Roger Ross Williams Signs With Cinetic Media
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- Roger Ross Williams has signed with Cinetic Media, the management and production company announced exclusively
- Williams is the first African-American director to win an Academy Award, taking the prize for his 2010 short film Music By Prudence, and has also won Emmy and Peabody awards
- His documentary credits include Life, Animated (Sundance Directing Award, three Emmys, Oscar nomination), God Loves Uganda (Oscar-shortlisted), The Apollo (Primetime Emmy), Netflix's Stamped From The Beginning, The 1619 Project (Primetime Emmy), and Apple TV+'s The Supermodels
- Williams' first narrative feature, Cassandro, premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and was released globally by Amazon Prime Video, starring Gael García Bernal as the gay luchador Saúl Armendáriz
- Williams is currently developing his next narrative feature, Strange Arrivals, starring Oscar nominee Demi Moore and two-time Oscar nominee Colman Domingo
- Williams sits on the board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, representing the documentary branch, and has received lifetime achievement honors from the IDA, San Francisco Film Society, and Miami Film Festival
Why it matters: Williams brings a hybrid documentary-narrative resume — from an Oscar-winning short to Emmy-sweeping series work for Netflix and Apple TV+ — into Cinetic's roster, while his upcoming *Strange Arrivals* with Demi Moore and Colman Domingo signals a continued push into prestige narrative features after *Cassandro*.
