Darnell Martin

Darnell Martin was born in Bronx, New York.] From the Bronx, she went on to Sarah Lawrence College and New York University Film School. Along the way, she worked in film labs and camera rental houses and as a bartender, made music videos and short films, and wrote the first draft of I Like It Like That.

In 1992, Martin's short film, Suspect, which examined the treatment of young black people as assumed criminals, won critical acclaim at the New York Public Theater's Young Black Cinema showcase. After directing her first short film, Suspect, Martin served as assistant camera operator for Jonathan Demme's documentary Cousin Bobby, a film about his cousin Robert Castle, an Episcopal pastor who works in Harlem. The film was well-received from the majority of critics.

In 1994, Martin directed the Columbia Pictures release I Like It Like That, a romantic comedy about a young woman trying to love her man, keep her family together, assert her self-worth as a person, and keep her sanity all at the same time. The film was well-received by critics. In 2001, Martin directed Prison Song. She has directed episodes of TV shows such as “Law & Order” and “Grey's Anatomy.”

In 2008, Martin jumped back into film, writing and directing Cadillac Records, a biopic about the rise of record label Chess Records, in which Beyoncé portrays a brassy Etta James.

In 2012, Martin directed the well-received television film Firelight. In 2016, she directed "The Walking Dead" episode "Go Getters" from season 7.