“I started out at Procter & Gamble marketing panty liners, so basically selling women insecurity. I thought there must be more to life than this. Then I was on set for a Dr. Scholl's commercial, and I asked one of the execs, 'How do you get a job behind the camera?' and he said, 'Film school.' So I quit and applied to NYU.”

American screenwriter and director

Dee Rees is an American screenwriter and director known for her work in film and television. She is associated with features such as Pariah, Bessie, Mudbound, and The Last Thing He Wanted. Rees has also written and directed episodes of television series including Empire, When We Rise, and Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams. Her work spans drama across both screen formats, with credits in feature films and episodic television.