Welcome to our Emerging Artist Series, where we share the stories of a diverse group of creatives working in the entertainment industry — in front of and behind the camera (or both!).
Check out their stories and their work below, and sign-up for our newsletter for updates on all things JuVee!
DIARRA KILPATRICK
Actress
Since graduating from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Diarra Kilpatrick has gone on to become an award-winning actress and acclaimed writer. This Detroit native is the creator and star of the upcoming ABC digital series American KoKo and has garnered a host of awards and nominations for her work including: LA Weekly, LA Drama Critics Circle, NAACP Theater Award, ABFF Best Web Series, WGA Writer’s Access Project Honoree, and Ovation. Facebook | Twitter
MARSHALL TYLER
Writer/Director
Marshall Tyler is a Los Angeles based filmmaker whose documentary work on global issues has taken him around the world. His debut documentary, Skid Row followed Pras Michel (from Fugees’ fame) disguised as a homeless man living on the streets of LA’s skid row for nine days. That collaboration led to Paper Dreams: A Tale of Two Piracies where he and Pras traveled the outer regions of the war-torn Somali nation to explore ransom-based piracy issues. Marshall’s transition into narrative storytelling was his short film The Night Shift starring Tunde Adebimpe and China Shavers. The Night Shift premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Facebook
BLAKE PICKENS
Producer
As the only Native American family in a tough town in Oklahoma City, from a young age Blake aspired to use his love of acting, writing, and creating to free himself and his family. While writing for the National Lampoon, Blake was accepted into USC’s Cinematic Arts program where he met his producing partner Steven Love. Pickens and his partner have prided themselves on developing new voices in film, television, and the digital content space. Their first feature, The Land, premiered at Sundance and was released by IFC Films. Since graduating from USC, Blake was recently awarded Sundance’s Time Warner Native Producer Fellowship. Facebook | Twitter
LAUREN ELLIS
VFX Producer
Lauren F. Ellis received a Master’s of Fine Arts degree in Animation and Visual Effects from The Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA. She is now the Studio Manager & VFX Producer for The Molecule LA. Most notably, she served as the Senior VFX Coordinator on “Fruitvale Station,” the breakout film for “Creed” director, Ryan Coogler. Since then, she continues to make strides in the industry while also hoping to be a visual representation of what’s possible for women of color in post production roles. Facebook | Twitter
STEPHEN LOVE JR.
Producer
Stephen Love grew up in a small town in the south, but that never stopped him from hustling to turn his dreams into a reality. From Morehouse to the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC, Love and his producing partner Blake Pickens have prided themselves on developing new voices in film, television, and the digital content space. Their first feature, The Land, premiered at Sundance and was released by IFC Films. Stephen was selected to be the 21st Century Fox Film Fellow, Film Independent’s Project Involve Lab Producing Fellow, and was also honored with the Sundance Feature Film Creative Producing Fellowship for “Bexar County” which is currently in pre-production. Facebook | Twitter
