Kemp Powers is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for his play One Night in Miami and the 2020 film adaptation of the same name, as well as for co-directing the animated films Soul (2020) and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023). His screenplay for One Night in Miami... earned him a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination at the 93rd Academy Awards, while his work on Soul made him the first African-American to co-direct a Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar feature.How Pete Docter and Kemp Powers brought the first Black Pixar protagonist to life in 'Soul' Powers was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 96th Academy Awards.96TH OSCARS NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED
Career After writing the 2012 short film This Day Today, he scripted the 2013 play One Night in Miami, which was adapted into a feature film directed by Regina King. In 2017, Powers was brought onboard to write several scripts for Star Trek: Discovery season one episodes. In 2018, he drafted his second play Little Black Shadows. In the same year, he co-wrote the script for Pixar's Soul, with Pete Docter and Mike Jones, as well as co-directing the film with Docter, making his directorial debut. An alumnus of Howard University, Powers is the first African-American co-director in Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar history. On December 16, 2020, Powers hosted the first three episodes of the podcast Soul Stories, which was released as a Spotify 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.
In 2021, he appeared in the podcast Spark & Fire, prior to writing his third play Christa McAuliffe's Eyes Were Blue. In the same year, he signed on to direct Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and its sequel Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse with Joaquim Dos Santos and Justin K. Thompson. In March 2023, Powers premiered his fourth play The XIXth (The Nineteenth), which chronicles the lives of two Black American sprinters who raised their fists in protest during the 1968 Summer Olympics games. In Fall 2024, he was the John H. Mitchell Visiting Professor in Media Entertainment at the University of Michigan. In November 2024, he was set to make his live action filmmaking debut when he signed on to write and direct the crime film Lunik Heist for Searchlight Pictures. In December 2024, it was reported that he would not direct Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.
Filmography Year Title DirectorWriter Notes 2012 This Day Today Short film 2017 Star Trek: Discovery 5 episodes 2020 One Night in Miami... Also executive producer Soul Co-writer with Pete Docter and Mike Jones 2023 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse With Joaquim Dos Santos and Justin K. Thompson
Plays One Night in Miami (2013)LADCC Awards Turn Critical CTG Little Black Shadows (2018) Christa McAuliffe's Eyes Were Blue (2021) The XIXth (The Nineteenth) (2023)
Accolades + Award Date of ceremony Category Film Result Academy Awards April 25, 2021 Best Adapted Screenplay One Night in Miami... 2021 Oscar Nominations List Academy Awards Nominees March 10, 2024 Best Animated Feature Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse AAFCA Awards April 7, 2021 Best Screenplay One Night in Miami... Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards January 4, 2021 Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay Annie Awards April 16, 2021 Best Direction – Feature Soul Best Writing – Feature February 17, 2024 Best Direction – Feature Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Black Reel Awards April 11, 2021 Outstanding Breakthrough Screenwriter One Night in Miami... Outstanding Screenplay, Adapted or Original Soul Celebration of Cinema and Television December 4, 2023 Animation Award Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Chicago Film Critics Association December 21, 2020 Best Original Screenplay Soul Best Adapted Screenplay One Night in Miami... Critics' Choice Movie Awards March 7, 2021Best Adapted Screenplay Denver Film Critics Society January 18, 2021 Best Adapted Screenplay Florida Film Critics Circle December 21, 2020 Best Original Screenplay Soul Golden Globe Awards February 28, 2021 Best Animated Feature Harvey Awards October 12, 2023 Best Adaptation from Comic Book/Graphic Novel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Hawaii Film Critics Society January 13, 2021 Best Adapted Screenplay One Night in Miami... Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Film Awards June 30, 2023 Best Director Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Houston Film Critics Society Awards January 18, 2021 Best Screenplay One Night in Miami... Hugo Awards December 18, 2021 Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form Soul Indiana Film Journalists Association December 21, 2020 Best Adapted Screenplay One Night in Miami... Breakout of the Year NAACP Image Awards March 27, 2021 Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture Soul North Carolina Film Critics Association January 4, 2021 Best Adapted Screenplay One Night in Miami... Online Film Critics Society Awards January 25, 2021 Best Adapted Screenplay Satellite Awards February 15, 2021 Best Original Screenplay Soul St. Louis Film Critics Association Awards January 17, 2021 Best Adapted Screenplay One Night in Miami... Writers Guild of America Awards March 21, 2021 Best Adapted Screenplay
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