Directors

1. Bobby Huntley

Director | Connect

Bobby Huntley is known for Connect (2021), La Vie Magnifique De Charlie (2017) and TNC (2020).

2. A.V. Rockwell

Director | A Thousand and One

A.V. Rockwell is known for A Thousand and One (2023), Feathers (2018) and The Gospel (2016).

3. Etienne Maurice

Producer | H.E.I.R.

Etienne Maurice is known for H.E.I.R. (2017), The Last Laugh (2015) and Hideous (2014).

4. Tanya Hamilton

Director | Night Catches Us

Tanya Hamilton is known for Night Catches Us (2010), The Chi (2018) and Queen Sugar (2016).

5. Mati Diop

Director | Atlantique

Mati Diop was born on June 22, 1982 in Paris, France. She is an actress and director, known for Atlantics (2019), Dahomey (2024) and A Thousand Suns (2013).

Marshall Tyler is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker and TV director. His first short, Night Shift, premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and was awarded the Gold Hugo Grand Jury Award at the 2017 Chicago International Film Festival. His second short, Cap a beautiful black and white ...

7. Oz Perkins

Writer | February

Oz Perkins was born on February 2, 1974 in New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015), I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016) and Legally Blonde (2001).

8. Alik Sakharov

Director | Ozark

Alik Sakharov was born on May 17, 1959 in Tashkent, USSR. He is a director and producer, known for Ozark (2017), House of Cards (2013) and Game of Thrones (2011).

9. Chris Robinson

Director | ATL

Filmmaker Chris Robinson is from Baltimore, Maryland. He attended Foothill College in Los Altos where he played football and studied mass communication. He discovered Spike Lee's independent film"She's Gotta Have It" and was inspired to pursue the craft. Robinson began shooting music videos for ...

10. Trey Edward Shults

Director | Waves

Trey Edward Shults was born on October 6, 1988 in Montgomery, Texas, USA. He is a director and writer, known for Waves (2019), It Comes at Night (2017) and Krisha (2015).

11. Julia Grob

Writer | East WillyB

An actor and creative producer of Chilean and Jewish heritage, Julia Ahumada Grob was born and raised in New York City and graduated with honors from Brown University. Named one of 25 emerging theater artists by Kevin Spacey, Julia is a proud member of the New Voices Network, and a founding member ...

12. Jamila Wignot

Producer | The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Jamila Wignot is known for The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2013), STAX: Soulsville, U.S.A. (2024) and American Experience (1987).

13. Nikyatu Jusu

Director | Nanny

Sierra Leonean-American Filmmaker Nikyatu's films have screened at festivals nationally and internationally. With a BA from Duke University and an MFA from NYU's Tisch Graduate Film school, she's earned various awards including NYU's Spike Lee Fellowship Award, the Princess Grace Narrative film ...

14. Bryan Bertino

Writer | The Strangers

Bryan Bertino was born on October 17, 1977 in Crowley, Texas, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for The Strangers (2008), The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015) and The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018).

15. Kimani Ray Smith

Producer | Suffer

Action movie buff and all around cinephile, Kimani Ray Smith landed his first big break as a stunt performer on Jackie Chan's "Rumble in the Bronx"(94). Thereafter, Kimani spent the next 30 years garnishing numerous action roles in Hollywood blockbusters, such as; "I Robot, Salt, A-Team, Twilight, ...

16. Bola Ogun

Director | Are We Good Parents?

Bola Ogun is known for Are We Good Parents? (2018), Battleship (2012) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

17. Mark Tonderai

Director | Spell

Mark Tonderai is known for Spell (2020), Locke & Key (2020) and The Five (2016).

18. Lin Que Ayoung

Director | Cracked

Lin Que Ayoung is an award-winning writer/director/producer. Upon obtaining an MFA from NYU's Tisch Graduate Film program, her thesis film, Cracked, which won The Spike Lee Production Grant, won the 2nd Prize King Wasserman Award for Best Graduate Film at NYU's First Run Film Festival. There, it ...

19. Alanna Brown

Writer | Trees of Peace

Alanna Brown is known for Trees of Peace (2021), Blindspotting (2021) and Grave Hill.

20. Mariama Diallo

Writer | Master

Mariama Diallo is known for Master (2022), Hair Wolf (2018) and Sketch (2017).

21. Terence Nance

Director | 18 Black Girls / Boys Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and Are Thus Spiritual Machines: $X in an Edition of $97 Quadrillion

Terence Nance was born in Dallas, Texas in what was then referred to as the State-Thomas community. Nance learned person-hood there. Nance's first feature film, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically in 2013. Nance's most ...

