---
name: "Justin Simien"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/justin-simien"
fi1m_id: "justin-simien"
imdb_id: "nm2282177"
tmdb_id: 1059571
wikidata_id: "Q18386329"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "7 May 1983"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_as: "director"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-17T20:26:39.009100+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Justin Simien

## Identity

Justin Simien

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/justin-simien
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** justin-simien
- **IMDb ID:** nm2282177
- **TMDB ID:** 1059571
- **Wikidata ID:** Q18386329
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Simien, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18386329, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2282177/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1059571

Director. Born 7 May 1983 in Houston, Texas, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 7 May 1983, Houston, Texas, USA
- **Also known as:** Justin Simian
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 2: 1 directing, 1 other
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 89 (1), 2020s 51 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Simien, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18386329, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2282177/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1059571

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*Haunted Mansion*](https://film.one/film/haunted-mansion.md) (51)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Justin Simien is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He was born in Houston, Texas, on 7 May 1983 and studied film at Chapman University in California.

His feature debut *Dear White People* (2014) won the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent at the Sundance Film Festival. It was later adapted into a Netflix series (2017–2021) on which he served as writer and director. He has also directed the horror comedy *Bad Hair* (2020) and the Disney film *Haunted Mansion* (2023).

*Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org.*

## On Fi1m (2)

### Directed (1) — the average rests on these

- *Haunted Mansion* (2023), Fi1m 51, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/haunted-mansion.md)

### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited

- *Moonlight* (2016), Fi1m 89, Thanks — [page](https://film.one/film/moonlight.md)

## Complete filmography (10)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Stay for the Q&A* (2026), as Victor Zigler · CVS (Cinematographer)
- *Hollywood Black* (2024), series, Executive Producer, Director
- *Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop* (2023), series, Executive Producer
- *Haunted Mansion* (2023), Director — Fi1m 51, [page](https://film.one/film/haunted-mansion.md)
- *Bad Hair* (2021), as Reggie Watson · Director, Screenplay, Producer
- *Dear White People* (2017), series, Writer, Director, Executive Producer, Creator
- *Moonlight* (2016), Thanks — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/film/moonlight.md)
- *Dear White People* (2014), Director, Producer, Screenplay
- *The Goldfish* (2013), Editor
- *Untitled Star Trek Live-Action Comedy*, series, Executive Producer, Creator

## Gallery

- ![Justin Simien](https://film.one/media/person/16123/gallery-69184723d822.jpg) Justin Simien — PunkToad from oakland, us, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Justin_Simien_at_Sundance_2014_speaking.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Steven Weintraub, Gareth Edwards, Justin Simien and Louis Leterrier speaking at the 2023 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Collider: Directors on Directin](https://film.one/media/person/16123/gallery-a1279afb4d40.jpg) Steven Weintraub, Gareth Edwards, Justin Simien and Louis Leterrier speaking at the 2023 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Collider: Directors on Directin — Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/2023_San_Diego_Comic-Con_International_by_Gage_Skidmore%2C_118.jpg/1280px-2023_San_Diego_Comic-Con_International_by_Gage_Skidmore%2C_118.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Gareth Edwards, Justin Simien and Louis Leterrier speaking at the 2023 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Collider: Directors on Directing", at the San Die](https://film.one/media/person/16123/gallery-f0be67c6fbcc.jpg) Gareth Edwards, Justin Simien and Louis Leterrier speaking at the 2023 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Collider: Directors on Directing", at the San Die — Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/2023_San_Diego_Comic-Con_International_by_Gage_Skidmore%2C_119.jpg/1280px-2023_San_Diego_Comic-Con_International_by_Gage_Skidmore%2C_119.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Justin Simien speaking at the 2023 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Collider: Directors on Directing", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, C](https://film.one/media/person/16123/gallery-27fc430c2cf8.jpg) Justin Simien speaking at the 2023 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Collider: Directors on Directing", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, C — Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/2023_San_Diego_Comic-Con_International_by_Gage_Skidmore%2C_138.jpg/1280px-2023_San_Diego_Comic-Con_International_by_Gage_Skidmore%2C_138.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Justin Simien speaking at the 2023 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Collider: Directors on Directing", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, C](https://film.one/media/person/16123/gallery-91340be049ad.jpg) Justin Simien speaking at the 2023 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Collider: Directors on Directing", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, C — Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/2023_San_Diego_Comic-Con_International_by_Gage_Skidmore%2C_141.jpg/1280px-2023_San_Diego_Comic-Con_International_by_Gage_Skidmore%2C_141.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Sundance Film Church (2014)](https://film.one/media/person/16123/gallery-bcdfa3f00a0e.jpg) Sundance Film Church (2014) — PunkToad from oakland, us, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Justin_Simien_%2812186497814%29.jpg/1280px-Justin_Simien_%2812186497814%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/justin-simien