Salli Richardson-Whitfield will be the first to tell you she doesn’t get emotional, joking that she didn’t even shed a tear while giving birth to her two kids.
But Richardson-Whitfield, who continues to cement her A-list status in Hollywood behind the scenes as a prolific producer and director, got teary-eyed as she was honored as “Woman of the Year” by the Black Women Film Network over the weekend at an intimate dinner at the Black-owned winery Casa Locé.
“It’s no secret that this industry is not easy. It tests your patience, your faith, and sometimes, honestly, your sense of self, and how we have to play a bunch of gymnastics to get out what we want to happen. But we keep showing up,” Richardson-Whitfield said as she accepted the honor.
“We keep finding ways to push through to open doors and continue to open and open,” she continued. “I really think I’m leaving something for the next generation … I will carry (this award) with me as a reminder to keep earning it, to keep growing, and to keep leading with grace.”
Her speech focused on sisterhood, which defined the evening at the swanky winery in Ojai, Calif., in the Santa Barbara region. Some of the industry’s top black women executives, from BET’s Connie Orlando to Amazon Music’s Phylicia Fant, came out to not only honor Richardson-Whitfield but to support BWFN, which has helped build Black women’s careers in film for nearly 30 years with scholarships, mentorship, conferences and more.
The event, sponsored by Vanzil Burke of Burke Entertainment, was a fundraiser for the organization, which, like many organizations focused on uplifting people of color, is facing fierce headwinds in the Trump era.
Richardson-Whitfield is an example not only of Black excellence but also of how mentorship can bring new voices into the industry. She has become one of the industry’s key creators over the last decade after beginning her career as an actress, in part because Ava DuVernay, who cast her in I Will Follow, encouraged her to explore being in the director’s chair.
Fast forward more than a decade, and Richardson-Whitfield has become the first Black woman to be nominated for an Emmy award for directing a drama (the Lakers series Winning Time) and is the executive producer and director on HBO’s acclaimed period series, The Gilded Age. She also directed episodes of the HBO series Task, starring Mark Ruffalo, adding to the now-countless credits she has as a director.
“When I think of Salli, the word that comes to mind is intentional. She is fiercely intentional about using her power to create space,” said Orlando, an executive vice president at BET. “She’s the personification of lifting as we come, and we appreciate that. The sets that she’s on — they’re not just sets, they are incubators for the next generation of Black women in film.”
The idea of bringing more women into the higher ranks of Hollywood was the evening’s key theme, as many testified about how Black Women Film Network helped them rise in the industry, whether through a scholarship or mentorship from an executive in the group.
The evening, which ended with a performance by the singer Major, was a call to action for those in attendance to continue the mission.