Rising Filmmaker Spotlight: Shandaeya Caldwell

Meghan Dubitsky

USC grad and award-winning director Shandaeya Caldwell is making her mark on American cinema with powerful Black stories.

Meet Shandaeya Caldwell, a recent graduate from the Film and Television Production MFA program at USC, award-winning filmmaker, and recipient of Entertainment Partner’s Scholarship program!

Shandaeya strives for excellence in her craft. As an ambitious director, writer, and producer with a focus on bringing authentic stories of Black women in America to the mainstream, her accomplishments rival those of filmmakers well beyond her years. Her directing debut, ‘Kiana,’ was the official selection at the San Francisco IndieFest and earned her a Berkeley Film Foundation Grant. Her first-year USC project, ‘Nicey,’received the Grand Jury prize at the Crenshaw Dairy Mart Film Festival. ‘Indulge Me,’ which she produced during her final year at USC, was longlisted for the 2024 Student BAFTA Awards.

Where did her cinematic spark come from? Born in Iceland to a military family, Shandaeya and her two older sisters grew up in a home where movie night was a regular family activity. Indies like ‘Little Miss Sunshine,’ classic Black comedies like ‘Major Payne,’ or the quirky ‘Welcome to the Dollhouse’ instilled in her a love for cinema that only grew over time.

Today, the movies Shandaeya watched growing up continue to influence her, helping her to build her own style while drawing inspiration from the artistry of filmmakers who paved the path before her. Shandaeya says, “I’ve always been referential. I’ve watched so many films. I love collecting ideas and reinterpreting them through my own lens.”

Pursuing a passion for the arts

After her father retired from the Airforce, Shandaeya’s family relocated to Northwest Florida when she was 3. She eventually left Florida and found her way to the West Coast to discover her true passion: making movies.

Shandaeya first landed in Oakland, California, where she attended free filmmaking classes at City College of San Francisco. There she picked up a Bolex and a digital camera for the first time. Her passion for filmmaking was ignited, growing ever stronger as she learned more about her new craft and immersed herself into the supportive community of female filmmakers in the Bay Area.

Fast forward to 2019, as the next step in her creative journey, Shandaeya transferred to San Francisco State to further her cinema studies, eventually graduating Cum Laude in 2021. During her time there, Covid shut down what she had hoped to be an in-person and collaborative experience, but that didn’t stop her from creating the first pivotal project of her career.

For her senior thesis project at San Francisco State, Shandaeya wrote and directed the emotionally resonant short film ‘Kiana.’ A contained-setting story that takes place in an apartment, ‘Kiana’ centers around a young Black woman coping with the tragic news about the murder of Breonna Taylor, exploring the intersection of processing grief while struggling with feelings of isolation and vulnerability.

Shandaeya’s creative approach is rooted in her deep connection with her emotions, which serves as a well of ideas for her storytelling process. “I like to look at where I am in the world and what’s going on around me. That informs me on whether I return to an idea or start something new,” Shandaeya says. “I have dear friends who I trust creatively, so I might run an idea by them. I'm good at being able to tell how someone reacts to something. And so, if I'm feeling good about that, then I might try to start writing character bios.”

‘Kiana’ picked up traction, and Shandaeya caught the attention of the prestigious Berkeley Film Foundation. The foundation awarded her a crucial grant for finishing funds, enabling her to get the film professionally color graded. “That film helped legitimize me as an artist,” Shandaeya reflects. “It was the first film I submitted to festivals, and the responses blew me away.”

This marked a pivotal turning point in Shandaeya’s career. After the success of ‘Kiana’, Shandaeya solidified herself as a filmmaker with a specific viewpoint, and it lit a fire in her to continue to tell stories that matter to her.

“I want to explore the interior lives of Black people in ways that feel real, diverse, and not monolithic. The stories I tell aren’t just because they center around Black experiences, but because they reflect perspectives we haven’t seen enough on screen,” Shandaeya says. “I'm eager to tell stories that feel joyful, scary, and dramatic. All kinds, but from a Black female perspective.”

After graduating from San Francisco State and getting married in 2021, Shandaeya and her new husband moved to Los Angeles with the goal of getting her closer to Hollywood. Applying to grad school at USC would take her filmmaking skills to the next level.

