Anthony Sparks

Anthony Sparks is an American television showrunner, writer-producer, and playwright.[1][2] He is also an essay writer who focuses on media, performance, and African American politics and culture. He also holds a Ph.D. in American Studies & Ethnicity from USC and began his career as an actor in classical theatre and was also a lead performer in New York in the hit show Stomp and in the Emmy winning HBO film Stomp Out Loud.

Sparks at the 2023 WonderCon.

Sparks is also a committed educator in the fields of film, television, African American studies, and American Studies. He has taught screenwriting and cultural studies at USC, Occidental College, and California State University, Fullerton.[3][4]

Education

Originally from the South Side of Chicago, Sparks attended the Whitney Young Academic Center and Whitney Young Magnet High School. He graduated cum laude and with several honors (including the Jack Nicholson Award for Outstanding Undergraduate) from the University of Southern California where he studied theatre, film, cultural studies, and anthropology. He also earned his master's degree at USC, and recently completed a Ph.D. degree from USC's top ranked department in American Studies and Ethnicity. He was also a Fellow at the USC Center for American Studies for several years.

Sparks is an alumnus of the Warner Bros. Television Writing Workshop, The ABC-Disney Television Writing Fellowship, and the 2017 WGA Showrunners Training Program.

Career

Acting

Sparks began his career as an actor, working extensively in acclaimed regional theaters and Off-Broadway (i.e. Old Globe Theatre, Crossroads Theater, New York’s The Public Theater), and appeared for five years as the comedic lead in New York and the Broadway tour of the international hit theatre show, STOMP. He also appeared in the Emmy-winning HBO film, Stomp Out Loud.

Writing and producing

Among his plays, Ghetto Punch has appeared in several venues across the country and was featured in American Theatre magazine.

His television writing credits include the NBC J.J. Abrams series Undercovers, the Freeform cop & family drama series, Lincoln Heights, and the CBS cop drama The District. He was also a writer and producer on the NBC drama, The Blacklist. He is currently the longtime Showrunner and Executive Producer of the critically acclaimed Queen Sugar, the television drama that debuted in 2016 and is created by Ava DuVernay and executive produced by DuVernay and Oprah Winfrey for OWN.[5] More recently, he signed a first look deal with Blumhouse Television, where Sparks is developing several projects.[6] Sparks and Blumhouse recently sold a drama inspired by the Detroit Youth Choir to the Disney+ streamer, after fielding offers from several networks. Sparks has also worked as an Executive Producer and written for drama series such as Mike (Hulu) and Bel-Air (Peacock).

Awards and recognition

Anthony Sparks recently received a 2022 Humanitas Prize nomination in the television drama teleplay category for writing the "May 27, 2020" episode of Queen Sugar. Sparks wrote the episode in response to the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. The teleplay features the Bordelon characters' grappling with the reality of violence against African Americans. As showrunner and executive producer of Queen Sugar Sparks also received the 2022 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Drama (alongside fellow producers Oprah Winfrey & Ava DuVernay) for his and his team’s work on the 5th & 6th seasons of Queen Sugar. The show had last won this honor for its inaugural first season.

In late 2020, Anthony Sparks received the Television Academy Honors Award for his work as the showrunner, executive producer, and head writer on the 4th season of Queen Sugar.

In addition to his 2022 Image Award win, Sparks has been nominated for an additional four individual category NAACP Image Awards over the course of his writing career. In 2018 he was nominated for Outstanding Writing in Television Drama for the Queen Sugar (OWN) second-season episode "What Do I Care for Morning". This was his second consecutive nomination in this category and his third overall Image Award nomination for Outstanding Television Drama Writing. He was also nominated in 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 as part of the Queen Sugar producing team for Outstanding Television Drama. In addition to his nominations as a television writer/producer for two 2017 NAACP Image Awards, Sparks also received a third 2017 nomination for Outstanding Literature/Instructional Book for writing & co-editing an academic book, Running the Long Race in Gifted Education.

Sparks also received individual 2008 and 2009 Sentinel Health Awards from the Norman Lear Center for his work as a television writer, as well as a 2008 NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Dramatic Writing in a Television Series and a 2010 NAACP Image Award as a producer for Outstanding Dramatic Television Series.

References
  1. Awwad, Franchesca (23 March 2016). "Professor Sparks lives out childhood dream landing job working alongside Oprah Winfery and Ava DuVernay". Daily Titan.
  2. https://directories.wga.org/member/fa8a7ed9-227a-4836-b395-3171db13d0e5
  3. "Anthony Sparks · School of Dramatic Arts · USC".
  4. "Anthony Sparks - Department of Cinema and Television Arts | CSUF".
  5. "'Queen Sugar' Renewed for Season 4 at OWN, Anthony Sparks Named Showrunner". 8 August 2018.
  6. White, Peter (2020-11-16). "Blumhouse Television Strikes First-Look Deal With 'Queen Sugar' Showrunner Anthony Sparks". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
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