Shirley Neal is an award-winning TV producer, journalist, and former production & development executive with over 20 years experience in the broadcast, cable, and live event arenas.
Through her Park Hill Entertainment, which she founded in 1994, Neal developed and executive produced programming for The Travel Channel, Fox, A&E, NBC, TVOne, CBS, Spike TV, BET, The Africa Channel, and TV Land, as well as short form commercials and videos for Warner Bros, Fox, NAB (National Association of Broadcasters), NATPE (National Association of Television Program Executives), The Academy of TV Arts & Sciences, Western Union, and The Africa Travel Association. Please visit www.parkhillonline.com for a further list of her TV credentials.
Recruited in 2005 to help launch The Africa Channel, Neal oversaw the network’s offices in Los Angeles, London, and South Africa. In her role as Executive Vice President of Production & Programming, she managed all original productions, acquisition programming, program development, marketing, operations, and post-production.
A highly-respected documentarian, Neal’s most recent production, INTORE (“The Chosen”), offers a powerful and rare look at how Rwanda overcame its tragic past by regaining its identity through music, dance, and the resilience of a new generation. The film features musical and dance performances, interwoven with interviews with genocide survivors and perpetrators, Rwandan leaders, legends, and Hollywood elite. The film is currently screening internationally on the Film Festival Circuit.
Neal’s first documentary, TRIBUTE: Stanley Tookie Williams: 1953-2005, examined the life and death of the Crips Gang co-founder, death row prisoner, children’s book author, and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, executed on December 13, 2005. The documentary featured a filmed reenactment of that execution witnessed by Neal, plus never-before-seen footage of his ashes scattered in Soweto, South Africa by Neal with friend and activist, Barbara Becnel, to honor his last wish.
Throughout her career, Neal fed her passion for writing by penning articles for Ebony, MovieMaker, Forbes Africa, Savoy, and EMMY magazines, among others.
In 2014, she received her certification as a Professional Ghostwriter from California State University Long Beach, and now collaborates with authors on writing and editing their memoirs. Please visit www.shirleyneal.com for a further list of her journalism & literary credentials.
The Cleveland native with a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Boston University began her professional career in Los Angeles in 1979 as a secretary for Metromedia Television’s KTTV, and as a part-time actress in local theatre with frequent appearances on TV sitcoms. In 1981 she served as the station’s Senior Creative Director overseeing all on-air promotions, and as a Staff Producer for the station and station group.
After eight years with KTTV and later the Fox Network, Neal joined Burbank-based SI Communications, as Vice President of Video Production, to develop and operate the TV division of the radio production firm. While at the helm of SI, Neal developed and executive produced programming for syndication, cable, and international distribution including A Laugh, A Tear: Black Comedy in America, hosted by Whoopi Goldberg and featuring Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx, Arsenio Hall; The Other Side of Victory, hosted by Arthur Ashe, and featuring Tiger Woods, Venus & Serena Williams, and Muhammad Ali; and Red, Hot & Cool, hosted by Nancy Wilson; among other series and specials.
Following a three-year stint at SI Communications, Neal served for three seasons as producer/ writer of the syndicated series Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous, and as a producer/writer of various cable and syndicated programming.
For eight years, she served as Director and later Vice President of Video Production for NATPE. In this newly created position, Neal oversaw all live and videotape productions for the organization’s seminars, events, and Opening Ceremonies (featuring Cirque du Soleil, Blue Man Group, Howard Stern On-Location).
An Advisory Board Member of African Ancestry (www.africanancestry.com), Neal co-hosts African Ancestry Radio on Sirius XM. The weekly talk show returns September 2016 to the UrbanView Network, Channel 176.
Neal currently resides in Malibu, California.