Exploring new dimensions of filmmaking

Shandaeya began her graduate studies at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts in 2023. Motivated to go beyond what she was familiar with as a director, she sought to gain hands-on experience working in many different positions on a film set. “USC fit what I needed,” Shandaeya explains. “I didn’t want to just direct. I wanted to grow as a writer, producer, editor, and understand every part of the process.”

Equipped with a growth mindset, Shandaeya believes her experience at USC has made her a better filmmaker today. “The [USC Grad] program forces you to do every job in your first year. It makes you appreciate every crew member more deeply,” she says.

Further into her studies at USC, Shandaeya began leaning into the producing path. She excelled in location scouting and talking to people in the community to rally support for a project. “Producing became something I fell in love with,” Shandaeya explains. “I didn’t know how much it took to bring a film to life from start to finish, but once I learned, I couldn’t stop.”

For one of her final projects, Shandaeya took part in the special CTPR 546 class at USC. The class simulated a working studio experience, and it pushed her professionally and creatively. “That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in the [USC] program,” she says. “I had a panel of professors every week that we had to answer to and explain things to; and all while defending our director's vision.”

For the project, she partnered with fellow student director, Clarinda Blais, and writer, Martin Molpeceres, to raise funds and navigate producing the short film, ‘Indulge Me.’ The story centers around a priest who runs confessions out of his trailer while exploring themes on religion and the human experience.

Shandaeya and the student film crew shot on a location that she secured by cold-calling residents at a trailer park. They outfitted the trailer for a working film set, and all the while she and her classmates were raising funds along the way to make it happen.

‘Indulge Me’ went on to get longlisted for the 2024 Student BAFTA Awards, and being the collaborative filmmaker that she is, Shandaeya recalls, “I was so proud of what we built together.”

Boosted by the confidence she gained from producing ‘Indulge Me,’ Shandaeya applied for the Entertainment Partners Scholarship, a resource offered to graduate studies students annually at USC to provide funding and mentorship to further their craft.

“That [EP] scholarship felt special because it was easy for me to talk about why I liked producing and what it has done for me as a person and as a filmmaker,” Shandaeya recalls of the application experience. “It made me appreciate producers and what they do. Producing is about being passionate about the story, director, and wanting to make something that you feel proud of, and want to fight for.”

Creating her own story: What’s next for Shandaeya

Shandaeya credits her life experiences of working in the service industry, growing up in the South, and being an ‘older’ student as some of the qualities that make her suited for the rigors of producing, and she is not stopping anytime soon.

Now that she’s graduated with a portfolio of award-winning projects under her belt, what does the future Shandaeya Caldwell look like? Bright and ambitious! She sees herself directing her first feature (or two), building toward a mini-series about Black girls growing up in a military family as a love letter to her sisters, and on a path toward starting her own production company.

When asked about her advice to other young filmmakers, Shandaeya shares that authenticity is key to discovering your creative voice and the types of stories you want to tell with it: “Being true to yourself is the biggest thing.”

Although still early in her career, Shandaeya carries a wisdom and sophistication that shows up in her stories, and you can tell. She poses two questions that are a good reminder to all artists to remember: “How do you want to inspire other people?” and “How do you want your work to represent you?”

Shandaeya Caldwell wants to be a guiding light and believes you don’t have to tell stories from a mainstream point of view. While her own path to filmmaking was not an easy one, and she knows that there will continue to be struggles for her as Black women navigating the industry, she is hopeful about the future.

“I think change is inevitable. And I think it's always about how you can think about the stories you want to tell in different ways and different genres and getting messages to people,” she says. “I think that’s kind of what makes film in America what it is. There are all different types. People are not monolithic here. We are all so diverse and different. So as filmmakers, we have to pick a lane, a perspective, and tell stories through that perspective.”

Here at Entertainment Partners, we are proud to support artists like Shandaeya Caldwell, and give her a platform to share her voice and further her film craft to make the changes in the industry that she so strongly believes in.

Want to keep up with Shandaeya’s journey? Subscribe to her Vimeo and YouTube channels - You won’t want to miss what she creates next!