Meet The Team

Filmmaker/Content Producer and founder of D.A Media, Dallas Alexis was born in Brooklyn New York. Dallas has worked on both sides of the business TV/Film and the music industry for the past few years. He started out working on and creating creative concepts for music videos and collaborating with countless record labels, R&B and Hip-Hop artist. Transitioning into the TV/Film business, Dallas has worked with and collaborated with several companies on creative content, such as MTV, VH-1, NBC, HBO, BRAVO and TLC to name a few. With a knack for storytelling Dallas started to write and cultivate his own stories and scripts. Dallas has also written, directed and created over 20 short films, web series concepts, commercials and feature films. Dallas is the creator and host of the "Intellectual Property Podcast", which is now being streamed on over 10 different streaming platforms.

Dallas is also the founder & curator of the The Urban Web Summit, which is dedicated to entertaining, educating, bringing together and showcasing the work of our most diverse and creative content creators on the web. From screenings of some critically acclaimed web series like "Tough Love", "Makeup and Breakup", "Sole Kings", "Situationships" and "Brooklyn.Blue.Sky". The gem and highlight of TUWS is the variety of informative panels/Q&S's with filmmakers, actors and various industry professionals.

Kaili Y. Turner is a Black Indian comedian, actress, writer, producer, puppeteer born in Boston, MA and raised between Mashpee, MA and Boston. Kaili graduated from UMass Boston with a B.A in Theater Arts and a minor in dance. After performing in the Boston theatre scene, Kaili moved to New York, where she attended the Actors Studio Drama School MFA program. Since graduation she has been in multiple commercials, stage plays, and film projects. Most notable are The Cycle film (Dir, Michael Alverez | executive produced by Sway HBO Best Film MVVAAFF), Fk’d Up & Fabulous, (Creator, Executive producer | Kaili Y. Turner), Re: Wakanda TKWL (Director, writer | Cameron Mason).

Kaili is also a member of Grown Ass Women (first all-female Maude team at UCB NY), To Karen, with Love (TKWL: a sketch group out of Brooklyn, Jersey CIty Comedy Festival Best Sketch group winners 2020) FREE POC (All-Black improv team, Pit NY). Kaili is also the creator of Rock the Bells Comedy a Hip Hop variety show that is predominantly BIPOC and is real, raw and for the culture. She is a producer for Act Now Foundation/New Voices, FREE POC and she’s one of the creators of Urban puppets Place (UPP) an adult puppet program. For more information and to keep up with everything Kaili, follow her instagram

IG: @Mdamstarlight
Twitter: @kailiyturner
FB: Kaili Turner

Ernest Perry is a native of Chicago who currently resides in Brooklyn. He holds a BS in Liberal Arts/Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana. While there, he served as Vice President and President of the Pi Psi chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. executing community service and social events. He also has a MA in Arts, Entertainment & Media Management from Columbia College Chicago. Here, he co-founded Columbia’s Urban Music Association (CUMA). This student organization regularly held talent showcases, industry panels and an annual music business conference.

He has worked in marketing and promotions for labels such as Bad Boy and Hi-Rise Records. Experience includes Customer Financial Services at Bloomberg Financial and production assistant on various tv and film projects. He’s also an actor that has appeared in various print, theater, commercial, film and tv projects (some credited as E. George Perry). Ernest regularly performs with American Candy and Rock the Bells sketch comedy troupes and he currently serves with New Voices as an Associate Director.

Shirley Renelique, born & raised in the borough of Brooklyn, has been with the Act Now Foundation since 2010 as a marketing and production assistant and is now a marketing manager for the organization. Shirley assists with the planning and execution of programs in both film and theater, and when she is not working with Act Now you can find her enjoying music, the latest in tech, food, fragrance, traveling the globe, or engaged in a good conversation.

