Shannon Amos

Shannon Amos was born in New Jersey, the daughter of veteran actor John Amos and artist Noel Mickelson. Her father is of African-American, as well as Ghanaian ancestry. Her mother is Ashkenazi Jewish, a descendant of Eastern Europe. Shannon was exposed to Hollywood at an early age, growing up on the sets of popular sitcoms and movies such as "Good Times" and "Coming To America." Observing the production process from behind the scenes provided invaluable experience for Shannon, as her father encouraged her to learn the business side of Hollywood. Mr. Amos took her along to meetings with agents, managers and attorneys and instructed her to listen. After high school, she landed a job as an intern working with Director Spike Lee on his film "Mo Better Blues," which starred Denzel Washington and Wesley Snipes; it was Shannon's first step toward her dream of becoming a producer. Shannon's next step took her to college, but, after her freshman year and a chance meeting with Director Ted Demme, she traded a college degree for practical experience when he hired Shannon as a production assistant on MTV's first hip-hop show "Yo! MTV Raps." She quickly rose up the ranks from production assistant to associate producer. Ambitious and determined to create her own show, Shannon moved to Washington, D.C. in hopes of working for BET Networks, the first cable network to exclusively feature African-American programming. Determined to get hired, she mailed her resume every week for months. In the meantime, she landed a job as a segment producer on the Emmy Award-winning series "America's Most Wanted," the first TV series that helped law enforcement successfully catch criminals. Continuing to solicit BET for work, Shannon's persistence finally paid off nearly a year later when she was hired as a producer. Her talents were quickly recognized, and she advanced from a producer to show creator and director of original programs. When BET was sold to Viacom in 2001, Shannon left the company and moved to Los Angeles where the music industry was thriving. She began producing music videos for numerous hip-hop and R&B artists, including Snoop, Jodeci, Ice Cube and Dr. Dre. Meanwhile, the digital revolution was taking place as NAPSTER and other new digital download technology rocked the music industry. Music video budgets were slashed as labels made cut-backs, but DVD sales were on the rise. With direct-to-video as a new option for distribution, Shannon produced her first independent feature film starring her father and comedians J.B. Smoove and Corey Holcomb. The raucous urban comedy film received a DVD Exclusive Award nomination and was distributed by Blockbuster. Shannon's talents then lead her to Warner Bros. Home Entertainment where she was hired as a creative executive and drove the success of their DVD sales. Shannon executive produced a host of multi-million dollar ad campaigns, including Academy Award-winning films such as "Blood Diamond," "Letters from Iwo Jima," and "Good Night and Good Luck." By 2009 Shannon recognized another shift taking place in the industry as DVD sales began to plummet. She believed digital technology and YouTube would be the new wave. Shannon stepped out on her own to launch Afterglow Multimedia, LLC, a boutique talent management and production company. Being a trend-spotter, Shannon's company quickly became the success that she anticipated. Shannon now produces digital and TV content and manages the careers of several YouTubers while branding them across multiple platforms, including live shows, music, TV and film. Afterglow's client list includes, Turner Originals, ESPN, TVOne, BET, Dormtainment.com, Tracey Edmond's AlrightTV, Russell Simmons' All Def Digital and All Def Music and Brian Robbin's AwesomenessTV. Shannon's mission is to successfully connect talent, brands, storytellers, music, products and content owners to create a cultural phenomenon for their offerings. Shannon Amos resides in Los Angeles, CA with her partner and daughter.