Orlando Jones joins HBMPAA as the guest speaker at this year’s Young Musicians' Ball on May 31st, 2025!
- Heartbeat Music Academy
- Apr 14
- 2 min read
Orlando Jones is a cultural force—an award-winning actor, writer, producer, and visionary storyteller redefining how entertainment, fandom, and technology converge. Known for standout performances in American Gods, Drumline, Sleepy Hollow, and the legendary MADtv, Jones first rose to fame with the now-iconic Make 7 Up Yours campaign. He helped launch the FX Network into 18 million homes with Sound FX and went on to build a résumé that spans comedy, drama, animation, and cutting-edge immersive content .
In 2026, Jones stars in Empire at Sea, a groundbreaking augmented reality installation commissioned by Lincoln Center. This Solarpunk narrative explores climate reckoning and generational struggle aboard a floating utopian colony, with Jones portraying “The Father”—a visionary whose ideals face challenge from within.
In television, Jones is a series regular on The Family Business: New Orleans (BET+), recently greenlit for Season 2. He also headlines two new nationally syndicated educational shows—Orlando Jones Takes On History and The Hot List—produced and distributed by Hearst Media across ABC, NBC, and CBS as part of theirSaturday morning programming.
On the big screen, Jones will appear in the 2025 feature film Trouble Man alongside Michael Jai White, Mike Epps, Lala Anthony, and Method Man. The film is being released by producer Samuel Goldwyn Mayer. Beyond performance, Jones is a pioneer in fan culture and immersive storytelling. He co-founded Legion of Creatives (LOC), earned the first-ever Virtual Reality Emmy, and wrote the foreword to Seeing Fans, the seminal book on fandom studies. He lectures at MIT, UCLA, Oxford, and Princeton, and has worked alongside Henry Jenkins to shape the field of Fan Studies.
Jones also champions emerging talent and healthy living. He’s a brand ambassador for SpaceMilk, a clean, next-gen protein brand free of dairy, soy, or heavy metals—and serves as Ambassador, Mentor, and Instructor for the Heartbeat Music & Performing Arts Academy in San Diego, supporting youth through music, arts, and college prep. Whether on stage, in the classroom, behind the camera, or in the metaverse, Orlando Jones remains a singular voice shaping the future of entertainment.
Representation:
Shawn Scallon – ssscallon@buchwald.com
Karon Tunis – karon@drivebyent.net
