Roger Ross Williams

Roger Ross Williams directed and produced Music by Prudence , winner of the 2010 Academy Award® for documentary short subject. He is the first African American to win an Oscar® for directing and producing a film. He has produced and directed dozens of hours of non-fiction programming for major television networks and cable channels. Williams has won numerous awards for his work. Williams is currently working on several projects including feature documentaries for CNN Films and the BBC as well as a new feature about the legendary Apollo Theater, a series, several shorts and a narrative feature film. He is also developing a VR series called Traveling While Black for The New York Times and Executive Producing features for Netflix and other platforms. Since 2016, Williams has been on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, serving as chair of the Documentary Branch and the documentary Diversity Committee. Williams serves on the Alumni Advisory Board of the Sundance Institute, the Advisory Board of Full Frame Festival, and the boards of the Tribeca Film Institute, Docubox Kenya, None On Record and the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. He resides in New York and Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Biography Source