New York Filmmakers - Celia Rowlson-Hall

Celia Rowlson-Hall is an American

dancer Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

, and

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

. She has choreographed numerous music videos and commercials, and has directed several short films. Her debut feature film, ''MA'', was released in 2015.

Early life

Rowlson-Hall grew up in Urbanna, Virginia, and graduated from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in 2006 with a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

in dance.

Career

Rowlson-Hall moved to New York after finishing college and initially worked in theater dance and choreography. She was mentored by New York choreographer Faye Driscoll, and won a Bessie Award for performance in Driscoll's ''837 Venice Blvd'' in 2009. She first became involved in filmmaking in 2008, when director Ray Tintori hired her to choreograph the music video for

MGMT MGMT () is an American rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. It was founded by singers and multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser, Ben Goldwasser. Originally signed to Cantora Records by the nascent ...

's song " Electric Feel". In 2010, she directed her first short film, ''Prom Night'', in which she also cast herself; it was nominated for a Grand Jury Award at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

. She went on to direct two further short films, ''The Audition'' (2012) and ''Si Nos Dejan'' (2013). In 2013, Rowlson-Hall began working as a choreographer on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

series '' Girls''; she also choreographed ''Girls'' creator

Lena Dunham Lena Dunham (; born May 13, 1986) is an American writer, director, actress, and producer. She is the creator, writer, and star of the HBO television series '' Girls'' (2012–2017), for which she received several Emmy Award nominations and two G ...

in a video for '' Vogue'' magazine. She has choreographed commercials for clients including Lee Jeans and Kate Spade New York, and music videos for artists including

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...

and Sleigh Bells. She was named one of ''

Filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

'' magazine's "25 New Faces of Independent Film" in 2015. Rowlson-Hall's first feature film, ''MA'' (2015), is a modern retelling of the story of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

in which Rowlson-Hall plays the lead role. The film, which Rowlson-Hall funded via

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

, was screened at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival and

AFI Fest The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...

. In 2017, she created the short film ''(The nd) of History Illusion' for Miu Miu as the 14th installment in their ''

Women's Tales ''Women's Tales'' is an ongoing short film anthology series created by fashion brand Miu Miu. Aside from the stipulation that the films use Miu Miu clothing the all female directors are given free rein to create their films. Miu Miu has commission ...

'' series. Rowlson-Hall portrays adult Sophie in the 2022 film '' Aftersun''.

Personal life

In September 2018, Rowlson-Hall married Mia Lidofsky, a filmmaker whom she had met in 2013 when they worked together on ''Girls''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowlson-Hall, Celia Living people American choreographers American women choreographers 21st-century American dancers American female dancers Film directors from Virginia American women film directors American LGBTQ artists LGBTQ people from Virginia University of North Carolina School of the Arts alumni People from Urbanna, Virginia Year of birth missing (living people) Bessie Award winners 21st-century American women 21st-century American LGBTQ people