Today we’d like to introduce you to Donald Sturkey.
Hi Donald, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’m sort of a unicorn in the fact that I started off as a singer/songwriter @16 in NYC with a record deal and joined a group soon after which brought me to LA where I signed a publishing deal. I soon caught the acting bug and booked a few movies and a couple of commercials all under the stage name of Shadii, all the while making regular checks as an Administrative assistant through a temp agency and giving me my first taste of the studio life working as assistant to the literary scout Riley Ellis at Fox 2000 under Elizabeth Gabler. There I helped on projects such as The Vampire’s Assistant, Flicka & Fever Pitch.
This was my 1st foray into such things as writing coverage, setting meetings, rolling calls & arranging for hay deliveries for my boss’s horses. (It was a very different time). After leaving Fox shortly thereafter under my own volition(folks were very disrespectful), I took a short hiatus after that to gather myself and when I returned started working what was to be a short two weeks assignment at Paramount Studios that turned into four years. I met some great people there especially the late, great Brad Grey, who was very supportive after meeting me and letting me know that I could excel in this business if I chose to and that he saw greatness in me, had he not passed away I would’ve probably stayed.
I would frequently fly home to NY and never really called California my home until the death of a close friend whom I would call a brother Keith Keita sent me into a state of depression, anxious to get me out of my slump a close friend got me to return to LA and take a short term gig at CBS Radford working for Bryon Rubin & Nate Basille. It was a short stint but I made an impression that led to the opportunity that would lead me where I am now. I was recruited to work for a new head of unscripted at an unknown network and I met another great mentor in Robyn Lattaker-Johnson, who was brought on to to head up the division at what I would find out would be The Oprah Winfrey Network.
We immediately clicked and she saw things in me that I had never seen in myself and allowed me to help in developing shows such as “Behind Every Man” & “They Call Me Dad”. After her departure, I was a bit dejected but soon had my spirits lifted by her replacement and my current mentor & Boss Drew Tappon whose vast experience in the unscripted field and belief in my skill set beyond my title has allowed me to flourish and work on all things in development here at OWN utilizing my skills to helm the final season of Black Love which garnered me an NAACP Image award nomination. I am currently the Chairman of the board for the Warner Bros Discovery Business resource group BOLD Burbank where I work with the POC employees and allies to help navigate the corporate ladder and create and implement initiatives to better diversify the workforce in these trying times working hand and hand with the WBD DEI team, I also work very closely with the SoCal Black Chamber of commerce putting on events and representing the WBD/OWN brands.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has never been a smooth road, sometimes because I’m a black man, sometimes because there have been power dynamics that have been difficult to navigate as they were considered the “Norm”(think Alleged Ari Emanuel stories) thankfully, those have changed in recent times.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I specialize in Development & Programming I sit in on the pitches, discuss the current programming needs of the network and help turn those pitches that fit our mandates into current/future shows on the network.
I’m most proud of my work on Black Love and my NAACP Image Award nomination it being my 1st real show to work on the whole season through.
What sets me apart is my willingness to take the meetings with new & unknown Production companies to help them get their foot in the door at a network and help develop an idea from the ground up as best I can before having them enter a room.
I love what I do and hope to continue to do it
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
The qualities that are important to my success is the willingness to go the extra mile, the love of developing an idea and my zeal for what comes out on the other side, I take programming very seriously and what is seen and consumed by the public means everything to me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.oprah.com/app/own-tv.html
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/donald_sturkey/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KingShadii/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Shadii7
Image Credits
All pics are mine including pics of me and LA Mayor Karen Bass & My OWN Team: Havva Eisenbaum VP Development, Daryl Bolander VP Current Programming, Drew Tappon Head of Unscripted Development, Programming & specials & Kai Bowe Director of current(in order l to r)
