Today on What's My Frame I'm joined by Director, Hanelle M. Culpepper. One of Indiewire’s television Directors To Know, the energetic and unflappable Hanelle Culpepper's credits range from superhero action adventures to thrillers to genre films to character-driven dramas. As director of the Star Trek: Picard pilot, Hanelle became the first woman to launch a Star Trek series in its 53-year history. In 2021, she won an NAACP Image Award for her work on Picard. In 2022, she was nominated for Netflix’s True Story starring Kevin Hart and Wesley Snipes, and again in 2023 for The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey starring Samuel Jackson.
Her recent work includes the Disney+ series Star Wars: The Acolyte, Neil Gaiman’s Amazon series Anansi Boys, Dan Fogelman's Hulu series Paradise, starring Sterling K Brown, along with NCIS: Origins and Matlock.
Hanelle earned her B.A. from Lake Forest College and her M.A. from USC’s Annenberg School. After working as the assistant for Oscar-winning writer/director Callie Khouri, she completed AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women, launching her as a director to watch. Her short A Single Rose won numerous awards and screened at film festivals worldwide, including the 2004 ICG Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival.
A Single Rose plus Hanelle’s viral short film spoof Six and the City led to her first feature: the supernatural thriller Within, starring Mia Ford, Sammi Hanratty, Sam Jaeger, Lori Heuring, Brent Sexton, and featuring Aisha Hinds. The film won Outstanding Feature Film at the Big Bear Horror Film Festival and had its television premiere on Lifetime. Hanelle went on to helm multiple thrillers, including Murder on the 13th Floor starring Tessa Thompson.
Hanelle’s television career took off after NBC Universal’s Directing Initiative led to an episode of Parenthood. Her work has since spanned nearly 40 series across a range of genres. In 2019, she was selected for the inaugural class of ReFrame and earned Variety’s Inclusion Impact Honor.
Hanelle proudly serves on the TV Academy’s Director Peer Group Executive Committee, and as an alternate for the DGA’s National Board and Western Directors Council. When not on set, Hanelle shepherds up-and-coming directors as the Guest Artistic Director for AFI’s DWW+ Class of 2024-2025.
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What's My Frame, hosted by Laura Linda Bradley
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