Dream Hampton (stylized as dream hampton) is an American filmmaker, producer, and writer. Her work includes the 2019 Lifetime documentary series '' Surviving R. Kelly'', which she executive produced, and the 2012 ''

An Oversimplification of Her Beauty ''An Oversimplification of Her Beauty'' is a 2012 American semi-animated comedy-drama-romance film, directed by Terence Nance in his feature directorial debut. The film follows a quixotic artist who, when stood up by an attractive woman, makes a f ...

'', on which she served as co-executive producer. She co-wrote Jay-Z's 2011 memoir '' Decoded''.

Early life and education

Hampton was born to an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

family in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

in 1972, and has said she was named after Rev.

Martin Luther King Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

's " I Have a Dream" speech.Andrew J. Rausch, ''I Am Hip-Hop: Conversations on the Music and Culture'' (Plymouth, UK: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2011)
p 83
. She stylizes her name in all-lowercase as a nod to author bell hooks. She studied filmmaking at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

Career

Hampton has written for ''

Vibe ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down producti ...

'', ''Essence'', '' Harper's Bazaar'', ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'', ''Detroit News'', ''

The Source ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...

'', and '' Spin''."The guest list: Dream fresh"
, ''Vibe'', 1998 Dec–1999 Jan;6(10):44. She co-wrote Jay-Z's 2010 memoir ''Decoded''. As a member of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, an African-American activist group inspired by

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of I ...

's "

Message to the Grass Roots "Message to the Grass Roots" is a public speech delivered by black civil rights activist Malcolm X. The speech was delivered on November 10, 1963, at the Northern Negro Grass Roots Leadership Conference, which was held at King Solomon Baptist Ch ...

" speech, Hampton co-organized Black August, a

benefit concert A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...

for

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...

s. Her concert film about the event, ''Black August: A Hip-Hop Documentary Concert'', premiered at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 2010. In 2013, Hampton directed ''Treasure'', a documentary about the 2011 killing of Shelley Hilliard, a 19-year-old transgender woman, in Detroit. She made the short documentary ''We Demand Justice for Renisha Mcbride'' after organizing a protest over Mcbride's death. Hampton was executive producer of '' Surviving R. Kelly'', a 2019 documentary series about the decades of sexual-abuse allegations against

R. Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and sex offender convicted of racketeering and multiple sex offenses. During his recording career, Kelly sold over 75 million records worldwi ...

Page six The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established i ...

reported that a Homeland Security agent had watched the series and started a federal investigation into the victims' allegations. After its release, Kelly was charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse and other crimes for an eventual total of 18 federal charges. She has been a Visiting Artist with Stanford University's Institute for Diversity in the Arts and a Kresge Artist Fellow. Hampton serves on the board of the advocacy group Color of Change.

Recognition

Her short film ''I Am Ali'' was selected for the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and won "Best Short Film" at the Newport Film Festival. In 2015 she received a Richard Nichols Luminary award and ''Treasure: From Tragedy to Trans Justice Mapping a Detroit Story'' won Best Documentary at the

BlackStar Film Festival The BlackStar Film Festival is a Philadelphia film festival focused on films about and by black, brown and indigenous people from around the world. It has been described as the "Black Sundance. The festival is named after Marcus Garvey's shipping ...

. In 2019 hampton received a Ms. Foundation Gloria Award and was named on the ''Time'' 100. She and Brie Miranda Bryant and Tamra Simmons, who worked with her on ''Surviving R. Kelly'', were named to ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'''s 2019 Power Women New York list. ''Surviving R. Kelly'' received a Peabody Award. It received an

MTV Movie Award The MTV Movie & TV Awards (formerly the MTV Movie Awards) is a film and television awards show presented annually on MTV. The first MTV Movie Awards were presented in 1992. The ceremony was renamed the MTV Movie & TV Awards for its 26th editio ...

for Best Documentary. It received a Rockies Award for "Program of the Year" at the

Banff World Media Festival The Banff World Media Festival (formerly known as the Banff World Television Festival) is an international media event held in the Canadian Rockies at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canada. The festival is dedicated to world ...

Personal life

Hampton has a daughter. When she was twelve she was a victim of attempted rape.

Filmography

*''Behind The Music: The Notorious B.I.G.'' (1997), associate producer *''I Am Ali'' (2002), director *''Notorious B.I.G.: Bigger Than Life'' (2007), executive producer *''Black August: A Hip-Hop Documentary Concert'' (2010), director * ''QueenS'' (2012 music video) *''

'' (2012), co-executive producer *''The Russian Winter'' (2012), associate producer *''Treasure: From Tragedy to Trans Justice Mapping a Detroit Story'' (2015), executive producer *''We Demand Justice for Renisha Mcbride'' *''The War on Drugs is an Epic Fail'' (''New York Times'' 2016) *''It's A Hard Truth Ain't It'' (HBO 2019), executive producer *''Finding Justice'' (BET 2019), executive producer *''Burial of Kojo'' (Netflix 2019), co-executive producer *'' Surviving R. Kelly'' (Lifetime 2019), executive producer

References