Nia DaCosta

Nia DaCosta is a writer and director based in New York City. In 2015, DaCosta raised roughly $5,000 in a Kickstarter campaign to fund a short film, called “Little Woods,” about two North Dakota sisters who have to cross the Canadian border illegally to obtain medicine for their mother. DaCosta later expanded that into her first acclaimed feature film in 2018. This film won the Nora Ephron Prize at the Tribeca Film Festival and Best Narrative Feature and Best Director at the Fargo Film Festival 2019. Her work caught the eye of Academy Award-winner Jordan Peele, landed her on Variety's 10 Directors to Watch list, and earned her a Creative Impact Award. Following her debut, she directed her second feature film, the Jordan Peele-written and produced Candyman which reached No. 1 at the box office on its opening weekend in 2021.

After making waves in the horror genre, DaCosta then went on to direct the Marvel Studios film The Marvels, which was released on November 10, 2023. This accomplishment marked her as the youngest and first African American female director of a Marvel film. Despite achieving the best opening figure for a black female director, The Marvels also had the lowest opening weekend ever for an MCU film. She was nominated for the 53rd NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture for this film and also directed an episode of "Ms. Marvel" and collaborated with Brie Larson on a Disney project.

Currently, DaCosta is in production on an adaptation of "Hedda Gabler" and has been a speaker at the Pratt Institute's 2020-21 Lecture Series. She continues to receive support from renowned institutions such as the Sundance Institute, the New York Film Festival, the San Francisco Film Society, and the Time Warner Foundation.