Justin Simien Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Justin Simien
Simien speaking at the 2023 San Diego Comic-Con
Born	Houston, Texas, U.S.
Alma mater	Chapman University
Occupation	Film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, author
Spouse(s)	Rick Proctor (m. 2022)
Awards	U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent

Justin Simien is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. He is known for creating movies and TV shows. His first big movie, Dear White People, won a special award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. This movie was later made into a Netflix TV series with the same name, which ran from 2017 to 2021. Variety magazine also named Simien one of their "10 Directors to Watch" in 2013.

About Justin Simien's Early Life
Justin Simien's Career in Film
Filmography
See also

About Justin Simien's Early Life

Justin Simien was born in Houston, Texas. He grew up in the Houston area and went to the Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. After high school, he studied film at Chapman University in California. Before becoming a director, Simien worked in different jobs in Los Angeles. He was a social media manager at Sony Television and worked in publicity for Focus Features and Paramount Pictures.

Justin Simien's Career in Film

Before making his first feature film, Simien directed three short films. These were Rings (2006), My Women: Inst Msgs (2009), and INST MSGS (Instant Messages) (2009).

Creating Dear White People

Simien started working on the idea for Dear White People in 2006. He was inspired by his experiences while attending Chapman University, which had mostly white students. In 2012, he made a short preview video for the film using money from his tax refund. He then started an online fundraising campaign to raise $25,000. People were very excited about the project, and he ended up raising $40,000!

The movie first showed at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2014. It started playing in movie theaters in the United States on October 17, 2014. In its first weekend, the film earned $344,000 from just eleven locations.

Dear White People earned Simien the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. It also won the "Audience Award" at the 2014 San Francisco International Film Festival.

Dear White People as a TV Series

On May 5, 2016, Lionsgate announced they would make a Dear White People TV series for Netflix. Simien wrote the first ten episodes of the show. The series was released in April 2017 and was very popular with critics. Reviewers praised the writing, directing, and acting. They also liked how the show explored important topics.

In June 2017, the series was renewed for a second season, which came out in May 2018. A third season was released in August 2019, and the fourth and final season came out in September 2021.

Other Projects and Films

Simien also wrote and directed the 2020 horror comedy movie Bad Hair. This film first showed at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Hulu later bought the rights to distribute it. It was released in select theaters on October 16, 2020, and then streamed on Hulu starting October 23, 2020.

In 2019, Simien started his own production company called Culture Machine.

In 2020, it was announced that Simien would be the showrunner for a new Disney+ series called Lando. This series is about the character Lando Calrissian.

In April 2021, Simien agreed to direct a new movie based on the Disney theme park ride The Haunted Mansion. The movie, Haunted Mansion, was released on July 28, 2023. More recently, Simien signed a deal with Paramount Television Studios. He is now working on adapting the comic book Geiger into a TV show.

In July 2023, Simien shared that he had not received any updates on the Lando series since 2020. Later that month, it was reported that he had left the Lando project due to his work on Haunted Mansion. Donald Glover and his brother Stephen were then named as his replacements. However, Simien also said in an interview that he wasn't sure if he was still involved with Lando.

Influences on His Work

Some people have compared Justin Simien to director Spike Lee. However, Simien prefers to be known as "the next Justin Simien" rather than "the next Spike Lee." He does say that Lee's movie Do the Right Thing showed him that it's possible to make certain types of Black films. Simien also looks up to directors like Woody Allen and Ingmar Bergman.

Filmography

Feature Films

Year	Film	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
2014	Dear White People	Yes	Yes	Yes	First film he directed
2020	Bad Hair	Yes	Yes	Yes	Also acted in the film and wrote songs
2023	Haunted Mansion	Yes	No	No

Short Films

Year	Film	Director	Writer	Producer	Editor	Other	Notes
2006	I'll Meet You in Your Womb	No	No	No	No	Yes	Worked as a unit production manager
2006	Rings	Yes	Yes	Executive	Yes	No
2009	My Women: Inst Msgs	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
2009	INST MSGS (Instant Messages)	Yes	Yes	Co-Producer	Yes	Yes	Had a small acting role
2010	Head	No	No	Yes	No	No
2011	Save Me	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Worked as a gaffer (lighting technician)
2013	The Goldfish	No	No	No	Yes	No
2014	'Get Your Life'	Yes	No	No	No	No	Music video for Caught a Ghost
2015	I Can't With You	No	No	No	No	Yes	Acted in the role of Marshall

Television

Year	Show	Director	Writer	Executive producer	Creator	Notes
2017–2021	Dear White People	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Created the show and was an executive producer for 40 episodes. Directed 15 episodes and wrote 10 episodes. Also acted as "Jerry Skyler" in one episode.
2023	Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop	No	No	Yes	No	A documentary mini-series (4 episodes)
2024	Hollywood Black	Yes	No	Yes	No	A documentary mini-series (4 episodes)
To Be Announced	Flashdance	Yes	Yes	No	No	Future series
	Geiger	No	No	Yes	No	Future series
	Plan A	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Co-created with Steven J. Kung & Leann Bowen
	Untitled Star Trek comedy series	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Co-created with Tawny Newsome & Alex Kurtzman

Justin Simien facts for kids

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