Kemp Powers | |
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Born | Brooklyn, New York City, U.S. | October 30, 1973
Education | Howard University |
Occupations |
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Years active | 2012–present |
Kemp Powers (born October 30, 1973) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for his play One Night in Miami and the 2020 film adaptation of the same name, as well as for co-directing the animated films Soul (2020) and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023). His screenplay for One Night in Miami... earned him a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination at the 93rd Academy Awards, [1] while his work on Soul made him the first African-American to co-direct a Disney animated feature. [2]
After writing the 2012 short film This Day Today, he scripted the 2013 play One Night in Miami . [3] [4] [5] In 2017, Powers was brought onboard to write several scripts for Star Trek: Discovery season one episodes. [6] In 2018, he co-wrote the script for Pixar's Soul , with Pete Docter and Mike Jones, as well as co-directing the film with Docter, making his directorial debut. [7] [8] On July 9, 2019, it was announced that actress Regina King would be directing a film adaptation of Powers' play One Night in Miami. [9] On December 16, 2020, Powers hosted the first three episodes of the podcast Soul Stories, which was released as a Spotify exclusive. In the episodes, Powers interviewed several people who worked on the film mainly about their mentors and careers, as well as some behind-the-scenes stories behind the making of the film. [10] An alumnus of Howard University, Powers is the first African-American co-director in Pixar history. [11] In April 2021, Powers was revealed to be directing Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and its sequel Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse with Joaquim Dos Santos and Justin K. Thompson. [12] In March 2023, Powers premiered his play The XIXth (The Nineteenth), which chronicles the lives of two Black American sprinters who raised their fists in protest during the 1968 Summer Olympics games. [13]
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | This Day Today | No | Yes | Short film |
2017 | Star Trek: Discovery | No | Yes | 5 episodes [6] |
2020 | One Night in Miami... | No | Yes | Also executive producer [14] [15] |
Soul | Co-Director | Yes | Co-writer (with Pete Docter and Mike Jones) [16] | |
2023 | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse | Yes | No | With Joaquim Dos Santos and Justin K. Thompson [12] |
TBA | Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse | Yes | No | |
Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Film | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Academy Awards | April 25, 2021 | Best Adapted Screenplay | One Night in Miami | Nominated | [1] |
March 10, 2024 | Best Animated Feature | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse | Nominated | [23] | |
AAFCA Awards | April 7, 2021 | Best Screenplay | One Night in Miami | Won | [24] |
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards | January 4, 2021 | Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | [25] | |
Annie Awards | April 16, 2021 | Best Direction – Feature | Soul | Nominated | [26] |
Best Writing – Feature | Won | ||||
February 17, 2024 | Best Direction – Feature | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse | Won | [27] | |
Black Reel Awards | April 11, 2021 | Outstanding Breakthrough Screenwriter | One Night in Miami... | Nominated | [28] |
Outstanding Screenplay, Adapted or Original | Nominated | ||||
Soul | Nominated | ||||
Celebration of Cinema and Television | December 4, 2023 | Animation Award | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse | Won | [29] |
Chicago Film Critics Association | December 21, 2020 | Best Original Screenplay | Soul | Nominated | [30] [31] |
Best Adapted Screenplay | One Night in Miami | Nominated | |||
Critics' Choice Movie Awards | March 7, 2021 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | [32] | |
Denver Film Critics Society | January 18, 2021 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | [33] | |
Florida Film Critics Circle | December 21, 2020 | Best Original Screenplay | Soul | Nominated | [34] |
Golden Globe Awards | February 28, 2021 | Best Animated Feature | Won | [35] [36] | |
Harvey Awards | October 12, 2023 | Best Adaptation from Comic Book/Graphic Novel | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse | Won | [37] [38] |
Hawaii Film Critics Society | January 13, 2021 | Best Adapted Screenplay | One Night in Miami | Nominated | [39] |
Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Film Awards | June 30, 2023 | Best Director | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse | Won | [40] |
Houston Film Critics Society Awards | January 18, 2021 | Best Screenplay | One Night in Miami | Nominated | [41] |
Hugo Awards | December 15–19, 2021 | Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form | Soul | Nominated | [42] |
Indiana Film Journalists Association | December 21, 2020 | Best Adapted Screenplay | One Night in Miami | Nominated | [43] |
Breakout of the Year | Nominated | ||||
NAACP Image Awards | March 27, 2021 | Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture | Nominated | [44] [45] | |
Soul | Nominated | ||||
North Carolina Film Critics Association | January 4, 2021 | Best Adapted Screenplay | One Night in Miami | Nominated | [46] |
Online Film Critics Society Awards | January 25, 2021 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | [47] | |
Satellite Awards | February 15, 2021 | Best Original Screenplay | Soul | Nominated | [48] |
St. Louis Film Critics Association Awards | January 17, 2021 | Best Adapted Screenplay | One Night in Miami | Nominated | [49] |
Writers Guild of America Awards | March 21, 2021 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | [50] | |
Peter Hans Docter is an American filmmaker and animator. He was credited as the director for the Pixar animated feature films Monsters, Inc. (2001), Up (2009), Inside Out (2015), and Soul (2020), and has served as company's chief creative officer (CCO) since 2018. From his nine Academy Award nominations, he is a record-three time recipient of Best Animated Feature for Up, Inside Out and Soul. Docter has also won six Annie Awards from nine nominations, a BAFTA Children's Film Award and a Hochi Film Award. He describes himself as a "geeky kid from Minnesota who likes to draw cartoons".
