Tarell Alvin McCraney

Tarell Alvin McCraney is an acclaimed playwright and screenwriter. His script IN MOONLIGHT BLACK BOYS LOOK BLUE is the basis for the Oscar-winning film MOONLIGHT directed by Barry Jenkins, for which McCraney and Jenkins won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. McCraney was the creator and Executive Producer of the critically acclaimed drama series, DAVID MAKES MAN, which Michael B. Jordan and Oprah Winfrey executive produced for OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. The series ran for two seasons and received a Peabody Award, Critic’s Choice Award, and Gotham Award while also maintaining 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. McCraney also wrote the film HIGH FLYING BIRD which premiered on Netflix directed by Steven Soderbergh. His plays include MS. BLAKK FOR PRESIDENT (co-written with Tina Landau), THE BROTHER/SISTER PLAYS trilogy, HEAD OF PASSES, WIG OUT!, and CHOIR BOY which was nominated for four Tony Awards. McCraney is the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Grant, the Whiting Award, Steinberg Playwright Award, the Evening Standard Award, the New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award, the Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, the Windham Campbell Award, and a USA Artist Award. He is currently Chair of Playwriting at Yale School of Drama and a member of Teo Castellanos/D-Projects.