DIRECTORS

Maya Washington is an award-winning narrative and documentary filmmaker (writer/director/producer), actress, writer, poet, creative director, and arts educator. Her award-winning film, "Through the Banks of the Red Cedar, " about her father Vikings Legend Gene Washington and the desegregation of college football aired on the Big Ten Network and is currently available on PBS platforms including PBS Documentaries Channel through Amazon Prime, Comcast, and iTunes. Her memoir, "Through the Banks of the Red Cedar: My Father and the Team that Changed the Game," is an Amazon Editor's Pick for Best History. Her award winning-film "CLEAR", about a family reconnecting in the aftermath of wrongful conviction is available on the streaming platforms Argo and Kwelitv. As a freelance tv and film director, Maya directed episodes of the Fox series The Killer Next Door and History Channel’s "I Was There", and the PBS Kids series "Black SciGirls". Her narrative short, "White Space", (starring ABC Family Switched at Birth’s Ryan Lane) about a deaf performance poet aired on network television and was nominated for a Black Reel Award. Maya Washington’s commercial work includes Best Buy, Target, The National Society of Leadership and Success and others. Maya is a member of the Global Impact Producers Alliance (GIPA) and has brought films, books, and art experiences to audiences worldwide. She wrote the forthcoming discussion guide for American Documentary's film, "A New Kind of Wilderness" from director Silje Evensmo Jacobsen, on POV in Fall 2025. Maya has served as a Jury member of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival and Board Member of FilmNorth. In 2025 Maya was a featured panelist at SXSW, Black Sports Business Symposium, and USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.