Danielle Beverly

Danielle Beverly is an independent documentary filmmaker who typically works as a one-person crew, recording picture and audio alone, in the field. 

Beverly’s most recent documentary Old South debuted in March 2015, and had its US national broadcast on February 2, 2016 on The World Channel/PBS. It was the season 4 opener of the “America ReFramed” documentary series, airing during African American History Month. It also enjoyed a year long film festival and college tour. In Summer 2015 it screened in community gardens across New York State and the American South on “The Healing Spaces Tour,” funded by Wave Farm & NYSCA.

Beverly is also in production on the feature documentary Dusty Groove: The Sound of Transition.

Beverly began her career at Chicago’s PBS affiliate, and has directed and produced content for PBS and cable since 1999. Beverly was field producer for the longitudinal documentary REBIRTH over its ten-year production (Sundance World Premiere 2011; Showtime broadcast; George Foster Peabody Award; screened at The White House, US Department of State film tour; permanent exhibition at National September 11 Memorial & Museum). Beverly’s first documentary feature Learning to Swallow (2005) followed a charismatic artist with bipolar disorder, as she struggles to rebuild her life, after a suicide attempt destroys her digestive system. The film premiered in competition at Silverdocs (2005), screened internationally, and traveled to rural communities on The Southern Circuit. In March 2015 it was broadcast on America ReFramed.

Her filmmaking, photography and digital media work have received funding from The Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media, New York State Council for the Arts (NYSCA), The Puffin Foundation, The Chicago Cultural and Tourism Fund, The Center for Peacemaking, and The Diederich College Initiative on Communication Ethics, Values and Social Justice. In 2012, Beverly was awarded a Mary L. Nohl Artists Fellowship for Established Artists. In 2014, Beverly was awarded a BAVC National MediaMaker Fellowship.

Beverly also freelances as a documentary cameraperson, working solo or as a two person crew. Recent projects include a permanent museum video about the new (2014) Anderson Collection at Stanford, as well as social issue documentaries such as Brad Lichtenstein’s As Goes Janesville (Independent Lens, national EMMY nomination).

Beverly has been a professor of filmmaking at The University of Notre Dame, and professional in residence in digital media at Marquette University. In Fall 2015 she began as assistant professor in residence at Northwestern University in Qatar, teaching documentary.