Film director and screenwriter Tina Mabry is committed to depicting the lives of marginalized groups with a goal of redefining mainstream cinema. She attended the University of Mississippi and the University of Southern California. Her graduate thesis short film, Brooklyn’s Bridge to Jordan, aired on Showtime and MTV and was shown at over 50 film festivals. Her first feature, Mississippi Damned (2009), is based on a true story of three poor African American children in rural Mississippi dealing with the consequences of their family’s cycle of abuse, addiction, and violence. It won numerous honors, including three awards at the 2009 Chicago International Film Festival and two awards at the 2009 American Black Film Festival.