Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Ava DuVernay's Look At Her Past Decade Is A Powerful Reminder Of Just How Far You Can Come In 10 Years

Ava DuVernay's Look At Her Past Decade Is A Powerful Reminder Of Just How Far You Can Come In 10 Years
Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage/GettyImages

Ava DuVernay's impressive achievements in the past decade serve as a reminder that persistence and hard work can get you far.

The 47-year-old filmmaker from Long Beach, California, reflected back on her decades-long list of illustrious achievements in a Twitter thread of gratitude.


DuVernay first ventured into journalism influenced by her CBS News internship and helped cover the O.J. Simpson murder trial.

But after becoming disillusioned with journalism, she went into PR work and eventually opened her own public relations firm – The DuVernay Agency (DVAPR), in 1999.

She made her first short film called, Saturday Night Life, based on her mother's experiences in Los Angeles. The 12-minute short found its way into Showtime's Black Filmmaker Showcase when it was broadcast on February 6, 2007.

The next opportunity would catapult her career.

DuVernay wrote:

"Reflecting on the decade. In 2010, I got a call from @BET."
"They heard I'd made an indie documentary about LA hip hop the year before. They offered me a doc on women in hip hop. It was my first paying directing job. I remember crying with joy. And hope."

The indie documentary that got BET's attention was This Is the Life, her 2008 feature directorial debut chronicling the history of LA's Good Life Cafe's arts movement in which she participated as an emcee in the hip hop duo Figures of Speech.








Making Selma was inspired by her summer vacations to her father's childhood home.

He lived near Selma, Alabama, and witnessed the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches.

The film was nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Song, but not for Best Director. On her omission, DuVernay expressed she was more disappointed over the fact that actor David Oyelowo, who portrayed King, did not receive a nomination for her performance in the film.




Although Disney's A Wrinkle In Time was not a breakout success at the box office, it was an important milestone for DuVernay.

She became the first black American woman to direct a film that grossed at least $100 million, domestically.

She was also the first black American woman to helm a live-action feature film with a production and marketing budget of $150 million and $250 million.



She received massive critical acclaim for creating, co-writing and directing Netflix's When They See Us.

The project is about the wrongfully convicted teenagers called the Central Park Five—now known as the Exonerated 5— surrounding 1989's Central Park Jogger Case.

The miniseries was streamed by over 23 million viewers in its first month of release and earned 16 Emmy nominations.


DuVernay closed out her thread, and 2019, by expressing much gratitude for all the supportive and inspiring people who have come into her life.

People gave the visionary much praise and shared how they have been inspired by her body of work.











DuVernay announced that she and Tom King will co-write New Gods for the DC Extended Universe, and it is aimed to be released some time in 2022.

With more projects on the horizon, the inspirational filmmaker is showing no signs of slowing down.

Here's to another decade of successes.

Get DuVernay's critically acclaimed film Selma here.

More from Trending

Lynda Carter; Screenshot of Donald Trump
Stephane Cardinale/Corbis via Getty Images; Newsmax

Lynda Carter Hilariously Channels Wonder Woman In Response To Trump's Claim About 'Undetectable' Planes

After President Donald Trump touted the U.S. military's "stealth" planes that he described as "undetectable," Wonder Woman star Lynda Carter responded to his claim with a funny quip sure to delight fans of her iconic character.

Earlier, Trump boasted about the military's capabilities in remarks to reporters in the Oval Office amid heightened concerns about the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict that is sending shockwaves throughout the Middle East and around the world:

Keep ReadingShow less
red flag with pole on seashore
Seoyeon Choi on Unsplash

People Break Down The 'Silent Red Flags' Folks Tend To Ignore In Relationships

A red flag has come to mean any warning sign in life, in addition to the literal red flags that are placed on beaches or industrial sites to warn people of danger.

People will respond to situations by saying, "That’s a red flag." But before that language evolved, they'd just call them "warning signs."

Keep ReadingShow less
Ted Cruz; Tucker Carlson
The Tucker Carlson Show

Tucker Carlson And Ted Cruz Get Into Shouting Match Over Iran In Bonkers Interview Clip

Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz—a harsh Donald Trump critic-turned-MAGA minion—sat down with fired Fox News personality Tucker Carlson for the conservative influencer's self-produced online content,The Tucker Carlson Show, for the Tucker Carlson Network.

On Tuesday, Carlson shared a 1.5-minute clip revealing that things got contentious when the pair touched on the Trump administration's escalating tensions with Iran.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump; Barack Obama
Suzanne Plunkett-Pool/Getty Images; Scott Olson/Getty Images

Resurfaced Trump Tweet Criticizing Obama Over Iran Comes Back To Bite Him

Amid tensions with Iran, President Donald Trump was criticized for hypocrisy after social media users resurfaced a 2013 tweet in which he accused former President Barack Obama of planning an attack on Iran because of his "inability to negotiate properly."

Trump has declined to clarify whether the U.S. is edging closer to launching strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, following a warning from Iran’s supreme leader against any attack and a rejection of Trump’s demand for surrender.

Keep ReadingShow less
​​Elon Musk
Allison Robbert/AFP via Getty Images

Anti-Elon Banner at Stanford

Stanford University graduates were given creative advice from above as an airplane flew over the graduation ceremony with a banner reading, “CONGRATS! DON’T WORK FOR ELON.”

The moment was captured last Sunday during the university’s 134th Commencement ceremony, where the Class of 2025 received their degrees at Stanford Stadium.

Keep ReadingShow less