About Avery Kelley
Her Story
Avery Kelley is a 16-year-old CEO, creator, writer, director, producer, and philanthropist, currently residing in the Atlanta, GA metropolitan area. Since a little girl, Avery has loved everything about The Arts...dancing, and singing, with her passion being writing. In early 2018, Miss Kelley decided to take her love for the arts and audition for the part of a 10-year-old prodigy. She was asked to self-tape a monologue in the initial stages of the process, and instead of reciting a well-known monologue, Avery decided to write her own. While nontraditional... it landed her a call back for the role. She declined the role but found her true passion for the arts...writing.
A few months later, Avery began to pen a dramatic comedy, “Back Row,” which she states is inspired by some of her life experiences. In Spring 2019, at 11 years old, Avery filmed a short episode of the series, entering it into the Mustard Seed Vision Youth Film Festival, winning the 2019 Leadership award for the festival. That summer, with pure determination to pursue her dreams of filmmaking, Avery founded the production company, Inspired Melanin Inc., established to create content that will tell positive black stories, representing the underrepresented. Ever since, Avery has continued on this mission, creating a variety of projects meeting this objective, such as:
· Back Row – The Series – Pilot Episode – (writer, director, producer) - 2019
· Teendom Talk Show, A Show for the Kids, the Teens and Everyone in Between (writer, director, producer) – 2020 - 2022
· “Soul Train, Soul Change”, a short documentary (producer, director) - 2020
· “One Step at a Time” (creator, producer, co-director) - 2021
Avery’s most recent project, “The All Aroundz” is an award-winning short film, in which Miss Kelley wrote and directed as a part of the Black Girls Film Camp 2023 cohort. Avery’s film has garnered international acclaim being selected for 9 film festivals, including the Cannes World Art Film Festival and the Black Film Festival Atlanta, noting Avery Kelley as the youngest filmmaker to be selected for the festival.
Although young in age, Avery has developed a keen eye for writing, directing, and producing, and continues to seek to showcase these talents. To date, Miss Kelley has penned a variety of works, including several dramedies, highlighting teen characters, but appealing to the entire family as an audience. Avery Kelley is committed to becoming a prominent figure in the world of storytelling, telling positive black stories while representing the underrepresented.