HBO’s latest docuseries Seen & Heard is more than just a chronicle of Black storytelling in Hollywood, it’s a resounding declaration of its power, legacy, and ongoing fight for visibility. Directed by Giselle Bailey, the series delves into the evolution of Black representation on screen, amplifying the voices of trailblazers who shaped the industry and those pushing it forward today. Through personal narratives, archival footage, and candid reflections, Seen & Heard unpacks the cultural impact of Black cinema and television, shedding light on the triumphs, struggles, and systemic barriers that have defined its history.
In an exclusive interview with Black Girl Nerds over at SXSW, Bailey shares her vision behind the project, the challenges of crafting such a comprehensive narrative, and the urgent need for authentic representation in entertainment. From the early pioneers to the groundbreaking creators of today, Seen & Heard stands as a testament to the resilience and influence of Black storytelling. The series is also produced by Issa Rae.
Seen & Heard takes a dynamic time-traveling approach to storytelling. How did you and your team decide to take on this structure and what challenges come with weaving these different eras together?
We wanted to make sure that we were showing cycles. And so my natural inclination a lot of the time is to not necessarily tell a story in a linear way, because I think that’s the best way you can see, the progress come and then kind of fall and start over. And so that’s really how we tracked the two episodes. The first one is talking about Black people just being present on television. It was also important to me to show all kind of the social issues, the political issues that were happening around those moments, and even how some of them were playing out on screen. As we got more agency, we were able to put more of our own content on television, and that’s where you see the heyday of the 90s, and then everything crashes. And you hear about titans like Shonda, Oprah or Tyler Perry, talking about fighting from the bottom. I think we forget about that. When we see people who are successful, we forget about what it took. And so I really wanted to make sure you saw them filled from the ground up.
What do you see as the biggest milestone in this journey so far?
That’s interesting. I don’t know if it’s happened yet or if it’s yet to come. Because of the way that history is repeating itself, I certainly think the Norman Lear-era kind of changing from that into… okay, we’re not just on TV. And also, I hope it comes through in that era, how much, even though people weren’t necessarily Black, people weren’t necessarily writing the material, it was their essence. It was their improv that was really making those shows sing. But then there’s a moment where people are really able to craft the story, define their own narrative. Debbie Allen, for example, for me, is the godmother of Black television.
What do you think still needs to change for Black representation in television, to truly be sustainable and equitable?
Ownership. Figuratively and literally we have to be able to define our own destiny. So it’s creatively being able to tell our stories, but also it’s about owning the companies, owning the distribution, building together to create our own sources of financing so we’re not dependent on the industry to give us an opportunity.
How did your collaboration with Issa Rae help shape the direction of the documentary?
Issa is creatively involved. Her notes, her thoughts, her own experiences growing up really shaped the documentary. Issa was born in the United States, but she lived in Senegal, and you’ll see more of that in the documentary, and then moved back. And so her experience, she took a bunch of their family, recorded a bunch of Black shows, and took them with them. And she really came up with those shows. I’m an immigrant to the US. I’m Jamaican, but I lived in a few different countries, as we were making our way into the United States, and when I got here, we landed in the south, which was alienating for me, because of the specific environment I was in. There weren’t a lot of Black people, and so the Black shows really gave me community. So some of those experiences, the similarities and the differences, really helped shape I think the project.
How do you see the role of streaming platforms in shaping the future of Black television, and are they more of a help or a hindrance?
I think like any technology or any system, it’s to be used. We can’t let it use us. Streaming is where we are in the landscape of television. Whether it’s where we’re going is really going to be based on us, you know what I’m saying? So I think we can see that it helped us at certain points. We also can see how having agency and creating our own content, putting it out digitally, has really shifted television and could shift it again. So, yeah, I think it’s about how do we use these things, or how do we make our own?
Seen & Heard made its debut at the 2025 SXSW Film and TV Festival and is coming soon to MAX.
This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.
