Felicia Pride
Felicia Pride (born 1979) is an American author, screenwriter, producer, and director. She is the author of six books, including the young adult novel "Patterson Heights". Pride has written for the television shows "Queen Sugar" and "Grey's Anatomy". Her 2020 directorial debut "tender" received the STARZ/Lionsgate Short Film Award at the 2020 BlackStar Film Festival. Early life. Pride was born in 1979 in Baltimore, Maryland. Her family moved to West Orange, New Jersey when she was young. She lived there until the age of eleven before returning to Baltimore to complete middle and high school. She  attended Towson University where she studied marketing. Pride received her master's degree in writing and publishing from Emerson College in 2005. Career. Books. Pride began her writing career in 2001, writing for the community newspaper "Black Reign News" based in Staten Island, New York. Over the period of 15 years, Pride has authored six books. Her motivational book of essays, "The Message: Life Lessons from Hip-Hop's Greatest Songs" was published in 2007. The book has been used as a teaching tool in classrooms across the country and was re-issued by NBCUniversal. Her young adult novel, "Patterson  Heights" was a 2010 American Library Association Pick for Reluctant Readers. TV and film. Pride's first written film was the dramatic short "The End Again" (2014) starring Columbus Short and Tanee McCall, directed by Crystal C. Roberson and co-produced with Latisha Fortune. The film was written as a prequel to the in-production feature film "OpenEnded" is in production. Pride was selected as a "Film Independent" Screenwriting Fellow in 2016. Pride joined her first writer's room for the fourth season of "Queen Sugar", and was also the story editor for the show's fifth season. She is  also on the writing staff of the seventeenth season of "Grey's Anatomy". Her directorial debut was the short film "tender", about two Black women in the aftermath of a one-night stand. The film received the STARZ/Lionsgate Short Film Award at the 2020 BlackStar Film Festival. That year she also co-wrote and executive produced her first feature drama film "Really Love", which received a Special Jury Recognition for Acting award at SXSW 2020. In April 2021 it was announced that Pride's romantic drama script "Like It's the Last" is in development by Will Packer and  James Lopez, and she is also an executive producer on the project. Presentations and appearances. Felicia Pride has given presentation at universities, conferences, and literary events such as TEDx, SXSW, Confab, AFI DOCS, Film Independent Forum, Brooklyn Book Festival, Baltimore Book Festival, New York University, and Emerson College.