Tracie Laymon

Tracie Laymon is an American screenwriter, producer, and film director. Raised in Houston, Texas, she studied film at the University of Texas at Austin. Laymon began her film career in Texas, where she created music videos and short films recognized at various film festivals.

She directed Goodnight Burbank, recognized as the first half-hour comedy series for the internet, which premiered on Hulu in April 2011 and was acquired by Mark Cuban for HDNet later that year. Her short film A Hidden Agender premiered at the Dallas International Film Festival and won the Jury Award for Best Dark Comedy at WorldFest Houston.

Laymon was later named to the Independent Film Channel's list of emerging "Icons" and "Film Innovators." She has worked on various projects, including a segment of the women’s anthology film Girls!Girls!Girls!, which starred Elaine Hendrix and Octavia Spencer. Her scripted material has received multiple accolades, including Best Screenplay at the LA Comedy Festival and Best TV Pilot at HollyShorts.

Her 2018 short film Mixed Signals premiered at the Oscar-qualifying LA Shorts Fest and won several awards for Best Director at various festivals. Laymon has also directed a proof-of-concept pilot for Tess Allen's Matched and served as an observing director on Showtime's Shameless. She has taught both animation and live-action filmmaking at organizations like Ghetto Film School and on Stanford and Berkeley campuses.

Her short film Ghosted received multiple awards in 2020 and 2021, including Best Director at the Big Bear Film Summit, Big Sur International Short Film Screening Series, Method Fest and Women Texas Film Festival as well as Best Short Film, Best Director and Best Writer at the Seattle Film Festival. The film also won the top prize, the "Superstar" award, at LA Under the Stars festival.

Career

Texas Laymon was born and raised in Houston, Texas. She pursued film studies at the University of Texas at Austin. In 2004, she received recognition for her early directorial work on the music video "better?" for the group 54 Seconds, which won the SXSW Jury Award that same year. She spent time in Austin, Texas, creating short films and worked on the production staff of The Real World: Austin.

Filmography

Awards and nominations