Little Minx has signed award-winning filmmaker Kevin Wilson Jr. to its directorial roster for commercial and branded entertainment representation. Wilson first came to the attention of the industry with his short student film My Nephew Emmett, based on the true story of the 1955 murder of Emmett Till. The film, which was his thesis project at NYU, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film in 2018 at the 90th Academy Awards and was screened at film festivals all over the world including the New York Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival and HollyShorts Film Festival. He also won the Gold Medal at the 44th Student Academy Awards, a Directors Guild of America Student Film Award and a BAFTA Student Film Award.
“Kevin has this extraordinary ability as a filmmaker to search deep into your soul,” said Rhea Scott, president of Little Minx. “He’s not scared to speak about the unspoken. But most importantly, what I love about Kevin is his integrity and grace as a human being. “
Wilson said, “Little Minx has a history of representing great directors and great storytellers. I wanted to be a part of that. Some of my biggest film heroes are here, including Malik Sayeed and Andrew Dosunmu. I look forward to working with Rhea and her team not only in the commercial world, but also doing long-form projects and music videos.”
Wilson broke into advertising in 2020 with brands and agencies first turning to him for socially conscious projects. He directed Procter & Gamble’s “Widen the Screen,” a powerful spot about how perceptions shift once the full picture of Black life is unveiled, which won many awards including a Cannes Silver Lion. And his “Unboxing” gun safety PSA for States United to Prevent Gun Violence, a cringeworthy depiction of what happens when guns fall into the hands of children, won an ANDY, a Gold Young Directors Award, a D&AD Pencil and more. Both the gun safety PSA and the P&G spot were produced by Chelsea Pictures, Wilson’s roost prior to joining Little Minx. This year, Wilson was named one of 15 Filmmakers Who’ve Made A Difference by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences on a list including Ryan Coogler, Spike Lee, John Singleton and Ava DuVernay.
Wilson is a North Carolina native where he studied journalism, got into acting, wrote plays and fell in love with filmmaking. He received a Master of Fine Arts in Film Production from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and was honored with the Spike Lee Production Fellowship. He quickly found success in advertising, being named 2021 AICP/MoMA’s Best New Director.
Wilson’s most recent work, a Netflix Original Documentary: Untold: The Rise & Fall of AND1, opened in the Top 5 most watched movies on Netflix this past August. Wilson is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
“My ultimate goal is to jump in and out of feature filmmaking, branded content and commercials,” said Wilson. “I’d like to make films for fashion brands like Givenchy, and fragrance and automotive brands. There are a lot of people in the Black community who buy these high-end products, who wear Burberry and Gucci, and they spend a lot of money. I’d love to see more diversity reflected in their advertising campaigns. I’d love to find a way to get more representation.”
