Career
Joslyn Rose Lyons is a director, filmmaker, producer, and writer. Her work has been featured on Showtime, Paramount, Starz, and Lionsgate, and showcased at international film festivals including Sundance London, Essence, and Urbanworld. She was also named a finalist for the Academy Gold Women's Fellowship under the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Academy Awards).
Lyons' feature-length studio directorial debut, Stand, Showtime, Paramount Plus, is a documentary about activist and basketball player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. The film features Steph Curry, Mahershala Ali, Ice Cube, Steve Kerr, Shaquille O'Neal, Jalen Rose, and others). Stand was nominated for a Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary.
Lyons has served as an impact producer on a number of documentaries including Miss Representation (Oprah Winfrey Network), And Then They Came (George Takei), Agents of Change (Danny Glover), Waging Change (Jane Fonda), and the critically acclaimed Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth to Power, which explores the life and legacy of Congresswoman Barbara Lee, which features Alice Walker, Ayanna Pressley, Van Jones, Danny Glover, Cory Booker, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. It won the 53rd NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Documentary. Joslyn also collaborated with Starz on the Take The Lead initiative, which amplifies narratives by, about, and for women and underrepresented voices.
Lyons was the producer of Tale of the Tape, this documentary takes a look at how The Mixtape has served as a force to catapult the art form of Hip Hop, as well as the careers of the greatest lyricists, featuring Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa, Big Sean, and J. Cole.
Her first documentary was Sounds of Spirit, featuring Common, Saul Williams, Cee-Lo, Goapele, which premiered at Urbanworld Film Festival, and won Best Music Documentary at the New York International. She has directed a number of music videos featuring artists including Mali Music, Too $hort ft. Dom Kennedy, E-40, Talib Kweli, Chad Hugo (The Neptunes N.E.R.D.). Mahershala Ali, and Hieroglyphics.
Lyons has directed and produced award winning shows and digital content for platforms including MTV, VH1, and BET, collaborating with artists and athletes across various genres, including work with Common for his organization Imagine Justice. Joslyn also produced the first Music Matters Showcase for the Grammy’s at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), featuring artists such as Mack Wilds and PJ Morton. Additionally, Joslyn produced the BET Awards Celebrity Basketball, featuring Nick Cannon, Chris Brown, Trevor Jackson, Angela Yee, and Jemele Hill.
Lyons' short film "Looking Glass" premiered at Sundance London, winning Best Short at The American Film Awards and TopShorts Best Female Director. Lyon received the Best Director Award at the 7th edition of the LA Independent Women Film Awards for her short "Butterfly Boxing," which premiered at the Essence Film Festival starring Hill Harper and J. Alphonse Nicholson.
Lyons, a finalist for the Academy Gold Women's Fellowship under the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Academy Awards), has been invited by the Academy to serve as a guest speaker for their Gold Rising program. She has also served as a judge for both the Emmy Awards and the Webby Awards and is a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. She has been invited as a guest host at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and is an active member of the Alliance of Women Directors, Women in Film (WIF), where she has curated and led panels focused on amplifying underrepresented voices in the industry, as well as initiatives such as STARZ #TakeTheLead.
