Age: 53
female
Ava Marie DuVernay (/ˌdjuːvərˈneɪ/; born August 24, 1972) is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer. She is a recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, a BAFTA Film Award, and a BAFTA TV Award, as well as a nominee for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. In 2011, she founded her independent distribution company ARRAY. After making her directorial debut with I Will Follow (2010), DuVernay won the directing award in the U.S. dramatic competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival for her second feature film, Middle of Nowhere, becoming the first black woman to win the award. For her work on Selma (2014), a biopic about Martin Luther King Jr., DuVernay became the first African-American woman to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Director; the film went on to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Her other film credits include the Academy Award-nominated Netflix documentary 13th (2016) and the Disney fantasy film A Wrinkle in Time (2018), the latter making her the first African-American woman to direct a film with a $100 million budget. In 2023, she directed the biographical film Origin based on Isabel Wilkerson's book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (2020). DuVernay's television credits include the OWN drama series Queen Sugar (2016) and two Netflix drama limited series: When They See Us (2019), based on the 1989 Central Park jogger case, and Colin in Black & White (2021), based on the teenage years of NFL player Colin Kaepernick. In 2017, DuVernay was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. In 2020, she was elected to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences board of governors as part of the directors branch. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ava DuVernay, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
"Jump: The Kris Kross Story" is a high-energy, emotional biopic miniseries that dives into the meteoric rise of the legendary hip-hop duo Kris Kross. Starting from their humble beginnings as young teens discovered by Jermaine Dupri, this series will explore their wild success, unique style, and the lasting impact they left on hip-hop culture and 90s fashion. But fame isn't always the dream it seems—fame came at a price, and the series will peel back the curtain on the personal and professional challenges they faced as they navigated adolescence, friendship, and the music industry. Across six episodes, viewers will be taken on an unforgettable journey, from the moment they first caught the attention of Dupri and recorded "Jump," to their rapid rise to superstardom and the pressure to maintain their success. As they deal with the highs and lows of fame, we see the complexities of their bond as friends and collaborators, alongside the emotional toll it takes on their lives. Key themes of identity, ambition, and the search for normalcy in a world that’s anything but normal will be explored as the series highlights the difficulties of growing up under a microscope. Kris Kross’ influence on 90s culture, including their iconic backwards clothes, chart-topping hits, and innovative approach to hip-hop, will be at the heart of the story, but the series will also explore the personal costs of their fame and the ultimate tragedy of Chris Kelly’s untimely death.
