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Sabrina was introduced early to the arts in her hometown of Mount Vernon, NY, a four-square-mile city known for producing talented artists like JB Smoove, Heavy D. Myers, and Denzel Washington, and home to thespians Ruby Dee and Phylicia Rashad.
She earned a B.A. in film from Temple University and swiftly entered motion picture production, working on music videos, indie films, and studio features. Over the next twenty-five years, Sabrina developed expertise in physical production, mastering scheduling, budgeting, production management, and cost reporting.
Sabrina attributes her start in producing to the rise of hip-hop. During the early days of MTV and BET, when music videos were key, she partnered with Ralph McDaniels and Lionel C. Martin to launch Classic Concept Productions, producing the first rap videos for Marley Marl’s Cold Chillin Crew and Russell Simmons’ Def Jam. The team became pioneers in this emerging art form. Sabrina helped grow Classic Concept into the leading production company for urban music videos and served as Field Producer for the groundbreaking Video Music Box. As Senior Producer and head of production for over a decade, she managed the creation of hundreds of concept, performance, and long-form videos featuring top Hip-Hop, R&B, and New Jack Swing artists of the ’80s and ’90s, collaborating with clients such as Public Enemy, Bell Biv DeVoe, and Whitney Houston.
Sabrina views film as a cultural ambassador and believes entertainment can educate and inspire. In the latter half of her career, she contributed to the production of significant period films rooted in American history. Her credits include a dramatized portrayal of The Black Panther Party of Self-Defense (Panther), coordinating 2nd Unit work on the Hughes Brothers’ Vietnam film Dead Presidents, and overseeing the construction and burning of Rosewood, a historic Black self-sufficient Southern town. Even when working on gritty urban dramas like Waist Deep, Baby Boy, and Doing Hard Time, Sabrina focuses on conveying the humanity within the stories she helps bring to life.
In television, Sabrina joined Roy Campanella’s producing team to create the first narrative content for BET with a slate of ten TV movies known as The Arabesque Series. As Coordinating Producer, she implemented a production model where the team simultaneously prepped one film, shot another, and edited a third, while providing financial and logistical oversight for the entire slate.
Recently, Sabrina has been developing scripted narrative dramas inspired by literary works and uplifting reality content for both screen and digital platforms. Projects include the pitch reel and playlist for 7:33 am the movie (2012), the festival short film Zoo (Volkerschau) (2015), Monda Raquel Webb’s directing debut, and behind-the-scenes content for Zoo (Volkerschau) (2015). Returning to historically based storytelling, she is developing a film about a human zoo at the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels, Belgium. Her goal is to create socially impactful stories that engage national audiences with lesser-known chapters of 20th-century American history.
Sabrina has enhanced her education with production and accounting courses at Rockport International Film & Television Workshops, New School for Social Research, and UCLA Extension. Over two decades, she has refined her management abilities, combining technical expertise and business acumen with creative insight to offer a comprehensive skill set as a producer.
