Crystal McCrary Anthony, Esq.

Crystal McCrary Anthony, Esq., began her career practicing entertainment law specializing in theatre production, publishing contracts and director’s agreements with the New York firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison before leaving to pursue a full-time career in writing & producing. Since that time, she has written for several magazines, published two novels, and produced for TV & Film.

She has also been featured in O At Home, Black Enterprise, Town & Country, Newsweek, the New York Times, Mirabella, Essence Magazine, O Magazine, People, Sister-to-Sister, the New York Daily News and USA Today. She was recently named to Crain’s-New York Business 2007 Forty Under Forty. Ms. McCrary Anthony also published the best-selling novel HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE (Avon, 1998); a Literary Guild featured alternate selection, also optioned by Sony/Screen Gem to be made into a feature film. Her second published novel GOTHAM DIARIES (Hyperion, 2004) was a New York Times Best Seller and was the 2005 Blackboard Fiction Book of the Year. She also executive produced the independent film DIRTY LAUNDRY (FOX Films/Codeblack), winning Best Feature Film and Best Actor at the American Black Film Festival. DIRTY LAUNDRY stars Loretta Devine, Rockmond Dunbar, Jenifer Lewis, Teri J. Vaughn, Sommore and Veronica Webb and is due in theatres December 28, 2007. The film's 12-city festival tour was sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign.

Crystal serves as co-creator/executive producer for the BET-J show Real Life Divas. Entering its third season, Real Life Divas is shot documentary/intimate portrait style and profiles African-American women who have shaped our culture artistically, socially and politically. Ms. McCrary Anthony has a number of projects in development/pre-production, including a film version of Nella Larsen’s Harlem Renaissance novel, Passing (2008), a screen adaptation of her novel Homecourt Advantage (2008), and All The Women I’ve Loved based on the acclaimed book of the same title.

Outspoken on women’s issues, literacy, children’s rights and race, she has appeared on several national television shows including Good Morning America, The TODAY Show, the Tavis Smiley Show and as a regular pop culture critic on CNN American Morning. Crystal’s most recent appearance was as guest co-host on ABC’s The View, interviewing U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton. She has also been a legal analyst on numerous television shows including Fox News Channel, CNBC and Court TV as well as a co-host on the BET-J show, "My 2 Cents."

Ms. McCrary Anthony sits on the advisory board of Jumpstart, a national organization dedicated to increasing early childhood literacy particularly in low-income neighborhoods across the country. Her interest in education initiatives was sparked during her time as a substitute elementary school teacher in Detroit, MI, while in law school. She is also a member of the Advisory Committee for Hyperion Books New Imprint VOICE focusing on women 35 and older, offering books that answer today’s women’s needs. Crystal McCrary Anthony joined The New 42nd Street Board of Directors in Fall 2007.

Crystal McCrary Anthony, Esq., is a cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (B.A., 1991). She then attended Washington College of Law at the American University and New York University School of Law (J.D., 1995). Ms. McCrary Anthony also studied International European Community Law in Paris, France. She resides in New York City with her seven-year-old son, Cole, and her five-year-old daughter, Ella.