Winner, The Coletta Preacely-Garcia Diversity Fellowship Spring/Summer 2026
BIO
A featured community activist and artist in the new Obama Presidential Center’s historic “Imagine Your Impact” Experience Exhibit, Little Rock Arkansas-native, and Founder & CEO of Second Glance Productions, Anthony L. Williams is a Telly Award-winning showrunner and filmmaker, performer, and educator living in Chicago (by way of Raleigh, North Carolina). With Southern charm that'll knock your socks off, Anthony leads with confidence rather than arrogance when acknowledging that he has a special and unique gift for finding the heart in a story and connecting it to the world.
Festival Winner in the inaugural "Best Indie TV Pilot - Unscripted" category at the 15th ATX TV Festival and the "Best TV Series" category as the international debut premiere at the 2026 International Black & Diversity Film Festival, his newest relationship / dating / mental health proof-of-concept docuseries — It’s Not You. It’s Me: Chicago (INYIM) — holds nominations for "Best Director," "Best Producer," and "Best Cinematography”. The 2025 recipient of Emmy-nominated streaming platform Open Television’s #OTVAtlas Post-Production & Distribution Grant program, INYIM was the “Best Trailer” winner at both the 2024 Cinema WorldFest Awards and 2024 Creation International Film Festival.
His critically-acclaimed feature film, Thicker Than Blood (TTB), garnered him awards for "Best Director” and "Best Feature Film" in 2019 at the Newark International Film Festival and Arlington International Film Festival (respectively), and won two of its (6) nominations in the “Best Actor” and “Best Supporting Actress” categories from the 2025 World Music & Independent Film Festival in Washington DC.
Possessing an unhealthy affinity for discovering new food, enjoying all things music, and incorporating holistic health into his life and storytelling, Anthony has spent 15 years producing scripted content through his production company and unscripted content for HGTV, the History Channel, National Geographic, A&E, The Travel Channel, Food Network, Investigative Discovery, and more. No matter the storytelling medium, Anthony takes pride in creating memorable media that pushes boundaries with purpose and on purpose. And with every story he tells, his mission is to ‘edutain’ and inspire viewers at first glance, while provoking deeper thought, conversation, and connection upon ‘second glance.’
Learn more about his current project It's Not You. It's Me: Chicago a docuseries on mental health and dating.