When Jerry Madison Jr. earned the lead role in the award-winning filmmaker Morgan Cooper’s viral “Bel-Air” trailer in 2019, what people didn’t know was that they were witnessing the beginning of something bigger, a journey that would eventually lead Madison back to Houston with a mission to transform the city’s Black creative landscape.
“I moved back home after graduating from LAMDA in 2024 (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art), and I was like, what’s happening?” Madison says. “This is the fourth-largest city in America, one of the largest Black populations. Beyoncé came from this place. Phylicia Rashad came from here. But everything felt very siloed, especially within the Black community.”
He’d seen thriving Black creative communities in LA and London. Houston had the talent but lacked the connective tissue. That observation became the catalyst for Black Cinema Club HTX, an organization Madison founded to nurture and amplify Black voices in film.
What started as a simple text thread inviting friends to see “Sinners” opening weekend has evolved into a movement averaging 100 attendees per screening, partnering with venues like The DeLuxe Theater, and preparing to launch Houston’s first Black Film Festival this April.
But Madison’s path to community building was anything but linear.
After the “Bel-Air” trailer went viral, Will Smith endorsed the Peacock reboot series, but Madison didn’t reprise his role as Smith in the new series. Madison had gone through all the audition rounds, pushed himself to be “one of the best versions of myself, the most disciplined version.” It felt like the natural next step. It wasn’t.
His boss at a nonprofit serving homeless youth in Los Angeles fired him, declaring that he couldn’t be both famous and employed.
“Retrospectively, I’m like, I needed that job,” Madison laughs. “But I was so young and naive, I was like, this is good, right? I can live my dream.”
What followed were months of struggle, delivering for apps, wrestling with the industry’s harsh realities. He eventually landed a fintech job, work from home, unlimited PTO, great pay, and a boss who was also an actress. He was able to do all his auditions. If I had something to shoot, he could take off.”
The experience taught him a crucial lesson about detachment.
“You have to be in a space where you’re not attached to these outcomes, and you’re not putting your value on what happens,” he explains. “Ultimately, none of this is in your control.”
That wisdom pushed him to LAMDA, the sixth-ranked drama school globally, where Benedict Cumberbatch and David Oyelowo trained. There, surrounded by British actors, Madison refused to abandon his Houston roots. What piece of Houston did you refuse to let go of? becomes the question that defines his approach while maintaining authenticity in his creativity.
His background in engineering from Texas A&M University and experiences as an actor and filmmaker informed his multifaceted approach to Black Cinema Club HTX.
“I saw how actors had to wait for opportunities. I was like, Why are we waiting? We create opportunities. Being able to tap into what I’ve learned through my degree and my passion for creativity gave me the opportunity to develop proof-of-concept projects and to understand how business works.”
Jerry Madison Jr.
“I saw how actors had to wait for opportunities,” he says. “I was like, why are we waiting? We create opportunities. Being able to tap into what I’ve learned with my degree and my passion as a creative gave me the opportunity to develop proof of concepts and to understand how business works.”
Leroy Cook, Black Cinema Club’s co-director, met Madison at an R&B release party in early 2024. “You could see the fire in his eyes,” Cook remembers. “This wasn’t just happening in the city. Everybody was spaced out, doing their own thing. What he was describing was so beautiful, trying to bridge that, create a space for people to feel seen.”
Together with marketing coordinator Shameika Smith, they’ve created experiences beyond traditional screenings. They’ve partnered with The DeLuxe Theater for a five-film series. Their “Scenes and Soundtracks” series with Curators of Dopeness dissects film scores.
Feedback sessions with industry professionals help local filmmakers sharpen their craft. They’ve brought Hollywood producers like Steven Love (They Cloned Tyrone) and actors like Christian Robinson (Sinners) to Houston, not to import Hollywood culture, but to build Houston’s own.
“Texas just passed new film incentives, about $1.5 billion over 10 years,” Madison says. “But that’s mainly to entice outside productions. We need local investment in training programs so when they come to hire locally, we’re ready.”
For young Black creatives watching Madison’s journey, his message cuts through the romantic notions of starving artists.
“The biggest misconception is that you have to struggle for your art,” he says firmly. “That’s connected to limited thinking, maybe even a poverty mentality. Who says it’s not abundant to be an artist?”
He’s lived on both sides, from engineering jobs to delivering food, from viral fame to drama school rigor. Now, as Black Cinema Club prepares for its inaugural film festival April 17-19, Madison sees the bigger picture.
“What’s for me is going to be for me,” he says. “Everything that was supposed to happen with Bel-Air happened. I learned from it, I grew from it. And I’m here right now because of it.”
