TriStar Pictures President Nicole Brown Accepts Special Honors as The Blackhouse Foundation Celebrates 15th Anniversary (EXCLUSIVE)

As The Blackhouse Foundation marked its 15th anniversary, the organization presented TriStar Pictures president Nicole Brown with a special honor during a cocktail reception on Oct. 15.

Held at the Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa Monica, Calif., the special event commemorated Blackhouse’s work to amplify the voices of Black multiplatform content creators, particularly through its programming at the Sundance Film Festival, increasing the number of Black attendees, as well as expanding the opportunities for Black films and filmmakers to be featured at major film festivals.

Brown was awarded the Entertainment Trailblazer Award, singled out for embodying the nonprofit organization’s mission to “continually change the way audiences think about Black movies and television, and to keep the conversation about Black storytelling going on and off the screen.”

The honor was presented by The Blackhouse Foundation board chair and co-founder Brickson Diamond, who saluted Brown for her leadership. Among the studio head’s latest projects are “The Woman King” — which has been a critical and box office success — directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and starring and produced by Viola Davis, and the highly anticipated Whitney Houston biopic “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” — directed by Kasi Lemmons and starring Naomi Ackie as the late music icon.

“It was indeed an honor to celebrate 15 years of The Blackhouse which has roots in advocating for BIPOC storytellers via our strategic partnerships and programming,” Jenean Glover, executive director for The Blackhouse Foundation, said following the event. “In the next 15 years, we look to build an enhanced executive pipeline and we couldn’t be more thrilled that we were able to honor Nicole Brown who exemplifies the success we are looking to model for multi-platform content creators and decision makers of the future. My goal is to continue fostering support from our board members and the Black creator community, while staying true to the vision of our founders.”

Also honored during the event were “founding sponsor” honorees CAA (with Chief Communications Officer Michael Mand accepting the award) and HBO, while The Gill Foundation was recognized as the “community partner” winner.

Other executives in attendance at the reception were Macro’s Charles D. King and BET’s Connie Orlando, as well as actors Richard Brooks (“Abbott Elementary”), Myles Truitt (“BMF,” “Stranger Things”), Tijuana Ricks (“Luke Cage”), Lodric D. Collins (“Tyler Perry’s The Oval”), and LeRoy McClain (“And Just Like That,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”); producer Vince Allen (“Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story”); and Emmy-winning director Chris O’Connor.

Following the cocktail reception, The Blackhouse Foundation continued the celebration on Sunday by saluting its board at a special brunch held at CAA headquarters. There, sponsor Color of Change unveiled the latest plans for its #ChangeHollywood initiative, which calls for the industry to create “concrete, measurable solutions toward racial justice.”

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