Piece of the Pie

Piece of The Pie is a new TMZ franchise, showcasing amazingly talented people of color who have had trouble making their mark in the entertainment industry.

Our goal here is to raise awareness on behalf of marginalized voices and creators -- people who have great stories to tell -- and make sure the people who pull the strings in the industry see what they bring to the table.

Antonio Cannady is a screenwriter for a YouTube web series who wants to write for the major streaming networks ... but he says being Black makes it harder to land a job in Hollywood.

Antonio's writing for a show called "The Chronicles of PB and Jay," but as he tells TMZ's Loren Lorosa ... he's had white writers tell him his look -- tattoos, black skin and muscles -- might be intimidating the folks doing the hiring.

It's pretty alarming ... Antonio says early on in his Hollywood career he was told to stop working out, and whenever he interviews for writing positions on TV shows he has to be sure to break the ice and put the rest of the folks in the room at ease.

While Antonio says he's dealt with stigmas and racial biases, he says it's important for Black creatives looking to gain a foothold in Tinseltown to remember this ... create your own content and let Hollywood come to you.

Piece of The Pie is a new TMZ franchise, showcasing amazingly talented people of color who have had trouble making their mark in the entertainment industry.

Our goal here is to raise awareness on behalf of marginalized voices and creators -- people who have great stories to tell -- and make sure the people who pull the strings in the industry see what they bring to the table.

Tiauna Jackson is a talent and literary agent who built her own agency from the ground up after encountering what she describes as rampant racial workplace discrimination.

Tiauna did not fold ... rather she launched the Jackson Agency, making her the first Black woman with 100 percent ownership of an agency, becoming a Writers Guild franchise in L.A. -- the most competitive market in showbiz.

Her challenges didn't stop there ... Tiauna explains to TMZ's Loren Lorosa how she discovered a pattern of racial bias facing her clients in Hollywood ... and what she had to do to overcome that obstacle.

Jackson's examples of discrimination and harassment are disturbing and infuriating, which is why she's aiming to crush the stigma that Black-owned agencies or agents are less legit or less important ... but she needs help.

Piece of The Pie is a new TMZ franchise, showcasing amazingly talented people of color who have had trouble making their mark in the entertainment industry.

Our goal here is to raise awareness on behalf of marginalized voices and creators -- people who have great stories to tell -- and make sure the people who pull the strings in the industry see what they bring to the table.

Dez White is a TV producer, screenwriter, showrunner and CEO who has produced series and movies for BET, but says it's still hard to get a seat at the table with "mainstream" networks.

Dez shares her experiences trying to unlock doors in Hollywood that remain closed for Black creatives with TMZ's Loren Lorosa, and she says it's high time network execs start hiring more Black women in positions where they can make a difference and tell stories about their own culture.

Despite some pretty impressive credentials creating and producing content for BET, Dez says suits at other networks keep offering her jobs working below white men with less experience. For her, something doesn't quite add up.

Dez says she learned a very valuable lesson the hard way ... don't settle and don't take a job that's paying you less than you're worth. When you do that, Dez says you set the bar low for yourself and other Black creatives.

With Kamala Harris making history this election and blazing a new trail for Black culture, Dez hopes the Vice Presidential candidate can open minds in Hollywood and make Black women in power more common.

Piece of The Pie is a new TMZ franchise, showcasing amazingly talented people of color who have had trouble making their mark in the entertainment industry.

Our goal here is to raise awareness on behalf of marginalized voices and creators -- people who have great stories to tell -- and make sure the people who pull the strings in the industry see what they bring to the table.

Jawn Murray has hosted TV specials for Travel Channel, NFL Network and EPIX, but he says lots of network executives still have reservations about being able to sell shows with Black hosts.

Jawn shares his experiences trying to carve out his spot as a host in Hollywood with TMZ's Loren Lorosa, and he says the opportunities for Black hosts are few and far between, especially for folks who aren't well-known comics or retired sports figures.

For Jawn, he says he's been super close to getting hosting jobs, only for networks to come back to him at the eleventh hour and say things just aren't gonna work out.

While Jawn's not putting down hosts like Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish and Michael Strahan -- he celebrates them for breaking barriers -- he still thinks TV networks should be way more open to Black hosts and should embrace finding the next Black Regis Philbin or Ryan Seacrest.

Jawn says it's not just TV execs who have trouble envisioning shows with Black hosts, he also says some of the onus is on agents to get more Black talent on their rosters, and go to bat for them too.

Piece of The Pie is a new TMZ franchise, showcasing amazingly talented people of color who have had trouble making their mark in the entertainment industry.

Our goal here is to raise awareness on behalf of marginalized voices and creators -- people who have great stories to tell -- and make sure the people who pull the strings in the industry see what they bring to the table.

Patientce Foster is a marketing and brand management CEO who works closely with Cardi B and Offset, and she says knowing the value of Black culture is the key to unlocking all types of doors many people still find closed.

Patientce shares some pretty valuable career and business tips with TMZ's Loren Lorosa, explaining why it's important for Black creatives to know their worth and what they bring to the table when they walk into a room full of execs who don't look like them.

The way Patientce sees it ... knowing your value allows you to enter a pitch meeting with a different confidence and energy, and it's important to remember Hollywood bigwigs and consumers are now thirsting for Black projects, so understand you have something they want and use it to your advantage.

Patientce built her marketing firm, The Cream Agency, from the ground up ... and she also reminds folks why it's important to develop a thick skin as they carve out their piece of the pie.

Piece of The Pie is a new TMZ franchise showcasing amazingly talented people of color who have had trouble making their mark in the entertainment industry.

Our goal here is to raise awareness on behalf of marginalized voices and creators -- people who have great stories to tell -- and make sure the people who pull the strings in the industry see what they bring to the table. So here goes.

Nakia Stephens is an award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker who found success telling stories back home in Georgia, but she's encountered obstacles getting work in Hollywood, where she says the boardroom and pitch meetings look quite different from Atlanta.

Nakia chronicles her difficulties breaking into Hollywood with TMZ's Loren Lorosa, explaining one of the most striking disparities she's noticed between Atlanta and Tinseltown is the absence of execs and other people in power who look like her.

Despite some solid credentials -- creating her own screenwriting label, Damn Write Originals, and getting 20 of her screenplays produced -- Nakia says it's been almost impossible to get a green light for her screenplays in Hollywood, where major networks seem averse to telling uniquely Black stories.

When she enters a pitch meeting and sees a lack of diverse faces, Nakia knows the odds are against her.