Niva Dorell has been writing and making films for more than 25 years. Her writing was first noticed by Robert Zemeckis and the late John Singleton who both chose to mentor her on the short film KINGS when she was still a graduate student at the University of Southern California. KINGS went on to win Showtime's Black Filmmaker's Grant, screened and won awards at dozens of film festivals, including Slamdance and the Pan African Film Festival, and was one of seven short films featured on Afrocentricity - Vol 1 (available on Amazon).

With the Showtime grant, Niva wrote and directed her second short film MILK AND HONEY, starring Russell Hornsby and Maya Rubin. MILK AND HONEY premiered on Showtime’s Black Filmmaker’s Showcase, screened in competition at the Jerusalem International Film Festival, and later aired on BET-Jazz. She then directed Academy-award winner Louis Gossett Jr., Kym Whitley, and Keshia Knight Pulliam in the 2-hour TV pilot WHAT ABOUT YOUR FRIENDS. She also directed multiple music videos, PSAs, and theatre productions with actors such as Keith David, Loretta Devine, Ernie Hudson, Ella Joyce, Harry Lennix, Lorraine Toussaint, and Mykelti Williamson, among others.

Niva’s most recent directorial effort is the short film TRAVELING MERCIES, written by Madison Trice and produced by Social Cinema Foundation. She will produce and direct her fourth short film THE LOTTO LINE in the fall of 2024, followed by her first narrative feature film, LIVING LIVING, an emotionally powerful love story based on her own experience. LIVING, LIVING is currently represented by CAA with Niva attached as director. She has several other projects in development, including two original television pilots.

Niva’s storytelling skills crossover to non-scripted as well. She directed the feature homeless documentary SKID ROW featuring Pras Michel (The Fugees), and helped develop KNOCKOUT, a podcast and documentary series about the biggest embezzlement case to rock the boxing world in the late 1970s. Niva also wrote the television pilot BYE BYE BABY for an upcoming series about the fans of Scottish boy band, The Bay City Rollers, and STONE MOTEL, a feature length adaptation of Morris Ardoin’s memoir “Stone Motel: Memoirs of a Cajun Boy.”

Niva’s writing has been championed by mentors David Mamet, Rodrigo Garcia, and Scott Frank, and supported by residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, Millay Arts, and Cill Rialaig in Ireland. Over the years, Niva has also mentored other young aspiring filmmakers via Social Cinema Foundation, Make a Film Foundation, and the New York Film Academy.

Niva received an M.F.A. from the University of Southern California School of Cinema and B.A. from Temple University. An Angeleno for 20 years, Niva now lives in New York and divides her time between New York City, the Hudson Valley, and Los Angeles. Niva writes about life as a creative on her Substack A Writer's Think Tank.