--- name: "Tarell Alvin McCraney" canonical: "https://film.one/person/tarell-alvin-mccraney" fi1m_id: "tarell-alvin-mccraney" imdb_id: "nm4144120" tmdb_id: 1780427 wikidata_id: "Q2394090" roles: ["Writer"] born: "17 October 1980" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_fi1m_score: 84 average_as: "writer" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-17T16:46:05.627408+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." --- # Tarell Alvin McCraney ## Identity Tarell Alvin McCraney - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/tarell-alvin-mccraney - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** tarell-alvin-mccraney - **IMDb ID:** nm4144120 - **TMDB ID:** 1780427 - **Wikidata ID:** Q2394090 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarell_Alvin_McCraney, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2394090, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4144120/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1780427 Writer. Born 17 October 1980 in Miami, Florida, USA. ## Details - **Work:** Writer - **Born:** 17 October 1980, Miami, Florida, USA - **Active:** 2016–2019 - **Also known as:** Tarell McCraney - **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won) - **Average Fi1m score:** 84, as writer, over 2 titles - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarell_Alvin_McCraney, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2394090, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4144120/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1780427 ## Streaming the US now - **Netflix:** [*High Flying Bird*](https://film.one/film/high-flying-bird.md) (78) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Biography Tarell Alvin McCraney is an American playwright, screenwriter, actor and producer. He was born on 17 October 1980 in Miami, Florida. He holds a BFA in acting from DePaul University and an MFA in playwriting from the Yale School of Drama, from which he graduated in 2007. McCraney is best known for co-writing the screenplay for the film *Moonlight* (2016), based on his own play, for which he shared an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He wrote the screenplay for the film *High Flying Bird* (2019). Since 2017 he has been chair of playwriting at the Yale School of Drama and a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble. In 2023 he was appointed artistic director of the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (2) - *High Flying Bird* (2019), Fi1m 78, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/high-flying-bird.md) - *Moonlight* (2016), Fi1m 89, Story, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/moonlight.md) ## Complete filmography (6) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Three Colors: Pan-African* (2026), Executive Producer - *The Newlyweds: Blood at the Altar* (2025), Executive Producer - *David Makes Man* (2019), series, Executive Producer, Creator - *High Flying Bird* (2019), Writer — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/high-flying-bird.md) - *Third Trinity* (2018), Executive Producer - *Moonlight* (2016), Executive Producer, Story — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/film/moonlight.md) ## Gallery - ![Tarell Alvin McCraney](https://film.one/media/person/9322/gallery-53d1acd27732.jpg) Tarell Alvin McCraney — Gordon Correll, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Tarell_McCraney_%2832303406504%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![A reading at Elliott Bay Books, Seattle, Washington, co-presented with the Seattle Repertory Theatre, in association with Seattle Rep's staging of The Breach, a](https://film.one/media/person/9322/gallery-52d8ee6a8b62.jpg) A reading at Elliott Bay Books, Seattle, Washington, co-presented with the Seattle Repertory Theatre, in association with Seattle Rep's staging of The Breach, a — Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Elliott_Bay_Books_-_author_reading_01.jpg/1280px-Elliott_Bay_Books_-_author_reading_01.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![A reading at Elliott Bay Books, Seattle, Washington, co-presented with the Seattle Repertory Theatre, in association with Seattle Rep's staging of The Breach, a](https://film.one/media/person/9322/gallery-e7f69f408645.jpg) A reading at Elliott Bay Books, Seattle, Washington, co-presented with the Seattle Repertory Theatre, in association with Seattle Rep's staging of The Breach, a — Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/49/Elliott_Bay_Books_-_author_reading_01A.jpg/1280px-Elliott_Bay_Books_-_author_reading_01A.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, NOVEMBER 28, 2016 Tarell Alvin McCraney during the 2016 Knight Arts Challenge awards ceremony. (Photo by Patrick Farrell)](https://film.one/media/person/9322/gallery-18f0e39a6885.jpg) MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, NOVEMBER 28, 2016 Tarell Alvin McCraney during the 2016 Knight Arts Challenge awards ceremony. (Photo by Patrick Farrell) — Patrick Farrell, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/Tarell_Alvin_McCraney_2016_30509013503.jpg/1280px-Tarell_Alvin_McCraney_2016_30509013503.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Tarell Alvin McCraney](https://film.one/media/person/9322/gallery-afbec795a093.jpg) Tarell Alvin McCraney — Image via TMDB - ![MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, NOVEMBER 28, 2016 Tarell Alvin McCraney during the 2016 Knight Arts Challenge awards ceremony. (Photo by Patrick Farrell)](https://film.one/media/person/9322/gallery-be80f7189495.jpg) MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, NOVEMBER 28, 2016 Tarell Alvin McCraney during the 2016 Knight Arts Challenge awards ceremony. (Photo by Patrick Farrell) — Patrick Farrell, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Tarell_Alvin_McCraney_2016_30509013503_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, NOVEMBER 28, 2016 Tarell Alvin McCraney during the 2016 Knight Arts Challenge awards ceremony. (Photo by Patrick Farrell)](https://film.one/media/person/9322/gallery-677e35f7922b.jpg) MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, NOVEMBER 28, 2016 Tarell Alvin McCraney during the 2016 Knight Arts Challenge awards ceremony. (Photo by Patrick Farrell) — Patrick Farrell, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Tarell_Alvin_McCraney_2016_30509016343.jpg/1280px-Tarell_Alvin_McCraney_2016_30509016343.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) ## Awards ### Academy Awards — 1 won - 2017: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (won), for *Moonlight* ### Other awards — 3 won, 1 nominated - Tony Award for Best Play 2019: Tony Award for Best Play (nominated), for *Choir Boy* - MacArthur Fellows Program 2013: MacArthur Fellows Program (won) - Paula Vogel Playwriting Award 2008: Paula Vogel Playwriting Award (won) - Whiting Awards 2007: Whiting Awards (won) *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © 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/tarell-alvin-mccraney