This article will answer every question you have about DuVernay. Below are some of the frequently asked questions about her.
- What does DuVernay do for a living?
- Who are DuVernay’s parents and siblings?
- What are DuVernay’s interests and hobbies?
- Is DuVernay married or does he have a boyfriend?
- Does DuVernay have any children?
- Where is DuVernay now?
- How tall is DuVernay?
- How much money does DuVernay earn?
- What is DuVernay’s net worth?
N/B: Please read the entire post to have all your questions answered.
Who is Ava DuVernay?
Ava DuVernay (Ava Marie DuVernay) is a famous American filmmaker, film publicist, and television producer. In 2012, Dvernay won the directing award in the U.S. dramatic competition for her second feature film Middle of Nowhere at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Ava became the first black woman to win the award.
In 2014, she became the first black American woman to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Director, for a job well done on Selma. Additionally, she became the first black-American woman director to have her film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Duvernay was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2017 for her film 13th in 2016.
Ava started a podcast series in September 2013 called The Call-In. Along with producer Dan Lin and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, DuVernay launched the Evolve Entertainment Fund in February 2018. DuVernay has served as a co-host of The Essentials, with Ben Mankiewicz since May 2019. She has appeared in wraparounds each Saturday night on the channel.
How Old Is Ava DuVernay?
Duvernaywas born in Long Beach, California on August 24th, 1972. She is 49 years of age as of 2022. Ava shares her birthday with celebrities such as Dave Chappelle, Steve Guttenberg, Rupert Grint, Marlee Matlin, Stephen Fry, Alan Walker, Griffin Gluck, Payton Ackerman, and Catherine Paiz, among others.
Ava DuVernay Family
Who Are Ava DuVernay’s Parents?
Duvernay was born to Darlene and Joseph Marcel DuVernay III. She was brought up by her stepfather Murray Maye in Lynwood, California. Her mother was a teacher. Ava could visit her father during her summer vacations and says the tours inspired her making of Selma.
Does Ava DuVernay have siblings?
Duvernay has five siblings. She has two brothers, Kristopher and Nicholas, and three sisters Jina, Tera, and Lashica. Duvernay has a close bond with her siblings as she is seen to send a message of love to them all during world siblings day. She sent a message on her Twitter handle saying that she is proud and loves them all. The bond was created ever since they were children.
Ava DuVernay Education
Duvernay enrolled at Saint Joseph High School in Lakewood where she graduated in 1990. She later joined the University of California, Los Angeles majoring in two courses. Ava graduated with two degrees, a bachelor of arts in English literature, and African-American studies. She is an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
Ava DuVernay Husband
Duvernay decided never to marry or have any children. Instead, she chose to focus on her career. However, there were rumors about her having a romantic relationship with rapper Common Rumours but she dismissed the speculations saying that she is not dating.
How Tall Is Ava DuVernay?
Adding to her well-curved body, Ava is of medium height. She stands at a height of 1.67 meters in stature.
Ava DuVernay Career
DuVernay never took a camera despite her acclaim in the television and film industries until she was 32 years old. She was interested in journalism with the influence of an internship with CBS News. As an intern, Ava was assigned to help cover the O.J. Simpson murder trial. However, after the internship, she changed her mind about journalism and moved into public relations. She served at 20th Century Fox, Savoy Pictures, and a few other PR agencies as a junior publicist.
In 1999, Ava opened her own public relations firm, The DuVernay Agency (DVAPR). Ava offered marketing and PR services to the entertainment and lifestyle industry through DVAPR. She worked on campaigns for television shows and movies such as Dreamgirls, The Terminal, Lumumba, Collateral, Shrek 2, and Spy Kids.
DuVernay ventured into other lines of business such as Urban Beauty Collective in 2003. This is a promotional network with over 10,000 African-American beauty salons and barbershops in 16 U.S. cities. in the year 2008, it expanded to 20 cities. The promotion network was mailed a free monthly Access Hollywood-style promotion program called UBC-TV
Film Industry
Ava ventured in to film industry in December 2005 and made her first film known as Saturday Night Life. The film was more of an uplifting trip by a struggling single mother, Melissa De Sousa, and her children to a discount grocery store in Los Angeles. Ava directed the short Compton in C Minor in 2007. This was a challenge for her to capture Compton in only two hours and make the presentation.
DuVernay made her directorial debut in 2008 with the alternative hip hop documentary This Is the Life, a history of LA’s Good Life Cafe’s art movement. She took part as part of the duo Figures of Speech. This brought her numerous awards in various festivals such as the Los Angeles Pan-African Film Festival, the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival in Seattle, the ReelWorld Film Festival in Toronto, and the Hollywood Black Film Festival.
