Markuann Smith is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential producers. What does this mean, and why is this the case?┬аMarkuann Smith is an actor turned executive producer, a consistent body of work producing exceptional pictures with a captivating vision, a breakthrough style; and, most importantly, a personal imprint that transcends films, genres, and possibly decades.
Markuann was born and raised in Harlem, New York, and Queens. Ever since he was a kid, Markuann was inclined towards cinema which kept him company as a child, which eventually he decided to turn into a full-time job. A glamorous job for the screen and though it is lucrative, attaining this prestigious position necessitates a great deal of hard work and devotion by Markuann resulted in him achieving his dreams.┬а
Best known for his groundbreaking work as an actor, executive producer in the television series Godfather of Harlem (2019), Smith accelerated his professional career. For this, he teamed up with Forest Whitaker, Chris Brancato, Paul Eckstein, Nina Yang Bongiovi, John Ridley, and James Acheson over two years ago to bring the forgotten story of Bumpy Johnson to Epix. While the show is set in the 1960s, many of the plotlines are still pertinent today that investigate the intersection of crime and civil rights with a focus on contemporary issues such as police brutality, drug addiction, gang fighting, and the ghetto situation, something we have recently witnessed with George Floyd. The period drama “Godfather of Harlem” gives the viewers a safe environment to look through the prism of the past to observe what’s occurring now.
He started his work on the infamous American crime story while working at Black Entertainment Television (BET) which took him 18 years to come to fruition. Markuann since then has worked on several other projects as an executive producer, director, and actor including John of God the Movie, Code Blue, Pressure, A Good Day, By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem, King of Paper Chasin’, Let’s Talk About Pep, 4th Annual BET Awards, 3rd Annual VH1 Hip-Hop Honors, Undateable and others.┬а
It is true that one can either chase their Passion or Pension, which in MarkuannтАЩs case is the former. Markuann has seen his ambition come true, the drive to make films that affect people emotionally, thanks to his perseverance, humility, and determination, as well as the strong character he picked up from all of his life’s travels and a motto of “Failure Is Not An Option.” In the upcoming future, he aims to create more films and work on such projects that not only offer visual contentment but also emotionally inspire and move people, for this world surely needs some push to become an even better place to live in.┬а
