Howard 'El Gato Negro' Mitchell

Howard Mitchell is an award-winning, American writer and film director of Afro-Latin descent, born in Panama City, Panama to Jeida E. Mitchell, a Nurse's Aide, and James A. Mitchell, an Army paratrooper. Mitchell served as a regional judge for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Student Academy Awards, for three years. Working under the pseudonym GATO, he has cited the influence of the Nouvelle Vague, James Baldwin, Chekhov, Bergman, and British director Steve McQueen. He interweaves dark humor into his dramatic narratives, exploring the fire beneath the ice of humanity. Described as intra-disciplinary, multi-disciplinary, and anti-disciplinary, his most recent awards include: the Oregon Media Arts Fellowship Award (2018) for demonstrating an ongoing commitment to the media arts, Oregon Made Creative Foundation's "Tell Your Story Grant Award (2021)," the Regional Arts and Culture Council's "Make, Learn, Build" Grant award (2021), a special commendation for the Betty Bowen Award (2022), and is a finalist and member of the 2022 Willamette Writers' FilmLabTV. Mitchell is developing a feature-length detective thriller set in Portland, Oregon, as well as a slate of other theatrical feature films.