Seith Mann#Five Deep Breaths

Mann was inspired to become a director when he saw the Spike Lee film Do the Right Thing.{{Cite web|url=http://www.blackenterprise.com/cms/exclusivesopen.aspx?id=2620&p=0|title=Mann on the Move|access-date=2007-11-05|publisher=Black Enterprise|date=2007-03-14|author=George Alexander|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008234602/http://www.blackenterprise.com/cms/exclusivesopen.aspx?id=2620|archive-date=2007-10-08|url-status=dead}} Mann graduated from Morehouse College and later earned an MFA in film at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.{{Cite web|url=http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/summer2003/features/25_faces1-5.php|title=25 NEW FACES OF INDIE FILM 2003|access-date=2007-11-05|publisher=Film Maker Magazine|year=2003}}

Mann's thesis at New York University was the short film Five Deep Breaths. It was awarded the Spike Lee fellowship while in development in 2002.{{Cite web|url=http://www.floridafilmfestival.com/archive2004/films_shorts.html |title=American Independent Competition: Short Films |access-date=2007-11-05 |publisher=Florida Film Festival |year=2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020212351/http://www.floridafilmfestival.com/archive2004/films_shorts.html |archive-date=2007-10-20 |url-status=dead }} The film is set at an all-black college. After a physical assault upon a young woman by her boyfriend, another man, Mark, and his friends are moved to take revenge.{{Cite web|url=https://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/01/see_the_short_that_landed_filmmaker_seith_mann.html |title=See the Short That Got Filmmaker Seith Mann a Job on 'The Wire' |access-date=2008-03-10|publisher=Vulture Picture Palace|year=2008}} Mann has commented that he likes morally ambiguous situations. The short starred Jamie Hector, Anslem Richardson, Marcuis Harris, Harvey Gardner Moore, Curtiss Cook, and Ka'ramuu Kush. The score was composed by jazz musician Jason Moran.

The film premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. It won first place in the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation Award (for Best Short Film), and The Carl Lerner Award for Film with Social Significance at the 2003 New York University First Run Festival. It was selected to screen at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival and one of four American shorts to screen at the Cinefondation Competition at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. It won a Gold Plaque for Narrative Short Film at the 2003 Chicago International Film Festival.{{Cite web|url=http://www.chicagofilmfestival.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CIFFSite.woa/wa/pages/Fest_winners03|title=39th Chicago International Film Festival Winners|access-date=2007-11-05|publisher=Chicago International Film Festival|year=2003}} It also won the Best Narrative Short Film award at the 2003 Los Angeles IFP/West Film Festival.{{Cite web|url=http://www.moviecitynews.com/Notepad/2003/030622_pr.html |title=NINTH ANNUAL IFP LOS ANGELES FILM FESTIVAL |access-date=2007-11-05 |publisher=Movie City News |year=2003 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121082309/http://www.moviecitynews.com/notepad/2003/030622_pr.html |archive-date=November 21, 2008 }}

Film maker magazine named Mann one of their 25 new faces of independent film in 2003. They praised his direction of Five Short Breaths as "skillful". The IFP gave Mann the Gordon Parks Awards for Emerging African-American Filmmakers following the film's release.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ifp.org/ifpnews/newsitem.php?archive=1&id=253&chapter=1 |title=Rosie Perez Hosts IFP Market Awards |access-date=2007-11-05 |publisher=IFP |year=2003 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090808150018/http://www.wvxu.org/images/search.gif |archive-date=August 8, 2009 }}

Television Producer Robert F. Colesberry saw Five Deep Breaths and introduced the other producers of HBO drama The Wire to it. The producers approached Mann and asked him to shadow their directors during production of the third season in 2004. Show runner David Simon recalls that Colesberry wanted Mann to direct a third season episode but Colesberry's untimely death left the other producers reeling and they felt unable to risk a directorial debut in their first season without him.{{Cite web|url=http://members.aol.com/TheWireHBO/exclusive4-5.html|title=3rd Exclusive David Simon interview|access-date=2007-11-05|publisher=The Wire at AOL|year=2003|author=Jim King}} Page 5 Simon recalls Mann shadowing director Ernest R. Dickerson and showing a "careful interest in the process."

