Tressa Azarel Smallwood

Tressa "Azarel" Smallwood is an award-winning Book Publisher, Movie Producer, and Founder of MegaMind Media, a production company specializing in creating compelling original content for female audiences. Tressa resigned from teaching to fulfill her writing dreams in 2003. A true trailblazer, she turned her debut bestseller into a multi-million-dollar publishing company with more than 1 62 titles that amassed thousands of fans worldwide. Known for her razor sharp business acumen, Tressa is a business woman who practices the hustle she preaches. She deeply understands what it takes to create success from scraps, and how to build highly profitable ventures from the ground up. A female filmmaker on the rise, Tressa has produced over eleven films including Secrets, Sinners Wanted, Holiday Heartbreak, All In, and The Available Wife. An advocate for women's issues, Smallwood recently partnered with BETHer to produce The Waiting Room and The Couch, a series highlighting mental health and breast cancer awareness. And while bringing beloved actors such as Lammon Rucker, LisaRaye McCoy, Sheryl Lee Ralph, KJ Smith, Clifton Powell and more to the big screen, she is doing her part to revive the creative economy by employing hundreds of independent artists, creatives and entrepreneurs. Her films have also given unprecedented opportunities for noteworthy actors such as Vivica Fox, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Victoria Rowell and Kim Fields to step behind the camera as directors, paving a path for the diversity that the world deserves. In 2019, Tressa's films received awards from the American Black Film Festival and BET Networks. Smallwood spends her time juggling motherhood, marriage, and business. She is currently developing four of her scripted TV series, Caught Up, Positions, Cole Records, and Dirty (based on the best-selling book series, The Dirty Divorce).