J.D. Walker

JD Walker is a writer, director, and producer with over 15 years of experience in the entertainment industry. Currently, she is Head of Physical Production for the Open Door Film Project, a member of the Producers Guild of America, and steers the Leadership Committee at the Academy of Motion Pictures for her Affinity Group. .She is originally from Oakland, California. Recently, she received a three-year annual scholarship from The George Lucas Family Foundation to complete her M.F.A. in TV and Film Production at USC School of Cinema, where, in her second year, she was inducted into The Academy of Motion Pictures "Gold Program." At The Academy of Motion Pictures, Walker assisted the Directors of both The Student Academy Awards and Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, reading and analyzing feature scripts while creating and organizing a comprehensive list of Academy qualifying film festivals. Walker has directed over 11 films and produced over 20 films, including features and shorts. She worked behind the scenes on Ryan Coogler's Fruitvale Station,and has written and produced videos as well multinational shows for both Ryan Coogler and Ava DuVernay, starring award winning talent including but not limited to: Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures), Michael B. Jordan (Black Panther), Tessa Thompson (Avengers:End Game), Lin Miranda (Hamilton), Anika Noni Rose (Half a Yellow Son), Andre Holland (Moonlight), Adepero Odune (12 Years a Slave), and more. Most recently, Walker has been working as a Director for both multicamera and single camera TV. She is slated to direct three (3) feature films: Undeclared, Within Our Gates, and The Postwoman. Walker is winner of The Sundance Film Festival pitching contest about a character-driven feature script that she wrote about Oscar Micheaux, the father of Black cinema, which is currently in Development. While finishing her M.F.A. in TV and Film Production at USC, Walker wrote and directed a short, "Oscar Micheaux", that screened at The Cannes Film Festival and won "Best Short" at both The African American Film Festival in Portland and The Black Reel Awards. Another short that Walker wrote and directed, "Sandra: Say Her Name" won "Best Short" at The Central Illinois Feminist Film Festival. Walker continues to write, direct, and produce shorts, TV projects, and features. In addition to her M.F.A. from USC, Walker holds a Ph.D. in English from Howard University that she earned when she was 26 and a B.A. in Drama from San Francisco State. In her younger years, Walker was labeled a "gifted child" and took Honors classes all throughout elementary, junior, and high school. In high school, she starred in and directed talent shows and won several awards as a writer and an actress. During her junior year in high school, she won the California Forensic Association State Championship in Dramatic Interpretation for her rendition of August Wilson's play, "Fences." In college, she remained on the Honor Roll and Dean's List every semester, having earned her recognition with The Golden Key National Honor Society. Walker graduated cum laude with a B.A. in Theater Arts from San Francisco State University , where she trained with Camille Cole Howard and studied in the Black Studies Department. In the Bay Area, she performed in leading roles with The African American Shakespeare Co. and The San Francisco Mime Troupe. At San Francisco State University, Walker received the President's Alumni Scholarship. Walker was also offered a full-ride to Howard University, where she finished both her M.A. and Ph.D. course work (with "distinction") at age 26. While at Howard, Walker self-published two books, worked as a radio host, and wrote cover stories for the Black press. Walker always knew she wanted to write, especially screenplays, and spent much of her time in DC honing her craft, serving, for 7 years, as a freelance journalist, writing feature stories on Black poets and writers while serving as a photojournalist for the The New York Amsterdam News, The Washington Informer, The Tennessee Tribune, and Heart & Soul magazine to name a few. An extensive background in publishing and journalism, Walker also served as a book buyer, hosting literary panels for authors. She's also served as a Marketing and Editorial Assistant for a University Press. While in D.C., Walker received scholarship awards for her writing from her mentors: poet E. Ethelbert Miller and poet Sonia Sanchez, as well as from Gregory Allen Howard (Harriet, Ali, Remember the Titans) from whom she took a screenwriting class. She toured with Sonia Sanchez, as her personal assistant, and performed her poetry live at literary conferences. Walker also received a National Visionary Heritage fellowship award from Camille O. Cosby, where she was trained to perform documentary work on historic elders over the age of 70. Walker's work with Cosby is now archived in The Smithsonian and a book called "A Wealth of Wisdom" (Atria Books 2004). Her work has screened at The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles and at numerous film festivals around the country, including but not limited to Frameline, The Queer Women of Color Film Festival, The Boston LGBT Film Festival, Out in Film, The Reel Sistas of the African Diaspora Film Festival, The New York African Diaspora Film Festival, and The African American Film Festival in Portland, Oregon, to name a few, where it won best short. Walker's first short that she wrote, produced, and directed was called "The Postwoman." She later produced "The Young Oscar Micheaux." Walker is currently finishing her screenplays. As early as she can remember, Walker has been writing and directing her own shorts. Her love for literature and poetry continued throughout her college years and greatly impacted her storytelling as well as her quest to bring the untold stories of African Americans to the silver screen. Additionally, she has taught multicamera TV Production and filmmaking on both the college and high school level.