About Us

DIRECTOR | PRODUCER

OPAL COMFORT

The Jamaican-American television/film producer began her career as a video artist who admired the work of Nam June Paik. Armed with a degree in journalism, she wrote and directed documentaries on a women’s minimum-security prison in New Mexico and an exploration into the world of dance. She landed her first industry job at WPLG in Miami, where she worked behind the scenes. Moving up, Ms. Comfort spent the next decade researching, reporting, producing, and hosting recorded and live programs.

Ms. Comfort has won numerous awards for writing and production. Her Emmy win was for her report on, Gangs in Miami. As the Public Information Director for the City of Miami Beach, she oversaw major movie production firsts for the City, including MTVs Real World, The Bird Cage, and The Three Tenors.

In subsequent years, she focused her career on community affairs for major media corporations including Ocwen Financial, The Sun-Sentinel, the SBDC and The Miami Herald. Whether meeting with celebrities, the head of the US Treasury, or The President of the United States, Comfort’s passion for promoting diversity and supporting the underserved is ever present. Currently, she serves on the boards of several civic based organizations, designing programs to uplift her community.

Comfort is especially proud of raising awareness for Miami’s 143-year-old HBCU, Florida Memorial University (FMU). When VP Kamala Harris made the University her first stop on the campaign trail, the national attention helped Comfort create new audiences for the University.

Happily married to a remote university professional, Comfort resides in Florida. Her only child, a Physics graduate of MIT, with an MA in Linguistics, lives and works in Hamburg, Germany.

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

South Florida PBS

April 20, 2022

To Whom It May Concern:

South Florida PBS, the region’s premier PBS station and the largest public media organization in the state, is pleased to offer this letter of interest for the series proposal entitled Joyful Black Women, a project currently in development by Emmy-winning producer Opal Comfort.

Ms. Comfort is highly esteemed in the South Florida community for her work both in television and public relations. She has produced and written multiple programs for WPBT that offered audiences a deeper understanding of their collective identity and provided important context about the human experience. More recently, she interfaced with South Florida PBS staff in helping to identify and secure local experts for appearances on our public affairs program, Your South Florida.

Ms. Comfort’s proposed new series, Joyful Black Women, reflects her passion for telling inspirational stories and sparking dialogue that will affect positive change. This very relevant and timely series will feature profiles of successful women of color who, despite life’s challenges, have discovered the importance of joy in their daily lives. As they recount their stories, we uncover their own secrets to happiness and success. We believe this program has the potential to provide important perspectives that will enlighten audiences, highlighting the importance of mental well-being.

South Florida PBS is proud to serve a diverse audience that stretches from Key West to the Sebastian Inlet, with relevant information that educates and inspires. The organization also serves as a presenting station for many well-received documentaries and series, distributing the programs to the 300+ PBS member stations around the country. We believe the Joyful Black Women concept would be an excellent candidate for distribution on public television.

Sincerely,

Joyce Belloise
Sr. Vice President of Content & Community Partnerships

The Miami Herald

To whom It may concern:

I have known Opal Comfort for more than 25 years. During that time, I have seen her, time and again, be the consummate professional, committed to any project that she takes on and seeing it through, successfully.

New Culture City is her latest and, I would say, her most personal endeavor, one that she has diligently nurtured from concept to reality. And though she is fulfilling a personal mission, New Culture City is Opal’s generous gift to other women.

She wants to enlighten and inspire them to seek, then grab, the brass ring in their lives. She wants to motivate them to live fully — and out loud. Opal seeks to enlighten them, show them all life can offer and the joy and contentment that they can be theirs.

Opal’s career path was destined to lead her to this moment. She is both a creative and a hard-nosed project manager. She is a pro in front of the camera and behind the scenes.

Opal’s creativity and integrity are unquestionable, and I can confidently recommend your support for New Culture City, based on her multimedia experience and, especially, her strong work ethic and vision of a better world.

Nancy Ancrum
Editorial Page Editor
Miami Herald Media Company

Yearwood Enterprises

April 14, 2022

To Whom It May Concern:

Emmy award-winning journalist Opal Comfort worked with me at the Miami Herald for more than a decade. I knew Opal in her capacity as a manager with a unique program to increase awareness of the Herald at schools around Miami-Dade and Broward counties as well as in her role as principal organizer of annual Silver Knights school project. In her work on these programs and others, Opal gained the trust and respect of staffers throughout the company, from executives to rank-and-file employees.

I’m honored to recommend her, without reservation, for any project. You will no doubt discover as I have that Opal is a joy to work with and that she adds tremendous value to whatever project she is affiliated with.

Sincerely,

John Yearwood
President