Tag Archives: Charles F. Johnson

Art Center Trustee Charles Floyd Johnson Honored for Creative Vision by Liberty Hill Foundation

Producer, filmmaker and Art Center Trustee Charles Floyd Johnson, who has produced television shows such as NCIS; JAG and Magnum, P.I., was honored with Liberty Hill’s 2013 Creative Vision Award at the Upton Sinclair Dinner and Awards Celebration on April 23, 2013 at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills.

Charles F. Johnson with Liberty Hill Executive Director Shane Goldsmith and board member Professor Ange-Marie Hancock, a Liberty Hill Board member.

Trustee Charles Floyd Johnson with Liberty Hill Executive Director Shane Goldsmith (left) and Professor Ange-Marie Hancock, a Liberty Hill Board member.

Throughout his career, Johnson has strived to create equal and balanced opportunities for minorities in the entertainment industry. While studying law at Howard University in the late 1960s, he was active in marches and protests during the Civil Rights Movement. In 1971, he attended the Professional Theater Workshop in Hollywood, then found work in the mail room at Universal Studios before being promoted to the Business Affairs Department.

While growing up he was fascinated by stories his father told him about the Tuskegee Airmen. Johnson worked for more than 20 years to bring the story of African-American fighter pilots to the big screen. Alongside executive producer George Lucas, he produced the 2012 movie Red Tails, which won the NAACP Image Award for Best Picture.

“These young men were not encouraged to fly for their country,” said Johnson. “But they triumphed over adversity. These were men who fought racism…they did it successfully and they were heroes, not victims.”

Liberty Hill is dedicated to advancing social change through grants, campaigns and leadership training by investing in community organizers who help bring equality and opportunity to Los Angeles.

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Trustee Charles F. Johnson Flies High with “Red Tails”

"Red Tails" Executive Producer and Art Center Trustee Charles Floyd Johnson.

One of Art Center’s newer Trustees, Charles Floyd Johnson has a long-standing and successful career as a producer in the entertainment industry. He first started becoming familiar with the College during August of last year, became a Trustee earlier this year, and is looking forward to assisting Art Center in a number of different capacities, from outreach to fundraising.

“I came out for a graduation and was so impressed with Art Center, its students, and its plans for the future, that I said this is the place for me,” said Johnson, who points to being particularly impressed by the College’s Strategic Plan. “It felt to me like a very forward-thinking agenda, in terms of both making the school more user-friendly for the students and also making Art Center more dominant. Art Center already has a wonderful reputation in so many of its areas, but the College is interested in becoming even stronger.”

Johnson is currently serving as executive producer of the CBS television drama NCIS, which celebrates its 200th episode on February 7. He is also one of the producers of Red Tails, the Lucasfilm feature about the Tuskegee Airmen, America’s first all African-American aerial unit who both helped bring down the Nazi war machine during World War II and challenged racial stereotypes back home. Defying the odds, the film starring an all African-American cast — including Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., Nate Parker and David Oleyowo — debuted last weekend in second place by bringing in nearly $19 million at the box office.

“It’s a story that has resonance with a lot of people,” said Johnson of the film which he and fellow Red Tails producer George Lucas had been trying to get off the ground for 23 years. “These young men were not encouraged to fly for their country. They were not expected to succeed. But they triumphed over adversity. These were men who fought racism at home and fascism abroad. They did it successfully and they were heroes, not victims.”

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