Kemp Powers
Powers in 2023
Born	(1973-10-30)October 30, 1973 (age 52) Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
Education	Howard University
Occupations	Screenwriter playwright director
Years active	2012–present
Notable work	One Night in Miami One Night in Miami... Soul Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Kemp Powers is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for his playOne Night in Miami and the 2020 film adaptationof the same name, as well as for co-directing the animated filmsSoul (2020) andSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023). His screenplay forOne Night in Miami... earned him aBest Adapted Screenplay nomination at the93rd Academy Awards,^[1] while his work onSoul made him the first African-American to co-direct aWalt Disney Animation Studios andPixar feature.^[2] Powers was also nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Animated Feature at the96th Academy Awards.^[3]

After writing the 2012 short filmThis Day Today, he scripted the 2013 playOne Night in Miami,^[4][5][6] which was adapted into afeature film directed byRegina King.^[7] In 2017, Powers was brought onboard to write several scripts forStar Trek: Discoveryseason one episodes.^[8] In 2018, he drafted his second playLittle Black Shadows.^[9][10] In the same year, he co-wrote the script forPixar'sSoul, withPete Docter andMike Jones, as well as co-directing the film with Docter, making his directorial debut.^[11][12] An alumnus ofHoward University, Powers is the first African-American co-director inWalt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar history.^[13] On December 16, 2020, Powers hosted the first three episodes of the podcastSoul Stories, which was released as aSpotify exclusive. In the episodes, Powers interviewed several people who worked on the film mainly about their mentors and careers, as well as some behind-the-scenes stories behind the making of the film.^[14]

In 2021, he appeared in the podcastSpark & Fire,^[15][16] prior to writing his third playChrista McAuliffe's Eyes Were Blue.^[17] In the same year, he signed on to directSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and its sequelSpider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse withJoaquim Dos Santos andJustin K. Thompson.^[18] In March 2023, Powers premiered his fourth playThe XIXth (The Nineteenth), which chronicles the lives oftwo Black American sprinters who raised their fists in protest during the1968 Summer Olympics games.^[19] In Fall 2024, he was the John H. Mitchell Visiting Professor in Media Entertainment at the University of Michigan.^[20] In November 2024, he set his live action filmmaking debut when he signed on to write and direct the crime filmLunik Heist forSearchlight Pictures.^[21] In December 2024, it was reported that he would not be returning to directSpider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.^[22][23][24]

• One Night in Miami (2013)^[28][29][30]
• Little Black Shadows (2018)^[9][10]
• Christa McAuliffe's Eyes Were Blue (2021)^[17]
• The XIXth (The Nineteenth) (2023)^[19]

• Kemp Powers atIMDb

• 1973 births
• 21st-century American male writers
• 21st-century American screenwriters
• African-American screenwriters
• American animated film directors
• American male screenwriters
• Annie Award winners
• Howard University alumni
• Living people
• Filmmakers from Brooklyn
• Writers from Brooklyn
• Pixar people
• Walt Disney Animation Studios people
• Sony Pictures Animation people

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use American English from June 2023
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use mdy dates from June 2023
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