Kamilah Forbes
In the Field of Fine Arts — Kamilah Forbes (BFA ’98) is the executive producer of The Apollo in addition to her work as an esteemed award-winning director and producer for theater and television. Forbes is a powerful leader, widely known for her ability and commitment to continue to highlight the ideas, complexities and work of artists in the hip-hop community and beyond. She has received awards for both directing and producing, including the 2019 NBTF Larry Leon Hamlin Producer Award and an NAACP Image Award.
Ms. Forbes’ directing credits include “Between the World and Me,” “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark,” “Blood Quilt” and “Sunset Baby.” This Howard University alumna has also collaborated on “The Wiz Live,” “A Raisin in the Sun,” “Mountaintop” and “Stick Fly” on Broadway. She has produced several works for television, most notably the seventh season of the Tony Award- and Peabody Award-winning series “Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry” on HBO.
Ms. Forbes’ directorial work on “Between the World and Me” aired as a special event on HBO and HBO Max in November 2020 to critical acclaim. Outside of her work at The Apollo, Ms. Forbes directed the 2023 World Premiere of “Hippest Trip – The Soul Train Musical” at American Conservatory Theater, alongside Questlove, Dominique Morrisseau and Camille A. Brown.