JD Walker, Writer/Director and Producer

Film and Television Projects

For a complete list of my film credits please view my IMDb page below:

Winner of the "Best Short" at The African American Film Festival and featured at The Cannes Film Festival, "Oscar Micheaux" is a 1920s drama set in Los Angeles, about a producer of silent films, starring African Americans in leading roles, who decides to take matters into his own hands when he is denied a distribution deal from Lincoln Motion Pictures.

 

Based on a true story, "Oscar Micheaux" had its debut at BHERC and would later go on to screen on Aspire TV. Jamie Walker who wrote and directed the short recently completed a feature script adaptation called "Within Our Gates."

AWARDS
WINNER: Best Short, African American Film Festival

OFFICIAL SELECTION
Cannes Film Festival
Urban World
African American Film Festival (Best Short)
Montreal Int'l Black Film Festival
Toronto Black Film Festival
Twin Cities Black Film Festival, Black Film Festival of New Orleans
Sistas Are Doin' It for Themselves Film Festival
African American Film Marketplace
Sandra: Say Her Name  (Short)
Director: JD Walker
Winner of the Best Short at the Central Illinois Feminist Film Festival and inspired by a true story, "Sandra: Say Her Name" is a short by Writer-Director, JD Walker, about a woman whose plight begins after she fails to signal a lane change.  
AWARDS
WINNER: Best Short, Central Illinois Feminist Film Festival

OFFICIAL SELECTION
Central Illinois Feminist Film Festival
Hollywood Black Film Festival
"Survival" (Feature)
1st AD:  JD Walker
Winner of the BEST FEATURE at "The People's Film Festival" and AUDIENCE WINNER at The American Black Film Festival in Miami, "Survival" is an action-thriller about a car-jacked mother (Elise Neal) and entrepreneur who is forced to bond with her violent assailant in order to escape.
AWARDS
WINNER: Best Short, People's Film Festival
WINNER: Audience Award, ABFF

OFFICIAL SELECTION
American Black Film Festival
People's Film Festival


Bunny's Bakery  (USC TV Series)
     Associate Director: JD Walker
Mentor: Joel Zwick

In "Bunny's Bakery," a multicameraTV comedy, twobickering sisters struggle to keep their late mother's bakery sustainable but once presented with a lucrative offer to sell it, they must finally meet face to face and come to terms with their unforeseeable agreement.

Within Our Gates  (Feature)
Director: JD Walker
STATUS: DEVELOPMENT
Inspired by a true story, "Within Our Gates" is a historical drama in development by Writer-Director JD Walker. Set in Chicago in the 1920s, it chronicles the journey of Oscar Micheaux, the father of Black cinema, as he struggles to get his first feature distributed in racist south during the same time that the NAACP was protesting D.W. Griffith's  "A Birth of a Nation" and Charlie Chaplin was making silent films for Essanay Studios.  Rife with conflict and numerous setbacks, Oscar Micheaux sought to produce silent films starring all Negro casts during the Harlem Renaissance Movement by any means necessary. 
AWARDS
WINNER: Sundance Film Festival Pitching Contest

The Landlord  (USC TV Series)
     Director: JD Walker

Inspired by Key & Peele, "The Landlord" is a multicamera TV comedy by Writer-Director JD Walker about a newly married couple who arrives to rent a new apartment only to be frightened by a crazy landlord.

The Postwoman  (Feature)
Director: JD Walker
STATUS: DEVELOPMENT
"The Postwoman" is a romantic drama in development by Writer-Director, JD Walker, which follows the story of a struggling single mother who, after being laid off from her position at a post office, gains her independence when she is forced to confront her husband and two young daughters about her secret life.


OFFICIAL SELECTION
The Hollywood Black Film Festival
(Screenplay Finalist)
La Femme Film Festival
(Screenplay Semi-Finalist)
Sundance Table Read My Screenplay 
(Screenplay Quarter Finalist)



PTSD  (Short)
Director: JD Walker

"PTSD" is a short psychological thriller by Writer-Director, JD Walker, about a survivor of sexual assault who suffers post traumatic stress when walking down an abandoned alley. Face to face with her greatest fear, she must learn to overcome her challenges.
Undeclared  (Feature)
Director: JD Walker
STATUS: DEVELOPMENT
A high school senior and her friends try to maintain enthusiasm for their senior year during Covid-19, but as the pandemic wears on and greater personal and family challenges emerge, it becomes clear the only way they are going to survive it is by embracing friendships new and old.
The Young Oscar Micheaux  (Short)
     Director: JD Walker
Writer-Director, JD Walker, adapts this short historical drama from the novel "The Homesteader" (1919) about a courageous and fiercely determined young boy who desires to make silent films starring all Negro casts after witnessing the brutal lynching of his people after Emancipation.

OFFICIAL SELECTION
Reel Sistas African American Film Festival
The San Francisco Black Film Festival

The Postwoman (short)
Director: JD Walker
A romantic comedy about Nia, a 30s graphic designer that develops a crush on her neighborhood postwoman who shows her the true meaning of unconditional love.

