Mike Jackson, a Wynnewood and Lower Merion native, left Philadelphia two decades ago for Los Angeles to start building his entertainment career, writes Michael Butler for the Technical.ly.

Today, he is an executive producer of Rhythm + Flow, a Netflix music competition show, and a business partner of John Legend, an EGOT-winning musician and philanthropist, in the Get Lifted Film Company.

Jackson is quick to point out that the main reason he left Philadelphia was not the city’s inability to create a prosperous environment for young entrepreneurs of color.

“I didn’t leave Philly because it was about race,” he said. “It was about the infrastructure in Philadelphia. I worked for a production company in Philly and left because of the opportunities.”

Jackson, who is a Friends’ Central School, Lower Merion High School, and Penn State University graduate, has not yet filmed anything in the region.

However, he has always felt supported by the Greater Philadelphia Film Office.

One of his projects focuses on a local subject.

He produced 40 Years A Prisoner, an HBO documentary on the 1978 Philadelphia police raid against activist group MOVE.

A video for the documentary Jackson worked on— 40 Years A Prisoner, which follows the story of a son who commits his life to fighting for the release of his parents. They were members of the Philadelphia Black radical group MOVE, imprisoned after a controversial confrontation with police.

Read more about Mike Jackson in Technical.ly.