Tirrea Billings

Tirrea Billings, born and raised in Saginaw, Michigan, discovered her passion in film in college at Western Michigan University. Graduating in December 2016, Billings aims to leave her mark in documentary filmmaking. Billings has a passion for documentary production because they take us to places we have never seen and share stories that are different than our own. This is especially important to her, as exemplified by Painting Dreams: The Story of Johnson Simon, an award-winning documentary she produced and directed about an amazing painter who has cerebral palsy. There is so much beauty in truth, and she wants to capture that beauty through documentary. Her ultimate goal is to be a producer for documentary films and have her own production company. She wants to be the next Ava DuVernay and produce documentaries about different issues and social change, particularly within the black community. Additionally, she wants to be the change that the media industry needs today: more women and more people of color. She wants to empower and encourage women and people of color in the media industry and be that voice needed to give people of color the recognition that they deserve. Such a small percentage of women account for directors, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors in the industry, and even a smaller percentage of that are people of color. She wants to be a part of the change needed to diversify the industry.