Big. Bold. Beautiful. These three words are small in comparison to the larger than life personality of Erica Watson. A Chicago native, Watson is an opinionated and out-spoken woman on the rise in entertainment. At once, she is a hilarious comedienne/commentator, producer, writer and director. Watson is a renaissance woman representing the big, bold, and beautiful sisters in entertainment.

Watson excelled in the arts at a very young age when she began her musical training with the prestigious Merit School of Music (formerly the Merit Music Program) and the world renowned Chicago Children’s Choir. By age 8, Watson was a classically trained pianist, vocalist and had mastered her first Aria. The first buds of her career as a director came during high school when she wrote and produced the video, The Do’s and Don’ts of Teenage Dating, which is still used by the Kenwood Academy Health Department. At the University of Illinois, Watson: founded “Those Damn Kids,” a sketch-improvisational troupe; wrote and directed a full-length play, What Every Black Man Wants; and produced numerous other productions across the campus.

While Watson finished her M.A. in Arts, Entertainment & Media Management, she worked as a field and associate producer with WMAQ-TV (NBC) in Chicago with Jon Kelley (EXTRA/NBC) and Warner Saunders. In the Loop was the widely watched music video show she created, produced and directed featuring such prominent acts as Jill Scott, Lil’ John and the East Side Boys, Musiq Soulchild, Anthony Hamilton, India Arie and B2K, to name a few.

Watson also produced and directed the outlandish stage play, Cinderella: A Hip-Hop Tale of an Illegal Alien and served as creative consultant to No More Secrets, No More Lies, the play based on the controversial best-seller On the Down Low. Watson has also directed several music videos, industrial films and promotional videos through her company InFocus Film+Video Productions. In 2003, Watson set her sights on the big apple where she lives now. She is a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Science (NARAS) and the National Association of Black Female Executives in Music and Entertainment (NABFEME).