A Columbus, GA native...

Ivan is a screenwriter and director whose Southern roots run through everything he creates. Recently securing his MFA in Film from Columbia University, Ivan is the recipient of Columbia's inaugural Bobby Kashif Cox Memorial Scholarship, an inaugural Diverso’s Black Writers in Focus Fellow, a Columbia Alumni Association Scholar, an MTV Joel Schumacher & Sophia Cranshaw Scholar for the 2023 Gotham EDU Film & Media Career Development Program, and an MTV Entertainment Ambassador. Additionally, he has interned at Ryan Coogler’s Proximity Media, is a former Narrative Programming Fellow at The Gotham Film & Media Institute, was selected for the SEEN Black Filmmakers Program sponsored by Meta and The Blackhouse Foundation, and most recently participated in New York Stage and Film’s Filmmakers’ Workshop. Ivan's films have screened at several Academy Award qualifying festivals, and his most recent film, TikTok Challenged, is currently available on American Airlines flights. He is a storyteller passionate about writing narratives (usually with a little Southern flavor) that explore the multifaceted nature of Black culture through humor and heart.