Dianne Houston

Dianne Houston is an African-American film director, producer and screenwriter. She is the first, and thus far only, African-American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for work she directed.[1]

Dianne Houston
Born (1954-07-22) July 22, 1954
Washington, D.C., USA
Occupation
  • Film Director
  • Television Director
  • Film Producer
  • Screenwriter
Alma materHoward University
Years active1977-present
Children2

Early life

Dianne Houston was born on July 22, 1954 to Jack, an Army psychologist, and Edith, a schoolteacher. She grew up in the Lamond Riggs neighborhood of Washington, D.C.[2]

She attended Woodrow Wilson High School, and was also a student at the Workshops for Careers in the Arts on the campus of George Washington University.[2]

When she was 16, she moved to New York City to become an actress. However, frustrated by the lack and caliber of roles for black women, she decided to write her own plays.[3] She later returned to Washington D.C. in order to earn a fine arts degree in theater direction from Howard University.[2]

Houston then moved back to New York City, where she wrote and directed for the street performance troupe, CityKids Repertory Company.[2]

Early career

Houston's first play, The Fishermen, was produced in 1977. She directed it at the Back Alley Theater in Washington, D.C. The play went on to be performed at the East Bay Arts Center in Richmond, the Sojourner Truth Cultural Arts Center in Fort Worth, and the 14th Street Playhouse in Atlanta.[4][5]

Houston's writing eventually caught the attention of Warner Bros. The company sought her out to provide "doctoring" on one of its screenplays.[3]

In 1990, she became a writer and executive story editor for the Oprah Winfrey-produced series, Brewster Place,[6] a continuation of the miniseries, The Women of Brewster Place, based on the Gloria Naylor novel of the same name.

In 1992, Houston was commissioned to write "The International Sweethearts of Rhythm,” a screenplay about an all-women’s 1940's jazz band, inspired by an article the producers read about Rosetta Reitz in the Wall Street Journal.[7]

In 1994 Houston wrote the screenplay for "Override", a science fiction short film based on the short story, "Over the Long Haul," by Martha Soukup. The film, starring Emily Lloyd and Lou Diamond Phillips, was directed by Danny Glover.

Academy Award nomination

In 1995, Danny Glover introduced Houston to the Chanticleer Films program, which gave industry professionals their first chance to direct. She was one of four people selected to participate from 1,000 applicants.[6] Through the program, she directed the short film, Tuesday Morning Ride, starring Ruby Dee and Bill Cobbs.

The film, about an elderly couple questioning the current value of their lives, is based on the 1933 short story, "A Summer Tragedy", by Harlem Renaissance writer, Arna Bontemps.[8] Houston said of the film, "I have two elderly people with everything to live for and no way to do it in this society".[6]

In 1996, the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. Houston became the first African-American woman to be nominated for an Oscar for directing work, and was also the only African-American nominee out of nearly 170 total nominations.[9][2]

Told by top publicists that "Black women are not a novelty," Houston was unable to obtain a publicist for the awards, and wound up doing her own publicity.[3] At the Academy Awards luncheon, the valet also refused to let her park her car, telling her that the parking area was "for nominees only."[6]

Jesse Jackson, pointing out Houston being the only nominee of color, called for a boycott of the Oscars and led a demonstration against Academy Award broadcaster, ABC, to protest the film industry's lack of racial inclusion in hiring and creative opportunities.[10][11] At the time, blacks accounted for less than four percent of the Academy's 5,000 members, and only two percent of the Directors Guild, Writers Guild and Local 44 members, respectively.[12][13][14]

As of 2020, Houston remains the only black woman to have ever been nominated for an Oscar for directing.[1]

Later career

Houston has since directed for a variety of TV series, including Empire, NYPD Blue and Crossing Jordan.

As a screenwriter, she has written for Touchstone Pictures, Stephen Herek, and actors Danny Glover, Dustin Hoffman, Charles S. Dutton, Eddie Murphy, Missy Elliot, and Viola Davis.