A native of Chicago, Martin Majeske is Managing and Festival Director at the ActNow Foundation, Inc, producers of the New Voices in Black Cinema Film Festival. In addition to the annual festival, Martin and his team produce regular film screenings, workshops, readings, educational panels, and seminars for underserved artists committed to careers in film and theater. In addition to the work at ActNow, Martin has separately produced a number of independent films and served on multiple film festival juries.

Finally, Martin is also a long-time arts lawyer who has represented various media companies in New York City such as the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) since first arriving from Washington, DC in 1996.

Filmmaker, film critic, film blogger, and curator Tambay Obenson self-financed his first feature film, "Beautiful Things", in 2003. In 2005, inspired by the lack of distribution and awareness for indie films about people of African descent, he formed Voyager Film Company Inc and self-distributed his feature and the works of other black filmmakers. Two years later, he developed a blog called The Obenson Report on Black Cinema. It would gradually gain in popularity, affording Tambay other writing opportunities, notably an op-ed he penned for NPR's News & Notes, calling for an autonomous black owned and operated film studio. In accordance with his steadfast belief in collective power, in 2009, Tambay teamed up with other black cinema bloggers to create a single web portal for cinema of the African Diaspora. The new site, called Shadow and Act, enjoyed immediate and long-term great success following its launch, growing to become the primary destination for black cinema on the web. After running it for 7 years, Tambay sold Shadow and Act to Blavity, Inc in 2017. His journalistic inclinations aside, Tambay is also Lead curator of the ActNow New Voices in Black Cinema Festival and continues to write, intent on producing more of his own films.

Board Members

Elliott Bey, Board Member of ActNow Foundation, Owner of NY Perks LLC, Co-Owner of Got It Covered Inc. (dba Mac Shack NY), Co-Owner of Brooklyn Burger & Brew Company LLC, Co-Owner of Euro Partners, Co-Owner of Brooklyn Union LLC, Board Member of Gotham Enthusiast Foundation, Co-Owner Franklin Cellars LLC, Co-Owner Kingston Public House is a Brooklyn local, trained in enterprise sales and business development at Fortune 500 Company’s Lucent Technologies, IXNet/IPC, AT&T, and Verizon. Elliott has a strong background in communications and technology. He has over 17 years in corporate America with an extensive track record in corporate sales & business management, 8 years of specific advertising & marketing experience, and 12 years of brick and mortar self-employment experience. Elliott has also successfully purchased and sold property over the years, generating healthy profits.

Elliott has been involved in theater and film with the ActNow Foundation since 2005, and in 2010 was appointed to the ActNow Foundation Board of Directors where he has been integral in promoting independent films and theater that reflect the experiences of African-Americans and Latinos. Elliott is also dedicated to furthering the development and learning environment of youth and adults interested in the performing arts, and conducts monthly mentorship of young adults interested in arts and business.

As Former President of Gotham Cigar Enthusiast, a cigar group dedicated to the improvement of Community and the quality of life for all individuals Elliott has helped organize fundraisers for C.R.E.W. (Community Respect Empowered Worthy), a prosthesis leg recipient, princess chambers, Erasmus Football Team, and the NYC Kidney Walk. Privately, Elliott has participated in panel discussions School intended to build life skills, financial literacy and foster community development amongst young African-American men through the NYC Department of Education at ACORN Community High School in Brooklyn. Elliott also donates his time independently to mentor young African American entrepreneurs in the start-up community.

Willena Nanton is a Native New Yorker who has lived in the Bronx for over 40 years.

A graduate of John Jay College and Texas Southern University Law School, she has been a practicing attorney for over 23 years, handling cases in the areas of not-for-profit law, government administration, new media, business law, contracts, family law, wills and trusts.

In addition to her work as an attorney, Willena has her own creative side. She is a lover of arts and crafts and is the former President of the New York City Crochet Guild as well as Founder of the Created Fingers Youth Arts and Crafts Program, where she created multiple arts programs for kids relating to African-American History and Culture. Finally, she is a proud member of both the New York Steppers dance group and National Council of Negro Women, Inc.