On the Rocks is a 2020 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Sofia Coppola. It follows a father and daughter as they harbor suspicions about her husband's fidelity. It had its world premiere at the New York Film Festival on September 22, 2020. It received a limited theatrical release on October 2, 2020, by A24, followed by digital streaming on October 23, 2020, by Apple TV+. It received positive reviews from critics, who noted it as lighter than Coppola's previous films, and praised Murray’s performance.
Never Rarely Sometimes Always is a 2020 drama film written and directed by Eliza Hittman. It stars Sidney Flanigan, Talia Ryder, Théodore Pellerin, Ryan Eggold, and Sharon Van Etten. It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2020. It was also selected to compete for the Golden Bear in the main competition section at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize. The film was released in the United States on March 13, 2020, by Focus Features. It received widespread acclaim from critics, with praise for Flanigan's performance and Hittman's direction and screenplay.
Soul is a 2020 American animated fantasy comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Pete Docter and co-directed by Kemp Powers, both of whom co-wrote it with Mike Jones, and produced by Dana Murray. It stars the voices of Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Graham Norton, Rachel House, Alice Braga, Richard Ayoade, Phylicia Rashad, Donnell Rawlings, Questlove, and Angela Bassett. It follows Joe Gardner (Foxx), a middle school teacher and aspiring pianist who falls into a coma following an accident and seeks to reunite his separated soul and body in time for his big break as a jazz musician.
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is a 2020 American drama film directed by George C. Wolfe and written by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, based on the 1982 play of the same name by August Wilson. The film stars Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo, and Michael Potts. Inspired by the career of Ma Rainey, an influential blues singer and the title character, the film dramatizes a turbulent recording session in 1920s Chicago.
Sound of Metal is a 2019 American drama film directed and co-written by Darius Marder. It stars Riz Ahmed as a metal drummer who loses his hearing, and also features Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff, and Mathieu Amalric. Sound of Metal had its world premiere in the Platform Prize program at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2019. Amazon Studios released the film in theaters on November 20, 2020, and on Amazon Prime Video on December 4. The film was critically acclaimed, with particular praise for the performances of Ahmed and Raci, the sound design, the editing and Marder's direction and screenplay. It was listed on 52 film critics' top-ten lists for 2020. At the 93rd Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor (Ahmed) and Best Supporting Actor (Raci), and won for Best Sound and Best Film Editing.
Wolfwalkers is a 2020 independent animated fantasy adventure film directed by Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart. The film is the third and final installment in Moore's "Irish Folklore Trilogy", following his previous films The Secret of Kells (2009) and Song of the Sea (2014). An international co-production led by Cartoon Saloon and Mélusine Productions, the film premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival on 12 September and was released theatrically in the United Kingdom on 26 October, in the United States and Canada on 13 November, and in Ireland on 2 December. It was released digitally on Apple TV+ on 11 December 2020, to critical acclaim.
One Night in Miami... is a 2020 American drama film directed by Regina King with a screenplay by Kemp Powers, based on his 2013 stage play of the same name. The film is a fictionalized account of a meeting on February 25, 1964, between Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke in a room at the Hampton House, celebrating Ali's surprise title win over Sonny Liston. It stars Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, and Leslie Odom Jr. in the lead roles, with Lance Reddick, Joaquina Kalukango, Nicolette Robinson, and Beau Bridges in supporting roles.
Sidney Jeanne Flanigan is an American actress and singer-songwriter. Flanigan made her acting debut with the acclaimed independent drama film Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020), for which she received nominations for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead.
Soul: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 2020 Disney-Pixar film Soul. The soundtrack is a compilation of all 23 score pieces by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross from the Soul: Original Motion Picture Score vinyl album as well as 16 original songs by Jon Batiste from the Music from and Inspired by Soul vinyl album. All three albums were released through Walt Disney Records on December 18, 2020.