OFFICIAL SELECTION
Frameline
Out on Film
                       and over 15+ film festivals across the US

Additional Projects I've Worked On

Disney +  ESPN - "30 for 3": The Mighty Ducks" TV Series Promo

Role: Producer

"Fix My Flip"
Role: Production Manager

Shein X:  $100K Fashion Challenge with Khloe Kardashian

Role: Production Coordinator

BUZZFEED:  
 Branded & Co-Branded Projects 
Beatnik (Feature)
Writers: JD Walker and Mwamba Yesheli
"Beatnik" is a dramatic feature film that tells a story of Ms. Garcia, a young teacher working in a summer diversion program in inner-city Oakland. On the last day of their court-ordered class, Ms. Garcia's lesson plan is interrupted by a violent dispute between one of her students.
Coda  (Short)
2nd 2nd Assistant Director: JD Walker
In "Coda," a dramatic short film, Alex, a young girl, uses dance to try find her place between hearing and deaf.



AWARDS
Winner, Breakout Filmmaker, Detroit Film Festival

OFFICIAL SELECTION
LA Shorts
Reel Abilities Film Festival
Nashville Film Festival
Cleveland International Film Festival 





Twelve Days of Christmas  (Feature)
Executive Producer: JD Walker
Two best friends from high school return home from their first semester of college for a relaxed winter break, but over the course of twelve distinct days must navigate turbulent friendships, old rivalries, unspoken romances, and even an unplanned pregnancy. There's no place like home for the holidays.
"One Perfect Shot" directed by Ava DuVernay
Role: Lead Health and Safety Officer/CCO
"J Lo Beauty Commercial:
Role: CCO




"Black Women OWN the Conversation"

Format: Live to Tape TV Special 

Lead CCO 

Designed Covid Production Plan for OWN and Wayfarer Entertainment


                                            

California Conservation Corps Ad with Tiffany Haddish (Lead CCO)

"Killer Grades"
Lead CCO, Feature Film
 
Dyke Central (TV Series)
Grip
Side Effects  (TV Series)
Key Grip:  JD Walker
A brother and sister vie to lead their mother's company after the sudden passing of their father in this dramatic TV series.
Justice for Flint  (TV Broadcast)
                                                                        Producer: JD Walker
"Justice for Flint" is a Live TV event featured on Revolt TV and produced by JD Walker, Ryan Coogler, and Ava DuVernay to raise awareness about the Flint water crisis. The event raised over $100,000 for residents of Flint, Michigan, and received more than 1B hits on social media.
MLK Now  (TV Broadcast)
                                                  Producer: JD Walker
"MLK Now" is annual tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. (originating in 2016) and produced by JD Walker, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, et al, starring award-winning talent, Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures), Michael B. Jordan (Black Panther), Tessa Thompson (Avengers:End Game), Anika Noni Rose (Half a Yellow Son),  Andre Holland (Moonlight), Adepero Odune (12 Years a Slave),  and more.
When Life Gives You Lemons  (Short)
Producer: JD Walker
A woman's life is cut short after a tragic incident at a night club.
Happy Birthday Oscar Grant, Love Mom (Documentary)
Producer: JD Walker

"Happy Birthday, Oscar Grant" is a short documentary celebrating the life of Oscar Grant (the subject of Ryan Coogler's dramatic feature film, "Fruitvale Station"). Every year, his mother, Wanda Johnson, brings the community together on his birthday to celebrate and remember his life.

Blackbird  (Short)
Producer: JD Walker
Produced by JD Walker, "Blackbird" is a hopeful tale is about a woman who works cleaning planes but dreams of being a pilot. Throughout her journey she chases her dreams and defies the odds.



AWARDS
WINNER: Best Screenplay, Newark Int'l Film Festival

OFFICIAL SELECTION
Newark Int'l Film Festival
African American Film Marketplace
Watermelon  (Short)
Producer: JD Walker
"Watermelon" is a short film about an uncoordinated 12 year old wallflower who desperately seeks to join an elite squad of cheerleaders.
Reversal  (Short)
    Script Supervisor: JD Walker
A veteran law enforcement office grapples with his actions taken in haste, resulting in terminal consequences and finds himself on the other side.
ACLU: Mobile Justice CA Video Series
Producer/Writer : JD Walker 
Writer-Director, JD Walker, wrote two short new media productions for a mobile justice app developed by the ACLU.

#MyLifeMatters Video Series

Writer/Producer: JD Walker

PRESS COVERAGE:

Revolt TV

The Source

Hello Beautiful

The Grio

 

Happy Birthday Series

(featured on KQED)

Happy Birthday, Philando Castile (Documentary)
Producer: JD Walker

(Featured in The Guardian and The Atlantic)
Happy Birthday, Mario Woods (KQED Documentary)
Producer: JD Walker

(Featured in The SF Examiner and KQED) 
Mothers of the Revolution (Documentary)
Producer: JD Walker
 
Tribute to Sandra (short)
Screenplay: JD Walker
 
Manic Love (Feature)
Screenplay: JD Walker