Kiel Adrian Scott

Award-winning filmmaker and multi-disciplinary artist Kiel Adrian Scott's creative works explore the psychological and systemic ramifications of identity, ideology, and inequity. They meaningfully investigate the conflicts often found at the intersections of race, culture, gender, sexuality, and class. Born and raised in New Orleans to a family of artists and educators, Scott began his creative career as a fine artist, focusing on painting, sculpture, and photography, before moving to New York City and expanding his creative practice to encompass literature and film.

Now based in Los Angeles, Scott's most recent work includes directing eight episodes of OWN's Peabody Award-winning television series, David Makes Man. The series, from Academy Award-winning Moonlight screenwriter and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney, is a coming-of-age story about a teenage prodigy navigating the incredible opportunities and extraordinary dangers of two very different worlds: one of academic privilege, the other, a community in need.

Before David Makes Man, Scott directed BET's hit television movie The Bobby Brown Story. The three-hour biopic exploring the beautiful, yet sometimes tragic, life of famed R&B legend Bobby Brown, proved to be a meme worthy instant hit. The two-night television event went on to win the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Television Movie, Limited Series or Dramatic Special. Prior to directing the aforementioned works for television, Scott was a member of the inaugural class of Ryan Murphy's television directing program, the HALF Initiative. While in the program he shadowed legendary actor and director Angela Bassett on FX's hit series American Horror Story.

Among Scott's acclaimed film works is the featurette Samaria, his New York University thesis. Scott, who wrote, directed, and produced the film, won a Directors Guild of America Student Film Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement, the Audience Award at the Urbanworld Film Festival, and the Spike Lee Production Award. Samaria was also a finalist in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' Student Academy Awards, marking Scott's second time in the lauded competition. The film powerfully depicts the human cost of societal apathy and corporate greed in the aftermath of an environmental catastrophe. Scott's feature length screenplay adaptation of Samaria, entitled Epilogue, was an inaugural selection of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' Emerging Voices Program.

The Roe Effect, a short film written, directed, and produced by Scott, won several film festivals and awards, including, but not limited to Best Short Film at the American Black Film Festival's HBO Short Film Competition, Best Narrative Short at the Urbanworld Film Festival, and the Saatchi & Saatchi "Nothing Is Impossible" Producer's Award. The Roe Effect was also included in Cannes Film Festival's Short Film Corner. The film explores the cyclical nature of violent abuse, asking what could happen when a person's agency and bodily autonomy are stripped away. Of the film, Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme remarked, "The Roe Effect is exquisitely made, and fantastic in every single aspect. Kiel is an incredibly exciting new American filmmaker. Bravo!"

Scott is an alumnus of New York University's Graduate Film Program, where he was awarded a full tuition scholarship, was a Dean's Fellow, a Spike Lee Fellow, and served as Professor Spike Lee's Graduate Teaching Assistant. After completing the program, Scott continued to work with longtime mentor Spike Lee, as his assistant on his professional projects. In that capacity, Scott shadowed Lee for three years on projects ranging from commercials and documentaries to narrative features and a Broadway play. Scott later collaborated with Lee by co-writing his video game feature film, NBA2K16 Livin' Da Dream.

Scott is also a graduate of the renowned Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science of Art, where he, along with all students awarded admission to the university, received a full tuition scholarship. While pursuing his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, Scott was thrice distinguished for his creative practice and fine art. Upon graduation he was named Commencement Speaker, was recognized as a National Collegiate Scholar, and awarded both the Alumni Association Outstanding Service to the School Award and the Student Service Award for his contributions to the university.

Always looking for ways to serve, Scott has continued his work in arts education, cultural affairs, and community support. Scott is a member of the Board of Directors of the N.O.C.C.A. Foundation, which serves as the non-profit arm of the celebrated arts conservatory high school, the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (N.O.C.C.A.). He is a member of the Black Genius Brain Trust of the Black Genius Foundation, which celebrates and invests in the intellectual and creative genius of Black artists, arts professionals, and arts organizations. Scott also serves on the Executive Board of the non-profit organization, Guardians Institute. Through its youth and community-based programming, Guardians Institute promotes literacy, healthy lifestyles, civic engagement, and the preservation of New Orleans' cultural arts.