Director Salli Richardson-Whitfield is a 30-year industry veteran. Salli started off as an actress and had a successful career that spanned over two decades.  But in 2011, Salli directed two episodes of her TV series "Eureka' on the SyFy network and caught the directing bug.  It wasn't until five years later when her friend Ava DuVernay hired her two direct two episodes of her hit OWN series "Queen Sugar," that Salli knew that she'd belonged behind the camera and transitioned from acting to one of the top three most successful, female/women of color television directors in the field to date!  A feat she accomplished in three short years! 

Now entering her fourth year of directing, Whitfield signed a two-year overall deal with HBO in September 2020 to develop projects for the premiere cable network and to direct and exec produce a handful of major titles for the Warner Media-owned company.  One of those being "The Gilded Age."  Salli directed half of the episodes of the first season of Julian Fellowes' ("Downton Abbey") new HBO series and serves as one of the executive producers of the show.  The one-hour drama follows a wide-eyed young scion of a conservative family who embarks on a mission to infiltrate the wealthy neighboring clan dominated by ruthless railroad tycoon George Russell, his rakish son, Larry, and his ambitious wife, Bertha.  The show will premiere first quarter of 2022.

In addition to "The Gilded Age," Salli will be shooting the finale block of the new Adam McKay series about the Lakers, tentatively called the "Untitled Lakers Project" for HBO (TBD 2022).   

Salli also directed two episodes of the new Rosamund Pike series, "Wheel Of Time" (TBD 2021) for Amazon and Sony Television.

Salli is also developing her own series for television.

Past Credits as a director:

Ava DuVernay was one of the first to recognize Salli's skill as a director, offering Salli two back-to-back episodes of the first season of "Queen Sugar". Her now incredibly extensive directing resume includes such shows as Hulu's "Reprisal", Apple's "See", Netflix's "Altered Carbon," Starz's "American Gods" and "Survivor's Remorse," Showtime's  

"The Chi," ABC's "Scandal," and "Blackish," Fox's "Lethal Weapon," Freeform's "Shadowhunters," Netflix's "Dear White People," "Luke Cage" and "The Punisher," BET's "Rebel," SYFY'S "The Magicians" and "Eureka," The CW's "Blacklightening," "All American." 

In her spare time, Salli is a wife and mother who participates in countless charitable and philanthropic events, including The K.I.S. foundation.

For more information please contact, Shannon Barr at sbarr@pr-strategic.com