Mara Brock Akil

thumb|Mara Brock Akil MVAAFF 2025 Mara Brock Akil (born May 27, 1970) is an American television writer and producer. She began her screenwriting career at age 23 on South Central (1994) on Fox. At age 30, she became the youngest African American showrunner on broadcast network television when she created the sitcom Girlfriends, airing on UPN (2000–06) and its successor The CW (2006–08), and is the first African American female showrunner to have two series concurrently on broadcast network TV when she created its spin-off The Game on The CW (2006–09) before its revival on BET (2011–15). Quotes I was nurtured by Ralph Farquhar and then, later, by Sara Finney-Johnson and Vida Spears, two black women. So, I actually was nurtured by my culture, in a safe environment that allowed me to build my confidence. And Debbie Allen was one of my mentors, along with Stan Lathan. I often attribute my screenwriting to journalism because they drill in the who, what, when, where and why - but we really need to land on that why. That's what I've been exploring in my writing for many years and trying to get better at. Sometimes, we only get to know someone as one aspect of who they are. Then you start peeling back the layers and understanding more and more about who they are - their vulnerabilities, their fears, their joys, all those other words that equal humanity. I'm hoping that the legacy of 'Girlfriends' is just that you can enjoy and connect to Joan, Maya, Toni, Lynn, and William and see your humanity reflected in theirs. That's what I'm hoping that it did. For me, I start at the place that my characters are human. I start at the place that they are onions that are layered and meant to be peeled, just as we as human beings are. Technology has changed our industry, and I think that's opened up different revenue streams and ways to make money and distribute television. It's made the global conversation easier, quicker. External link Category: living people Category:Women born in the 1970s Category:Women authors from the United States