Gay Abel-Bey is an American film director, producer, writer, editor, and academic. She currently teaches 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, the ...

Early life and education

Abel-Bey earned her B.A. from

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

, as well as her M.F.A. in Film from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. In 1991, she made her thesis film ''Fragrance'', which earned her the Dorothy Arzner Award for "high recognition of dramatic piece by a woman." While in graduate school, Abel-Bey taught courses concerning screenwriting and production for the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television. In her time at UCLA, Abel-Bey produced and directed an instructional video concerning television lighting with the Television Lighting Director for

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, Leslie Zak, as well as an additional lighting seminar for film. She ended up producing three more instructional videos that have been retained at the UCLA archives.

Career

Abel-Bey ended up being involved in a local film festival called Filmex, as well as co-hosting a retrospective for the National Film School of London. She also helped to develop a community-based documentary workshop for at-risk youth in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

teenagers via California State, Los Angeles' media department at the time. Additionally, Abel-Bey has produced a variety of other film projects, some of which include ''Father & Son'', ''Running 4 My Life'', ''When It's Your Turn'' for

WPVI-TV WPVI-TV (channel 6), branded on-air as 6 ABC, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station ...

, ''Stone Cold Hustler'', and ''Kiss Grandmother Goodbye''. ''Father & Son'' was awarded a Sonny Innovators Award, while ''Stone Cold Hustler'' was awarded a local

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

for "Drug Free School Zone" campaign. In 1995, Abel-Bey started teaching at New York University, and as of 2023, she continues to work there as an Academic Advisor for the Undergraduate Division of Film & Television, teaching courses in production and screenwriting. As a teaching assistant, Abel-Bey taught Remote Television Workshop and Sports Broadcasting & Intermediate Television Production.

Filmography

Additional works include: * ''Father & Son'' * ''Running 4 My Life'' * ''When It's Your Turn'' * ''Stone Cold Hustler'' * ''Kiss Grandmother Goodbye''

Awards

* Dorothy Arzner Award * Sonny Innovators Award * Local Emmy Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abel-Bey, Gay American film directors American women film directors African-American film directors L.A. Rebellion 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people Mount Holyoke College alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni New York University faculty Living people Year of birth missing (living people)