Cafe Society Blues

Mr. Byrd has co-written "A QUESTION OF FAMILY", with his wife Ruthann, suggested by the recent test-tube baby mix-up, where a white couple discovers they’ve given birth to twins, one white, the other black. It explores the ramifications of egg donation and IVF.

He has also co-written the teleplay "BRICKS & STRAW" with Amy Ostrower, a 3 hour dramatic TV special on the rivalry of W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington. The New Images Production was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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Mr. Byrd has co-written "A QUESTION OF FAMILY", with his wife Ruthann, suggested by the recent test-tube baby mix-up, where a white couple discovers they’ve given birth to twins, one white, the other black. It explores the ramifications of egg donation and IVF.

He has also co-written the teleplay "BRICKS & STRAW" with Amy Ostrower, a 3 hour dramatic TV special on the rivalry of W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington. The New Images Production was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

PEOPLE VS CAFÉ SOCIETY co-written with Carl Arnold is the true story of the notorious Greenwich Village cabaret and uptown club of the late 30's and 40s and its owner Barney Josephson that became the target of red-baiting J. Edgar Hoover, the gossip columnists and HUAC.

He is co-author of "SEPIA TONE", a feature film about Oscar Micheaux, "King of the Independent Filmmakers", and seminal figure in black film history, as well as writer, producer, director and distributor of over forty feature films.

Inspired by his musical book, Mr. Byrd was commissioned by producer John Williams of Vanguard Films (“Sarafina”, “Seven Years In Tibet”, “Shrek”), to write the screenplay "LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL", a musical bio of r& b/rock 'n' roll pioneer Louis Jordan ("Five Guys Named Moe").

THE CINEMA CRUSADE OF OSCAR MICHEAUX is Mr. Byrd’s one-man play on the legendary life of Mr. Byrd was commissioned to adapt Roald Dahl’s short story “A Fine Son” for the Lightning Strikes Theatre Company’s The Playboy Stories production in spring 2000 at the Sanford Meisner Theatre.

Mr. Byrd's recent work for the stage, "POLES APART", tells the remarkable story of Matthew Henson, Lieutenant Robert E. Peary's black assistant, who was actually the first man to reach the North Pole. Earlier versions of the play have been showcased in New York and Los Angeles.

Mr. Byrd is co-writer and lyricist of “FOREVER MPETA”, A Peter Pan-inspired Hip hop musical fantasy. It was originally workshoped and performed at the Playwrights Project at the Abrons Arts Center at the Henry Street Settlement in ‘98. A recent workshop production of the musical was performed at the Theatre at the Riverside Church in New York.

Mr. Byrd has work at the New York office of The Hollywood Reporter 1984-1985 as Celebrity Liaison making initial contact with visiting celebrities at hotels. Sent complimentary copies of the Reporter with request for information for columnist Robert Osborne while they were in town promoting latest film/TV projects.

Member of the Writers Guild of America (East), Dramatists Guild.

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