22. Sanaa Hamri

Director | Something New

Sanaa Hamri is a renowned film, television, music video, and commercial director from Tangier, Morocco. She is currently in an overall deal with Amazon Television Studios. She is directing S2 of their "Lord of the Rings" show coming off of their tentpole series S2 of "The Wheel of Time" as EP/...

23. Audrey Cummings

Director | She Never Died

Audrey is just coming off directing her western thriller Place of Bones starring Heather Graham, Tom Hopper and Cowboy Cerrone. Prior to that she directed on the huge Netflix hit Ginny & Georgia as well as Astrid & Lilly Save the World, a sci-fi comedy series for NBC/SYFY. She also directed on The ...

24. Omar S. Kamara

Director | African Giants

Writer/Director Omar S. Kamara is a first-generation Sierra Leonean American, Virginia native, and graduate of the College of William and Mary and AFI. His debut feature film, AFRICAN GIANTS, which he independently wrote, directed, and produced, will have its World Premiere at Slamdance Film ...

25. Vanessa Beletic

Director | Catching Spirits

Haitian born and raised, Vanessa Beletic is an award winning writer & Director. Her first narrative short Catching Spirits, won the Jury Award Live Action Short at the New Hampshire Film Festival 2022, making it Oscar eligible in 2023. It screened at 19 other BAFTA/Oscar qualifying film festivals, ...

26. Rachel Raimist

Director | Nobody Knows My Name

Rachel Raimist is known for Nobody Knows My Name (1999), The Spiderwick Chronicles (2024) and Roswell, New Mexico (2019).

27. Destinee McCaster

Director | Bloom

Destinee McCaster is an Arizona-gone-LA director, producer, actor, editor, screenwriter, and School of Cinematic Arts USC 2023 graduate. She loves exploring the universalities found in stories of growing up, queer womanhood, and artist identity. Drawn to pairing statements with dark, visceral story...

28. Loukman Ali

Cinematographer | Sixteen Rounds

Loukman Ali was born on June 1, 1990 in Kampala, Uganda. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Sixteen Rounds (2021), The Blind Date (2021) and The Girl in the Yellow Jumper (2020).

29. Akorede Azeez

Director | Tip of the Edge

Akorede Azeez is known for Tip of the Edge (2020), It Blooms in June (2024) and The Session (2020).

30. Voline Ogutu

Writer | 40 Sticks

Voline Ogutu is known for 40 Sticks (2020), African Folktales, Reimagined (2023) and How to Find a Husband (2015).

31. Mohamed Echkouna

Director | Trail of Hope

Mohamed Echkouna is known for Trail of Hope (2016), African Folktales, Reimagined (2023) and One Piece (2023).

32. Walt Mzengi Corey

Director | Gulf

Walt Mzengi Corey is a Tanzanian writer, director, and cinematographer. He is known for 'Katope' (2023), 'Gulf' (2019), and 'Timêla' (2019). His pursuit for film began in South Africa as he attended AFDA Cape Town and then furthered his film education at New York University's Tisch Grad Film ...

33. Nathaniel Martello-White

Writer | Cla'am

Nathaniel Martello-White was born in 1983 in Westminster, London, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Cla'am (2017), The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008) and The Strays (2023).

34. Rose Glass

Director | Saint Maud

Rose Glass was destined to be a director from a young age. Upon leaving home she studied film and video at London College of Communication, UAL - where she directed her first 'proper' shorts - and also gained experience as a runner on professional sets. Eventually she made her way to the NFTS, ...

35. Emerald Fennell

Writer | Saltburn

Emerald Lilly Fennell is an English actress, filmmaker, and writer. She has received many awards and nominations, including an Academy Award, two British Academy Film Awards, one Screen Actors Guild Award, and nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. Fennell first ...

36. Maggie Betts

Director | The Burial

Maggie Betts is an American screenwriter and film director. Born and raised in New York City, she attended Princeton University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. She is the daughter of Roland Betts (a real estate developer) and Lois Betts. In 2017, Maggie won the ...

37. Donovan Marsh

Director | iNumber Number

Donovan Marsh is known for Avenged (2013), Dollar$ + White Pipes (2005) and Spud (2010).

38. Megalyn Echikunwoke

Actress | Night School

Ebubennem Megalyn Ann Echikunwoke was born May 28, in Spokane, Washington. Her father was Nigerian and her mother is of English and Scots-Irish descent. Her last name, "Echikunwoke", means "leader of men" and Megalyn is the granddaughter of a Nigerian tribal leader of the Igbo, which technically ...

39. Sonny Mallhi

Producer | Anguish

Sonny Mallhi was born on May 5, 1972 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Anguish (2015), The Roommate (2011) and The Strangers (2008).