In 2006, Mann joined the directing crew of The Wire's fourth season.{{Cite web|url=http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/crew/season_4.shtml|title=The Wire season 4 crew|access-date=2007-10-14|publisher=HBO|year=2007}} Simon felt obligated to give Mann a chance after his dedication to shadowing Dickerson. Mann made his television directing debut with the third episode of the season, "Home Rooms".{{cite episode

| title = Home Rooms

| episode-link = Home Rooms (The Wire episode)

| series = The Wire

| series-link = The Wire (TV series)

| credits = Seith Mann (director); Richard Price (story and teleplay), Ed Burns (story)

| network = HBO

| airdate = 2004-09-24

| season = 4

| number = 03

}}{{cite web

| year = 2006

| title = Episode guide - episode 40 Home Rooms

| publisher = HBO

| access-date = 2006-09-25

| url = http://www.hbo.com/thewire/episode/season4/episode40.shtml

}} Simon was pleased with the episode and described it as "beautifully covered."

Mann also was an ABC DGA Fellow class of 2005, a fellowship aimed at encouraging "diversity of race, gender and spirit in the filmmaking community."{{Cite web|url=http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20060209abc01|title=DISNEY/ABC WRITING AND DIRECTING PROGRAMS REACH MILESTONE WITH MORE THAN 200 PARTICIPANTS TO DATE|access-date=2007-11-05|publisher=ABC|year=2003}} In 2007 Mann was nominated for an NAACP Image Award in the category Outstanding Directing in a Dramatic Series for his work on episode "Home Rooms".{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/features/e3i1df4dfd4706f9fc31fefc3974392be1d |title=2007 Image Award nominees and winners |access-date=2007-11-05 |publisher=Hollywood Reporter |year=2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070315204254/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/features/e3i1df4dfd4706f9fc31fefc3974392be1d |archive-date=March 15, 2007 }} Mann has commented that he was "excited" to receive the nomination and grateful to the NAACP for their work.

After The Wire, Mann worked on Grey's Anatomy directing two episodes in 2006, "The Name of the Game" and "Don't Stand So Close to Me". In 2007, Mann was nominated for a DGA Award in the category Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series for his work on "The Name of the Game".{{cite news|url=https://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117957187.html?nav=news&categoryid=1985&cs=1|title=DGA nominates TV favorites|access-date=2007-11-05|publisher=Variety|author=Dave McNary | date=2007-01-11}}{{cite news|url=https://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117958446.html?nav=eoodirdga|title=Directors guild award nominees|access-date=2007-11-05|publisher=Variety| date=2007-01-31}} Mann has also directed episodes of Heroes, Cold Case, Lincoln Heights, Jericho, Entourage, Friday Night Lights, Men in Trees, Shark, Fringe, Blindspotting, and The Walking Dead.

Mann is working on a feature film script entitled Come Sunday. The script won two development awards (the Emerging Narrative Screenwriting Award and the Gordon Parks Award for Screenwriting) from the IFP in 2004.{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/ots/onthescene_040924ifp.html|title=IFP/New York Presents Six Awards At Annual IFP Market|access-date=2007-11-05 |publisher=IndieWIRE|year=2003|author=Brian Brooks }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} In 2010, Mann was announced as director of Miss: Better Living Through Crime with Spike Lee producing.{{cite web|last1=Jacobs|first1=Evan|title=Seith Mann to Helm Miss: Better Living Through Crime|url=http://movieweb.com/seith-mann-to-helm-miss-better-living-through-crime/|date=18 August 2010|website=MovieWeb.com|access-date=27 October 2017}} In 2016, Mann was writing the Black movie.{{cite web|first=Anita|last=Busch|url=https://deadline.com/2018/04/seith-mann-black-comic-series-movie-studio-8-black-superheroes-1202374515/|title=Seith Mann To Adapt 'BLACK' Comic In What Studio 8 Hopes To Be First In A Franchise|date=26 October 2016|website=Deadline|access-date=13 April 2019}}

• All We Know of Heaven (2004)
• Where to Find God on Sunday (2000)
• Kiss It Up to God (2000)

• [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7545268 Black] (TBA)
• Five Deep Breaths (2003)
• Apology (2001)

• The Living Silence (2003)

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb name|id=0542960|name=Seith Mann}}

{{NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Seith}}

Category:1973 births

Category:African-American film directors

Category:African-American television directors

Category:Film directors from Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:American television directors

Category:Living people

Category:Morehouse College alumni

Category:Tisch School of the Arts alumni

Category:Place of birth missing (living people)