Anthony Sparks facts for kids
Anthony Sparks is an American writer, producer, and showrunner for television. He also writes essays about media, performances, and African American culture. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California (USC). He started his career as an actor, even performing in the famous show Stomp and the HBO film Stomp Out Loud. Sparks also teaches about film, television, and American studies at universities.
Contents
Anthony Sparks's Education
Anthony Sparks grew up in the South Side of Chicago. He went to Whitney Young Magnet High School. He graduated with high honors from the University of Southern California (USC). There, he studied theater, film, and culture. He also earned his master's degree and a Ph.D. from USC. He was a Fellow at the USC Center for American Studies for several years. Sparks also attended special training programs for TV writers and showrunners at Warner Bros., ABC-Disney, and the WGA.
Anthony Sparks's Career
Acting Roles
Sparks began his career as an actor. He performed in many theaters, including Off-Broadway shows in New York. For five years, he was the main comedic actor in the New York and Broadway tour of the show STOMP. He also appeared in the Emmy-winning HBO film, Stomp Out Loud.
Writing and Producing for Television
Anthony Sparks has written plays, including Ghetto Punch, which was featured in American Theatre magazine.
He has written for many TV shows. These include the NBC series Undercovers, the Freeform drama Lincoln Heights, and the CBS police drama The District. He was also a writer and producer for the NBC drama The Blacklist.
Sparks is well-known as the showrunner and executive producer of the TV drama Queen Sugar. A showrunner is like the head writer and producer who oversees the entire show. He also signed a deal with Blumhouse Television to create new projects.
More recently, Sparks has developed and sold several drama series to studios like Disney+, Lionsgate, Legendary Television, and Netflix. He also wrote for and was an executive producer on the Hulu drama Mike and the Peacock series Bel-Air. In May 2025, it was announced that Sparks would be the showrunner and an executive producer for a new version of the TV series 7th Heaven at CBS Studios.
Awards and Recognition
Anthony Sparks has received many awards for his work.
- In 2022, he was nominated for a Humanitas Prize for writing the "May 27, 2020" episode of Queen Sugar. He wrote this episode after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. The episode showed the characters dealing with violence against African Americans.
- As showrunner and executive producer of Queen Sugar, Sparks won the 2022 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Drama. He shared this award with Oprah Winfrey and Ava DuVernay for their work on the 5th and 6th seasons of the show.
- In 2020, Sparks received the Television Academy Honors Award for his work on the 4th season of Queen Sugar.
- He has been nominated for four other individual NAACP Image Awards for his writing. This includes nominations in 2018, 2019, and 2020 for Outstanding Writing in Television Drama.
- In 2017, he was nominated for Outstanding Literature/Instructional Book for co-editing Running the Long Race in Gifted Education.
- Sparks also received Sentinel Health Awards in 2008 and 2009 for his TV writing. He was nominated for a 2008 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Dramatic Writing and won a 2010 NAACP Image Award as a producer for Outstanding Dramatic Television Series.
Volunteer and Advocacy Work
Anthony Sparks is a member of several important boards. He advises Hollywood, Health & Society at the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center. He also serves on the board of the Collins & Katz Family YMCA and the USC School of Dramatic Arts.
In March 2024, the USC School of Dramatic Arts opened The Sparks Center for Community and Culture. This center was named to honor the work that Anthony Sparks and his wife, Anita Dashiell-Sparks, have done in arts, entertainment, and education.
