# Justin Simien
**Justin Simien** is an American writer, director and producer best known for creating *Dear White People*, first as a 2014 satirical feature film and then as a four-season Netflix series, and for directing Disney's *Haunted Mansion* (2023). He has described himself as a queer Black filmmaker whose work centers on race, identity and Hollywood itself.[1](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/justin-simien-bad-hair-writer-director-advice-podcast-interview-72079/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Breakthrough | *Dear White People* (2014), his feature directorial debut, won the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent at Sundance[2](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-announces-dear-white-people-a-new-comedy-series-based-on-justin-simiens-critically-acclaimed-indie-film) |
| Series adaptation | Netflix announced a 10-episode, 30-minute comedy series in May 2016, produced by Lionsgate; Simien served as head writer and directed several episodes[2](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-announces-dear-white-people-a-new-comedy-series-based-on-justin-simiens-critically-acclaimed-indie-film) • [3](https://www.filmindependent.org/people/justin-simien-forum/) |
| Second feature | *Bad Hair* (2020), a horror satire, premiered at Sundance and was acquired by Hulu[3](https://www.filmindependent.org/people/justin-simien-forum/) |
| Studio film | *Haunted Mansion* (2023), based on the Disney theme park attraction, with LaKeith Stanfield, Rosario Dawson, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Tiffany Haddish and Jamie Lee Curtis[4](https://apnews.com/article/920a3638b63a4ec66a82c3677c31f6c6) |
| Documentary work | Directed the four-part MGM+ docuseries *Hollywood Black* (2024), adapted from film historian Donald Bogle's book of the same name[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hollywood-black-docuseries-tv-review-2024) |
| Awards | Film Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay; named one of *Variety*'s 10 Directors to Watch[6](https://www.afi.com/news/afi-movie-club-dear-white-people/) • [7](https://studentreview.hks.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/HJAAP-Volume-21-2014-2015.pdf) |
## Early life and education
Simien's first filmmaking efforts culminated in the short *The Gift*, which took the National Gold Medal for Filmmaking in the NAACP's ACT-SO program for high school students of color; a Houston Chronicle report on the local competition noted he also won the national gold, with $2,500 in cash and savings bonds and a new computer.[8](https://www.filmindependent.org/talent/justin-simien/) • [9](https://www.chron.com/news/article/teen-shows-gift-for-filmmaking-2039523.php) He attended a performing arts high school in Houston, Texas, then studied film at [Chapman University](https://www.edgepedia.org/chapman-university), where his thesis film *Rings*, an argument for marriage equality, premiered at the Hollywood Black Film Festival and Atlanta's In The Life Film Festival in 2006.[1](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/justin-simien-bad-hair-writer-director-advice-podcast-interview-72079/) • [8](https://www.filmindependent.org/talent/justin-simien/)
While a film student he also worked as a [Disneyland Resort](https://www.edgepedia.org/disneyland-resort) cast member, hosting the Grizzly River Run ride. He later said the park attractions taught him about pacing audiences, comparing the effect to [Alfred Hitchcock](https://www.edgepedia.org/alfred-hitchcock)'s description of playing an audience like a symphony.[10](https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/news/from-disney-parks-cast-member-to-director-justin-simiens-haunted-mansion-journey/) After college he worked in film publicity and social media in Los Angeles.[1](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/justin-simien-bad-hair-writer-director-advice-podcast-interview-72079/)
## Dear White People
The project began in 2005, when Simien started a first draft of the screenplay while making short films for the web.[11](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/justin-simien/) To develop the concept he began tweeting as the character Sam White under the handle @dearwhitepeople, testing jokes and folding both his tweets and some hostile responses into the script.[6](https://www.afi.com/news/afi-movie-club-dear-white-people/) The film follows a quartet of Black students at a predominantly white [Ivy League](https://www.edgepedia.org/ivy-league)-style university, and racial tensions tip over when a campus group plans a blackface party, a trend Simien had observed at universities around the country.[12](https://time.com/4757770/dear-white-people-netflix-justin-simien/)
