Chinisha is an Emmy-nominated, award-winning, multi-hyphenate creator and chaotic polymath with 20+ years experience in Film, TV, and media production.
In Chinisha’s own words: We all know that annoying cliché’ of “write what you know,” to which I have always responded, “can’t write anything if you don’t know anything.” (A favorite refrain of mine when talking to my students back in my teaching artist days.) That line of thinking has made me a sort of “jack of all trades, master of none;” previously seen as a pejorative until I came to learn the latter half of the saying… “but often times, better than master of one.”
In truth, my cumulative experiences within the industry (camera op, editor, producer, graphic designer, writer, live comedy show showrunner, host, teaching artist…) and moreover, in my life (non-profit program associate director, model, organizer, union gal, political candidate, pretty decent cook, actor, musician, adrenaline junkie, nerd, star trek geek, science enthusiast…), have made me a better director and stronger storyteller. Through all of that, I’ve taken a long and circuitous path to land where I am today.
I’m passionate about music, science, environmental and social justice, and learning – they find their way into all that I create. Even so, I’m pretty genre-agnostic, with most of my work living in the liminal spaces of dramedy, sci-fi/speculative fiction, and documentary, with a significant amount of experience in sketch and live comedy.
A lot of my early work in the TV and digital spaces was informed by my love and experience as a multi-instrumentalist – I can play the flute, saxophone, piano, guitar, and am a vocalist (some of the above MUCH better than others…). I began my musical training at the age of nine and continued through grad school, with a brief stint as an engineering major in my freshman year of college. I had Mae Jemison dreams of becoming an astronaut – here’s hoping they need filmmakers in space…
On a whim, I took a doc-production class during undergrad that changed my entire trajectory. Since then, I’ve has been creating content for digital, broadcast, and theater spaces, with a slight tangent after grad school to start my own band in the basement of the non-profit program of which I was director at the time.
Professionally, Chinisha has created work for major media & arts institutions including Comedy Central, Netflix, CNN, Vox, ZPZ, attn:, Sesame Street, McGee Media, Firelight, Left/Right, VICE, NPR, Okayplayer, Caveat, Symphony Space, Carnegie Hall, and more. She spent over a decade at the non-profit media production company, DCTV, where she was the Associate Director of Youth Programs and a teaching artist – instructing NYC high school and college students in social justice and self advocacy through the art of film-making. She has guided thousands of young artists over the years, helping them create art that reflected their shared life experiences – tackling difficult issues around race, poverty, a changing NYC, mental health, environmental justice, and so much more.
She has been quite fortunate over the years to work on projects in direct alignment with many of her personal interests and values. From her sci-com writing on the Vox series The Future of… (Netflix) voiced by Jurnee Smollett, to her work as a producer on programs such as United Shades of America with W Kamau Bell (CNN), Chinisha’s sense of humor, storytelling, and wide range of production experience has landed her on some exciting and worthwhile productions. Her most recent handiwork has been as a Segment Director at The Daily Show (Comedy Central).
Some of her past efforts have even been lucky enough to be recognized by industry leaders and peers! Her work on the PBS special Our Cameras, Our Stories (a DCTV production) has been recognized with a NY Emmy nomination (2015) and a Robert F. Kennedy Award in Journalism (2016). She was named a 2021 Film Independent Fellow in the Film Independent + CNN Original Series Docuseries Intensive alongside her producing team for the non-fiction series, From the Top. She has received three Webby Awards (2022 & 2023) for her writing, direction, and series production on Black History in Two Minutes (or so…) hosted by Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., as well as an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Historical Documentary (News & Doc) for her work on the series The Black Church: This is Our Story, This is Our Song (PBS), also hosted by Dr. Gates. The Sesame Street digital series for which she directed, Sesame Street in Communities: Talking About Race, was also nominated at the Children’s & Family Emmy Awards for Outstanding Non-fiction Program.
Her independent work has made the festival rounds, including her short screenplay, Mojave Experiment, which has been recognized with multiple awards including 1st place Short Screenplay at the Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Fest and Bowery Film Festival, among others. She is currently in development on Mojave Experiment as a feature film.
As a performer, Chinisha has moonlighted on the stage and screen, appearing in experimental performance art at The Kitchen and Rush Arts Gallery; on stage at various NYC theaters including The Bell House, Bedford Manor, The Kraine Theater, The Magnet, The PIT, and Caveat; on your computer screen, including Netflix; and even on the silver screen in major motion pictures (as an extra… nothing to get too excited about – yet).
She has been invited to speak at academic conferences, industry panels, and hosted numerous events – she is no stranger to the stage! She is a regular guest at the NYU Symposia dedicated to the art and sociopolitical influence of Prince, produced and curated by DeAngela Duff, NYU Associate Provost and Industry Professor in Integrated Design & Media. She has hosted and produced several live shows at The Bell House and Caveat, including her sold out Juneteenth Jubilee and her recent variety show headlined by Roy Wood Jr., Play in the Sunshine (Bell House). In 2020, she co-founded the indie production company, Cosmic Dust Productions.
Chinisha is a certified Prince super-fam, nerdy geek-girl, and cheerful nihilist with a penchant for witty, sometimes self-deprecating humor. She attended The New School where she received her MA in Media Studies, and a BA in Cinema Studies with a minor in African-American Studies from the CUNY Macaulay Honors College, cum laude.
LINKEDIN | IMDB | CV | PERFORMANCE | AWARDS
Chinisha 