Curriculum Vitae
Diploma, Film and Television, University of Bristol, England - Rotary Scholar
Bachelor of Arts with Honors, Journalism, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - Pogue Scholar
Recognition | Awards
2025 Poynter Journalism Fellow, Yale University
2025 Envoy, American Film Showcase - The Dads
2024 Dok Leipzig Co-Pro Market
2024 Gotham Week Project Market - Spotlight on Documentaries
2024 Winner, Daytime Emmy® Award: Outstanding Short Form Program
2024 GLAAD Special Recognition Award
2023 City of West Hollywood Proclamation
2023 Mentor Filmmaker, Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund - Johns Hopkins University Film & Media Studies
2023 DOC NYC Shortlist
2023 Qualified for 96th Academy Awards, Best Documentary Short
2023 Chicken & Egg Pictures Development Grant
2023 Winner, Best Documentary Short, El Paso Film Festival
2023 Finalist, The Wrap’s Shortlist
2023 Winner, Best Documentary Feature, American Black Film Festival
2023 Winner, Shine the Light Award (Feature), Freep Film Festival
2023 Winner, PitchBLACK Film Forum Top Prize
2023 EbertFest Golden Thumb Award
2023 Programmer’s Award, Best Documentary Short, Pan African Film Festival
2022 Qualified for 95th Academy Awards, Best Documentary Short
2022 Best Documentary Film, TIDE Film Festival, Brooklyn
2022 Mentor Filmmaker, Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund - Johns Hopkins University Film & Media Studies
2022 Best of Fest Jury Recognition, Chicago International Film Festival
2022 Audience Choice Award, Chicago International Film Festival
2022 GLAAD Media Award Nominee - Outstanding Longform TV Journalism
2022 Queen Collective - Tribeca Studios, Procter & Gamble, Queen Latifah
2022 Spark Fund - Firelight Media and National Endowment for the Humanities
2022 Juror - Milwaukee Film Festival
2021 Creative Culture Residency - Jacob Burns Center
2021 Mentor Filmmaker, Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund - Johns Hopkins University Film & Media Studies
2021 Brown Girl Doc Mafia Inaugural Black Directors Grant
2021 Black Lens Award - Milwaukee Film Festival
2021 Field Foundation Grant
2020 Jury Award, Best Documentary - Teaneck International Film Festival
2020 Best Film/Best of Fest, CineOdyssey Film Festival
2020 Gold Hugo and Gold Q-Hugo Nominee - Chicago International Film Festival
2020 Black Public Media Funding Award
2020 Athena Film Festival’s Works-in-Progress Program
2019 Sisters in Cinema Inaugural Black Documentary Fellowship
2018 Qualified for 2018 Oscars - Best Documentary Feature
2018 Finalist, American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Awards
2014 Best Narrative Short - Pan African Film Festival
2014 Best Narrative Short - Bronzelens Film Festival
2013 Silver Award, Best Narrative Short - Philadelphia International Film Festival
2002 Exceptional Merit in Media Award, National Women’s Political Caucus
1993 Peter Lisagor Award, Society for Professional Journalists - Reporting
1994 Illinois Arts Council Grant
Selected Experience
2023 The Dads (independent short documentary) - World Premiere SXSW, acquired by Netflix
2023 Locked Out (independent feature documentary) - Saville Productions
2022 Team Dream (short documentary) - Queen Collective (Tribeca Studios, P&G, Queen Latifah)
2022 The American Presidency with Bill Clinton (six-part series) - History Channel
2022 New Legacy Challenge (short docuseries) - Tommy Hilfiger and Harlem’s Fashion Row
2020 Mama Gloria (independent feature documentary) - World Channel, PBS
2017 Birthright: A War Story (feature documentary) - Theatrical, Hulu
2014 Danger Word (scripted short)
2002 The Battle of Title IX (documentary) - ESPN
2001 A Knight’s Tale (documentary about Gladys Knight) - A&E
2001 Medical Profile: B.B. King (documentary) - Discovery
Presentations
2024 Guest Speaker, Dialogue with the Dean, Northwestern School of Communications
2024 Guest Speaker, Nike BEN Proud Screening of Mama Gloria at Soho House, Portland, Oregon
2024 Guest Speaker, LGBTQ+ Workplace Awareness Program, McDermott, Will & Emery LLP, New York City
2024 Guest Speaker, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Pride
2023 Guest Speaker, Short Cuts Festival, Westport, CT
2023 The Stories We Tell Keynote, FactSet
2023 Pride Retreat Speaker, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
2022 Morgan State University, Baltimore
2022 Brown Girl Doc Mafia Master Class - Dreams Have No Expiration Date
2021 Chicago SouthSide Film Festival
2021 New York Women in Film and Television Member Screening - Mama Gloria
2021 MICA, Baltimore
2021 Chicago Onscreen
2021 Association for the Study of African American Life and History
2021 Duke Energy
2021 VMWare
2021 Milwaukee Film Festival
2021 University of Chicago
2021 Kansas City Film Festival
2021 Oxford Film Festival, Mississippi
2021 Time Out Youth
2021 Yale University
2021 Human Rights Campaign - Changing the Game Panel Discussion
2021 Visiting Filmmaker Series: Black Lives Matter, George Mason University
2021 BFI Flare Film Festival
2021 Denton Black Film Festival
2020 Human Rights Campaign - Trans Awareness Week
2020 Nike
2020 Chicago International Film Festival
2020 Teaneck International Film Festival
2020 Instagram Live with GLAAD CEO Sarah-Kate Ellis
2020 Black Public Media Story Summit
2018 Keynote Speaker, Collaborate with Edge Women’s Leadership Conference
2018 Capri Theatre, Montgomery, Alabama - Anniversary of Roe v. Wade
2017 Behind the Brilliance Podcast
Additional Experience
2023 Lecturer, Introduction to Documentary Filmmaking, Yale
2008-2018 ABC News - Entertainment Reporter
1998-2008 New York Times, Health, Lifetime and Women’s eNews - Freelance Writer
1999-2001 O, The Oprah Magazine - Contributing Editor
1998-1999 Keep The Connection (Hyperion), Make The Connection (Hyperion) - Ghostwriter
1998 The Slick Boys (Simon & Schuster) - Co-author
1990-1998 People - Correspondent
1988-1990 Miami Herald - Staff Writer