Nia DaCosta

Nia DaCosta is a writer and director based in New York City. Her first feature film, "Little Woods," starring Tessa Thompson and Lily James, had its theatrical release on April 19, 2019 through Neon Rated. She is currently directing her second feature film, the Jordan Peele written and produced, "Candyman."

In 2015, DaCosta raised roughly $5,000 in a Kickstarter campaign to fund a short film, called “Little Woods,” about two North Dakota sisters who have to cross the Canadian border illegally to obtain medicine for their mother. DaCosta later expanded that into her first feature film in 2018, winning the Tribeca Film Festival’s Nora Ephron award for the best woman writer-director and catching the eye of Academy Award-winner Jordan Peele.

Calling DaCosta a “bold new talent,” Peele hired her to direct and co-write his much-anticipated horror sequel “Candyman.” Of DaCosta’s work on the movie, which will be in theaters in August 2021 after being delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, Peele said: “She’s refined, elegant, every shot is beautiful. It’s a beautiful, beautiful movie.”

When Disney’s Marvel Studios tapped Nia DaCosta last year to direct the upcoming “Captain Marvel” sequel (due to hit theaters in 2022), she became the first Black woman director to tackle the Marvel Universe.

DaCosta has been supported by the Sundance Institute, New York Film Festival, the San Francisco Film Society and the Time Warner Foundation.