Stanley Nelson

Career Overview

Stanley Nelson has 77 screen credits in a career dating back to 1976. Signature works include We Want the Funk!, Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy, Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool. Explore the interactive character relationship maps on each title page to trace how their roles connect across franchises.

Personal Facts

Known For: Directing
Gender: male
Known Credits: 77
Birth Date: 1955-07-07
Birth Place: New York City, New York, USA

Known For

Frequent Collaborators

Marcus Miller (2 collaborations)
Scot Brown (2 collaborations)
Felipe Luciano (2 collaborations)
Walter Cronkite (2 collaborations)
Clayborne Carson (2 collaborations)
Nona Hendryx (1 collaborations)
Questlove (1 collaborations)
George Clinton (1 collaborations)
Fred Wesley (1 collaborations)
David Byrne (1 collaborations)

Credits

production (34 credits)
- American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez
  executive producer
  
  production
  
  2026
- Lani B. Supreme: Legacy
  executive producer
  
  production
  
  2025
- Becoming Thurgood: America's Social Architect
  executive producer
  
  production
  
  2025
- True North: Canadian Myths and Black Power
  executive producer
  
  production
  
  2025
- Sun Ra: Do the Impossible
  executive producer
  
  production
  
  2025
- The Inquisitor
  executive producer
  
  production
  
  2025
- Free for All: The Public Library
  executive producer
  
  production
  
  2025
- Sister Úna Lived a Good Death
  executive producer
  
  production
  
  2024
- Disco's Revenge
  executive producer
  
  production
  
  2024
- Bulls and Saints
  executive producer
  
  production
  
  2023
- Sound of the Police
  producer
  
  production
  
  2023
- Birthing a Nation: The Resistance of Mary Gaffney
  executive producer
  
  production
  
  2023
- Jonathan Thunder: Good Mythology
  executive producer
  
  production
  
  2023
- Sydney G. James: How We See Us
  executive producer
  
  production
  
  2023
- Becoming Frederick Douglass
  executive producer
  
  production
  
  2022
- After Jackie
  producer
  
  production
  
  2022
- Hazing
  executive producer
  
  production
  
  2022
- Lynching Postcards: Token of a Great Day
  executive producer
  
  production
  
  2021
- Attica
  producer
  
  production
  
  2021
- Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
  producer
  
  production
  
  2019
- BOSS: The Black Experience in Business
  producer
  
  production
  
  2019
- American Carnage
  executive producer
  
  production
  
  2017
- Gavin Grimm vs.
  executive producer
  
  production
  
  2017
- Picket Line
  executive producer
  
  production
  
  2017
- Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities
  producer
  
  production
  
  2017
- Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band
  executive producer
  
  production
  
  2015
- The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
  producer
  
  production
  
  2015
- Jesse Owens
  producer
  
  production
  
  2012
- Freedom Riders
  producer
  
  production
  
  2010
- Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans
  executive producer
  
  production
  
  2008
- A Place of Our Own
  producer
  
  production
  
  2004
- The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords
  producer
  
  production
  
  1999
- American Experience
  
  - Jesse Owens (2012) ... producer production
  
  1988
- Two Dollars and A Dream: The Story of Madame C.J. Walker
  producer
  
  production
  
  1987
directing (27 credits)
- Critical Condition: Health in Black America
  director
  
  directing
  
  2025
- We Want the Funk!
  director
  
  directing
  
  2025
- San Juan Hill: Manhattan’s Lost Neighborhood
  director
  
  directing
  
  2024
- Sound of the Police
  director
  
  directing
  
  2023
- Becoming Frederick Douglass
  director
  
  directing
  
  2022
- Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom
  director
  
  directing
  
  2021
- Attica
  director
  
  directing
  
  2021
- Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre
  director
  
  directing
  
  2021
- Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy
  director
  
  directing
  
  2021
- Vick
  director
  
  directing
  
  2020
- Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
  director
  
  directing
  
  2019
- BOSS: The Black Experience in Business
  director
  
  directing
  
  2019
- The Story of Access
  director
  
  directing
  
  2018
- Black Memorabilia
  script supervisor
  
  directing
  
  2018
- Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities
  director
  
  directing
  
  2017
- The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
  director
  
  directing
  
  2015
- Freedom Summer
  director
  
  directing
  
  2014
- Focus Forward: Short Films, Big Ideas
  director
  
  directing
  
  2012
- Freedom Riders
  director
  
  directing
  
  2010
- 30 for 30
  
  - Vick: Part 2 (2020) ... director directing
  
  - Vick: Part 1 (2020) ... director directing
  
  2009
- Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple
  director
  
  directing
  
  2006
- A Place of Our Own
  director
  
  directing
  
  2004
- Beyond Brown: Pursuing the Promise
  director
  
  directing
  
  2004
- The Murder of Emmett Till
  director
  
  directing
  
  2003
- Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind
  director
  
  directing
  
  2001
- The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords
  director
  
  directing
  
  1999
- Two Dollars and A Dream: The Story of Madame C.J. Walker
  director
  
  directing
  
  1987
writing (10 credits)
- Attica
  writer
  
  writing
  
  2021
- Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities
  screenplay
  
  writing
  
  2017
- The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
  writer
  
  writing
  
  2015
- Freedom Summer
  writer
  
  writing
  
  2014
- Jesse Owens
  writer
  
  writing
  
  2012
- Freedom Riders
  writer
  
  writing
  
  2010
- A Place of Our Own
  writer
  
  writing
  
  2004
- The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords
  writer
  
  writing
  
  1999
- American Experience
  
  - Jesse Owens (2012) ... writer writing
  
  1988
- Puerto Rico: Our Right to Decide
  writer
  
  writing
  
  1981
actors (2 credits)
- A Place of Our Own
  Self - Narrator (voice)
  
  actor
  
  actors
  
  2004
- The Daily Show
  
  - Stanley Nelson (2021) ... Self actor actors
  
  1996
editing (2 credits)
- Two Dollars and A Dream: The Story of Madame C.J. Walker
  editor
  
  editing
  
  1987
- Just Doin’ It (A Tale of Two Barbershops)
  assistant editor
  
  editing
  
  1976
sound (2 credits)
- Frederick Douglass: An American Life
  sound recordist
  
  sound
  
  1985
- Just Doin’ It (A Tale of Two Barbershops)
  sound
  
  sound
  
  1976