Q&A with Darrien Michele Gipson, Executive Director, SAGIndie

Q&A with Darrien Michele Gipson
Executive Director, SAGIndie 
Heermans-McCalmon Dramatic Writing Contest Judge

An M.F.A. recipient from the Peter Stark Producers Program at the University of Southern California, Darrien was formerly the Vice President of Production for DEF Pictures. As Executive Director of SAGindie, Darrien leads a team that is responsible for independent filmmaker outreach and specializes in teaching low-budget production focusing on the process for hiring professional actors via SAG-AFTRA’s low-budget contracts. She is a frequent moderator and speaker on panels and production workshops, negotiates sponsorship agreements with film festivals around the country, spearheads SAGindie’s annual national advertising campaigns, oversees SAGindie.org, and throws several epic filmmaker parties. Darrien has traveled to over 55 film festivals in more than 25 states and 5 countries to consult with independent filmmakers.