Marketing the film became part of its story. In 2012 Simien used his tax refund to produce a concept trailer, which launched a crowdfunding campaign and attracted industry attention; producer Stephanie Allain came aboard after her associate, AFI alum Mel Jones, urged her to read the script.[6](https://www.afi.com/news/afi-movie-club-dear-white-people/) Accounts of the total differ: AFI puts it at $50,000, while Simien told blackfilm.com the campaign raised $42,000 in a month.[6](https://www.afi.com/news/afi-movie-club-dear-white-people/) • [13](https://www.blackfilm.com/read/from-twitter-to-sundance-justin-simien-talks-dear-white-people/) The original title was *Two Percent*, a reference to the share of Black students at the fictional school, but Simien changed it after being told that "number films never work" in marketing.[6](https://www.afi.com/news/afi-movie-club-dear-white-people/) The fictional Winchester University drew partly on his own Chapman experience, where the student body was 1.6 percent Black.[6](https://www.afi.com/news/afi-movie-club-dear-white-people/)
The film premiered at the 2014 [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundance-film-festival), where it won the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent, and was released theatrically by Lionsgate's sister company Roadside Attractions.[2](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-announces-dear-white-people-a-new-comedy-series-based-on-justin-simiens-critically-acclaimed-indie-film) Simien also wrote a companion book, *Dear White People: A Guide to Inter-Racial Harmony in 'Post-Racial' America*.[6](https://www.afi.com/news/afi-movie-club-dear-white-people/)
## The Netflix series
Netflix announced the series on May 5, 2016: ten 30-minute episodes produced by Lionsgate, written by Simien, who would also direct the first episode, with Devon Shepard, Stephanie Allain Bray and Julia Lebedev as executive producers.[2](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-announces-dear-white-people-a-new-comedy-series-based-on-justin-simiens-critically-acclaimed-indie-film) The series premiered in 2017 and ran for four seasons, with Simien as head writer and director of several episodes; other directors included [Barry Jenkins](https://www.edgepedia.org/barry-jenkins), Cheryl Dunye and Kimberly Peirce.[3](https://www.filmindependent.org/people/justin-simien-forum/) • [6](https://www.afi.com/news/afi-movie-club-dear-white-people/)
Simien said television gave him an "endless canvas" compared with a film's single thematic moment, and he directed a stripped-down two-character [bottle episode](https://www.edgepedia.org/bottle-episode) in season 2 that he called his "Sidney Lumet/Mike Nichols moment."[12](https://time.com/4757770/dear-white-people-netflix-justin-simien/) • [14](https://www.dga.org/craft/dgaq/issues/1803-summer-2018/justin-simien) The fourth and final season, announced as a musical event, arrived in 2021.[11](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/justin-simien/)
## Bad Hair and Haunted Mansion
Simien returned to Sundance in 2020 with his second feature, *Bad Hair*, a horror satire about a demonic hair weave that Hulu acquired; the streamer reported a record number of subscriber sign-ups during its "Hulu-ween" release.[3](https://www.filmindependent.org/people/justin-simien-forum/) The cast included Elle Lorraine, Lena Waithe, Blair Underwood, and [Jay Pharoah](https://www.edgepedia.org/jay-pharoah).[15](https://time.com/5885694/fall-movies-2020/)
Disney hired him to direct *Haunted Mansion*, an adaptation of the theme park attraction, his first big-budget studio film; the script reached him in 2021, according to cast member interviews.[16](https://www.bet.com/article/y1q81p/haunted-mansion-takes-you-on-a-thrilling-heartfelt-ride-through-the-eyes-of-a-black-man) He said he would not have made the film without a Black leading man, telling TheWrap, "I'm not telling a New Orleans-set story without a Black leader," and noting that his mother's family is from Louisiana.[17](https://www.thewrap.com/justin-simien-haunted-mansion-disney-black-cast-interview/) The film, released in July 2023, stars [LaKeith Stanfield](https://www.edgepedia.org/lakeith-stanfield) as an inspector investigating a haunted house, with [Rosario Dawson](https://www.edgepedia.org/rosario-dawson), Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Tiffany Haddish and [Jamie Lee Curtis](https://www.edgepedia.org/jamie-lee-curtis) in the ensemble.[4](https://apnews.com/article/920a3638b63a4ec66a82c3677c31f6c6) He was also attached to write a *Lando* series for Disney+, which Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said in 2023 was "still happening."[18](https://www.techradar.com/news/new-star-wars-movies-and-tv-shows)
