Kemp Powers is an American filmmaker and playwright. He is best known for his work on the play ''

One Night in Miami ''One Night in Miami'' is the debut play written by Kemp Powers, first performed in 2013. It is a fictional account of the real night of February 25, 1964. It pinpoints a pivotal moment in the lives of four, still nascent, Black American icons ...

'', the 2020 film adaptation of the same name, and ''

Soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

''. His screenplay for ''One Night in Miami...'' earned him a

Best Adapted Screenplay This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress# ...

nomination at the

93rd Academy Awards The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released from January 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles. The ceremony was held on April 25, 2021 ...

in April 2021. His work on ''Soul'' meant that Powers became the first African-American to co-direct a

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

animated feature.

Career

After writing the 2012 short film ''This Day Today'', he scripted the 2013 play ''

''. In 2017, Powers was brought onboard to write several scripts for '' Star Trek: Discovery'' season one episodes. In 2018, he co-wrote the script for

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Califor ...

's ''

'', with

Pete Docter Peter Hans Docter (born October 9, 1968) is an American animator, film director, screenwriter, producer, voice actor, and chief creative officer of Pixar. He is best known for directing the Pixar animated feature films ''Monsters, Inc.'' (2001) ...

and Mike Jones, as well as co-directing the film with Docter, making his directorial debut. On July 9, 2019, it was announced that actress

Regina King Regina Rene King (born January 15, 1971) is an American actress and director. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2019, ''Time'' magazine named her one ...

would be directing a

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

of Powers' play ''One Night in Miami''. On December 16, 2020, Powers hosted the first three episodes of the podcast ''Soul Stories'', which was released as a

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary software, proprietary Swedish Streaming media, audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with ...

exclusive. In the episodes, Powers interviewed several people who worked on the film mainly about their mentors and careers, as well as some behind-the-scenes stories behind the making of the film. An alumnus of

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

, Powers is the first African-American co-director in Pixar history. In April 2021, Powers was revealed to be directing '' Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'' and its sequel '' Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse'' with

Joaquim Dos Santos Joaquim Dos Santos is a Portuguese-born American storyboard artist, director, producer, writer, and designer. He is best known for his directing work on the television series ''Justice League Unlimited'', ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', ''G.I. Joe ...

and Justin K. Thompson.

Filmography

Plays

* ''

'' (2013) * ''Little Black Shadows'' (2018) * ''Christa McAuliffe's Eyes Were Blue'' (2021) * ''The XIXth (The Nineteenth)'' (2023)

Accolades

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Powers, Kemp 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters African-American screenwriters American male screenwriters Annie Award winners Howard University alumni Living people Pixar people Sony Pictures Animation people Year of birth missing (living people)