ABOUT ME

Kali Baker-Johnson is a New Jersey-born/Brooklyn-based filmmaker, comic book writer, and professor who creates socially provocative stories about complex antiheroes, influenced by film noir and hip hop. His feature film debut, Feel Like Ghosts, won the Best Director and Best Screenplay awards at the 2022 American Black Film Festival. His screenwriting has been recognized by the Academy Nicholl Fellowships and the Austin Film Festival.

He was a Directing Fellow at Chapman University’s graduate film program in Orange, CA and during his time on the West Coast he collaborated with Oscar-winning producer Cathy Schulman as one of Chapman’s O.L. Halsell Scholars, worked in development for Oscar-nominated producing duo Ron Yerxa and Albert Berger, and shadowed Emmy-winning director Millicent Shelton. His award-winning short films have screened internationally at Oscar-qualifying festivals, as well as in programs for domestic abuse education, in centers for at-risk youth, and even in New York's Time Square.

As a freelance video consultant, Kali has over 15 years of experience producing high-quality video content across multiple genres and formats and has worked with brands such as NBC, VH1, Foot Locker, EbonyJet, and Avalon Television. He used to be able to dunk and, every once in a while, he still has a good day on the basketball court.