Ron Simons

Five-time Tony Award-nominated and four- time Tony Award-winning producer, is CEO of SimonSays Entertainment, and an executive producer/producer of VIVA VERDI! Broadway credits include the winning box-office hit Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations, as well as the Tony-winning productions of Jitney, Porgy & Bess, A Gentleman’s Guide and Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike. Additional Broadway credits include The Gin Game, Hughie, A Street Car Named Desire, as well as the Off-Broadway hit Turn Me Loose. Simons is the highest African-American Tony Award winning producer of all time, cementing him as the leading Broadway producer working today bringing diversity to the stage. As CEO of SimonSays Entertainment, he leads the strategic planning and development of theatre, film and television projects including the critically acclaimed Sundance films NIGHT CATCHES US (starring Kerry Washington, Anthony Mackie and Wendell Pierce), GUN HILL ROAD (starring Esai Morales and Judy Reyes), BLUE CAPRICE (starring Isaiah Washington and Tequan Richmond) and MOTHER OF GEORGE (starring Danai Gurira) — three of which premiered in competition. His first documentary 25 TO LIFE, premiered at the American Black Film Festival where it won Best Documentary. Simons is a recipient of the Heritage Award from Columbia College’s Black Alumni Council, 150 Distinguished Alumni Award from University of Washington, and is a Johnson & Johnson Leadership Award Fellow, IFP Cannes’ Producers’ Network Fellow and a Sundance Producers’ Summit Fellow. A member of the Producers Guild of America, he was recently honored as the Emerging Producer of the Year by the National Black Theatre Festival.