Phonz Williams, staff writer for the ABC crime drama “Detroit 1-8-7,” returns to his hometown as a featured speaker for the panel “Detroit in Prime Time: The Significance of ‘Detroit 1-8-7.’”

The talk is scheduled from 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday at the U-M Detroit Center, 3663 Woodward, next to Orchestra Hall. Open to the general public, the program begins with a reception from 5-6 p.m.

A native Detroiter, Williams graduated from Martin Luther King High School in 2001. As a U-M student, he won the Kasdan Scholarship in Creative Writing. Since graduating in 2005, Williams has worked on the production staffs of the films “Red” and “Live Free or Die Hard,” and TV’s “The Unusuals.”

Joining Williams will be writer/photographer/activist Kwasi Akwamu and three staff and faculty members from UM-Dearborn. Panelists are Paul Draus, associate professor of sociology and director of the Master of Public Administration and Master of Public Policy programs; and Ahmad Rahman, associate professor of history and director of African and African American Studies. Ann Lampkin-Williams, assistant to the chancellor for inclusion, will moderate the panel discussion.

This first program in the U-M Detroit Center Hot Topics series “Detroit in Prime Time” provides a forum for discussion of the image of the city through the lens of mass media, organizers say. Audience members may join the question-and-answer period following panel presentations.

For more information contact U-M Detroit Center Director Addell Austin Anderson at addell@umich.edu or call 313-593-3584.