Mara Brock Akil facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mara Brock Akil
Akil in 2013
Born	(1970-05-27) May 27, 1970 (age 55) Compton, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Northwestern University
Occupation	Screenwriter, producer
Years active	1993–present
Spouse(s)	Salim Akil ​ (m. 1999)​
Children	2

Mara Brock Akil (born May 27, 1970) is a super talented American television producer, writer, and director. She is known for creating many popular TV shows. She became one of the youngest African American female "showrunners" (which means she was in charge of making a TV show happen) when she created the sitcom Girlfriends (2000–2008). This show aired on UPN and The CW. She was also the first African American female showrunner to have two shows on TV at the same time! This happened when she created The Game (2006–15), which was a spin-off from Girlfriends.

Mara Brock Akil also created BET's first drama series, Being Mary Jane (2013–19). Later, she brought back The Game for a new series (2021–22) on Paramount+. She helped create Love Is (2018) for OWN and was an executive producer for the superhero show Black Lightning (2018–21) on The CW. She also wrote for other shows like Moesha (1996–99) and The Jamie Foxx Show (1999–2000). With her husband, Salim Akil, she started Akil Productions in 2000. In 2021, she launched Story27 with Netflix.

Mara Brock Akil is special because she was the only African American showrunner or executive producer to have a TV series on air every year from 2000 to 2015. She was also the first and only person to have two black sitcoms (comedies with mostly Black casts) on regular TV channels at the same time in the 2000s. Her shows were among the very few with mostly Black casts on TV during that time.

Early Life and Learning

Mara Brock Akil was born in Los Angeles, California. She grew up mostly in Kansas City. When she was eight years old, her mom, Joan Demeter, divorced her father. Her mom's journey later inspired the main character in Mara's show Girlfriends. Joan moved to Kansas City and worked hard to become a computer programmer while raising Mara and her two siblings, William and Kara Brock.

Mara finished high school in 1988. She then went to Northwestern University, where she studied journalism. She also joined the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. While at college, she wrote and acted in comedy shows and took a screenwriting class. After graduating, Mara moved to Los Angeles and got her first job as a production assistant, helping out behind the scenes on TV shows.

Career in Television

Starting Out (1993–2000)

In 1993, Mara had a small acting part in the movie With Honors. After moving to Los Angeles, she got a job as a production assistant on The Sinbad Show, a sitcom that aired for one season.

In 1994, while working on The Sinbad Show, she wanted to become a writer. She bravely told the executive producer, "Let me spend it on why you need me." This led to her becoming a writer's trainee on the show South Central. This show was about a single mom and her three kids.

After a break, she started working on Moesha, a very popular sitcom starring Brandy Norwood. It aired for six seasons! Mara was a writer for the first four seasons and a producer for the fourth season. She learned a lot about how to not just write, but also how to produce a show. Next, she worked on The Jamie Foxx Show as a supervising producer and writer.

Creating Hit Shows (2000–2009)

In 2000, Mara Brock Akil created Girlfriends. She had to work hard to get a studio to produce her idea, but eventually, she made a deal with actor Kelsey Grammer, who helped get the show made. Girlfriends premiered on September 11, 2000. It followed the lives of Joan Clayton, played by Tracee Ellis Ross, and her three friends. The show was a big hit and ran for eight seasons, even through a network change to The CW. The final episodes aired in 2008.

She also created and produced a spin-off show from Girlfriends called The Game, with her husband Salim Akil. A spin-off is a new show that comes from an existing one, often following a character from the original. The Game followed Joan's cousin, Melanie Barnett, played by Tia Mowry, who put her dreams on hold to support her football player boyfriend. The show aired on The CW for three seasons. It was canceled for a couple of years but then picked up by BET and became very popular, bringing in millions of viewers. The Game eventually concluded after its seventh and eighth seasons.

Later Projects (2009–Present)

Mara Brock Akil continued to create new and exciting shows. She created BET's drama series Being Mary Jane, which started in 2013. This show starred Gabrielle Union and was the first hour-long drama for Mara and her husband. It explored the life of a successful news anchor.

In 2018, the Akils created and produced a superhero series called Black Lightning, based on the DC Comics character. This show premiered in January 2018.

In 2020, Mara Brock Akil signed a big deal with Netflix to create new content. In 2021, she launched her new production company, Story27, as part of her Netflix deal. She is currently developing several new series and a documentary.

Personal Life

Mara Brock Akil is a big fan of the Kansas City Chiefs football team. She also helps fund The Four Sisters Scholarship, which started in 2005, along with her friends Gina Prince-Bythewood, Sara Finney-Johnson, and Felicia D. Henderson.

Mara is married to Salim Akil, who is also a producer, director, and writer. They met in Los Angeles in the late 1990s and got married in April 1999. They have two sons together: Yasin Ali Akil (born 2007) and Nasir Lukmon Akil (born 2009). Salim also has older children from before their marriage.

Mara and her husband are Sufi Muslims. Mara was born into a Muslim family. After her mom moved to Missouri, they practiced Christianity for a while. Later, Mara returned to Islam. Their TV series Love Is shows a character who is a non-practicing Muslim dating a practicing Muslim, which is similar to their own story.

Mara Brock Akil has six siblings.

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Producer	Writer	Notes
1994	With Honors			Actress
2012	Sparkle	Yes	Yes
2015	The Start Up	Yes		Television film
2023	Stamped from the Beginning	Yes		Documentary

Television

Year	Title	Creator	Producer	Writer	Director	Notes
1993–1994	The Sinbad Show					Production assistant Also actress: "Keep the Faith"
1994	South Central			Yes
1995	Dave's World					Production assistant
1996–1999	Moesha		Yes	Yes		Producer: 22 episodes Writer: 9 episodes Also story editor: 9 episodes
1999–2000	The Jamie Foxx Show		Yes	Yes		Supervising producer: 24 episodes Executive producer: 1 episode Writer: 4 episodes
2000–2008	Girlfriends	Yes	Yes	Yes
2006–2009, 2011–2015	The Game	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Director: "Dust in the Wind"
2009	Leading Women					Documentary; Self: Episode 2
2010	Cougar Town		Yes	Yes		Consulting producer: 22 episodes Writer: 2 episodes
2013–2015, 2017, 2019	Being Mary Jane	Yes	Yes	Yes
2015	Reed Between the Lines		Yes			Executive producer: 3 episodes
2018	Love Is	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Director: 2 episodes
2018–2021	Black Lightning		Yes			Executive producer
2020	Make It Work!					Television special; Self
2021	On Story					Season 12, episode 9
	History of the Sitcom					Documentary Self: 3 episodes
2021–2023	The Game	Yes	Yes
2023	See It Loud: The History of Black Television					Documentary Self: 3 episodes

Awards and Nominations

Mara Brock Akil has won many awards for her amazing work in television and film. Here are some of them: