Ava Duvernay was born on the 24th August 1972, in Long Beach, California USA, and is an award-winning director, screenwriter, producer, marketer and film distributor, but probably best known for her Oscar-nominated drama film “Selma” (2014). Her career on film started in 2008, when she directed the documentary “This Is Life”.
Have you ever wondered how rich Ava Duvernay is, as of early 2017? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that de Duvernay’s net worth is as high as $3 million, an amount earned through her successful career in the film industry.
Ava Duvernay Net Worth $3 Million
Ava Duvernay was born in Long Beach, but raised in Lynwood, California. During her childhood, she also spent a lot of time near Selma, Alabama, where her father, Murray Maye, was born. Duvernay was raised by her father, who owned a carpeting business. Having finished Saint Joseph High School, she enrolled at the University of California, where she majored with a double degree in English and African American studies. Her first love was journalism, and she worked as an intern for CBS News for a time, covering the O. J. Simpson trial. However, she later moved to marketing and public relation, having grown disillusioned with journalism. She founded her own public relations firm, The Duvernay Agency, which focused on movie marketing, specifically for African American audiences. Having spent so much time around the film industry at this point, Duvernay became inspired to make her own films.
Her directorial debut, “This Is Life” (2008), revolved around alternative hip-hop artists, reflecting Duvernay’s long lasting love of hip-hop. She continued in the same direction with her second directorial piece, “My Mic Sounds Nice: The Truth About Women in Hip Hop” (2010), and in the same year, she finally make a breakthrough into feature film, when she directed and wrote the independent drama film “I Will Follow” (2010), which starred Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Beverly Todd, and Omari Hardwick; the film was praised by the critics, especially by the noted film critic, the late Roger Ebert. Her second film, “Middle of Nowhere” (2012) earned a spot at the Sundance Film Festival; it was another independent feature, starring Emayatzy Corinealdi, David Oyelowo, Omari Hardwick and Lorraine Toussaint. It earned the Directing Award for US Dramatic Film at Sundance.
Duvernay’s next feature film put her on the map as one of the most promising newcomers. In 2014, she directed a historical drama film entitled “Selma”, which told the story of the Civil Rights Movement, including the 1965 protest marches from Selma to Montgomery, led by Martin Luther King, Jr. The film featured a stellar cast, including David Oyelowo as Dr. King, then Tom Wilkinson, Tim Roth, Carmen Ejogo, and the rapper Common. The film was nominated for several Golden Globe and Academy Awards, winning both for Best Original Song.
Continuing her rise to prominence as one of the leading voices for African American rights in Hollywood, she next directed the documentary “13th” (2016), which opened the New York Film Festival. The documentary revolves around school-to-prison pipeline, and mass incarceration of African American men, within the USA prison-industrial complex, and was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 2017 Academy Awards.
Confirming her newly-acquired status in Hollywood, Duvernay was in talks to direct “Black Panther”, the new superhero entry in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. However, she decided to adapt the classic children’s novel, “A Wrinkle In Time” instead; the film is scheduled to release in 2018.
Duvernay supports African American writes, and she is a founder of AFFRM, the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement, meant to uplift the voices of black people. She will go down in history as the first African American woman to win the Best Director Prize at Sundance Film Festival, as well as first black female director to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
When it comes to her personal life, and relationships, Ava has been spotted with actor and rapper Common.
Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award, BAFTA Award for Best Documentary, NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series, Glamour Award for Film Maker, Critics' Choice Documentary Award Best Director (TV/Streaming)
Nominations
Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture
Movies
13th, Selma, The Door, Middle of Nowhere, I Will Follow, This Is the Life, A Wrinkle in Time, My Mic Sounds Nice: The Truth About Women in Hip Hop, TV One Night Only: Live from the Essence Music Festival
TV Shows
Queen Sugar
#
Quote
1
[on filming 'Selma' in the same area of Alabama where she grew up] I never approached it as, 'Oh my God, I'm making a film about Mr. King'. I just focused on making a film about an ordinary man doing extraordinary things in a place I know very well.
2
We're told that independent film lovers... folks that are used to watching art house films, won't come out and see a film with black people in it - I've been told that in rooms, big rooms, studio rooms, and I know that's not true.
3
Positive characterizations are complex characterizations. That's all we need to know. They shouldn't be saccharine. They shouldn't feel like medicine.
4
I didn't go to film school. I got my education on the set as a niche publicist in the film industry.
5
You know, often films that are deemed positive, nobody wants to see them.
6
I tell the stories that are of interest to me.
7
I think that women definitely have a special bond as friends that is hard to describe to men, and we don't often see that portrayed narratively.
8
I think for female filmmakers a big issue is making their second and third films.
9
I just don't think there's a lot of support for the woman's voice in cinema, and it becomes really difficult to raise that money and start again every time.
10
I really admire Werner Herzog and Spike Lee. They're amazing documentarians. If you took away all the narratives, they'd just be amazing documentarians.
11
I think good publicists are just like good mommies - always looking out, making sure folks are comfortable and making sure that folks are on time and making sure that folks are getting what they need and know what they need to do.
12
I've been to Sundance eight times as a publicist and thought I was very prepared. I mean, who could've been more prepared for me? A publicist who's been there eight times. Getting there as a filmmaker was a completely surreal, different, unexpected experience.
13
As long as you're in an environment where the worth of the project isn't based on the project but what its predecessors did, it's not truly inclusive.
14
I didn't start out thinking that I could ever make films. I started out being a film lover, loving films, and wanting to have a job that put me close to them and close to filmmakers and close to film sets.
15
I make films about black women and it doesn't mean that you can't see them as a black man, doesn't mean that he can't see them as a white man or she can't see them as a white woman.
16
I don't understand the iPhone. I just don't get it. Don't ya'll have to write serious emails throughout the day? How can you possibly manage detailed missives on a phone with no keys?
17
All the traditional models for doing things are collapsing; from music to publishing to film, and it's a wide open door for people who are creative to do what they need to do without having institutions block their art.
18
I think that if we really want to break it down, that non-black filmmakers have had many, many years and many, many opportunities to tell many, many stories about themselves, and black filmmakers have not had as many years, as many opportunities, as many films to explore the nuances of our reality.
19
Filmmakers need to realize that their job isn't done when they lock picture. We must see our films through.
20
All the films I do, I write the scripts, I direct.
21
I wish I could be the black woman Soderbergh, and put the camera on my shoulder and shoot beautifully while I directed.
22
In documentaries, there's a truth that unfolds unnaturally, and you get to chronicle it. In narratives, you have to create the situations so that the truth will come out.
23
I think I am a little jealous of women who have great girlfriends as adults.
24
If you're doing something outside of dominant culture, there's not an easy place for you. You will have to do it yourself.
25
I'm a prison abolitionist because the prison system as it is set up is just not working. It's horrible.
26
When I'm marketing a film, whether its mine or someone else's, I work with a great deal of strategy and elbow grease until the job is done.
27
Film school was a privilege I could not afford.
28
Be passionate and move forward with gusto every single hour of every single day until you reach your goal.
She is the first black female director to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award. She received the nomination for her film Selma (2014).
3
In June 2013, she was invited to join both the director's and writer's branches of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She is only the second black woman, following Kasi Lemmons, to be invited to the director's branch.
4
In 2012, she became the first African American woman to win the Best Director Prize at Sundance Film Festival. She won the award for her second feature, Middle of Nowhere (2012).
5
Founder of AFFRM, the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement.
publicity consultant - uncredited / unit publicist - uncredited
Biker Boyz
2003
unit publicist
Dark Blue
2002
unit publicist
Half Past Dead
2002
publicist
Baadasssss Cinema
2002
TV Movie documentary publicity consultant
Street Time
2002
TV Series publicist
G
2002
promotional services - uncredited
The Rosa Parks Story
2002
TV Movie publicity consultant
Roots: Celebrating 25 Years
2002
TV Movie publicist
Formula 51
2001
publicity consultant
Two Can Play That Game
2001
publicity consultant
Ghosts of Mars
2001
publicity consultant
Spy Kids
2001
publicity consultant
Dracula 2000
2000
publicity consultant
City of Angels
2000
TV Series publicist - 23 episodes
Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks
2000
TV Movie documentary publicity consultant
King of the Jungle
2000
publicist
The District
2000
TV Series publicity consultant
Girlfriends
2000
TV Series publicist
Judge Hatchett
2000
TV Series publicity consultant
Scary Movie
2000
publicity consultant
The Visit
2000/I
publicist
The Debut
2000
publicist
Lumumba
2000
publicity consultant
Dancing in September
2000
publicist
Trois
2000
publicity consultant
Punks
2000
publicist
What's Cooking?
2000
publicity consultant - uncredited
Held Up
1999
publicity consultant
Third World Cop
1999
publicity consultant
Candyman: Day of the Dead
1999
Video unit publicist
Catfish in Black Bean Sauce
1999
publicist
Life Itself
2014
Documentary archival stills and footage courtesy of
The Help
2011
unit publicity - uncredited
Cop Out
2010
publicity consultant
Invictus
2009
publicity consultant - uncredited
Good Hair
2009
Documentary promotional services
Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy
2009
Documentary publicist
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
2008
promotional services
The Secret Life of Bees
2008
production publicist - uncredited
American Violet
2008
promotional services
A Good Day to Be Black & Sexy
2008
publicist
Rush Hour 3
2007
promotional services
Hairspray
2007
promotional services - uncredited
Shrek the Third
2007
promotional services
Lincoln Heights
2007
TV Series publicity consultant - 7 episodes
How She Move
2007
publicity consultant
Dreamgirls
2006
publicity consultant
My Brother
2006
national publicist
Dirty Laundry
2006/I
publicist
Waist Deep
2006
publicist
Over the Hedge
2006
publicity consultant
The Adventures of Brer Rabbit
2006
Video publicity consultant
Take the Lead
2006
promotional services
Preaching to the Choir
2005
publicist
Domino
2005
promotional services
Roll Bounce
2005
promotional services
Cry_Wolf
2005
publicity consultant - uncredited
Harsh Times
2005
special publicist
Stealth
2005
promotional services
The Island
2005
publicity consultant
Madagascar
2005
publicity consultant
Back in the Day
2005
publicist
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Battle of Versailles
TV Movie announced
Queen Sugar
TV Series creator - 14 episodes, 2017 created for television by - 13 episodes, 2016 created by - 2 episodes, 2017 written by - 1 episode, 2016 teleplay by - 1 episode, 2016 television story by - 1 episode, 2016
13th
2016
Documentary written by
The Door
2013/VIII
Short
Middle of Nowhere
2012
written by
Grace
2011/IV
Short
Essence Presents: Faith in 2010
2010
TV Movie
I Will Follow
2010
TV One Night Only: Live from the Essence Music Festival
2010
TV Movie written by
This Is the Life
2008
Documentary writer
Saturday Night Life
2006
Short
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Battle of Versailles
TV Movie executive producer announced
Queen Sugar
2016-2017
TV Series executive producer - 27 episodes
13th
2016
Documentary producer - produced by
For Justice
2015
TV Movie executive producer
Selma
2014
executive producer
Hello Beautiful: Interludes with John Legend
2013
TV Movie producer
Nine for IX
2013
TV Series documentary producer - 1 episode
The Door
2013/VIII
Short producer
99%: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film
2013
Documentary associate producer
Middle of Nowhere
2012
producer
Black Girls Rock! 2011
2011
TV Movie segment producer
I Will Follow
2010
producer
My Mic Sounds Nice: The Truth About Women in Hip Hop
2010
TV Movie documentary executive producer
Compton in C Minor
2009
Short producer
This Is the Life
2008
Documentary producer
Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
A Wrinkle in Time
2018
post-production
Battle of Versailles
TV Movie announced
13th
2016
Documentary
Queen Sugar
2016
TV Series 2 episodes
For Justice
2015
TV Movie
Selma
2014
Scandal
2013
TV Series 1 episode
Nine for IX
2013
TV Series documentary 1 episode
The Door
2013/VIII
Short
Middle of Nowhere
2012
Essence Presents: Faith in 2010
2010
TV Movie
I Will Follow
2010
My Mic Sounds Nice: The Truth About Women in Hip Hop
2010
TV Movie documentary
TV One Night Only: Live from the Essence Music Festival
2010
TV Movie
Compton in C Minor
2009
Short
This Is the Life
2008
Documentary
Saturday Night Life
2006
Short
Actress
Title
Year
Status
Character
Being Mary Jane
2014
TV Series
Activist
Assistant Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
Black Girls Rock! 2011
2011
TV Movie segment director
Editorial Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
Selma
2014
rewrite - unconfirmed, uncredited
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
Forgotten Sunset
2016
Short special thanks completed
Seto Surya
2016
thanks
Life Itself
2014
Documentary special thanks
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
13th: A Conversation with Oprah Winfrey & Ava DuVernay
2017
Video documentary short
Herself
Chelsea
2016
TV Series
Herself - Guest
CBS This Morning
2016
TV Series
Herself
The Daily Show
2015-2016
TV Series
Herself - Guest
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2016
TV Series
Herself - Guest
Today
2016
TV Series
Herself - Guest
The Insider
2014-2016
TV Series
Herself / Herself - Selma
Essence Ninth Annual Black Women in Hollywood
2016
TV Movie
Herself
Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché
2016
Documentary
Herself
Access Hollywood Live
2015
TV Series
Herself
Good Morning America
2014-2015
TV Series
Herself - Guest
5TH NAFCA: African Oscar
2015
TV Movie
Herself - Nominee: Best Director in a Foreign Film
The 365Black Awards
2015
TV Movie
Herself - Honoree
Black Girls Rock!
2015
TV Movie
Herself
La noche de los Oscar
2015
TV Movie
Herself
Countdown to the Oscars: 15 Movies That Changed American Cinema
2015
TV Movie
Herself
60 Minutes
2015
TV Series documentary
Herself - Filmmaker (segment "Selma")
The 46th Annual NAACP Image Awards
2015
TV Special
Herself - Presenter
Film '72
2015
TV Series
Herself - Interviewee
Tavis Smiley
2015
TV Series
Herself - Guest
72nd Golden Globe Awards
2015
TV Special
Herself - Nominee
Made in Hollywood
2014
TV Series
Herself
Entertainment Tonight
2014
TV Series
Herself - Selma
Life Itself
2014
Documentary
Herself
Ava DuVernay: An IU Cinema Exclusive
2013
Video short
Herself
Melissa Harris-Perry
2013
TV Series
Herself
The 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards
2013
TV Special
Herself - Nominee
Don't Sleep! Hosted by T. J. Holmes
2012
TV Series
Herself - Panelist
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Extra
2017
TV Series
Herself
Entertainment Tonight
2015
TV Series
Herself
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
2016
Critics Choice Documentary Award
Critics Choice Documentary Awards
Best Director (TV/Streaming)
13th (2016)
2016
Video Source Award
International Documentary Association
13th (2016)
2016
WFCC Award
Women Film Critics Circle Awards
Best Movie by a Woman
13th (2016)
2016
WFCC Award
Women Film Critics Circle Awards
Best Woman Storyteller
13th (2016)
2016
Courage in Filmmaking Award
Women Film Critics Circle Awards
13th (2016)
2015
Black Reel
Black Reel Awards
Outstanding Director, Motion Picture
Selma (2014)
2015
COFCA Award
Central Ohio Film Critics Association
Best Director
Selma (2014)
2015
COFCA Award
Central Ohio Film Critics Association
Breakthrough Film Artist
Selma (2014)
2015
Cinema for Peace Award
Cinema for Peace Awards
Most Valuable Movie of the Year
Selma (2014)
2015
Woman of the Year
Elle Women in Hollywood Awards
2015
Dorian Award
Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (GALECA)
Film Director of the Year
Selma (2014)
2015
Oglethorpe Award for Excellence in Georgia Cinema
Georgia Film Critics Association (GFCA)
Selma (2014)
2015
Directors to Watch
Palm Springs International Film Festival
Selma (2014)
2015
Audience Award
Palm Springs International Film Festival
Best Narrative Feature
Selma (2014)
2015
Dorothy Arzner Directors Award
Women in Film Crystal Awards
2015
EDA Female Focus Award
Alliance of Women Film Journalists
Best Woman Director
Selma (2014)
2015
EDA Female Focus Award
Alliance of Women Film Journalists
Female Icon of the Year
Selma (2014)
2014
Pioneer Award
Black Film Critics Circle Awards
This year's Pioneer Award is given to producer Ava DuVernay. Ava has proved that persistence; ... More
2014
BFCC Award
Black Film Critics Circle Awards
Best Director
Selma (2014)
2014
New Generation Award
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
Selma (2014)
2014
Wyatt Award
Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards
Selma (2014)
2014
WFCC Award
Women Film Critics Circle Awards
Best Movie by a Woman
Selma (2014)
2014
AAFCA Award
African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA)
Best Director
Selma (2014)
2013
Black Reel
Black Reel Awards
Best Director
Middle of Nowhere (2012)
2013
Black Reel
Black Reel Awards
Best Screenplay, Original or Adapted
Middle of Nowhere (2012)
2013
John Cassavetes Award
Independent Spirit Awards
Middle of Nowhere (2012)
2012
Special Mention
Black Film Critics Circle Awards
Middle of Nowhere (2012)
2012
Directing Award
Sundance Film Festival
Dramatic
Middle of Nowhere (2012)
2012
AAFCA Award
African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA)
Best Screenplay
Middle of Nowhere (2012)
2011
AAFCA Award
African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA)
Best Screenplay
