Roxanne Avent

Combining her creative and financial sensibilities with an eye for film projects that connect with evolving audiences, Roxanne Avent has quickly ascended as a pivotal and influential player in the world of independent film production. Avent thrives is today's hyper-competitive and increasingly complicated world of filmmaking, eschewing obstacles that can stymie the most hardened of producers, while building a diverse portfolio of films that are critical hits, commercial successes and cult favorites. It is rare to have the resources, savvy, competence and confidence, to invest in and successfully produce feature films and franchise properties. Avent brings all of these traits, and more, to Hidden Empire Film Group (HEFG), the film company she co-founded and has run with partner Deon Taylor, since 2000. Under the stewardship of Avent, Hidden Empire Films has rapidly emerged as one of the industry's most prolific production companies with the capacity to create, develop, package, finance and produce a broad array of films for wide theatrical release. The company is a major supplier of quality commercial projects for the studios and major independents worldwide. Avent's most recent film is poised to be her biggest hit yet - the much anticipated comedy/horror hybrid "Meet the Blacks." From inception, through production and into release, Avent has been the engine driving "Meet the Blacks" into theaters nationwide opening April 1, 2016. Written, directed and produced by Avent's Hidden Empire partner Deon Taylor, "Meet the Blacks" features an ensemble cast that includes Mike Epps, George Lopez, Mike Tyson, Snoop Dog, Bresha Webb and Zulay Henao as well as a 'who's who' of pop culture personalities including Gary Owen Charlie Murphy Tameka "Tiny" Cottle, gossip columnist Perez Hilton, Paul Mooney, Vine star Andrew Bachelor, and comedians Lil Duval, DeRay Davis and Lavell Crawford. Prior to bringing "Meet the Blacks" to the big screen, Avent produced the award winning film "Supremacy" starring Danny Glover, Derek Luke, Evan Ross and Lela Rochon. The film earned critical and commercial praise - so much so, that the library at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences requested a copy of the screenplay "Supremacy" for their permanent core collection. Earlier films from Avent included "Chain Letter" (2009), "The Hustle" (2008) and "Deadtone" (2007), as well as the successful WGN series, Nite Tales, hosted by Flavor Flav in 2009 and Nite Tales: The Movie (2011) which brought a younger generation their own version of Tales from the Crypt. The response from Nite Tales: The Series was overwhelming as a staggering number of viewers tuned in weekly and made it a late-night favorite. Nite Tales 2: The Movie aims to build on the continuing success of the franchise. Prior to HEFG, Avent worked for the prestigious Directors Guild of America, where she oversaw all aspects of production for movie premieres and television award programs, supervising more than fifty employees. Avent also served as a label manager for Taylor Made Muzik, the largest independent record label in Northern California. At Taylor Made, Avent combined her talent in movie production and music developing soundtracks for independent movies.