Chantel Simpson is a writer, director, producer, and child of black Jamaican immigrants. Her West Indian upbringing in New York City naturally influences her work. She loves to craft dramas that show how our traditional definition of family or a relationship can at any moment be threatened, forcing us to rethink who we truly are. She knew she wanted to be a filmmaker from a young age, but she pursued journalism instead due to the pressure to have a "real" career. But after a few years and a stint at a media company that imploded overnight, she felt stifled in the world of nonfiction. So she decided to risk it all, and her mother's sanity, to pursue moviemaking. She co-wrote the short film "Daughters of Solanas" starring Alexis Floyd ("Inventing Anna"), which played at multiple festivals, including the Women's Comedy Film Festival and the Imagine This International Film Festival. She's an alumnus of the Stowe Story Labs and a Feature Film Programmer at the Bushwick Film Festival. When not working on her films, she directs and produces documentaries, digital ads, docu-series, and branded content–-former clients include Nike, YouTube, and Discovery+. In addition, she worked as a video journalist for companies such as VICE and ABC News, where she reported on stories at the cross-section between culture, race, and social issues.