Chanelle Aponte Pearson | |
Birth Place: | Bronx, New York, New York |
Nationality: | American |
Occupation: | Writer, producer director |
Notable Works: | 195 Lewis |
Chanelle Aponte Pearson is an American writer, producer, and director. She is a member of the New Negress Film Society. She is best known as the director of 195 Lewis, a scripted web series about Black queer women living in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn. The series won the 2017 US Narrative Audience Award at the BlackStar Film Festival and received a Special Mention at 2017 Outfest.[1] [2]
Pearson began producing short films independently in the early aughts.[3] Her first job on a feature film was as co-producer for Terence Nance's 2012 film An Oversimplification of Her Beauty.[4] Pearson is currently the COO of Nance's production company, MVMT.[5]
In 2015, Pearson won a grant from the Gotham Awards for her directorial debut, a web series called 195 Lewis.[6] 195 Lewis is a scripted series that centers four Black queer women who live in Bed Stuy, and stars co-creator Rae Leone Allen, Trae Harris, D. Ajane Carlton, Sirita Wright, Roxie Johnson, and Taja Lindley.[7] It debuted online on November 16, 2017.[8] Latonya Pennington of Wear Your Voice magazine wrote in a review, "Whether in themselves or others, Black queer viewers will recognize the characters and love them. Through the efforts of the creators, director, and the cast, 195 Lewis tells a wonderful coming-of-age story of love, lust, and life in one of America’s blackest and queerest cities."[9] It received a Special Mention at 2017 Outfest for "highlighting the contemporary life of queer black woman with flair, vibrancy and substance.”[10]
Pearson is an executive producer for the 2018 HBO series Random Acts of Flyness.[11] She is a member of the New Negress Film Society, a collective of Black women filmmakers founded in 2013 to "create community and spaces for support, exhibition, and consciousness-raising".[12] [13]
Pearson identifies as queer. She was born and raised in the Bronx.
Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Director | Writer | Producer | ||||
2012 | An Oversimplification of Her Beauty | |||||
2017 | 195 Lewis | Web series | ||||
2018 | Random Acts of Flyness |