Will Smith keynote speaker

Will Smith is an actor, producer, musician, and an Academy Award, Grammy Award, SAG Award, BAFTA Award, and NAACP Award winner who has enjoyed a diverse career encompassing films, television, and multi-platinum records. He became a #1 New York Times bestselling author with his memoir Will and co-founded Westbrook Inc., a media company that empowers artists to tell stories that connect the world.

After starting his career as a rapper, Smith won over audiences across the world with his performances in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, I Am Legend, Bad Boys, the Men in Black film series, Hitch, and Aladdin. His vast filmography also includes transformative portrayals of true-life icons in Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness, both of which garnered him Academy Award nominations, as well as his role in Concussion. Smith produced and starred as Richard Williams, the infamous father of American icons Venus and Serena Williams, in Warner Brothers’ King Richard. The movie was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Motion Picture and Best Actor in a Leading Role—the latter making Smith a first-time Academy Award winner. His performance as Richard Williams also made him a first-time SAG Award and BAFTA Award winner.

Smith can be seen in the National Geographic series Pole to Pole, in which he also serves as an executive producer. The series follows Smith as he ventures from the South Pole to the North Pole, crossing Earth’s different biomes, communities, and landscapes along the way. He also stars in Columbia Pictures’ Bad Boys 4. The movie, produced by and starring Smith, is the fourth installment in the Bad Boys franchise and is a follow-up to one of 2020’s biggest box office hits, Bad Boys for Life.

Smith starred in Apple’s action thriller Emancipation, directed by Antoine Fuqua, and produced by his Westbrook Studios. The movie follows the story of a runaway slave as he forges through the swamps of Louisiana on a tortuous journey to escape plantation owners who nearly killed him. The film was awarded the Beacon Award by the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) and for his performance, Smith also received the Image Award from the NAACP in the category of Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture.

Smith was seen in the six-part National Geographic limited series “Welcome to Earth,” series in which he both starred and executive produced, via his production company Westbrook Studios.

On the small screen, Smith narrated the popular Netflix docuseries, Amend: The Fight for America which is a six-part docuseries that explores the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Executive-produced and hosted by Smith, and executive-produced by Emmy-winning writer Larry Wilmore, the series is a powerful, multimedia journey through American history that encourages viewers to question what a “United States” really means. Additionally, Smith produced and appeared in HBO Max’s emotional “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” 30th Anniversary Reunion special in 2020.

Smith launched his media company, Westbrook Inc. alongside Jada Pinkett Smith, Miguel Melendez, and Kosaku Yada. The company focuses on empowering artists to tell stories that connect with a global audience. Westbrook houses Westbrook Studios, the premium film and television studio; Westbrook Media, a vertically integrated IP incubator, brand content studio, and production company; Westbrook International Holdings, home to German licensing and distribution firm Telepool; and Good Goods, which creates unique consumer products around the company’s IP and talent partners. Westbrook Studios is home to the Emmy-nominated Facebook Watch series, "Red Table Talk" and is rapidly expanding its footprint in entertainment, serving as the studio home to all new premium TV and motion picture projects. In film, Westbrook Studios released the six-time Academy Award® nominated King Richard, based on the life of Richard Williams, and Emancipation which sold to Apple in the largest festival acquisition deal in film history. Additional film projects include The Book of Clarence, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Bad Boys 4, the latest in the global blockbuster franchise, sports drama Red Zone, starring Jada Pinkett Smith; Clean Air, a joint project from Westbrook, NASCAR, and the Chainsmokers; the next chapter of I Am Legend starring Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan and written by Akiva Goldsman; action-comedy Regulators starring Nicky Jam and live-action musical fantasy film, The Soul Superhero. Smith serves as a producer through Westbrook on his projects including King Richard, Emancipation, Bad Boys 4, Trains & Automobiles, and Planes.

In television, Westbrook Studios launched the highly anticipated second season of Bel-Air, the dramatic reimagining of Will Smith’s iconic The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, which landed a straight-to-series, two-season order from Peacock and was picked up for a third season. Additional releases include the Netflix scripted-documentary hybrid series African Queens: Njinga and its follow-up season Queen Cleopatra that launched in May 2023; adventure series Welcome to Earth (Disney+); powerful six-part docuseries Amend: the Fight for America (Netflix); six-time Emmy and SAG Award-nominated series Cobra Kai (Netflix); limited series Women of the Movement (ABC); and 16-episode comedy series This Joka (Roku).