The Writers' Colony

The Writers' Colony

di The Writers' Colony

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Meet The Writers | Nathan H. Williams

President & CEO of iN-Hale Entertainment LLC, Nathan Hale Williams is a multi-hyphenated entertainment professional who is an award-winning filmmaker, a best-selling/award-winning author and an entertainment attorney. Named a Black Enterprise Magazine Modern Man of Excellence ®, a GLAAD Media Award® winner, and a two-time NAACP Image Award® nominee, Nathan is a classic storyteller across multiple genres and mediums. His last film, All Boys Aren’t Blue recently won a GLAAD Media Award, two Telly Awards (including one for Nathan’s “Outstanding Direction”), an Anthem Award, and Best Narrative Feature at NewFest Film Festival (2021). Nathan may be best known for his award-winning film, 90 DAYS, which was screened at over forty top festivals receiving multiple “Best” awards, including an African Movie Academy Award and the Cannes Diversity Showcase – Overall Winner. His feature documentary, IT CAN BE DONE: Ending Homelessness in America premiered at the 2021 Pan African Film Festival. His other film credits include: NAACP Image Award & GLAAD Media Award nominated, Dirty Laundry (Fox); The Ski Trip (MTV), Love for Passion, and, Blackbird (RLJ Ent.). His television credits include: My Model Looks Better Than Your Model (BET), Leading Women (Centric); The American Candidate (Showtime); The Kimchi Chronicles (PBS) and, Girls Who Like Boys (Sundance Channel). In 2019, a dream came true when Nathan was hired to direct and produce live action films for Sesame Street’s 49th Season. His film BURDEN, premiered at the American Black Film Festival and has been used as an innovative diversity, equity and inclusion tool by Fortune 200 companies, law firms and various organizations. A proud native of Chicago, Nathan has authored five books and is an honors graduate of George Washington University Law School.

Meet The Writers | Lauren Marissa Smith

Lauren Marissa Smith is a theater actor turned writer. She creates work amplifying the interior lives of those who are on the margins with provocative, raw, and humorous storytelling. She is a recent alum of The Writer's Colony, a residency fostered by Mara Brock Akil's Story27 Productions and New Wave Writers, a year-long program, led by Marcus Gardley, focused on cultivating new voices of color. She is currently developing her own narrative project with Fair Harbor Productions. Lauren is a proud phi beta kappa graduate of Spelman College.

Meet The Writers | Kendall Gardner Lucas

Kendall Gardner is the Founder of The Ararat, a multi-faceted entertainment media company committed to empower individuals to holistically nourish themselves and restore their well-being through community, connection and celebration. Kendall has previously worked in television production for BET, Warner Brothers, Big Beach Films and Akil Productions. Her career began in branded content for Radical Media. Kendall is a published journalist and a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and Howard University's School of Fine Arts.

Meet the Writers | Johnathon L. Jackson

Johnathon L. Jackson is a multi-hyphenate artist and educator from Cleveland, Ohio now living in Los Angeles where he has continued his career as a writer, theatre artist, and educator. He is behind the Web-Series Upstairs and the short film Upload, which premiered at the Micheaux Film Festival in Los Angeles. His play The Night in Question was an official selection of the DC Black Arts Festival and the Ink-Cubator Series Playwrights Festival at WACO Theatre. Currently, Johnathon has a number of projects in development including Drama TV series Sweatblood and musical comedy The Miseducation of Nee-Nee. Both stories are plucked from real life experiences as a football player at one of the top programs in the country and a Theatre teacher at a performing arts school respectively. Sweatblood is an inspirational story about a coach with a vision that changed the landscape of football. It’s a cross of All-American and Power. Nee-Nee puts a fresh spin on the musical dramedy and lends a new narrative to the teenage mother with a dream. He’s also developing a Comedy feature that has finally found a home! Details are under wraps but it’s an exciting story with all the feels of some classics from 70’s. Johnathon is an alumnus of Mara Brock Akil’s highly selective Story27 Writers Colony. Sitting at the feet of a legend, and a team that includes the mind of Susie Fitzgerald, taught Johnathon the ins and outs of how to find his voice and build community while navigating the entertainment industry. Out of the program, Johnathon joined the team at ColorCreative where he is repped by James Shani.

Meet the Writers | Shari Poindexter

Shari Poindexter is currently completing a short story collection titled Love and a Sachet of JooJoo & Other Infidelities. In addition to the residency at The Writer’s Colony, she has won fellowships with La Maison Baldwin in France, Sagansky Harvardwood TV Writers Program, PEN Center Emerging Voices, Napa Valley Writers Conference and Squaw Valley Community of Writers. Shari has an MFA in Writing and Literature from Bennington College and lives in LA where she divides her time between passions of mothering her five children, writing and helping adults enjoy healthy sexual function as a Holistic Pelvic Health Therapist and doctor of Occupational Therapy.

Meet The Writers | Tiffany Black

Tiffany Black is a multidisciplinary artist from St. Petersburg, Florida, a beachy tourist city, infamously named the tax fraud capital of the nation. Tiffany has amassed acting credits on STARZ’s P-Valley, Survivors Remorse, Justin Simien’s Hulu horror feature Bad Hair, and more. Throughout her 12-year acting career, Tiffany had written parts for herself and used self-produced short films to hone her voice as a writer. She focuses mainly on writing grounded comedies about families and relationships. To date, Tiffany has written three comedy pilots, two drama pilots, two features, three spec scripts and numerous shorts. She’s been a finalist for ABC’s Writer Fellowship, Sundance Episodic and New Voices Labs, Humanitas New Voices lab, Macro Episodic Lab, Austin Film Festival, BET’s Project Cre8 and more. In her spare time, she enjoys teaching acting at Tasha Smith’s Actor Workshop and randomly producing art exhibitions for her Instagram: @tiffanyblackness.

Meet the Writers | Maria D. Smith

Born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, Maria D. Smith is a recent graduate of Northwestern University's Writing for the Stage and Screen MFA program. Having grown up on her grandmother's plays, Maria has pursued writing as more than a career, but as an homage to her ancestor's wildest dreams. Her play "Every Man's Memorial Marked" was featured in the Theater Master's TAKE TEN Festival, where it was then published in their seventh annual anthology. Before pursuing writing full time, Maria worked in development at Nashville Repertory Theater and Motion Picture Corporation of America. Maria currently lives in Los Angeles, California, where she hopes to further evolve as a writer and help bring more Southern flavor to the West Coast.

Meet the Writers | Braxton Brooks

Braxton Brooks is an American actress, singer and dancer from Washington, D.C. Braxton began her career as a dancer and studied at both the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Dance Theatre of Harlem. After graduating from D.C.'s Duke Ellington High School for the Performing Arts she attended Harvard University and graduated Magna Cum Laude.

Meet the Writers | Alex Malcolm

Alex Wright is a multidisciplinary artist from Atlanta, Georgia. Born to Jamaican immigrant parents, growing up between Jamaica and Atlanta helped form her unique Voice and perspective on culture. She loves exploring themes about beauty, womanhood, familial relationships, and how society shapes us in unique ways. Alex's accolades include being a finalist in the 2020 Sundance Episodic Lab Fellowship and being a 2022 summer fellow at Mara Brock Akil's Story27 Writers' Colony. She is currently working on her first film.

Meet the Writers | Elexis Goodwin

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