Actress and producer Naturi Naughton-Lewis and two-time Emmy-nominated writer Sonja Warfield have been elected to the Board of Directors of Black Girls Film Camp (BGFC), the Charlotte-based organization announced this week. They join trailblazing director Neema Barnette, who was added to the board in summer 2026, as the program enters its seventh year. The board also includes actress Vanessa Bell Calloway.
Founded by Dr. Jimmeka Anderson, BGFC is UNCINE’s national film incubator and media literacy program for aspiring filmmakers ages 13 to 18. Its Teen Directors have produced 60 short films, including 10 that premiered this year at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, with alumni work screening at Oscar-qualifying festivals.
The board’s newest members bring these credits:
- Neema Barnette was the first African American woman to direct a primetime sitcom, according to the organization. Her credits include A Different World, The Cosby Show, and Queen Sugar.
- Naturi Naughton-Lewis is a three-time NAACP Image Award winner for Power. She recently made her writing and directing debut with the short film 333 and spoke to Teen Directors at BGFC’s 2026 Atlanta Shoot Weekend.
- Sonja Warfield has written for The Gilded Age, The Game, and Will & Grace, and she is adapting The Davenports for television.
Together, the three represent a lineage of Black women in Hollywood. Barnette broke barriers in network television, Naughton-Lewis is part of a wave of performers moving behind the camera, and Warfield has built a career in writers’ rooms. Barnette’s ties to A Different World carry added weight as the series returns on Netflix for a new generation. The appointments place these women directly in the path of teenagers learning the craft.
Applications for the 2027 Teen Director Cohort open October 15 and close October 31, 2026. BGFC is hosting these virtual information sessions:
- October 7: “Genres and Themes”
- October 14: “Story Mountain & Pitch”
- October 15: “Applications”
In 2027, BGFC plans eight cohort films, one alumni film, and a documentary about the camp, which will bring its total to 70 films. “Our new board members are strengthening BGFC’s commitment to creating meaningful pathways for the next generation of filmmakers,” Anderson said in the announcement. For more information click here.
As BGFC nears 70 films, the next question is how many of its Teen Directors will follow their mentors into writers’ rooms and director’s chairs.