Miles Watkins

In his early twenties, Miles Watkins drove solo cross-country from his native Alabama to enroll as a graduate student in USC's film school. Subsequently, he won USC's Mehring Award for his direction of the short "Masque," and in 1974 earned an MFA degree in Cinema. Soon after, Mr. Watkins was honored with a Directing Fellowship to the American Film Institute in Beverly Hills as well. After a distinguished career writing and directing award-winning educational, industrial, and documentary films, Mr. Watkins broke into prime-time television. He became one of the small stable of directors on the series "L.A. Law" when it won the Emmy for Best Drama both in 1990 and again in 1991. And in the following year, Mr. Watkins was also one of the small stable of directors on the series "Northern Exposure" when it won the Emmy for Best Drama in 1992. Also, in 1991, he won the Scott Newman Drug Abuse Prevention Award for his direction of an episode of the much-lauded series "Life Goes On." In 2009, Mr. Watkins and his wife Jocelyn co-founded The Jocelyn Jones Acting Studio in West Hollywood, where they forwarded the craft and careers of hundreds of professional actors. Additionally, Mr. Watkins designed and launched "The Art of Visual Storytelling" course there, his 12-week filmmaking intensive for working actors and military veterans held once a year. Through the years, that course produced a number of festival award-winning films. In 2010, Mr. Watkins was invited to join the faculty of USC's School of Cinematic Arts as an Adjunct Professor -- where he taught Directing and Film Production to graduate students and undergraduates alike for the next 8 ½ years. Mr. Watkins is a member of the DGA, SAG-AFTRA, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.