‘Life, Animated’ Director Roger Ross Williams Signs With UTA

UTA has signed filmmaker Roger Ross Williams and his production banner, One Story Up, for representation.

Williams is the first African American director to win an Academy Award for his short film Music by Prudence. He also directed Life, Animated, about a boy who learned how to communicate through the medium of Disney’s classic films, which was nominated for an Oscar and won three Emmys and the Sundance Film Festival directing award.

His other film credits include God Loves Uganda, The Apollo, Traveling While Black and American Jail. Williams is in pre-production on his first scripted feature, Cassandro, about an openly gay and cross-dressing Lucha Libre wrestler.

The film will star Gael Garcia Bernal, and is produced by Bernal and Diego Luna’s production company La Corriente Del Golfo. In 2019, Williams founded One Story Up, along with Emmy-winning producer Geoff Martz.

The banner is currently producing projects that include an untitled Netflix feature documentary about civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, as he represents the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, as well as a documentary feature on the music group TLC for A&E.

Williams will also direct and produce Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped From the Beginning, as well as its counterpart Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You for Netflix, under the One Story Up banner.

Williams will continue to be repped by Andre Des Rochers of Granderson Des Rochers and Frank PR.

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