Marlene McCurtis

Marlene McCurtis is a digital and literary storyteller with expertise spanning directing and writing nonfiction television and documentary films, community media engagement, and teaching creative writing in diverse communities. Her artistry is rooted in identity, human connection, and engagement with our shared community. She has produced and directed for award-winning series such as "Dog Whisperer" (NatGeo) and "A Place of Our Own" (PBS).

Currently, she is in post-production on Wednesdays In Mississippi, her first independent feature documentary, which has been selected for the Cucalorus Film Festival Work-in-Progress Lab and the Athena Film Festival Work-in-Progress Lab. Her short film, "Here I’ll Stay," co-produced by Firelight Media and Field of Vision, premiered at the New Orleans Film Festival.

Marlene directed "The Circle" and "STAND!" for TheatreWorkers Project. "The Circle", a spoken word and movement collage, was written and performed by system-impacted artists. It has screened at the Social Justice Film Festival, the Global Peace Festival, the Monologue and Poetry International Film Festival, and the Justice on Trial Film Festival.

The most recent short, "STAND!," which combines movement and poetry, premiered at the LGBTQ Center in Hollywood. It is currently on the film festival circuit.

Her writing has been featured in Aquifer, the Florida Review online literary journal, and The Altadena Poetry Review. She was a Langeloth Fellow at Mesa Refuge and completed a writing residency at Dorland Arts Colony.

Marlene is a Ken Burns Film Award Finalist, a Lavine/Better Angels Fellow, a Firelight Media Documentary Lab Fellow, a Sundance Sustainability Humanities Fellow, and a member of the Directors Guild of America (DGA).