Kemp Powers

Kemp Powers is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for his play One Night in Miami and the 2020 film adaptation of the same name, as well as for co-directing the animated films Soul and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023). His screenplay for One Night in Miami... earned him a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination at the 93rd Academy Awards, Powers was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Career After writing the 2012 short film This Day Today, he scripted the 2013 play One Night in Miami, which was adapted into a feature film directed by Regina King. In 2017, Powers was brought onboard to write several scripts for Star Trek: Discovery season one episodes. An alumnus of Howard University, Powers is the first African-American co-director in Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar history. On December 16, 2020, Powers hosted the first three episodes of the podcast Soul Stories, which was released as a Spotify exclusive. In the episodes, Powers interviewed several people who worked on the film mainly about their mentors and careers, as well as some behind-the-scenes stories behind the making of the film.

In 2021, he appeared in the podcast Spark & Fire, prior to writing his third play Christa McAuliffe's Eyes Were Blue. In March 2023, Powers premiered his fourth play The XIXth (The Nineteenth), which chronicles the lives of two Black American sprinters who raised their fists in protest during the 1968 Summer Olympics games. In November 2024, he was set to make his live action filmmaking debut when he signed on to write and direct the crime film Lunik Heist for Searchlight Pictures. In December 2024, it was reported that he would not direct Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.

Filmography Year Title Director Screenwriter|Writer