# Nia DaCosta

Nia DaCosta (born November 8, 1989) is an American filmmaker. She rose to prominence when she made her feature-length debut as a writer and director with the crime thriller film Little Woods (2018), winning the Nora Ephron Prize for Female Filmmakers at the Tribeca Film Festival.
After working on other projects, most notably directing two episodes of the British thriller series Top Boy in 2019, DaCosta became the first black female director to debut at No. 1 at the U.S. box office for the weekend opening of the horror film Candyman (2021). She then became the first black woman to direct a Marvel Comics film when she directed The Marvels (2023), which became the highest-grossing film directed by a black woman.

## Early life

Nia DaCosta was born in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on November 8, 1989, and grew up in Harlem. Her Jamaican mother, Charmaine DaCosta, was a founding vocalist of the band Worl-A-Girl. Her original aspiration was to become a poet. When she was 16 years old, she took an A.P. English class, where she was exposed to the work of Joseph Conrad upon reading his book Heart of Darkness. She became obsessed with films after watching Apocalypse Now, which led her to study cinema from the New Hollywood era, finding inspiration in directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Sidney Lumet, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg. Citing Scorsese in particular as her primary influence, she enrolled at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and graduated in 2011. While there, she met Scorsese during her work as a television production assistant. She later earned a degree from London's Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

## Career

After finishing school, DaCosta began working as a television production assistant, where she worked with filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, Steve McQueen, and Steven Soderbergh. DaCosta worked as a crew member on productions like Shark Loves the Amazon (2011), I Love the 1880s (2012) and Ke$ha: My Crazy Beautiful Life (2013). After working as a crew member on sets, she began writing short films like Livelihood (2014) and Celeste (2014). Soon DaCosta wrote the script for Little Woods. It was one of the 12 projects chosen for the 2015 Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Labs. There she became friends with Tessa Thompson, who was later cast in the role of Ollie. She funded a short film version of what would eventually become her first feature film released through Neon and Kickstarter with the help of 72 backers, who eventually raised $5,100. After finishing Little Woods, DaCosta directed two episodes of the third season of the crime-drama Top Boy. DaCosta became a co-creator, alongside Aron Eli Coleite, when she worked on an 8-episode web series called Ghost Tape (2020). Afterward, DaCosta fulfilled a dream of hers when she began working with Jordan Peele, who later became her mentor, while working on the 2021 film Candyman.
The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2018, and was awarded the Nora Ephron award for "excellence in storytelling by a female writer or director". The film's distribution rights were bought by Neon and was released in theaters in the United States on April 19, 2019. Little Woods (2018) production took place in the winter of 2017 and 2018. They shot the film in North Dakota and Austin, Texas. Filming occurred over January and February when the weather was 'extreme.' DaCosta further remarked on the production aspect of the film, "It's very difficult for a woman to just pop up in the studio system. But I think the same systemic issues that affect how much work women get to make is also inside the indie space. While there are more women working, we definitely get less money". DaCosta cites Debra Granik's Winter's Bone and Courtney Hunt's Frozen River were sources of inspiration for DaCosta's script. In a 2018 interview, DaCosta stated the importance to her of telling stories of "women who are active" rather than passive figures in movies led by men. In an interview with Inverse, she explained her inspiration for the film, "I need to explore this, and I want to tell a story about this because it's important."
DaCosta was chosen to helm what was described as a spiritual sequel to the original Candyman (1992) in 2018. The film returned to the Chicago neighborhood of the first film. The film was produced by Jordan Peele through Monkeypaw Productions, with Peele citing the original as "a landmark film for Black representation in the horror genre". DaCosta explains that for Candyman, it was much easier to tell the story because the people to experience these issues are the ones sharing the story. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II starred in the film, with Tony Todd returning as the film's titular villain, and Teyonah Parris, and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett co-starring. Production began in the spring of 2019, and wrapped the following September. The original teaser trailer was released on June 17, 2021. Universal Pictures released the film theatrically on August 27, 2021, and received positive reviews. DaCosta was intent on not depicting the everyday horrors committed against black people. Her priority was to inflict psychological terror and steer clear of current event depictions. Candyman (2021) was set to be released during the Black Lives Matter movement. While working on the Top Boy series in London she learned that she was on Peele's shortlist to direct the film, and she became the first African-American female director to have a film debut at the top of the box office.
In August 2020, DaCosta was hired to direct the Marvel Studios film The Marvels, the sequel to Captain Marvel (2019), after having initially approached them with a Fantastic Four / X-Men crossover movie. It was released on November 10, 2023. She is the fourth woman to direct a Marvel film behind Anna Boden, Cate Shortland, and Chloé Zhao. She is the youngest director and first African American woman to have directed a Marvel film. The film debuted to $46.1 million, topping the box office and marking the best opening figure ever for a black female director, but also marked the lowest opening weekend total ever for an MCU film. It is the first box-office bomb and the lowest-grossing film of the MCU franchise, falling short of an estimated break-even point of $439.6 million. Deadline Hollywood calculated the net losses of the film to be $237 million, when factoring together expenses and revenues. Despite this, it surpassed A Wrinkle in Time (2018) to become the highest-grossing film directed by a Black woman. The film received mixed reviews. Abby Olcese, for Paste, thought that "DaCosta's assured, efficient direction" was an example of what the MCU could have been if the franchise "hadn't gotten bogged down by gloopy effects and overblown lore". In contrast, James Mottram of NME felt that the film "never musters the same level of engagement" as DaCosta's Candyman even with "a script that is chock full of good lines and a cast of willing participants".
DaCosta is currently working on a film adaptation of the play Hedda Gabler.

## Awards and nominations

DaCosta was the first black female director to debut a film at number one at the American box office, for Candyman. Her first film, Little Woods, received the Nora Ephron Prize at the Tribeca Film Festival for "excellence in storytelling by a female writer or director." The film also won Best Narrative Feature and Best Director at the Fargo Film Festival 2019. She also received nominations for her film Candyman for "Most Anticipated Film for the Rest of 2021" at the 2021 Hollywood Critics Association, and won the awards for "Directors to Watch", and "Best Horror Film" respectively. With her directorial work in Candyman, DaCosta received her first nomination at the 53rd NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture, and at the Black Reel and Awards for Outstanding Director and Outstanding Screenplay, Adapted or Original/

## Filmography

Short film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
| 2009 | The Black Girl Dies Last | Yes | Yes | No | Also actor |
| 2013 | Night and Day | Yes | No | Yes | Also editor |
| 2014 | Celeste | No | Yes | No | |
| 2014 | Livelihood | No | Yes | No | |
Feature film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer |
| 2018 | Little Woods | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2021 | Candyman | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2023 | The Marvels | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2026 | 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple † | Yes | No | No |
| TBA | Hedda † | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Key :
| † | Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released |
Television
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2019 | Top Boy | Episodes "Bonfire Night" and "Smoke Gets in Your Hands" |
| 2022 | Ms. Marvel | Episode: "No Normal"; mid-credits scene |
Theme park attractions
* Avengers: Quantum Encounter (2022)