Neema Barnette Biography
Neema Barnette is a film director from the United States and the first African-American woman to direct a primetime sitcom. Barnette was Sony’s first African-American woman to sign a three-picture deal. She has received numerous awards since then, including a Peabody, an Emmy, and an NAACP Image Award.
How old is Neema Barnette? – Age
She is 71 years old as of 14 December 2020. She was born in 1949 in New York, New York, United States.
Neema Barnette Husband – Family
She is married to actor Reed R. McCants and the couple has a child together.
Neema Barnette Net Worth
Barnette has an estimated net worth of $1.5 Million.
Neema Barnette Career
Harlem Girl Productions Corporation was founded by her in 1990. Barnette has also worked for Harlem Lite Productions since 1997. She has directed several seasons and episodes of television sitcoms such as A Different World, The Cosby Show, Gilmore Girls, and 7th Heaven.
Barnette has directed stage productions, episodic television, made-for-television movies, and feature films. Her first short film, Sky Captain, was directed as part of the American Film Institute’s (AFI) Directing Workshop for Women in 1985. Her 2003 film Civil Brand is a low-budget drama about women in prison staging an uprising in order to protest their treatment. Spirit Lost, her 1997 film, is a psychological thriller with a love triangle involving a ghost. She was chosen as one of ten artists to judge the American Film Institute’s “Best Films Award” in 2002. Barnette directed her first feature film, an adaptation of Civil Brand, in 2003, and told the Los Angeles Times that it was inspired by Preston A Whitmore II’s original screenplay.
Woman Thou Art Loosed: On the 7th Day, her 11th feature film and third for theatrical release, was released in 2012. The film is a thriller and family drama about a marriage on the rocks, and it was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Best Independent Feature in 2012. Barnette directed two Being Mary Jane episodes: “Hot Seat” and “Don’t Call It A Comeback.” Barnette is the Executive Producer of Black History Mini Docs, 90-second videos that tell the stories of African-American heroes and she-roes, as well as daily tributes on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. She has received numerous honors, awards, and nominations, including an Emmy Award for her afterschool special To Be a Man, two NAACP Image Awards, and a Sundance Film Festival Award.
At the age of 25, the veteran director released her first feature film, “Civil Brand,” in 2003. A story based on an urban women’s prison story. Even after her mother died, Barnette was encouraged to pursue the film. When the film was finished, it received numerous awards and was shown at film festivals such as Sundance, the American Film Institute, and the American Black Film Festival in Miami, where “Civil Brand” won the $15,000 Blockbuster audience award. Barnette directed “Heaven Ain’t Hard to Find,” a gospel musical film starring Kim Whitley, Cliff Powell, and Reed McCants, in 2009, which premiered on HBO and BET. Barnette received her first NAACP Image® Award for directing “One More Hurdle,” an NBC dramatic special.
Another of her documentaries, “The Silent Crime,” an NBC documentary about domestic violence, received four local Emmy® nominations. Following her successful debut, she directed episodes of “Hooperman,” “The Royal Family,” “China Beach” (Peabody Award), “Frank’s Place” (Emmy® Award), “The Sinbad Show,” “Diagnosis Murder,” “A Different World,” and many episodes of “The Cosby Show.”
Neema Barnette has been a member of The Black Filmmakers Foundation since its inception, as well as the DGA African American Steering Committee. She is also an active AFI alumnus who serves on the AFI Independent Film Committee’s panel. She has also served on the executive committee of the IFP Gordon Parks Scholarship Fund. She has served as a judge for the NAACP Feature Film Award and as an annual judge for the Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival.
Barnette owns her own production company, Harlem Girl Productions, as well as Reel Rebel Productions, which she co-owns with her husband, Reed McCants. Notably, she is also the Executive Director of Live Theatre Gang, a theatre and performance company for young artists. Barnette also works as a part-time teacher, instructing aspiring directors at UCLA and USC. She spends the rest of her time with her husband, actor Reed R. McCants, running a theatre company called Live Theatre Gang.
Neema Barnette Movies
♦ Super Sweet 16: The Movie
♦ All You’ve Got
♦ Zora Is My Name!
♦ Better Off Dead
♦ Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story
♦ Close to Danger
♦ Spirit Lost
♦ Woman Thou Art Loosed: On the 7th Day
♦ Heaven Ain’t Hard to Find
♦ Better off Dead
Neema Barnette TV Shows
♦ Genius: Aretha Episode 2 – Until The Real Thing Comes Along
♦ Genius: Aretha Episode 3 – Do Right Woman 2021
♦ Paradise Lost 2020
♦ Black Lightning 2019
♦ Raising Dion 2019
♦ Midnight, Texas 2018
♦ The Good Cop 2018
♦ Love is _ 2018
♦ Luke Cage 2018
♦ Blind Spot 2018
♦ The Breaks 2017
♦ Being Mary Jane 2015-2017
♦ Queen Sugar 2016
