Anthony Williams
CEO / Showrunner / Exec. Creative Director at Second Glance Productions
Director, Screenwriter, Producer, Actor, Creative Executive and Director of Development
Chicago, Illinois
February 2012
> 2 weeks ago
0
About Anthony
A native of Little Rock, Arkansas and founder of Second Glance Productions, Anthony L. Williams is an award-winning showrunner, performer, and educator living in Chicago. 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.
His 15 years of unscripted/scripted television, film, docuseries, and digital media production experience is gained from the streaming, network/cable television, and independent levels, partnering with creatives, nonprofits, universities, and corporations at the intersections of education, social justice, community outreach, and holistic/public health. Anthony has developed, produced, and directed projects and creative teams of 50+ in shaping independent narrative media and community event programming, while growing emerging divisions of production companies and community-based organizations, helping expand their visibility and marketability, audience reach and interactions, and recruiting, organizing, securing, and growing volunteer efforts and new financial partners.
In 2024, Anthony was the 1st Place Winner in Illinois’ LGBT Chamber of Commerce’s entrepreneur ‘Biz Boot Camp Pitch Competition’ sponsored by JPMorgan Chase. His newest docuseries, "It’s Not You, It’s Me" (INYIM), is the 2025 recipient of Emmy-nominated streaming platform Open Television’s #OTVAtlas Post-Production & Distribution Grant Fund program. INYIM holds awards for “Best Film/TV/Web Trailer” at both the 2024 Cinema WorldFest Awards and 2024 Creation International Film Festival, and has received the Honorable Mention award from the 2024 Various Artists Independent Film Festival.
His critically acclaimed feature film, Thicker Than Blood, garnered him awards for “Best Actor” and “Best Supporting Actress” at the 2025 World Music & Independent Film Festival, as well as "Best Director in a Feature Film" at the Newark International Film Festival and "Best Narrative Feature Film" at the Arlington International Film Festival in Boston in 2019. TTB's impact campaign continues to ring true to audiences, fostering nationwide conversations through numerous film festivals, LGBTQ and African-American nonprofits, HBCUs/universities, teaching hospitals, medical and faith-based organizations, and state and local public health departments in nearly 30 major cities nationwide.
His award-winning short film, Absolutely Positive, claimed the "Best Director" award at the World Music & Independent Film Festival in Washington, DC in 2013, earning him a personal invitation to the National HIV/AIDS Strategy Initiative at the Obama White House. Now developed as a scripted television series, the pilot for Absolutely Positive advanced to the Quarterfinalist round in the 2020 TSL Screenplay Contest. Early in his career, his collaborations with corporations, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations won Second Glance Productions the 2010 “Silver Customer Service Award” for creative public access and informational video content produced for the local township of Hillsborough, North Carolina.
Additionally, Anthony credits the launch of his full-time, professional artistic career to his early days of performing as a standardized patient for medical and teaching institutions, and as a uniquely trained actor in realistic high-stakes interactions and real-life simulations in the realm of organ, tissue, and eye donation. His involvement in this work has led to higher family authorization rates, translating into literal lives saved every day. Training in these powerful, high-fidelity simulation-based educational methodologies not only gave him a unique outlook and perception on the gift of life and connection of human interaction, but it honed his skills as a performer and strengthened his intuition, heart, and generosity of spirit to accompany his directing style.
In addition to managing his own production company, teaching and mentoring LGBTQ+ youth, and volunteering within his community, Anthony's freelance collaborations include developing and producing a variety of scripted, unscripted, and digital content for networks such as HGTV, the History Channel, National Geographic, A&E, The Travel Channel, Food Network, Investigative Discovery, and more, combining the art and creativity of imagination with the reality and realms of education. 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.’
Life Experience
Achievements
Awards
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Best Actor in a Feature Film - Thicker Than Blood - World Music & Independent Film Fest.
(2025) -
Best Supporting Actress in a Feature Film - Thicker Than Blood - World Music & Independent Film Fest
(2025) -
Nomination: Best Short Screenplay - Heartstrings - World Music & Independent Film Fest.
(2025) -
Best Script - Heartstrings - London/Lisbon's Sunday Shorts Film Festival
(2024) -
Finalist: Best Short Screenplay - Heartstrings - Shortcut 100 Film Festival
(2024) -
Best Trailer - It's Not You, It's Me - Creation Intl Film Fest.
