Ava DuVernay
Encyclopedia
Ava DuVernay is an American filmmaker, film marketer and film distributor
Film distributor
A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for releasing films to the public either theatrically or for home viewing...

.

Film Marketing

DuVernay formed The DuVernay Agency, later known as DVA Media + Marketing, in 1999. The award-winning marketing and publicity firm has provided strategy and execution for more than 100 film and television projects by directors such as Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...

, Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...

, Michael Mann, Robert Rodriguez
Robert Rodriguez
Robert Anthony Rodríguez is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, editor and musician. He shoots and produces many of his films in his native Texas and Mexico. He has directed such films as Desperado, From Dusk till Dawn, The Faculty, Spy Kids, Sin City, Planet...

, Kevin Smith
Kevin Smith
Kevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer, and director, as well as a popular comic book writer, author, comedian/raconteur, and internet radio personality best recognized by viewers as Silent Bob...

, Bill Condon
Bill Condon
William "Bill" Condon is an American screenwriter and director. Condon is best known for directing and writing the critically acclaimed films Gods and Monsters, Chicago, Kinsey, and Dreamgirls. In 1998, Condon debuted as a screenwriter in Gods and Monsters, which won him his first Academy Award....

, Raoul Peck
Raoul Peck
Raoul Peck is an award-winning Haitian filmmaker, of both documentary and feature films, and a political activist. Briefly, in the 1990s, he was Haiti's Minister of Culture.-Biography:...

 and Gurinder Chadha
Gurinder Chadha
Gurinder Chadha , OBE, is a British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in the United Kingdom. She is best known for the hit films Bhaji on the Beach , Bend It Like Beckham , Bride and Prejudice and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging...

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Filmmaking

In 2008, DuVernay made her feature directorial debut with the documentary, This Is the Life. In 2010, she directed several network music documentaries, including "My Mic Sounds Nice" for BET Networks and the Essence Music Festival 2010 for TV One.

In 2011, DuVernay's first narrative feature film, "I Will Follow
I Will Follow (film)
I Will Follow is an independent feature film written, produced and directed by Ava DuVernay, and starring Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Beverly Todd, Omari Hardwick, Michole White, Dijon Talton, Royale Watkins, Damone Roberts, Tracie Thoms and Blair Underwood.Richardson-Whitfield portrays Maye, a...

," a drama starring Salli Richardson-Whitfield, was released theatrically. Roger Ebert championed the film, stating "'I Will Follow' is one of the best films I've seen about coming to terms with the death of loved one." "I Will Follow" was an official selection of AFI Fest, Pan-African Film Festival, Urbanworld and Chicago International Film Festival.

In summer of 2011, DuVernay began production on her second feature film, "Middle of Nowhere."

Film Distribution

On January 7, 2011, an article entitled "Building An Alliance To Aid Films By Blacks" by Michael Cieply was published in the New York Times about DuVernay's effort to organize African-American film festivals and orchestrate theatrical releases for black independent films. The collective is called the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement or AFFRM. DuVernay's "I Will Follow" marked the first theatrical release of AFFRM on March 11, 2011. "I Will Follow" grossed a per-screen-average of $11,563, and expanded from five screens in five cities to 22 screens in 15 cities after its first weekend.

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
2012 Middle of Nowhere
Middle of Nowhere (film)
Middle of Nowhere is a 2008 coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by John Stockwell, written by Michelle Morgan, and starring Susan Sarandon and her real-life daughter, Eva Amurri. It premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival...

Director/Writer Narrative Feature Film
2011 I Will Follow
I Will Follow
"I Will Follow" is a song by rock band U2. It is the opening track from their debut album, Boy, and it was released as the album's second single, in October 1980. Bono wrote the lyrics to "I Will Follow" in tribute to his mother who died when he was 14 years old."I Will Follow" is the only song...

Director/Writer Narrative Feature Film
2010 My Mic Sounds Nice Director/Executive Produer Television Documentary
2010 Essence Music Festival '10 Director/Writer Television Documentary
2010 Faith Through The Storm Director/Writer Television Documentary
2008 This is The Life
This Is The Life
"This Is the Life" is a song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is the theme song to the gangster comedy movie Johnny Dangerously. The song is about the perks and spoils of organized crime....

Director/Producer Feature Documentary
2007 Compton in C Minor Director/Producer Short Documentary
2006 Saturday Night Life Director/Writer Narrative Short

External links

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