About this issue.

Who's got the power? It is a million-dollar question--one that deserves a billion-dollar answer. Forget the people you see in front of the camera or pictured on a CD cover. True power resides with the people behind it all, the people who control the budget and decide who will, or will not, release a CD or appear on the silver screen. These are the entertainment industry's true power brokers. In essence, they broker deals on behalf of talent. And, as a result, they have considerable influence and power.

"If you were an aspiring entertainer-say an actor or a rapper--a true power broker is someone who could sign you up on the spot without needing the approval of someone else," explains Clarence Avant, CEO of Avant Garde Music Publishing and former chairman of Motown Records from 1993 to 1998. "If a true power broker believes in your skills, he or she can back you up with a huge budget and a worldwide tour. This is the true benchmark of power in the entertainment industry."

Although African Americans have a way to go in gaining the upper reaches of power in Hollywood and the music industry, a good number of them do have clout. Some have executive power: developing movies, signing talent, controlling production and marketing budgets, or cutting major deals. Others like Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, and Will Smith have artistic power, the ability to influence the green-lighting of a project attached to their production company, and the name recognition to get a cut of the gross.

And while there are very few African Americans in the film industry with this sort of authority, we define silver-screen power brokers as people who can influence the green-lighting of a film. This distinction opens the door to a number of credible players.

Compiling a list of power brokers in the music industry was much easier, which suggests we may see more blacks, such as Antonio "L.A." Reid, appointed as CEOs of major music labels. The path to true power in the music industry has already been established. Unfortunately, this isn't true for the film industry. It's unlikely we will see a black CEO of a Hollywood studio in our generation.

But we must remember that film is only part of the entertainment industry. When we combined the film, television, and music industries, and the people with behind-the-scenes power and influence, we were able to identify 50 big leaguers and up-and-comers who made the cut. Read about them in our cover story. The people we highlight are affluent and wealthy, the closest we come to true power.

This month marks our annual Business of Entertainment issue, but you might say we've already covered a significant part of the industry with our Hip-Hop Economy series (May-August 2002). We also named Rush Communications our 2002 BLACK ENTERPRISE Company of the Year. But this month we take a slightly different angle. This time, we attempt to answer the questions: Why has power been so elusive for African Americans? And what has to happen in order for us to get more of it?