(2024) -
Best Trailer - It's Not You, It's Me - Cinema World Fest Awards
(2024) -
2nd Place: FILM/TV/WEB Trailer - It's Not You, It's Me - Williamsburg Intl Film & Music Competition
(2024) -
Honorable Mention - It's Not You, It's Me - Various Artists Independent Film Fest
(2024) -
Audience Choice Award - Underneath (Theater) - Eclectic Full Contact Theater, Chicago
(2022) -
2nd Place - Heartstrings (Short) - Flip the Script Screenwriting Competition
(2021) -
Quarterfinalist - Absolutely Positive (TV Pilot) - TSL Screenplay Competition
(2020) -
Best Director - Thicker Than Blood (Feature) - Newark Intl Film Festival
(2019) -
Best Feature Film - Thicker Than Blood (Feature) - Arlington Intl Film Festival
(2019) -
Best Director - Absolutely Positive (Short) - World Music & Independent Film Festival
(2013) -
Best in Customer Service - Hillsborough, NC (Digital Content)
(2011)
Featured Projects
Work Experience
Credits
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It's Not You, It's Me (
2021 - 2025 )
Series by Second Glance Productions (Comedy, Documentary, Romance and Reality-TV) Creator / Showrunner Three bachelors-of-color re-embark into the dating scene -- some for their first time, and others hopefully for their last! While receiving expert guidance on healthy relationships, sex, and vulnerability, the niches and experiences of modern queer dating will be tossed aside as our bachelors find themselves in the midst of personal growth while attending individual and group mental health therapy sessions. Along their journeys of receiving clinical coaching and support, they'll also receive tools to help unpack baggage and trauma from previous relationships so that they don’t take them into the new ones they’re starting to build. -
Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo (
2025 )
Television by History Channel / A&E Segment Producer -
History's Greatest Mysteries with Laurence Fishburne (
2022 - 2024 )
Television by History Channel / A&E Associate Producer -
Dr. Mercy (
2021 )
Television by TLC Associate Producer -
Live PD: Women on Patrol (
2018 )
Television by Lifetime / A&E Field Producer -
Thicker Than Blood (
2016 - 2017 )
by Second Glance Productions Director, Writer, Producer Jordan, the youngest of two sons, returns home for the first time in three years to celebrate his older brother’s promotion to partner in his law firm. During what’s supposed to be a joyous afternoon of family, friends, and food, secrets are revealed, masks are uncovered, and some things are said that can’t be taken back. A once tight-knit family is left broken and faced with the task of trying to figure out how to pick up the pieces and put them back together before losing each other forever. -
Love It or List It (
2014 - 2015 )
Television by HGTV First Assistant Director -
Absolutely Positive (
2012 - 2013 )
Film (short) by Second Glance Productions Writer, Director, Producer, Actor Absolutely Positive is a dramatic short film that follows four characters, all from different walks of life, as they get tested for HIV. It shows the events of why they decide to get tested, the thoughts that run through their minds as they wait for their results, and how they decide to live their lives after discovering their results. Displaying a truthful insight into the many worlds and faces of HIV, Absolutely Positive sheds light on the importance of personal accountability as well as lack of discrimination, showing that HIV has no limits and knows no bounds. It only takes one person. It only takes one time.
Loglines
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It's Not You, It's Me Budget: $0 - $100K | Romance ⋄ Documentary With a desire to heal from past traumas and prepare for healthier futures, three bachelors-of-color re-embark into the dating scene: some for the first time, and others hopefully for their last!
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Heartstrings Budget: $0 - $100K | Fantasy ⋄ Drama Be kind to the smiles that people present to the world, for you never know what's hidden behind them.
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Thicker Than Blood 2: If the Shoe Fits Budget: $100K - $1M | Family ⋄ Drama Long is the road in someone else's shoes.
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And Then You... Budget: $100K - $1M | Romance ⋄ Comedy The heart wants what it wants...or does it?
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Absolutely Positive Budget: $100K - $1M | Independent ⋄ Drama It only takes one person. It only takes one time. Can you ever be…Absolutely Positive?
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