## Hollywood Black and documentary work
Simien directed *Hollywood Black*, a four-part MGM+ docuseries adapted from film historian Donald Bogle's book, tracing a century of Black experience in Hollywood from [Oscar Micheaux](https://www.edgepedia.org/oscar-micheaux) through blaxploitation to the present. Critics noted that Simien appears on screen as narrator and moderator, and that film-school curricula tend to jump from Micheaux to blaxploitation to [Spike Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/spike-lee), a gap the series sets out to fill.[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hollywood-black-docuseries-tv-review-2024) • [19](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/hollywood-black-review-justin-simien-211022448.html) He has also appeared as an interviewee in the horror-history documentary *Queer for Fear: The History of Queer Horror*.[20](https://time.com/6218901/queer-for-fear-horror-documentary/)
## References
1. [Justin Simien's Best Career Advice, Backstage](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/justin-simien-bad-hair-writer-director-advice-podcast-interview-72079/)
2. [Netflix Announces Dear White People, About Netflix](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-announces-dear-white-people-a-new-comedy-series-based-on-justin-simiens-critically-acclaimed-indie-film)
3. [Justin Simien, Film Independent](https://www.filmindependent.org/people/justin-simien-forum/)
4. [What's streaming now, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/920a3638b63a4ec66a82c3677c31f6c6)
5. [Hollywood Black movie review & film summary, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hollywood-black-docuseries-tv-review-2024)
6. [AFI Movie Club: Dear White People, American Film Institute](https://www.afi.com/news/afi-movie-club-dear-white-people/)
7. [Interview with Justin Simien, Harvard Journal of African American Policy](https://studentreview.hks.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/HJAAP-Volume-21-2014-2015.pdf)
8. [Justin Simien, Film Independent (talent page)](https://www.filmindependent.org/talent/justin-simien/)
9. [Teen shows 'gift' for filmmaking, Houston Chronicle](https://www.chron.com/news/article/teen-shows-gift-for-filmmaking-2039523.php)
10. [From Disney Parks Cast Member to Director, The Walt Disney Company](https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/news/from-disney-parks-cast-member-to-director-justin-simiens-haunted-mansion-journey/)
11. [Justin Simien, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/justin-simien/)
12. [Dear White People Creator Justin Simien on 'Navigating Other People's Guilt', TIME](https://time.com/4757770/dear-white-people-netflix-justin-simien/)
13. [From Twitter to Sundance: Justin Simien talks 'Dear White People', blackfilm.com](https://www.blackfilm.com/read/from-twitter-to-sundance-justin-simien-talks-dear-white-people/)
14. [Justin Simien's Movie Mind, DGA Quarterly](https://www.dga.org/craft/dgaq/issues/1803-summer-2018/justin-simien)
15. [The 27 Most Anticipated Movies of Fall 2020, TIME](https://time.com/5885694/fall-movies-2020/)
16. ['Haunted Mansion' Takes You On A Thrilling, Heartfelt Ride Through The Eyes Of A Black Man, BET](https://www.bet.com/article/y1q81p/haunted-mansion-takes-you-on-a-thrilling-heartfelt-ride-through-the-eyes-of-a-black-man)
17. [Justin Simien Says He Wouldn't Have Directed Disney's 'Haunted Mansion' Without a Black Leading Man, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/justin-simien-haunted-mansion-disney-black-cast-interview/)
18. [New Star Wars movies and Disney+ shows explained, TechRadar](https://www.techradar.com/news/new-star-wars-movies-and-tv-shows)
19. ['Hollywood Black' Review, Yahoo Entertainment](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/hollywood-black-review-justin-simien-211022448.html)
20. [A New Documentary Series Illuminates the History and Evolution of Queer Horror, TIME](https://time.com/6218901/queer-for-fear-horror-documentary/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Directors, producers, and screenwriters*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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