Neema Barnette

**Neema Barnette** is an American television director, and producer. She is a director for the second season of NBC's *Midnight, Texas*.

## Biography

Prominent, innovative and prolific, director and producer Neema Barnette has engaged audiences with a body of compelling socially- and politically-charged work that defies the narrow stereotypes of African-Americans usually depicted in entertainment. Working in both television and film, Neema has earned the respect of peers and critics alike by winning countless accolades.

Neema's most recent film was "Woman Thou Art Loosed: On The 7th Day" (2012), her 11th movie and third for theatrical release. The film starred Pam Grier, Blair Underwood, Nicole Jarbari and Sharon Leal and was produced by Barnette and Bishop T.D. Jakes, of "Jumpin' The Broom" and Sony Pictures "Sparkle," with Codeblack Entertainment.

The movie is a dramatic thriller that explores problems in modern marriage and the abduction of a little girl. The AMC theater chain theatrically released the feature on 129 screens. It was number one per screen average in its opening weekend, beating out "The Hunger Games." The film was released on DVD in September 2012.

Known for her creativity and innovation, in 2009 Neema directed a gospel musical film, "Heaven Ain't Hard to Find," starring Kim Whitley, Cliff Powell and Reed McCants. Neema developed a new format for gospel plays, shooting actual locations and combining theater with cinema. The picture aired on paid preview, HBO and BET.

Barnette, a native of Harlem, New York, began her career as a stage actress while attending New York's High School of the Performing Arts. While earning a BA from The City College of New York, and an MFA from NYU Tosch School of The Arts, she subsequently took a position in Vinnette Carroll's prestigious Urban Arts Corps as an actress and directed inner city kids in plays designed to enhance their reading skills. It was then that Neema fell in love with directing.

At twenty-one, Neema made her directing debut at Joseph Papps' Public Theatre with "The Blue Journey" by Oyamo. Finding cinema in her work, Papp suggested she enroll in a Third World Cinema program. After graduating from the program, Neema produced the after school special "To Be a Man" for ABC Television, for which she won her first Emmy® Award.

She was awarded acceptance into the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women, where she wrote, produced and directed her first film "Sky Captain," a surrealistic fantasy drama about teen suicide. The title character is an urban Peter Pan from the South Bronx who jumps from roofs of abandoned buildings onto mattresses. The film's innovative style and unmistakable originality propelled Neema into the vanguard of Hollywood's film and television community.

"One More Hurdle," an NBC dramatic special, won Neema her first NAACP Image® Award for her directing efforts. "The Silent Crime," an NBC documentary on domestic violence, received four local Emmy® nominations and Neema won an American Women in Radio and Television Award for directing. The episode of "What's Happening Now" that Neema directed won her a NAACP Image® Award nomination. It also made her the first African-American woman in the history of television to direct a sitcom. This critical breakthrough resulted in subsequent directing stints on "Hooperman," "The Royal Family," "China Beach" (Peabody Award), "Frank's Place" (Emmy® Award), "The Sinbad Show," "Diagnosis Murder," "A Different World" and multiple episode of "The Cosby Show."

Because of Neema's extensive background in television, the legendary Director/Producer of The Academy Awards, Gilbert Cates, hired Neema as a Professor at TFT in 1997. For fifteen years, Neema has been teaching television directing and producing for multi-camera and single camera, both undergraduate and graduate level classes. In September 2002 Neema also became an associate professor at the USC School of Cinema where she taught film production, television development and directing to undergraduate students for seven years, while continuing her professional directing and producing career.

Neema serves on the DGA African American Steering Committee and has been a member of The Black Filmmakers Foundation since its inception. She is an active AFI alumnus and serves on the panel of the AFI Independent Film committee. She was on the executive board of the IFP Gordon Parks Scholarship fund and is a judge for the NAACP Feature Film Award and serves yearly as a judge for the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles. She was one of ten prestigious artists selected to judge the American Film Institute's "Best Films Award" in 2002.

Neema operates her own production company, Hope Entertainment, and is Executive Director of Live Theatre Gang, a young urban theatre and performance company. She lives between New York and Los Angeles with her husband, actor Reed McCants, and daughter, playwright Ah'Keisha McCants.

## References

1. ↑ UCLA School of Theater Film and Television - Faculty - Neema Barnette - Lecturer - Official Biography, in part

## External links

* Neema Barnette on IMDb
* Follow Neema Barnette (@neemrick) on Twitter
* Follow Neema Barnette (@Neema-Barnette-362964057054155) on Facebook