Several years ago a dear friend recommended the book Hope for the Flowers by Trina Paulus. A simple story about two caterpillars that mistake a “caterpillar pillar” as the meaning of life. They soon discover that life begins when they surrender to the cocoon and transform into a butterfly. Instantly, this book became one of my all-time favorites and is the inspiration behind Black Butterfly Productions.
I equate the metamorphosis of the caterpillar to the process of filmmaking; taking an idea, developing it and in the end producing a beautiful piece of work.
Stacey was recently tapped by Black Entertainment Television (BET) to produce and direct a short film entitled Red Heeled for its new television series Scene Stealers, which challenges filmmakers to create a finished project within forty-eight hours. She is part of the Adjunct faculty of the Undergraduate Film Program at City College in New York City and has also produced and directed a mental illness PSA for National Alliance on Mental Illness [NAMI] and an AIDS Awareness PSA for League Awareness. Stacey has won numerous awards for both her shorts and feature films. She directed three award-winning films, two of which, Mirar Mirror and Girl Talk, received national and international recognition. Her work has also been acknowledged in several national publications including Essence and Vibe magazines.
Currently, Stacey is the Associate Producer for the feature-length documentary Freedom Riders helmed by award-winning director Stanley Nelson for PBS’ premiere program “American Experience;” the film debuted to rave reviews at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. The busy filmmaker is also completing her documentary, Dressed Like Kings, which was shot in South Africa and garnered the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival Creative Promise Award. Other accolades include: 2009 NYSCA Grant, the Martin Scorsese Post-Production Award, the Warner Brothers Pictures Post-Production Award, and a 1998 finalist for the IFFM Gordon Parks Award. Her work has screened at Nantucket Film Festival, Harlem Film Festival, Urban World, Black International Cinema Berlin, and the International Film Festival Rotterdam, to name a few.
In 2008, Stacey joined creative forces with five other NYU Grad Alumni to produce and direct the critically acclaimed feature length film, 6 Things I Never Told You. Later that year she partnered with actress, writer and producer Tracee Loran to form Stacey & Tracee Productions. The dynamic writing/producing duo created the fashionable web series South of the Hunter Dixon Line, which will launch Summer 2010.
Stacey received her M.F.A from the graduate film program at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and her B.A in Communications at Dillard University in New Orleans, LA.
