Over the course of his career, Anslem has held high-ranking positions at various media brands ranging from Essence, Madame Noire, and JET to Complex Networks, Black Enterprise, and XXL. Currently serving as the Sr. Director of Digital Operations & Strategy, the Brooklyn native is a skilled thought leader and creative who has curated award-winning and highly engaged content across both print and digital. When he’s not responding to emails/texts/Slacks, Anslem can usually be found running around Brooklyn doing #GirlDad activities with his daughter, waxing poetic in a LinkedIn post, consuming all things sci-fi/MCU, or trying to find time to finish the draft of his first script.

How many years have you been a judge?

This is my first year!

What excited you about judging for the Telly Awards?

What excited me most was the opportunity to give back and play a role in celebrating the work of peers across the industry. It’s truly an honor.

What was your first job in the industry? What did it teach you?

My first job was as an assistant in the Culture/Lifestyle department at The Source Magazine. It was my dream job at the time and taught me many lessons. In fact, if not for that job and the connections I made then, I wouldn’t be where I am today. But the biggest lesson I took away from my time there (four years) was that it doesn’t hurt to ask for what you want; the worst that can happen is they say no, but a little faith in yourself can go a long way—especially when it’s supported by a three-month plan.

What project are you most proud to have worked on?

Whenever I think of the work I’m most proud of, it’s often a project that impacted someone’s life in a meaningful way. Things like a multi-part docu-series on various everyday people dealing with Sickle Cell Disease or a mini doc that celebrated the tragically short life of Sean Bell, a young man from Queens, New York, who was killed in a hail of 50 bullets by undercover NYPD officers, are some that come to mind. It’s not the celebrity interviews that stick with me but those intimate portraits of people who most people wouldn’t even know that tend to stand out most.

What’s the most challenging part about your job and/or the industry?

The most challenging part of any industry is change, but it comes with the territory. Whether it’s political tailwinds, technology advancements, or a shift in user behavior, something new is going to happen that shifts your whole world, but at the end of the day you have to be able to adapt. It’s a sink or swim scenario.

What do you look for to determine excellence in video?

No matter how good something looks, it won’t make the audience feel anything if it doesn’t make sense. Attention to detail is at the heart of any great content, and that all starts with the story. Whether it’s a commercial, film/TV, or a social video, you have to have a cohesive through line that carries your message forward.

What are your current roles and responsibilities and what do you love most about your job?

In my current role, I’m responsible for guiding strategy across Blavity’s Branded Content and Lifestyle brands. What I love most about it is being able to not only document culture in real time but help shape it as well. I also get to work with people who look like me to create content that both inspires and informs.

What initiatives or projects are you working on now that excite you?

There are a couple of projects on the horizon for Travel Noire next year that I’m really excited about but can’t speak about just yet. What I can speak about though is award season across our Lifestyle brands. The 2025 Travel Noire Awards just wrapped up, and that will be followed by the 21 Ninety Awards, which celebrates Black women across the lifestyle, wellness, and beauty space, as well as Home & Texture’s inaugural Design Vanguard Awards, which honors the various people of color making waves in the decor and interior design space. And of course there’s my first AfroTech conference taking place in Houston at the end of the month (October 2025).

Do you have any specific practices you lean on to spark creativity?

In addition to reading up on trends and developments, it’s always key to connect with your network. What are your peers doing or experiencing—regardless of whether they’re in the same industry or not? This allows you to get different perspectives and view things from different angles. Also, tapping into people younger than you—whether it’s relatives, co-workers, or even your own kids—they’re on the pulse of what’s next, so it’s critical to keep your eyes and ears open to stay relevant.

What inspired you to pursue your career path?

Looking back, I’ve always been a storyteller. It started with writing songs in high school and that evolved to poetry in college, but neither felt like a realistic career until I realized that at the heart of it all I could put words together in a way that meant something to people. Graduating with a Bachelor’s in Media Studies and a minor in English, I still didn’t know what I wanted to do. Media was broad and I applied everywhere after graduating—record labels, magazines, PR firms, studios. It just so happened that The Source called me in for a temp position that was supposed to be just a week. I gave it my all and by my second day they asked me if I could work the following week, and before you know it I had a full-time gig and the start of a long career. No matter if I’ve been a writer, editor, marketer, or strategist, it’s always been about telling good stories.

In your experience, what is a significant change you are seeing happen in the video, television, and/or film industry, and what insight can you share about how to navigate it?

Technology will always have the biggest impact on the industry. From tools that can complete menial tasks at scale to ones that simplify things that were once complex, it can be both a gift and a curse. As AI continues to infiltrate our everyday lives, there will be growing pains as people learn how to adapt, but rather than be fearful of the unknown, now more than ever is a time to explore to better understand it. Over the course of my career, I’ve always tried to look around the corner to see what’s next, and that approach has served me well. While working in print, I saw digital and social media as the next frontier. Then, after that, I saw a path towards branded content and marketing. Now, it’s clearly AI. Things will always change with time, so it’s just a matter of how willing you are to change with it or get left behind.