Karena Evans facts for kids

Karena Evans, born on December 17, 1995, is a talented Canadian director and actress. She became famous for directing music videos for superstar Drake. Her videos for "God's Plan", "Nice for What", and "In My Feelings" all helped these songs become huge hits in 2018.

Karena won the Best Director award at the 2018 Much Music Video Awards. She was also the first woman to win the Prism Prize's Lipsett Award for directing music videos. As an actress, she has appeared in the TV show Mary Kills People. She also had a main role in the 2018 movie Firecrackers. In 2020, Karena directed the first episode of the TV drama P-Valley. She has also directed episodes for popular shows like Snowfall and the Gossip Girl reboot.

Karena Evans: A Director's Journey

Starting Out in Music Videos

Karena Evans began her career in the music industry as an intern. She worked for a well-known director named Director X. Later, she was signed as a director to his company, Popprok. Since then, Karena has directed music videos for many artists. These include Belly and Sean Paul. She has also directed commercials for big brands like Nike, Inc.. This includes a short film for their Black Lives Matter campaign.

Directing Drake's Hit Videos

Karena Evans gained a lot of attention in early 2018. She directed the music video for Drake's song "God's Plan". This video quickly became very popular online. The song also reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In the video, Drake gives away his entire $1 million budget to people in Miami.

After that, Karena directed Drake's "Nice for What" music video. Many people praised this video. Karena said the video was a "celebration of women." It featured famous female stars like Olivia Wilde and Issa Rae. The magazine Vogue even called Evans a rising star in music video directing. Later that year, she made history. She became the first woman to win the Prism Prize's Lipsett Award for music video direction.

Her former boss, Director X, congratulated her online. He shared how Karena started as an intern. He said she worked harder than everyone else. He was proud to see her go from an intern to a successful director.

In May 2018, Karena also directed the music video for SZA's song "Garden (Say It Like That)". This video featured Donald Glover. That summer, she directed two more music videos for Drake: "I'm Upset" and "In My Feelings".

Awards and Recognition

In late 2018, Karena Evans received nominations for her work on Drake's videos. She was nominated for a Much Music Video Award and an MTV Video Music Award. She won Best Director at the 2018 iHeartRadio MMVAs for her work on "God's Plan." In 2020, BET included Karena on their "Future 40" list. This list celebrates 40 inspiring young Black leaders.

Karena Evans: An Acting Career

As an actress, Karena Evans started in 2016. She had a role in a short film called WhiteWoods. In 2018, she starred in two feature films. One was Michael Sucsy's Every Day. The other was Jasmin Mozaffari's Firecrackers. Firecrackers premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. In the same year, she also had a recurring role in the Canadian TV series Mary Kills People.

Who Inspired Karena Evans?

Karena Evans is the younger sister of Jordan Evans. Her brother is a music producer who has worked with many successful artists. He inspired her to follow her dreams. Karena has said that she is greatly influenced by Melina Matsoukas. She called Matsoukas her "hero" in an interview with Billboard. Karena hopes to inspire other young black women from her hometown of Toronto.

Film and TV Work

Film Roles

TV Shows (Actor and Director)

Music Videos Directed