DuVernay made her first narrative feature film, I Will Follow, in 2011 starred by Salli Richardson-Whitfield. The film was made in two weeks and cost $50,000. After the production of this film, Ava left her full-time job in publicity and focused on production.
Middle of Nowhere
DuVernay started her second production in the summer of 2011, Middle of Nowhere. The narrative was from a 2003 script that she was unable to finance back then. The film was from her own experience as she grew up. On 20th January 2012, at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, the middle of nowhere film premiered. It was played in the US dramatic competition. The film brought DuVernay the U.S. Directing Award: Dramatic award. This made her the first black-American lady to win the award. Additionally, the film brought her the 2012 Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award.
The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture commissioned DuVernay to the creation of a film about African-American history. She made August 28: A Day in the Life of a People. The film debuted at the museum’s opening on 24th September 2016. The film stars Lupita Nyong’o, David Oyelowo, Glynn Turman, Angela Bassett, Michael Ealy, Don Cheadle, Regina King, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and André Holland. Among many events depicted include the night Senator Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
Selma
On 25th December 2014, Selma was released, a film directed by DuVernay. The dramatic film used a $20 million budget. It was about the voting rights of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President Lyndon B. Johnson. The film received a nomination for Best Picture and Best Original Song at the 2014 Academy Awards. DuVernay complained that she expected David Oyelowo, who portrayed the king to be nominated for Best Actor. After directing this movie, executives approached Ava to direct Black Panther, but she declined the offer.
13th
DuVernay directed 13th, a documentary in 2016. The film opened at the New York Film Festival in July 2016. 13th concentrates more on the United States criminal justice system. The film features numerous politicians, public figures, and prominent activists. They include Michelle Alexander, Cory Booker, Angela Davis, Van Jones, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Newt Gingrich, and Bryan Stevenson, among others.
Netflix released the film on 7th October 2016. At the 89th Oscars, 13th received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2017. DuVernay became the first black American lady to be nominated by the academy as a director in a feature category. Consecutively, 13th won a Peabody Award and a Columbia Journalism School DuPont Award in 2017 and 2018.
DuVernay directed A Wrinkle in Time, a film by Disney on 8th February 2016. The documentary started filming in November 2016. Ava became the first black American to direct a live-action film with a budget of over $100 million. She is the second woman director to do so after Patty Jenkins, director of Wonder Woman. A Wrinkle in Time was released in March 2018 and brought in $33 million in its opening weekend.
Television
DuVernay directed three TV documentaries in 2010. The first, TV One Night Only: Live from the Essence Music Festival, aired on August 28, 2010, on TV One. Ava also directed Essence Presents: Faith Through the Storm, a 44-minute documentary. The third documentary is Venus Vs, a documentary on Venus Williams’s fight for equal prize money.
DuVernay directed HelloBeautiful Interludes Live. This was the John Legend episode of the performance-and-interview series on 14th September 2013 on TV One. Additionally, Ava directed the eighth episode of the third season of the political thriller television series Scandal.
DuVernay served as the executive producer and director of the CBS civil rights crime drama pilot For Justice in 2015.
In the same year, she produced and directed the drama series, Queen Sugar, based on Natalie Baszile’s novel. the Series premiered on 6th September 2016 on Oprah Winfrey Network to critical acclaim.
DuVernay served as executive producer, co-writer, and director of When They See Us a series on Netflix in 2017. It had other executive producers such as Jane Rosenthal, Berry Welsh, Jeff Skoll, Jonathan King, and Oprah Winfrey.
Music Videos
As part of the Women’s Tales film series, DuVernay partnered with Miu Miu in 2013. She made a short film The Door starred by Gabrielle Union. The film premiered online in February 2013. In August of the same year, the film was presented at the Venice Days sidebar of the 70th Venice International Film Festival.
DuVernay released a second branded short film entitled Say Yes in August 2013 through Vimeo, sponsored by cosmetic brand Fashion Fair. The film starred Kali Hawk and Lance Gross with Julie Dash, Victoria Mahoney, Lorraine Toussaint, and Issa Rae appearing as guests.
Apple Music and their ad agency Translation hired DuVernay in 2015 to produce a series of three commercials starring Mary J. Blige, Taraji P. Henson, and Kerry Washington. Its first d, Chapter 1, premiered during Fox’s Emmy broadcast on 20th September 2015. The other two chapters debuted in November 2015 and February 2016, respectively. She produced a music video for Jay-Z ft. Beyoncé’s song “Family Feud” premiered on Tidal, on 29th December 2017.
Ava DuVernay’s Salary and Net Worth
Serving as a producer, director, and screenwriter, DuVernay’s income is not constant, making it difficult to determine her monthly salary. However, she has managed to accumulate an estimated net worth of $60 million from her career.