I Will Follow (2010)
2008
Audience Choice Award
Hollywood Black Film Festival
Best Documentary
This Is the Life (2008)
2008
Jury Award - Honorable Mention
Hollywood Black Film Festival
Documentary
This Is the Life (2008)
2008
Audience Award
Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival
Best Documentary
This Is the Life (2008)
2008
Jury Award
Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival
Honorable Mention
This Is the Life (2008)
2008
Audience Award
Toronto ReelWorld Film Festival
Documentary
This Is the Life (2008)
Nominated Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
2017
Black Reel
Black Reel Awards
Outstanding Documentary
13th (2016)
2017
Black Reel
Black Reel Awards
Outstanding Motion Picture
13th (2016)
2017
Black Reel
Black Reel Awards
Outstanding Documentary Feature
13th (2016)
2017
Image Award
Image Awards
Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series
Queen Sugar (2016)
2017
Independent Spirit Award
Independent Spirit Awards
Best Documentary
2017
EDA Award
Alliance of Women Film Journalists
Best Documentary
13th (2016)
2017
EDA Female Focus Award
Alliance of Women Film Journalists
Best Woman Director
13th (2016)
2017
EDA Female Focus Award
Alliance of Women Film Journalists
Outstanding Achievement by a Woman in the Film Industry
13th (2016)
2016
IDA Award
International Documentary Association
Best Feature
13th (2016)
2015
Critics Choice Award
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards
Best Director
Selma (2014)
2015
GFCA Award
Georgia Film Critics Association (GFCA)
Best Director
Selma (2014)
2015
Breakthrough Award
Georgia Film Critics Association (GFCA)
Selma (2014)
2015
Gold Derby Award
Gold Derby Awards
Director
Selma (2014)
2015
Image Award
Image Awards
Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture
Selma (2014)
2015
Independent Spirit Award
Independent Spirit Awards
Best Director
Selma (2014)
2015
NCFCA Award
North Carolina Film Critics Association
Best Director
Selma (2014)
2015
OFTA Film Award
Online Film & Television Association
Best Director
Selma (2014)
2015
Golden Globe
Golden Globes, USA
Best Director - Motion Picture
Selma (2014)
2015
EDA Award
Alliance of Women Film Journalists
Best Director
Selma (2014)
2014
ACCA
Awards Circuit Community Awards
Best Director
Selma (2014)
2014
Black Reel
Black Reel Awards
Outstanding Television Documentary
Nine for IX (2013)
2014
DFWFCA Award
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards
Best Director
Selma (2014)
2014
ICP Award
Indiewire Critics' Poll
Best Director
Selma (2014)
2014
OFCS Award
Online Film Critics Society Awards
Best Director
Selma (2014)
2014
Reel Black Award
Reel Black Awards
Outstanding Television Documentary
Nine for IX (2013)
2014
Satellite Award
Satellite Awards
Best Director
Selma (2014)
2014
WAFCA Award
Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards
Best Director
Selma (2014)
2013
EDA Female Focus Award
Alliance of Women Film Journalists
Best Woman Screenwriter
Middle of Nowhere (2012)
2013
Black Reel
Black Reel Awards
Best Film
Middle of Nowhere (2012)
2013
Best Directorial Debut
Camerimage
Middle of Nowhere (2012)
2012
Black Reel
Black Reel Awards
Best Screenplay, Original or Adapted
I Will Follow (2010)
2012
Black Reel
Black Reel Awards
Best Director
I Will Follow (2010)
2012
Gotham Independent Film Award
Gotham Awards
Best Feature
Middle of Nowhere (2012)
2012
Humanitas Prize
Humanitas Prize
Sundance Film Category
Middle of Nowhere (2012)
2012
Bronze Horse
Stockholm Film Festival
Best Film
Middle of Nowhere (2012)
2012
Grand Jury Prize
Sundance Film Festival
Dramatic
Middle of Nowhere (2012)
2011
Black Reel
Black Reel Awards
Best Documentary
My Mic Sounds Nice: The Truth About Women in Hip Hop (2010)