Dawn Porter is taking her storytelling talents to new heights. Known for creating powerful, socially conscious documentaries, the award-winning filmmaker is making her narrative feature debut with Nobody: The Bert Williams Story, a film that will explore the life and legacy of one of the most important yet overlooked figures in American entertainment history.
The news comes just as Porter celebrates her NAACP Image Award nomination for Luther: Never Too Much, her documentary on the life and career of R&B legend Luther Vandross.
Bert Williams was a game-changer. Born in the Bahamas and raised in California, he became a star on the vaudeville circuit in the early 1900s with his unmatched talent for singing, dancing, and pantomime. Williams didn’t just perform—he made history. He was the first Black actor to star in a lead role on Broadway and became the top-selling Black recording artist before 1920. But success came at a cost. Williams often had to make painful choices to survive in an industry that wasn’t built for him, constantly balancing his ambition with the realities of being a Black artist in a segregated world.
“Inspired by actual rarely-before-seen silent film footage, I plan to use a documentary verite approach to Bert’s story,” Porter told Deadline. “Watching as Bert makes the choices that will propel him to fame and fortune. By using narrative techniques, we explore Bert’s inner sense of his own identity.”
With D’Angela Proctor (Keyshia Cole: This Is My Story), Elliott Williams (City of Dogs), and Sam Feuer (The First Grader) producing, alongside executive producers Lauren Embrey and Micky Levy, Nobody is set to begin filming in New York this fall.
Porter’s move into narrative film feels like a natural evolution. Her body of work—John Lewis: Good Trouble, The Lady Bird Diaries, Trapped, and Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court—has consistently centered stories that demand attention. Her projects have premiered on Netflix, HBO, PBS, and ESPN, earning her a Peabody Award, a Sundance Special Jury Social Impact Prize, and multiple Emmy and Independent Spirit Award nominations.
With Nobody, Porter isn’t just telling a story—she’s reclaiming history. Bert Williams was more than an entertainer; he was a pioneer who changed the face of American theater and music. Now, under Porter’s direction, his story is finally getting the spotlight it deserves.