Gina Prince-Bythewood

Gina Maria Prince-Bythewood (born June 10, 1969) is an American film director and screenwriter. She began her career as a writer for multiple television shows in the 1990s, including the anthology series CBS Schoolbreak Special, for which she was nominated for two Daytime Emmy Awards. Prince-Bythewood made her feature film directorial debut with Love & Basketball (2000), for which she received an Independent Spirit Award. Her other works include Disappearing Acts (2000), The Secret Life of Bees (2008), and Beyond the Lights (2014). She became the first black woman to direct a major comic-book film The Old Guard (2020). Prince-Bythewood earned nominations for Best Director at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards and the British Academy Film Awards for The Woman King (2022). Early life Prince-Bythewood was born in Chicago, Illinois, and adopted by Bob Prince, a computer programmer, and Maria Prince, a nurse, when she was 3 weeks old. Her adoptive father is white and her adoptive mother is of Salvadoran and German descent. She grew up in the middle-class neighborhood of Pacific Grove, California. She has four siblings through her adoptive family. In 1987, Prince-Bythewood graduated from Pacific Grove High School. She attended UCLA's film school, where she also ran competitive track. At UCLA, she received the Gene Reynolds Scholarship for Directing and the Ray Stark Memorial Scholarship for Outstanding Undergraduates. She graduated in 1991.