Award-winning filmmaker and advertising executive Deborah Riley Draper will be the featured speaker at the 2019 Black Women Film Network (BWFN) Summit Welcome Reception and Scholarship Awards hosted by Georgia Power on Thursday, March 7 at 6:30pm. Draper will discuss her career and achievements in a one-on-one conversation moderated by BWFN Scholarship Recipient and E! Networks Sr. Director of Content Strategy Jaunice Sills.
A graduate of Florida State University, Draper is a 2016 Film Independent Lab Fellow and Variety’s “2016 Top 10 Documakers to Watch.” She penned and will direct her upcoming film adaptation Coffee Will Make You Black, produced by Octavia Spencer and Gabrielle Union, who also stars in the film.
Her documentary, Olympic Pride, American Prejudice, follows 18 African Americans who defied Hitler and Jim Crow to compete in the 1936 Olympics. The film is a 2017 NAACP Image Awards Nominee for Outstanding Documentary and 2017 nominee for Monaco’s HRH Prince Albert Peace and Sport Award.
Draper’s debut film, Versailles ’73: American Runway Revolution, opened New York and Toronto Fashion Week in 2012 and aired on Logo TV Channel and Starz On-Demand. It is set to become a feature film directed by Tate Taylor.
The Welcome Reception and Scholarship Awards is the first day of the BWFN Summit, an annual three-day event that celebrates the work of women of color in film and television. Taking place during Women’s History Month, the Summit provides attendees with networking opportunities, information and resources to further their careers in the industry.
image via Youtube