Nicole Sylvester

About Nicole Sylvester

Nicole Sylvester is an award-winning Brooklyn-based filmmaker hailing from the west side of Detroit Michigan. The second eldest of six children and bossy by nature, my astrological sign is Leo, so I was destined to be producer/director. My professional career began at a local cable company in Detroit. There, I learned many things about production. I produced and directed several talk shows and live programming. My documentary, Lonely Eagles: Airmen of Tuskegee, was nominated for a national Cable ACE award and I won a local Cable ICE Award for my special on the North American International Auto Show. I left the cable company for the greener pastures of film production by producing and directing the short films The Stop and minor blues. The success of these films helped establish me as a burgeoning filmmaker on Detroit’s independent filmmaking scene. That led to several years producing independent feature films: The Burning Bride, Block, Blood Bound and Cargo. In 2013 I joined forces with 25 filmmakers from 13 countries to produce/direct the first international collaborative feature film of its kind, The Owner. The film landed us in the Guinness World Records for “Most Directors on an International Film.” Maya & Her Lover was my debut feature film as writer, producer, director. The film, about a reclusive woman who has an unconventional sexual relationship with a much younger man, won “Best Director” at the Harlem International Film Festival and “Best Feature” at the Detroit Trinity International Film Festival. It has also played at several other prestigious festivals including American Black Film Festival (ABFF), where it was nominated for ‘’Best Feature Film’’ and “Best Director”, Black Harvest Film Festival, Pan African Film Festival and Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival. I’ve also worked in the studio system on projects such as: Venom 2 (Sony Pictures), Power (Starz) and Harlem (Amazon Studios) as a production coordinator. I am a member of the Producers Guild of America, Alliance of Women Directors, New York Women in Film & TV, Women Independent Producers, Film Fatales and IATSE Local 161. I have been a panelist at several film festivals and film related events. I am a former board member of the Detroit Film Center where I also taught filmmaking workshops. I am currently developing several television and feature film projects including, Diary on the Wall, a true story about a teenage girl who runs away from her unstable home life to meet Rick James, who she credits with saving her life.

Experience

1. Post Production Manager

   Mikooka Projects

   Feb 2024 — Present · Brooklyn, NY, US

   Prep & manage additional shooting. Book post team. Manage dept admin including accounting and paperwork, deal memos. Secure music rights. Coordinate with legal teams, post team & post houses.Experience with Asana, Google drive, Quickbooks.

Education

• Specs Howard School of Broadcast Arts

  Completion Certificate, Fundamentals of film production: storytelling, writing, production

  1990 — 1991

• Central State University

  Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs

  1988 — 1990