele’s TBS comedy The Last OG with Tracy Morgan.
Bruce L. Cohen is a film, television, and theater producer. He is best known for producing the films American Beauty, Milk, and Silver Linings Playbook. American Beauty won the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 72nd Academy Awards ceremony.
Hoodlum is a 1997 American crime drama film that gives a fictionalized account of the gang war between the Italian/Jewish mafia alliance and the black gangsters of Harlem that took place in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The film concentrates on Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson, Dutch Schultz, and Lucky Luciano.
Eric Gerard Laneuville is an American television director, producer and actor. His first acting roles were in the science-fiction film The Omega Man (1971) with Charlton Heston, and the ABC television series Room 222 (1970–1973). His role as Luther Hawkins in the television series St. Elsewhere is his best known role. He also starred in A Force of One (1979) playing Charlie, the adopted son of Chuck Norris's character. In more recent years, he frequently directs such one-hour dramas as Blue Bloods and NCIS: Los Angeles. He directed Body of Proof episode "Missing". He also appeared in Love at First Bite.
Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Gus Fring in the AMC crime drama series Breaking Bad, from 2009 to 2011, as well as in its prequel series Better Call Saul, from 2017 to 2022. For this role, he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2012) and earned three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
Nelson George is an American author, columnist, music and culture critic, journalist, and filmmaker. He has been nominated twice for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Ronald Guttman is a Belgian actor, theatrical producer, and film producer.
Chris Brancato is an American television and film writer and producer. Brancato grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey and graduated in 1980 from Teaneck High School. He subsequently attended and graduated from Brown University.
Sandra Jacqueline Denton, better known by her stage name Pepa or Pep, is a Jamaican-American rapper, best known for her work as a member of the female rap trio Salt-N-Pepa. Denton starred in The Salt-N-Pepa Show, a reality TV series focusing on reforming the group which aired on the VH1 network in 2008. Since January 2016, Denton has appeared as a supporting cast member on the music reality television show Growing Up Hip Hop which airs on We TV.
Love & Hip Hop: New York is an American reality television series that premiered March 6, 2011 on VH1. The series chronicles the lives of several people in New York City, involved with hip hop music, and features appearances from notable figures associated with East Coast hip hop.
Nate Jones, professionally known as "Nate Jones On Bass" or simply “NJOB,” is an American bassist, songwriter, and producer. He has worked with many recognized names in the music industry, sharing the stage with iconic established acts including Stevie Wonder, Jay Z, Justin Timberlake, Usher, J.Lo, Chris Brown, and Trey Songz. Jones has also graced the big screen by playing bass in the 2008 film Cadillac Records, which featured Beyoncé, Gabrielle Union, and Cedric the Entertainer, among other Hollywood talent. In addition to playing bass, he has also scored for film and television. His professional performances include television appearances on BET, Jimmy Kimmel Live, VH1’s Save The Music, The Wendy Williams Show, Billboard Music Awards, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, and the ESPN Sports Humanitarian Awards. He's produced live shows as well as studio recordings for artists and served as musical director for various bands ranging from straight ahead jazz to R&B, soul, gospel and hip-hop. Nate is credited as bassist and additional producer of “Let Nas Down” by J. Cole on the 2013 album Born Sinner. Jones' work can also be heard on recordings like "In the Morning," "Apparently", "Runaway", "January 28th" by J. Cole. Nate recorded with Swiss Beatz for the Epix series Godfather of Harlem; "Tequila" by Earth Gang; and "Static" by Ari Lennox. On August 4, 2022, Nate Jones performed at Carnegie Hall with D-Nice for Club Quarantine Live alongside guests Jadakiss, Styles P, The Lox, Ashanti, Slick Rick, Hezekiah Walker and Queen Latifah. In 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 shutdown, Nate launched the clothing line “Musicians Are Essential” to raise awareness on the necessary creative healing that musicians bring to the world, especially during history’s darkest moments.
The Hip Hop Hall of Fame, also known as the Hip Hop Hall of Fame + Museum, is a New York chartered non-profit 501 c(3) museum and educational institution whose focus is hip hop music and culture from around the world.
Forest Whitaker is an American actor, producer and director.
Godfather of Harlem is an American crime drama television series that premiered on September 29, 2019, on Epix. The series is written by Chris Brancato and Paul Eckstein, and stars Forest Whitaker as 1960s New York City gangster Bumpy Johnson. Whitaker is also executive producer alongside Nina Yang Bongiovi, James Acheson, John Ridley and Markuann Smith. Chris Brancato acts as showrunner. On February 12, 2020, the series was renewed for a second season; which premiered on April 18, 2021. On January 13, 2022, the series was renewed for a third season, which premiered on January 15, 2023, on the rebranded MGM+. On November 29, 2023, the series was renewed for a fourth season.
Nigél Thatch is an American actor. He played Malcolm X in the first two seasons of the Epix television series Godfather of Harlem and was nominated for a best supporting actor award at the 51st NAACP Image Awards for the role. He also portrayed Malcolm X in the 2014 film Selma.
Kamilah Forbes is an American curator, producer, and director. She created and directed the Hip Hop Theater Festival from 2000 to 2016. She has held directing roles for television and theater productions such as Holler if Ya Hear Me, The Wiz Live!, and the 2014 revival of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. Forbes was named executive producer of the Apollo Theater in 2016.
The Hip Hop Film Festival is the first film festival in the world to focus on producers, directors and writers from the global culture of Hip Hop. The Hip Hop Film Festival was founded in 2015 by CR Capers, the CEO & Founder of the Harlem Film House. The Hip Hop Film Festival has featured Master Cyphers by Academy Award-Winning Producer Bruce Cohen, Harlem Legend Dapper Dan, Actor and Entrepreneur Theo Rossi, Director Stefon Bristol and REVOLT CEO Detavio Samuels among others.