Amandla Baraka is a filmmaker, photographer, and branded content director whose work blends narrative vision with community-centered purpose. Her directing credits include campaigns for Target, Ulta Beauty, McDonald’s, BlueShield, and Clorox and more. She has also produced cultural storytelling for PBS in the digital documentary series The Expressway with Dulé Hill, and she continues to collaborate with musicians, writers, and artists whose work reflects a commitment to cultural preservation and innovation. Her short film For Peace of Mind is currently in post-production with a festival strategy underway. She is also the director of two documentary films, Lost Keys and One Love.

How many years have you been a judge?

This is my first year!

What excited you about judging for the Telly Awards?

I’m excited to discover new stories and learn more about the people sharing them!

What was your first job in the industry? What did it teach you?

My very first job in the film industry was as an art PA on the set of a big budget short film.

What project are you most proud to have worked on?

I am most proud to have worked on my second documentary, One Love. It was a community effort and I feel like I was as close as possible to my voice before I knew for certain what it was.

What’s the most challenging part about your job and/or the industry?

Artists are some of the most economically vulnerable in society. I want to change that. People don’t take the work seriously enough until they see you complete something and that makes it a lot harder to find support financially. But we do it because we love it! We fight for what we love.

What do you look for to determine excellence in video?

I look for message, always. I come from a legacy of griots, who have used their storytelling skills to teach lessons, change hearts, and open minds.

What are your current roles and responsibilities and what do you love most about your job?

My favorite thing about being a writer/director is all of the unique knowledge I gain from the research process, then being able to take what I’ve learned and collage the information into a work of my own. This is incredibly fulfilling work.

What initiatives or projects are you working on now that excite you?

I’m working on a proof of concept at the moment that explores the role of women in resistance movements. This work is exciting, heartbreaking, and validating all at once.

Do you have any specific practices you lean on to spark creativity?

Reading! Specifically at the library. It romanticizes the entire process.

What inspired you to pursue your career path?

I was called to it and tested by it and rejected by it and then called back. I have a feeling that I was meant to be here doing this. I never questioned it.

In your experience, what is a significant change you are seeing happen in the video, television, and/or film industry, and what insight can you share about how to navigate it?

Francis Ford Coppola did an interview with Sam Fragoso on Talk Easy Podcast where he said “Whoever employs the artist are running the world… so I asked myself who is really really employing the artist and it’s the companies. Most artists work in commercials and advertising.. a $7 trillion business selling a little bit of happiness to people and therefore they need unhappy people.”

We (the filmmakers) have historically relied on brands, studios, and big name production companies to validate us when we have the tools to validate ourselves readily available. Don’t get me wrong, it is so much easier to have a budget. But as Black artists/filmmakers and POC are being knocked off of the call sheets and DEI derangement syndrome spreads like wildfire, it’s time we pick up our tools and figure out how we can continue to make art and make a living without “support” – self sustained. I will forever lean towards optimism. If things look bleak now that means there is a flip side to that. So until the pendulum swings back toward prosperity and away from fear, I’ll be tending to the garden of my self-sustained art practice and fighting for those unheard voices along the way.