S.V. Henson Jr.

Stanley V. Henson, Jr. was born in Maryland and lived the first year of his life in the home of Abraham and Elizabeth Carr-Smith (Owner's of Carr's Beach) with his parents. Carr's beach was the east coast mecca for black entertainers in the 50's and 60's. Among the entertainers who performed at Carr's Beach were jazz legends such as Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, and Lionel Hampton, as well as soul artists Ray Charles, James Brown, and Jackie Wilson. Rock 'n' Roll pioneers Fats Domino and Buddy Holly also performed at Carr's Beach. On July 21, 1956, an estimated 70,000 people traveled to Carr's Beach to hear Chuck Berry perform, although only 8,000 made it past the gates because the grounds were filled beyond capacity. By the early 1960s, the list of popular entertainers included Little Richard, Lloyd Price, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, the Shirelles, the Coasters, and the Drifters. Henson began his career in Washington, D.C. where he met and was managed by Aquil Fudge, (cousin of Stevie Wonder, producer for Rick James, and accountant for Spike Lee). After Fudge moved to Los Angeles to head Stevie Wonder's Black Bull Publishing, After relocating to Los Angeles in 1982, he met a plethora of mentors including the late Matt Robinson, the late Comedian Dap "Sugar" Willie, the late legendary Motown producer, Norman Whitfield, The late J.W. Alexander, who was the manager/partner of Sam Cooke. Henson credits Aquil Fudge with saving his life. During a low period in Henson's life, Fudge introduced Henson to Rodney Gordy (nephew of Berry Gordy) and Henson signed a publishing deal with Jobete Music. Many of his songs were published by MCA/Universal/Chriswald Music during the '80s. Some of his music was distributed throughout Europe and Japan. Henson also composed and produced music with the late Grammy-winning producer Guy Babylon (Band director for Elton John and composer with Quincy Jones) and Lenny Macaluso who composed songs for Motown and Universal Music. During the '90s, Henson continued to compose music for television commercials that include, Bausch and Lomb, Indonesia Travel and TV shows such as Santa Barbara. While attending college in Los Angeles, Henson studied music theory, sound engineering, and acting. He interned at RCA/BMG Music in Hollywood. California, under Ron Fair and Lygia Guy. While in college, he was mentored by a legendary music promoter, the late Sid Bernstein, who is known for introducing The Beatles to the U.S. and discovering entertainment mogul David Geffen and Laura Nero. Bernstein took an interest in Henson while lecturing at his college class under Mike Julian. Bernstein also starred in the Go-Go music film "Good to go". In the late '80s, Henson was hired by producer Lee Levinson and Al Douche' for the NBC movie "Playing with fire". He began working as a production assistant to actress legend Cicely Tyson, the late Ron O'Neal, Yaphet Kotto, the late Gary Coleman and film director Ivan Nagy. Henson was featured in a small acting role in the film when Ivan Nagy needed an actor for a scene in the movie. This was his first acting role. After the film was completed, Henson briefly worked security at Universal Studios on the film sets of several NBC's projects like, "Knightrider", "Simon and Simon" and the films St. Elmo's Fire and "Back to the future". Henson became intrigued and inspired by MCA/Universal Pictures CEO, Lew Wasserman, Black Entertainment mogul Clarence Avant, and Berry Gordy. He studied the Motown, MCA/Universal Studios system while working as a composer and on film productions at the studio. His interest was sparked in film and TV production during this period. In 1990, Henson met and worked with the former drummer for the group Con funk shun, The late Louis McCall and performed at The Mayan Club in Los Angeles. The late Pablo Davis (former manager of L.A. and Babyface) John Harris (Head of Stevie Wonder's Quarter's West), Duffy Hooks, actor Maurice Sneed, producer Al Douche, producer Jerry Marcelino, promoter Sid Bernstein, activist Stanley Sheinbaum, Professor Mike Julian, producer Duffy Hooks, music legend Maxx Kidd, Soul Train's the late Don Cornelious, Jazz legend Hubert Laws, RCA/BMG executive Lygia Guy, restaurant owner Carmen Miceli, TCI and BET founder John Malone, Congressman Tony Coelho, Legendary music and club promoter Teddy Powell, George Clinton (Parliament-Funkadelic), Artie Sherman (Wilson Pickett keyboard player), Attorney Robert Allen, Film director Ivan Nagy, Club owner Sammy Chao (The Mayan Club), and Dick Gregory met and educated Henson about the entertainment business. After being married for 13 years, he divorced in 1995 and took a departure from the entertainment industry. Henson then moved to Washington, D.C. where he met the late Donald Iverson, founder of Iverson Technologies. Iverson was known for using IBM technology and patenting a way to prevent electromagnetic signals from being picked up from computers where they could be decoded and analyzed by foreign governments. His company was once in high demand for some time and brought him in contact with nations around the world and a personal meeting with then, President Ronald Reagan. Iverson made over $80 million dollars from that invention. Henson became a minority partner and created an alliance with the Prince Hall Mason's. Henson and Iverson partnered, to form Gamer Corp and designed and manufactured apparel for The Prince Hall Mason's, The Daughter's of Isis, The Eastern Stars, Sigma Pi Phi, Omega Psi Phi, Delta Sigma Theta and the AKA Sorority (The Divine 9). He also created and designed apparel for Native American Tribes and casinos throughout America such as The Colorado River Tribe, St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, Red Lake Gaming Enterprises, Mashantucket Pequot Tribe/Foxwoods Resort Casino. The tribal councils became Henson's allies and would only work with Henson. During his tenure with Iverson, Henson used his influence with Iverson to prevent pending taxation on Native American Casinos. In 1996 Henson left Iverson and was employed to work for John Malone (co-founder of BET, Discovery Channel and owner of Direct TV, Liberty Media and the Denver Nuggets) at ETC/Telecommunications Inc. in Washington, D.C. and Denver, Colorado. Henson reported directly to former Congressman Tony Coelho (protege' of Bob Hope) for two years, where he worked as a federal consultant to The White House (Clinton Administration) and educators throughout the country. While working with TCI, Henson helped to implement what is known today as, "Distance Learning Programs" in institutions of higher learning. In 2001 he began his employment with Convera/Intel, Inc. as a federal government information and technology consultant to The White House, Clinton and Bush Administrations, and the federal government intelligence agencies. After 8 years in government consulting, Henson left to launch a film company. Henson produced and directed two films that featured Dick Gregory, Raheem DeVaughn, Clifton Powell, Red Grant, Joe Theismann to name a few. He is producing three new films for theatrical release. Henson was an actor in the film "Jack Strong" and NCA was part of the production team. In 2006, he negotiated deals with AMC and Landmark Theatres to feature his films. This occurred prior to what is known today as AMC Independent and Open Roads. As an artist and performer, Henson performed at the Mayan Theater and was formerly managed by Sammy Chao and Robert J. Allan. Henson attributes this association to meeting many of his business alliances with companies like The Wanda Group, Chinese investors, Coppola/Zoetrope and Warner Bros. to his association with The Mayan Club staff, Sammy Chao and Robert Allan.