Hollywood TV writer, producer speaking at Wake Forest tonight

At 6 p.m. today, Wake Forest University’s Center for Research, Engagement and Collaboration in African American Life, or RECAAL, will host its first in-person lecture for its Black Entrepreneurs, Innovators & Business Leaders Series.

Script Writer and TV Producer Randy Huggins will speak in Broyhill Auditorium in Farrell Hall. The event is free and open to the public and can also be viewed via livestream here. 

University COVID-19 protocols will be observed. Face coverings must be worn at all times indoors, and non-WFU students, staff and faculty must show proof of COVID-19 vaccinations or proof of a negative COVID test within the past 48 hours.

Huggins is the current producer and showrunner for BMF, an American crime drama that follows the Black Mafia Family, a drug and money laundering organization. He has also written for several TV shows, including Criminal Minds and The Shield.

Before his public speaking engagement, Huggins will participate in a roundtable discussion with a small group of Wake Forest students who are interested in TV, writing, film and arts and entertainment. The luncheon roundtable is co-sponsored by the University’s African American Studies Program.

“Randy Huggins has quietly cultivated an impactful career as a writer and producer of several successful shows,” said RECAAL Director Derek Hicks, an associate professor in the School of Divinity. “Arriving in Hollywood with nothing more than a dream and determination, Mr. Huggins has risen to become a writer and producer of several culture-shaping shows. We look forward to hearing him share his story with the public, and we’re especially excited about the roundtable he’ll have with some of our students.”

Wake Forest University established RECAAL to give critical, intellectual voice to the experience of African Americans through research-driven initiatives, programming and community facing work. Huggins’ lecture is the second in RECAAL’s Black Entrepreneurs, Innovators & Business Leaders Series but the first to be held in–person. Dawn Davis, the first Black female editor-in-chief of Bon Appet́it, served as the inaugural series speaker in a virtual event last year.

Huggins will be introduced tonight by Hicks, after opening remarks from Vice Provost for Arts & Interdisciplinary Initiatives Christina Soriano. A Q&A session will follow Huggins’ lecture.

Hicks is grateful he could bring someone of Huggins’ caliber to Wake Forest. In lieu of an honorarium, Huggins has agreed to allow The Center for Research, Engagement and Collaboration in African American Life to establish the Randy Huggins Summer Internship for Creative Exploration. 

Plans are for four Wake Forest students to land summer internships, paying up to $5,000 each, anywhere in the country. They must have an interest in TV, writing, film and arts and entertainment, Hicks said, adding that the internships will be spread out over four summers, beginning this year. Information about how to apply for the internships will be posted on RECAAL’s website at a later date.

“Huggins used to pick up coffee for the producers, and now he’s a producer,” Hicks said. “I’m sure everyone who hears him speak will be moved by his story.”

Members of the media may shoot video footage and take still photographs of Huggins during his public lecture. To interview Hicks, please contact media@wfu.edu or Laurie D. Willis at willisla@wfu.edu or 336.549.1994.