Shayla Racquel is an energetic, quintessential creative with a passion for storytelling birthed and honed by her southern roots. She is no stranger to overcoming odds - diagnosed with Sickle Cell Disease at birth and a stroke at the mere age of 12, her battle with this illness brought her closer to the art of storytelling, which unlocked her love for filmmaking.
Though Shayla considers herself genre-agnostic, as a director, Shayla gravitates towards genre-bending projects where she can offer comedic elements to stories with subtle yet significant messaging, real dramatic stakes, and heightened tension. She creates and gravitates toward stories featuring chaotic female characters with multifarious identities navigating a world where they are forced to choose just one.
Shayla Racquel's work has been featured in over 40 film festivals and has received over 20 awards to date, including a Student Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences - National Capital Chapter. Her storytelling capabilities have been featured by the Washington Post, VIBE magazine, and a plethora of other notable outlets. She was recently highlighted as one of OkayPlayer's Eight Up-And-Coming Directors That Should Be On Your Radar.
Shayla has completed a shadow directing assignment with ABC/Disney - shadowing two directors on The Wonder Years. In 2021, she was tapped to direct a short project on behalf of the John Singleton embRACE Initiative in collaboration with the city of Los Angeles. The award-winning short was acquired by AMC ALLBLK and given a seven-figure budget to expand into a feature film. Shayla Racquel was the lead director of the premiere show for Keke Palmer's KeyTV Network and has since garnered over a million views. She is a 2020 and 2023 Seriesfest x Shondaland Women's Directing Mentorship Program finalist, the 2023 Recipient of the South Carolina Film Commission Indie Grant Award, the 2023 Finalist for the National Black Arts Horizon Award for Emerging Artists grant, and a 2023 Film Impact Georgia Finalist. Lastly, she works as a director/producer in the commercial space. She has participated in the creation of global campaigns with clients such as Procter & Gamble, Design Essentials, Facebook Meta, and many more.
Shayla Racquel bleeds Orange & Green, holding a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems from the illustrious Florida A&M University. In 2018, she received her Master of Fine Arts in Film & Electronic Media from American University. Her felicific smile and appreciation for life brighten any room – you will always know it's her when she greets you with,
“Smiles are Sunshine for the Soul!”
For more information on Shayla Racquel’s directing style, click here. Shayla Racquel is open to inquiries regarding talent and/or literary agencies. Please contact her at info@shaylaracquel.com to set up a general meeting.
Shayla Racquel is the creator of the award-winning webseries Quarter Century, a dramedy series following a group of post-grads trying to figure out what it means to be “grown.” The series has two seasons under its belt – the first set in the eclectic city of Washington, DC and the second taking place in the heart of New York. The series has garnered over 250,000 views collectively between youtube and KweliTV streaming network.
In 2015, Shayla Racquel wrote, directed, and edited a short film titled Life’s Checklist, a story about two college sweethearts approaching their wedding days and having to decide if they are getting married for love or for the sheer reason that marriage is another one of life's goals to complete. The short film was an official selection in six film festivals and has won three awards, including Best Student Short Film.
In 2018, Shayla Racquel wrote and directed the short film Riverment - a historical narrative piece about a grandmother and granddaughter’s cross-generational approach to activism. The film shines light on intergenerational trauma while comparing and contrasting Black empowerment movements. After receiving an award from Sony Pictures in collaboration with American University, the project was acquired by Comcast Xfinity, KweliTV streaming platform, Magic Johnson's cable network channel ASPiRE TV, Sean "P.Diddy" Comb's network REVOLT TV, and FOX streaming platform Tubi. Vivica Fox also interviewed Shayla Racquel for FOX SOUL's "The Screening Room."
Shayla Racquel was tapped as the lead director of the dramedy digital series Southern Fried Rice in 2019, written by the independent screenwriting label Damn Write Originals. The series received a major development deal and is currently looking for a network home to debut.
Shayla Racquel wrote and directed a short documentary on the Second Wave of the Great Migration for The Phillips Collection to celebrate their centennial. The Phillips Collection is the first modern art museum in America and showcased the film in its galleries in 2021.
In honor of the John Singleton EmbRACE initiative hosted by Pan African Film Festival in collaboration with the city of Los Angeles, Shayla Racquel was tapped as the director of one of the winning screenplays, The Lifted - an action/thriller - comedy following two long-time friends who think they witness the kidnapping of a young woman by her rideshare.
In 2022, Shayla Racquel was the director of the third episode of the anthology horror series Criblore, debuting on a streaming platform in April 2023. She was also tapped as the lead director of the premiere show Heaux & Tell on Keke Palmer’s KeyTV Network, which debuted in Fall 2022. After a successful season, Shayla Racquel was again tapped by the KeyTV team to direct a new series entitled Cuzzin M, debuting in Spring 2024.
In her spare time, Shayla Racquel enjoys writing feature films and serves as a director/producer in the commercial space (Clients include but are not limited to: Phillips Collection Museum, Procter & Gamble, Facebook/Meta).
Shayla looks forward to adding on to this list as more opportunities flow her way!
