With twenty years’ experience in the entertainment industry as a producer, award-winning theater director, development executive, talent manager, agent, entrepreneur, and activist, Natalie Speech brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the Black Entertainment Museum Foundation. Having been entrenched in several aspects of the industry, she has mastered the art of behind-the-scenes creativity, a skill that has served her extremely well in her various endeavors. Her vision and innate ability to successfully, and seemingly effortlessly, put together big and small ventures [from concept to fruition] has also earned her the reputation as the “go to” person for getting things done in Hollywood. Natalie’s beginnings in the entertainment industry stretch back to her childhood days in Kansas City, where she trained in acting, tap, ballet, and acrobatics. Her extraordinary gifts were put on center stage when she played multiple roles in one single production of ‘The Prince and the Pauper,’ at the Southside Community Center in San Jose, California. Bitten by the performance bug, Natalie would later establish herself as an lead actress in stage productions throughout the Bay Area. However, it was while pursuing her education as a theater arts major on the campus of San Jose State University that she also developed a love for producing, and her drive for multilevel success was born. Natalie founded the performing arts group “Artist in Minority,” and went on to produce several theatrical events on campus such as ‘In the Wine Time’ by Ed Bullins, West Coast Night at the Apollo, South Bay Comedy Jam, and the original stage play “The Aftermath”, a critically-acclaimed production she also directed, and which garnered her the Toddy Award for Best Student Director from the acclaimed San Jose State Theatre Department. Upon graduation from San Jose State, and moving to Los Angeles, Natalie accepted the position of House Manager at the prestigious Burbage Theater in Westwood, California. There she was able to apply her skills as the lighting director/operator, costumer, sound crew and the stage manager. During this time, legendary international jazz and blues singer Barbara Morrison also engaged Natalie to co-manage productions at her Southland Cultural Center theater in Inglewood, California. Armed with a resolve to not be pigeon-holed, and clear vision fueled by an indomitable entrepreneurial spirit, Natalie decided to move on to expand her horizons and learn all facets of the entertainment business. She founded Ne’j Productions and started casting and producing theatrical shows. Under her direction, the company successfully produced Can I Sing for you Brother? The Shaggy Wolfman Tales, The Tempest, the Entertaining Educational Weekend Extravaganza. Based on the success of Ne’j Productions, Natalie expanded the business to incorporate talent management, and Ne’j Management was born. Natalie soon became Hollywood’s go-to manager for high-profile media placements of minority youth, in various projects, including the Academy-Award winning film American Beauty, blockbuster American Pie, and The Woods. During this time, Natalie, a lifelong community activist, founded a free acting school for neighborhood youth, hosted by Ne’j Management at Screenland Studios in North Hollywood. Securing the services of various professional teachers in voice, acting and dance, the school’s goal was to turn theatrically gifted under-served kids into triple threats (in film, theater, and music) - and she did! To complement her other endeavors, Natalie started 2 Guys Casting and became a reliable source for supplying talented minority actors for film and television and developed a reputation for delivering on “last- minute” or “rush” casting calls. This led to work with casting directors such as Monica Cooper, Bill Dance, Central Casting via Academy Kids aka Kidz Background and Christopher Gray casting -- some of whom still turn to her to fulfill their casting needs for studio projects. Natalie also collaborated with various other casting directors and producers on projects for Universal Music, Columbia, and Epic Records. One of the highlights of Natalie’s casting career was providing numerous kids for the I know I can music video by Nas and Girlfriend by B2K. Overall, 2 Guys Casting cast various film and television projects, including BLBTV, Life of the Party, Echo Mod Squad with Sir Keith Holman, and The Club for the late Tommy Ford and handled the extra casting on the project The Broken Gear by Haile Lee. Natalie’s unique gift of effectively matching talent with projects ultimately caught the attention of Cavaleri & Associates Talent Literary Agency. The company quickly asked her to join their theatrical and commercial departments, and after making her an offer she couldn’t refuse, Natalie was lured away from casting and talent management to pursue the role of talent agent. This, she felt, gave her additional insight into how the industry worked and from a different perspective. Negotiating contracts for print, commercial and theatrical talent allowed her to become well-versed in contract and labor negotiations. Even as she has segued from agenting and management to launch the Black Entertainment Museum Foundation, Natalie continues to develop properties to produce for film and television. Having studied documentary filmmaking at UCLA, she is currently working on two documentary features -- “Not by Design: When Illness alters everything,” which she is also directing, and “Branches of a Family Tree.” Her portfolio of projects also includes the fun family travel show, “Life of the Party” and a electrifying reality competition show, “Are You Rap Royalty?” With her “Blue Lights in the Basement” monthly podcast, which is currently in development, Natalie will get to indulge her longstanding love affair with the entertainment industry, as she shares cutting-edge perspectives on various types of careers within the entertainment world and how they relate to current events in the business. Highly respected by her peers, Natalie is a well-rounded professional, who brings a powerful combination of creative production experience, entertainment business expertise, determination, integrity, and a treasure trove of connections, all of which equip her to successfully run BEMU. Through BEMU and its quest to chronicle, memorialize, celebrate, and pay tribute to the lives and works of Black creatives in this amazing venture, Natalie is determined to continue to make a significant impact in Hollywood. In her spare time, Natalie loves to travel, train for marathons and, whenever she gets the opportunity, indulges in her first love of acting. She also participates in international speech contests, where she has earned the title of Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM). She currently holds the position of President of Imagination at NBCUniversal Toastmasters, a global public-speaking, communication, and leadership enrichment program, via Toastmasters International.