LIVE EVENT HOSTING + PRODUCTION
Compton's Hub City
International
Film Festival
Three days of hosting, moderation, filmmaker conversations, and community impact.
Location
Compton, California
Duration
Three-Day Film Festival
Year
2026
Presenting Sponsor
St. John's Community Health
The Opportunity
Compton's Hub City International Film Festival brought filmmakers, industry professionals, emerging creators, students, and members of the community together for three days centered on film, storytelling, and the next generation of creative voices.
Ayanna Henderson was initially invited to participate as an industry panelist. Her role expanded into serving as host across all three days of the festival — helping guide programming, facilitate conversations, and connect filmmakers and audiences throughout the event.
Three-Day Festival Host
Across all three days, Ayanna helped move audiences through the festival experience while creating continuity between screenings, panels, filmmaker conversations, and special programming.
The assignment required more than introductions. It required understanding the people, films, and subjects being presented; reading the room; engaging audiences; transitioning naturally between programming; and creating conversations that allowed filmmakers and guests to tell their stories.
Impact Work
Student Filmmaker Panel
Compton Unified School District / Dominguez Hills High School
One of the festival's most meaningful conversations centered on student filmmakers from Dominguez Hills High School. Ayanna moderated a discussion with the young filmmakers about their films, creative process, and experiences learning filmmaking.
Rather than treating the students simply as participants in a school program, the conversation positioned them as emerging creatives with ideas, voices, and professional potential.
The discussion explored
For Ayanna, an adjunct professor and longtime advocate for career-connected creative education, the conversation represented what she describes as Impact Work — using industry experience to help create access, visibility, and pathways for the next generation.
A Conversation With
Desreta Jackson
Young Celie in The Color Purple
Another festival highlight was Ayanna's sit-down conversation with Desreta Jackson, widely known for portraying Young Celie in The Color Purple.
The conversation moved beyond a traditional film Q&A to explore Jackson's personal and professional journey, her experience as part of an iconic piece of cinema, and the story behind the performer audiences first met on screen as a child.
Ayanna approached the interview through the lens of both an entertainment professional and storyteller — creating space for history, personal reflection, and lessons for emerging creatives. The conversation was especially meaningful given the cultural legacy of The Color Purple and its continued influence across generations.
AI + Emerging Media
AI Filmmaking & The Future of Creative Production
Ayanna participated in the festival's AI Filmmaking Panel, joining filmmakers and creators for a discussion about how artificial intelligence is changing filmmaking. The conversation examined the realities of AI-assisted production in 2026.
Topics covered
Ayanna brought a particularly practical perspective through her ongoing AYANNA ("AI-YANNA") project — an experimental AI-powered artist and entertainment ecosystem documenting how generative tools can be incorporated across music, visual development, storytelling, marketing, and production.
Rather than presenting AI as a replacement for filmmakers, Ayanna's work demonstrates how these technologies can become another part of the modern creative production toolkit.
FROM PANELIST TO FESTIVAL HOST
Host. Moderator. Interviewer. Educator. Producer. Marketer. Emerging-technology practitioner.
The engagement evolved significantly from its original scope. Ayanna entered the festival as an invited panelist and ultimately took on a larger role across the three-day program as a host and moderator — demonstrating an ability to move fluidly between multiple roles.
Impact
COMMUNITY
Elevating filmmaking and creative voices from Compton.
EDUCATION
Giving student filmmakers an industry-facing platform to discuss their work.
ENTERTAINMENT
Facilitating conversations with working filmmakers, actors, and creative professionals.
TECHNOLOGY
Helping audiences understand the emerging role of AI within film production.
STORYTELLING
Creating conversations that moved beyond promotional talking points and focused on the experiences behind the work.
ACCESS
Connecting emerging filmmakers with professionals, audiences, and potential pathways into the entertainment industry.
Why This Work Matters
For Ayanna Henderson Marketing, production is not limited to what happens behind a camera.
Production also means understanding the audience, shaping the experience, preparing the conversation, identifying the story, and creating the environment where meaningful moments can happen.
This is production. This is storytelling. This is community. This is Impact Work.
Services Demonstrated
HOSTING + MODERATION + SPEAKING
Need a Host, Moderator, or Speaker?
Ayanna is available for live event hosting, panel moderation, keynote speaking, talent interviews, and AI thought leadership engagements.
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