Amanda Parris

About

Amanda Parris is an award winning writer, producer and tv/radio host. Her play OTHER SIDE OF THE GAME was awarded the 2019 Governor General Literary Award for Drama. Her latest theatrical work THE DEATH NEWS won the 2022 Canadian Screen Award for Best Writing, Web Program or Series. Amanda is also the creator, executive producer and showrunner of the critically acclaimed digital series REVENGE OF THE BLACK BEST FRIEND which launched on CBC Gem in 2022. The series was an official selection at the Canneseries Festival where it made its international premiere.Amanda was the host of the award-winning series, CBC ARTS: EXHIBITIONISTS from 2015-2020. At the time, it was the only show on television dedicated to telling stories about Canadian artists across all mediums. For her final season, Amanda was awarded the Canadian Screen Award for Best Host. Amanda is also the creator and host of the popular R&B radio show MARVIN'S ROOM on CBC Music which has been on the air since 2016.She is also the creator of BLACK LIGHT, an award-winning column for CBC Arts, that showcases, explores and critically engages art and popular culture created by Black people. In 2019, Amanda wrote, Executive Produced and co-directed (alongside Lucius Dechausay) the short film THE DEATH DOULA which won Best Short Film at the Caribbean Tales International Film Festival and has screened at festivals across North America.In 2022, Amanda received the inaugural Changemaker Award from the Canadian Screen Awards for her efforts to call out systemic racism and discrimination in the Canadian media community. She has been named a Rising Screen Star by Now Magazine, one of Grenada’s Top 40 individuals under the age of 40, one of Toronto’s Most Inspiring Women by Post-City, and received the Rising Star Award from AfroGlobal Television.Over the years Amanda has become a much sought after moderator and interviewer, known for her compelling long-form conversations with some of the most innovative cultural leaders of our time including Spike Lee, Roxane Gay, Wesley Morris, Esi Edugyan, Mahershala Ali, Lena Waithe Philip Akin, and Samantha Bee. Prior to her shift into film and television, Amanda worked for years in community arts and education, co-founding the alternative education organization Lost Lyrics and working at The Remix Project and with the Manifesto Festival.