Harvardwood is partnering with the Harvard Club of Southern California on a series of entertainment-industry conversations around anti-racism and what Hollywood needs to reflect upon to create systemic change. The aim is to provide the Harvard community with opportunities to hear from experts, participate in workshops to recognize one's own complicity, and engage with one another over these issues.

Please join us for a conversation with Andrew Coles of The Mission Entertainment for a discussion on the development process: how film and television projects are greenlit and cast, and how to amplify diverse voices and avoid the either/or mentality of profit over representation. The conversation will be moderated by Daniel C. Rogers AB '12.

Andrew Coles AB '09

Andrew C. Coles is an activist, manager, producer, curator + DJ - he currently serves as the Founder & CEO of The Mission Entertainment. Upon graduating from Harvard with a degree in African-American studies, he moved to LA and began working at CAA before going to Overbrook Entertainment where he worked under Franklin Leonard (founder of The Black List), first as his assistant then junior executive. From Overbrook he relocated to New York to run development for Scott Rudin Productions, working across film, TV and theatre. In 2013, Andrew created The Mission Entertainment – a management + production company whose purpose and philosophical foundation lies in serving as advocates for storytellers that have been traditionally overlooked, undervalued and underrepresented. With a childhood dream of becoming a civil rights criminal defense attorney, Andrew has married his passions for storytelling + social justice advocacy through working in the entertainment industry – helping to create images that are truly representative of the world we live in.

On the production side, Andrew C. Coles most recently served as Producer of Universal’s Queen & Slim, directed by Melina Matsoukas’s and written by Lena Waithe. Andrew also serves as Executive Producer of BET’s Twenties, which was just renewed for a second season. Andrew partnered with Lena on You Ain’t Got These, her recently released sneaker culture docu-series with Boardwalk Pictures (Chef’s Table) for Jeffrey Katzenberg + Meg Whitman’s Quibi, which just premiered in the Spring of 2020. Andrew is currently involved with several projects in various stages of production set for release in 2021.

Daniel C. Rogers AB '12

Daniel Christopher “D.C.” Rogers was born and raised in Lompoc, CA, the son of a rocket engineer and brother to three over-achieving sisters. His feature film script Stardust won the 2019 Harvardwood Writers Competition. Daniel was most recently a staff writer on the second season of the CW drama In the Dark. He currently has a series in development with Zachary Quinto’s Before the Door Productions, in addition to a separate series with director Anya Adams (black•ish, The Good Place) and writer/producer Julia Bicknell (The Haunting of Bly Manor, 13 Reasons Why) attached. Daniel holds an MFA from the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC and a BA in English from Harvard College. A classically trained baritone, SAG Award-winning actor, and reformed pre-law student, Daniel resides in West Hollywood, CA.

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