Personal life

Houston moved to Los Angeles in 1993.[2] In 2005, after being diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer, she took a seven-year work hiatus to focus on her health.[15]

She is married with two children.[16]

Filmography

Films
Year Title Writer Director Producer Notes
2021 The Melony Armstrong Story Yes Yes Yes (announced)[1]
2021 Seacole Yes No No
2017 Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland No Yes No TV Movie
2016 Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le Yes No No TV Movie
2015 Runaway Island No Yes No
2005 Knights of the South Bronx Yes No No TV Movie, Co-Writer
1996 Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story Yes No No TV Movie, Co-writer
1995 Tuesday Morning Ride Yes Yes Yes Short Film
1994 Override Yes No No TV Short Film

Television
Year(s) Title Writer Executive
Producer		 Director Notes
2021-TBD Boley Yes Yes No TV Series, (announced)[17]
2017-2020 Empire Yes Yes Yes Directed 4 Episodes
2017 When We Rise Yes No No Wrote 1 Episode
2012 Single Ladies No No Yes Directed 2 Episodes
2004 Crossing Jordan No No Yes Directed 1 Episode
2003 Soul Food No No Yes Directed 1 Episode
2002 Strong Medicine No No Yes Directed 1 Episode
2002 Presidio Med No No Yes Directed 1 Episode
2002 The Education of Max Bickford Yes Yes No Producer, Wrote 1 Episode
2002 NYPD Blue No No Yes Directed 1 Episode
2000 City of Angels Yes No Yes Executive story editor, Directed 1 Episode

References
  1. Amanda N'Duka (June 9, 2020). "Dianne Houston To Helm 'The Melony Armstrong Story' For Moving Picture Institute". Deadline.com.
  2. Jacqueline Trescott (March 24, 1996). "You are Dealing with a Three-Headed Beast". Washington Post.
  3. Shari L. Carpenter (1997). "The Mouse that Roared: An Interview with Dianne Houston". Cinéaste. Cineaste Publishers, Inc. 23 (1): 39–40. JSTOR 41688990.
  4. Gordon Raddue (December 3, 1982). "Dianne Houston's New Tragedy Plays at East Bay Arts Center". The Berkeley Gazette. Berkeley, California.
  5. Jeff Guinn (September 15, 1986). ""The Fishermen" Plunges into the Depths of Emotion". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Fort Worth, Texas.
  6. Bruce Haring (March 4, 1997). "Oscars' minority viewpoint". USA Today.
  7. Dirk Sutro (April 12, 1992). "JAZZ:Ladies Sing the Blues:Rosetta Reitz single-handedly runs the only label devoted to keeping alive rare jazz and blues recordings by female artists". Los Angeles Times.
  8. "Arna Bontemps: Black poet, author, anthologist, librarian". Arna Bontemps African American Museum and Cultural Arts Center.
  9. Phil Rosenthal (March 26, 1996). "Tonight She Stands Alone: Dianne Houston is the Only Black Nominated for an Oscar". LA Daily News.
  10. "Jackson Leads Protest of Oscar Nominees". Associated Press. March 26, 1996.
  11. Greg Braxton (March 17, 1996). "Jackson Plans Oscar Protest". Los Angeles Times.
  12. "Will the Academy Awards Go for Art of Box Office?". Fort Worth, Texas: Fort Worth Star-Telegram. March 24, 1996.
  13. Pam Lambert (March 18, 1996). "Hollywood Blackout". People Magazine.
  14. Esther Breger (January 29, 2016). "The "Hollywood Blackout" at the 1996 Academy Awards: When "People" magazine took aim at diversity among the nominees, celebrities were unwilling to join the protest". The New Republic.
  15. David Raiklen (December 30, 2013). "Writing Musical Films". Scriptwriters Network.
  16. Michaela Angela Davis (May 29, 2017). "The Pioneering Black Woman Behind 'Searching For Neverland' Is The Only One Who Could Tell This Michael Jackson Story". Essence Magazine.
  17. Nellie Andreeva (October 4, 2019). "'Boley' Black Western Event Series In the Works At Universal TV From Dianne Houston & Rudy Langlais". Deadline.com.

Sources
  • Bona, Damien. Inside Oscar 2. 2nd ed. Random House Inc., 2002 . Rpt. in Performing Arts. 6 Feb. 2011.
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