Black Movie Hall of Fame Founder and Executive Director
SHAWN EDWARDS

Shawn Edwards is a journalist, TV and film producer and marketing and event consultant. As a nationally recognized film critic for Fox 4 News in Kansas City, Missouri for the past 25 years he has won numerous national awards including Best TV Film Critic twice by the LA Press Club’s National Entertainment Journalism Awards.Edwards co-founded the African American Film Critics Association in 2003. He is also currently serving his second term on the Board of the Critics Choice Association. Edwards created and executive produces the “Celebration of Black Cinema and Television” award show in conjunction with the Critics Choice Association which premiered in 2014 in Los Angeles at the House of Blues Sunset. The annual show airs nationally each February on STARZ and Nexstar stations.

Edwards began his producing career producing numerous TV shows and documentaries for FGW Productions and BlackTree TV, both based in Los Angeles in 2008. Edwards worked for Hidden Empire Film Group (“Traffik,” “Black and Blue,” “The Intruder” and “Fatale”), based in Los Angeles, as a Senior Marketing Specialist from 2016 to 2021. Edwards is now overseeing plans to build the Black Movie Hall of Fame which will be located in the Historic 18th and Vine Jazz District in Kansas City, Missouri. The Hall of Fame, an idea Edwards created, will open in February 2026 in the Boone Theater with Edwards functioning as its executive director.

Edwards is a life-long lover of movies who began making his own films in the 7th grade. His passion for cinema, particularly the history of black film, is extraordinary and never dying. And his cinematic journey continues…

Black Movie Hall of Fame CEO
TUCKER LOTT

Tucker Lott received his Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Bluffton College before beginning his career as a National Account Service Manager at Liberty Mutual Insurance. He also served as a Sales and Marketing Consultant for Minority Owned and operated businesses before becoming a partner at Performance Packaging Group, LLC. Lott is also the President and Founder of Tucker Lott Cards, LLC and the Founder and Creator of The Soul of Santa Brand. Lott is a creative writer and lyricist for The Soul of Santa Christmas Music, co-publisher of children’s books, a storyteller and screenwriter and co-owner of The Black Movie Hall of Fame. He is also an investor and mentor. As the Founder and CEO of The Soul of Santa Do Good Foundation, he helped establish the first ever Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in the Historic 18 th & Vine Jazz District and at the Shops on Blue Parkway. Both of which have become an annual holiday tradition attracting thousands of people each year.