Damani Mangum

A New York native, Damani Mangum was born in the Bronx and raised on Long Island. He received his first formal film training at The School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. At Yale University Mangum earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, all the while pursuing his passion for filmmaking. After working on Clockers as a part of Spike Lee's 40 Acres & A Mule Internship Program, Mangum took his first definitive step toward a career in film and television by traveling across the country to the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television. While in the Graduate Production Program, Mangum wrote and directed, The Solution, which received a Director's Guild of America African-American Student Filmmakers Award. The Solution was featured at Urban World Film Festival, Martha's Flava Fest, The African-American Film Marketplace, Pan-African Film Festival and the Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center's Reel Black Men film festival. After receiving his Master of Fine Arts degree from USC, Mangum worked for E! Entertainment Television as a segment producer on The E! True Hollywood Story. Recently, Mangum and long-time partners Orlando Bishop and Kevin Brownridge started Black & Blue Entertainment. At present, they are writing projects for television and film.