| Tracy Oliver | |
| Occupation: | Writer, producer, director, actress |
| Education: | Stanford University (BA) University of Southern California (MFA) |
Tracy Yvonne Oliver is an American film and television writer, producer, director, and actress. Oliver originally starred in the web series The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl, before serving as a staff writer on ABC's The Neighbors and STARZ's Survivor's Remorse.
Oliver has co-written three movies: (2016), Girls Trip (2017), and Little (2019), with Girls Trip making her the first African-American woman to write a film that grossed over US$100 million. Oliver also created and wrote the BET television series First Wives Club and wrote the screenplay to the 2019 film adaptation of The Sun Is Also a Star.[1] Oliver also runs a production company, Tracy Yvonne Productions.[2]
Oliver is an alum of Stanford University, where she double majored in American Studies and Drama. After graduating from Stanford, Oliver attended the USC School of Cinematic Arts and graduated in 2010 with a Master's of Fine Arts in Producing for Film, Television and New Media (now known as the Peter Stark Producing Program). After earning her Masters, Oliver created the black theater company Black Stage.[3] [4] She portrayed Nina, the antagonist to Issa Rae's "J", in Rae's 2011-12 web series The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl. In addition to acting in Awkward Black Girl, Oliver also served as a writer and producer. Oliver wrote and circulated a spec script for a movie called Marriage Is for White People. The script got the attention of Dan Fogelman, who then hired her as a staff writer on ABC's The Neighbors. Oliver then became a staff writer and story editor on STARZ's Survivor's Remorse.[5]
Oliver partnered with Black-ish creator Kenya Barris to write the comedies (2016), starring Ice Cube and Cedric the Entertainer. The movie received positive reviews and grossed $55 million on a budget of $20 million. Oliver and Barris then co-wrote Girls Trip (2017), starring Queen Latifah, Regina Hall, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Tiffany Haddish. Girls Trip received positive reviews and grossed over $140 million worldwide, making Oliver the first African-American woman to write a film that grossed over $100 million.[6]
She re-teamed with Barris on the 2019 film Little, which he co-produced and she co-wrote; she also received a "story by" credit.[7] She also wrote the screenplay of the 2019 film The Sun Is Also a Star, based on Nicola Yoon's novel.
Oliver also created and wrote the BET television series First Wives Club. She directed an episode of the show, making her directorial debut.
Oliver serves as creator, writer, and executive producer of the Amazon Studios half-hour television series Harlem,[8] a single camera comedy starring Meagan Good, Grace Byers, Jerrie Johnson and Shoniqua Shandai.[9] Malcolm D. Lee, who directed Girl's Trip, directed the first two episodes.
A follow-up to Girl's Trip is reportedly in the works, with Oliver having written a treatment for it.[10] Oliver has also been reported to be writing a reboot to the 1995 film Clueless.[11]
Oliver was included on the 2020 Ebony Power 100 List.[12] More recently, she signed an overall deal with Apple.[13]
| Year(s) | Series | Functioned as | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Writer | Creator | Executive producer | Actress | Director | ||||
| 2011–2012 | The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl | |||||||
| 2012–2013 | The Neighbors | [14] | ||||||
| 2014–2015 | Survivor's Remorse | |||||||
| 2019–2021 | First Wives Club | [15] | ||||||
| 2021 | Harlem | [16] | ||||||
| Year | Film | Functioned as | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Writer | Executive producer | Director | |||||
| 2016 | [17] | ||||||
| 2017 | Girls Trip | ||||||
| Trip | Short film | [18] | |||||
| 2019 | Little | [19] | |||||
| The Sun Is Also a Star | [20] | ||||||
| 2022 | The Blackening | [21] | |||||
Notes