The Black Association of Documentary Filmmakers West (BADWest) was formed in July of 2003 by iconic filmmaker St. Clair Bourne as a collective of documentary filmmakers of African descendant working and residing on the West Coast. Since its inception we have continually held monthly general meeting providing industry speakers, information on resources for production, funding sources, festivals and distribution; as well as screening works-in-progress and completed docs for feedback and discussion. Our members are diverse in experience, and range from recent film-school grads to to experience documentary filmmakers with award winning features produced for major broadcast outlets.
2007, unexpectedly became a watershed for the organization, for Decembers marked the sudden, untimely death of our co-founder St. Clair Bourne. As we strive to continue the goals of our mission, we are proud to further the legacy of St. Clair Bourne by living up to our commitment to assist documentarians, and increase the impact of documentary filmmaking within our community.
BADWEST CO-CHAIR JOYCE LEE is filmmaker, actor, writer, speech coach, and arts education advocate living in Los Angeles. Her documentary, “The Ethnic Groups of Ghana,” was shot while a fellow of The William and Eva Fox Foundation in Ghana, West Africa. Her play, Nino and the Principal’s Daughter toured Catholic Schools in Los Angeles under Enrichment Works sex-education program and her play The Dean’s Office was presented in play reading festivals at Houston’s Fade to Black, and New York’s Actor’s Studio BIPOC group. Since receiving an MFA in Acting from NYU, she has worked in TV, film and theatre and has taught acting at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY and voice and speech at New York Film Academy in Burbank, CA. Ms. Lee also has a passion for youth development and holds a certificate in Social Emotional Healing through the Arts from UCLArts, Santa Monica. She has worked with youth at probation camps and with highly gifted, high-risk youth in under-funded schools throughout Los Angeles. Joyce is a member of SAG-AFTRA, AEA, Black Association of Documentary Filmmakers West, and The Actor’s Studio.
BADWEST CO-CHAIR TIFFANY JUDKINS is an accomplished producer and filmmaker whose work has appeared on PBS, Discovery and ABC. She is currently directing and producing the Pros and Cons of comedy where a group of ex-lifers are spurred by a stand-up comedy class to realize their voice, similar to the filmmaker.
Other current projects include Urban Food Chain, the reboot, a series traveling the country probing ways Black and Brown communities address the urgency of sustainability. Their approaches to economic prosperity, a healthy environment and social justice are very different from what we commonly think of as going “Green”.
Tiffany is a 2016 Black Public Media fellow, 2018 Arts for Los Angeles fellow, curator for the Black Association of Documentary Filmmakers West, former Juror for International Documentary Association and Pan African Film festival. Tiffany is the founder of Kinship Filmworks, a production company specializing socially impactful commercials and documentaries.
BADWEST CO-CHAIR JOYCE GUY, is a filmmaker, actress, playwright, and choreographer. Joyce is a founding member, and an officer and treasurer of the Black Association of Documentary Filmmakers West (BADWest) in Los Angeles She is director/producer/writer of the documentary film Dancing Like Home. She is the creator/writer/performer and co-producer of the digital series, Racism Never Sleeps: Kitchen Series and Kitchen Conversation. Joyce was nominated for an Ovation, Stage Raw and NAACP Award for choreographing Lorraine Hansberry’s Les Blancs and won the NAACP award for Best Choreographer in 2019. She has choreographed A Raisin in the Sun, Gem of the Ocean, Seven Guitars and Much Ado About Nothing at A Noise Within in Pasadena and Choir Boy at Dezart Performs in Palm Springs, CA..
Screen and television roles include Moneyball and The Santa Clause; with guest-starring roles on Found, The Mysterious Benedict Society, The Secrets of Sulphur Springs, Bosch, SWAT, This Is Us, Kidding, Bosch, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Animal Kingdom, Criminal Minds, How To Get Away With Murder, Parenthood, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The West Wing to name a few. She has a recurring role in the Netflix series Clickbait and a recurring role on General Hospital. She is a member of SAG/AFTRA, AEA and the Television Academy. Joyce has a degree in Drama Education from Hampton University, VA.
ST. CLAIR BOURNE, FOUNDER OF BADWEST was the producer, director and writer of some forty-five film productions, including documentaries for HBO, PBS, NBC, BBC and National Geographic in addition to his own independent work. He directed the feature-length documentaries Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks for HBO, John Henrik Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk and Paul Robeson: Here I Stand! He was also a co-producer on the HBO dramatic feature Rebound, as well as Woodie King’s independent theatrical feature The Long Night. Upon his death, Bourne was shooting a film about veteran photographer Ernest Withers and a documentary series about the rise and fall of the Black Panther Party for PBS.
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