Tracie Laymon
{{Short description|American actress and director}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2013}}
{{BLP sources|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Tracie Laymon
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Houston, Texas
| death_date =
| death_place =
| other_names =
| known_for =
| occupation = Film director, screenwriter, and producer
| website = http://www.tracielaymon.com/
}}
Tracie Laymon is an American screenwriter, producer, and film director. Raised in Houston, Texas, she studied film at the University of Texas at Austin. Laymon began her film career in Texas, where she created music videos and short films recognized at various film festivals.
She directed Goodnight Burbank, recognized as the first half-hour comedy series for the internet, which premiered on Hulu in April 2011 and was acquired by Mark Cuban for HDNet later that year. Her short film A Hidden Agender premiered at the Dallas International Film Festival and won the Jury Award for Best Dark Comedy at WorldFest Houston.
Laymon was later named to the Independent Film Channel's list of emerging "Icons" and "Film Innovators." She has worked on various projects, including a segment of the women’s anthology film Girls!Girls!Girls!, which starred Elaine Hendrix and Octavia Spencer. Her scripted material has received multiple accolades, including Best Screenplay at the LA Comedy Festival and Best TV Pilot at HollyShorts.
Her 2018 short film Mixed Signals premiered at the Oscar-qualifying LA Shorts Fest and won several awards for Best Director at various festivals. Laymon has also directed a proof-of-concept pilot for Tess Allen's Matched and served as an observing director on Showtime's Shameless. She has taught both animation and live-action filmmaking at organizations like Ghetto Film School and on Stanford and Berkeley campuses.
Her short film Ghosted received multiple awards in 2020 and 2021, including Best Director at the Big Bear Film Summit, Big Sur International Short Film Screening Series, Method Fest and Women Texas Film Festival as well as Best Short Film, Best Director and Best Writer at the Seattle Film Festival. The film also won the top prize, the "Superstar" award, at LA Under the Stars festival.
Career
=Texas=
Tracie Laymon was born and raised in Houston, Texas.{{cite news |year=2010 |title=Tracie Laymon |url=http://www.allmovie.com/artist/tracie-laymon-397598/filmography |accessdate=December 13, 2010 |work=Allmovie |publisher=www.allmovie.com}}{{cite news |year=2010 |title=Biography for Tracie Laymon |url=http://www.tcmdb.com/participant.jsp?participantId=1137313 |accessdate=December 13, 2010 |work=Turner Classic Movies |publisher=www.tcmdb.com}} She pursued film studies at the University of Texas at Austin.{{cite news |date=July 7, 2009 |title=Goodbye Michael Jackson: Star, brother, friend, father |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/07/michael.jackson.wrap/ |accessdate=December 8, 2010 |work=CNN |publisher=Time Warner}} In 2004, she received recognition for her early directorial work on the music video "better?" for the group 54 Seconds,{{cite news |last=Langdon |first=Jessica |date=September 27, 2009 |title=Doctor's first film called powerful |url=http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2009/sep/27/doctors-first-film-called-powerful/ |accessdate=December 13, 2010 |work=Wichita Falls Times Record News |location=Texas |page=A1}} which won the SXSW Jury Award that same year.{{cite news |date=May 4, 2009 |title=Lo and Behold: On Location Film Festival Awards |work=The Commercial Appeal |location=Memphis, Tennessee}} She spent time in Austin, Texas, creating short films and worked on the production staff of The Real World: Austin.
=California=
Tracie Laymon worked as a production assistant on the 2007 film Blades of Glory and served as office manager for the 2008 film U2 3D. By 2009, she was based in Los Angeles as a filmmaker. In May 2009, her music video "Falling From Mars," featuring musician Alyssa Campbell, won the Music Video Award at the on Location: Memphis International Film Festival. Laymon directed the short film Inside, which premiered at the Milan International Film Festival in May 2009 and was nominated for Best Short Film at the festival. Additionally, she was featured as part of the Independent Film Channel's "IFC Icons," highlighting her contributions to film and video.{{cite news |date=June 2009 |title=Tracie Laymon: Inside |url=http://www.televisionet.tv/blog/index.php/2009/06/tvn-tracie-laymon-inside |accessdate=December 13, 2010 |work=TVN |publisher=www.televisionet.tv}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role |
| 2009
|Inside |Director, Producer, Writer |
| 2011
|Girls! Girls! Girls! |Director, Writer |
| 2011
|A Hidden Agender |Director, Writer |
| 2011
|Director, Writer (uncredited) |
| 2018
|Mixed Signals |Director, Producer, Writer |
| 2020
|Ghosted |Director, Producer, Writer |
| 2024
| Director, Producer, Writer |
Awards and nominations
| class="wikitable"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Award ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Project ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Category ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Result |
| 2004
|SXSW Film Festival |better? |Best Music Video |bgcolor="#ddffdd"|Won{{cite news |year=2010 |title=Tracie Laymon |url=http://www.ifc.com/icons/tracie-laymon.php |accessdate=December 13, 2010 |work=IFC Icons |publisher=Independent Film Channel}} |
| rowspan="3"|2008
|Las Vegas International Film Festival |rowspan="3"|Falling From Mars |Golden Aces Award |
| On Location: Memphis International Film Fest
|Best Music Video |
| The Feel Good Film Festival
|Best Music Video |
| rowspan="3"|2009
|Milan International Film Festival Awards |rowspan="3"|Inside |Best Short Film |
| Fantastic Fest
|Official Selection |
| Women's Image Network (WIN) Awards
|Best Short Film |
| rowspan="8"|2011
|Dallas International Film Festival |rowspan="9"|Girls! Girls! Girls! (Segment: A Hidden Agender) |Official Selection |
| San Diego Film Festival
|Best Feature Film |
| Twin Cities Film Festival
|Official Selection |
| Carmel Art and Film Festival
|Official Selection |
| Beverly Hills Short Film Festival
|Best Short Film |
| LA Comedy Festival
|Official Selection and Best Actress |
| Louisville International Film Festival
|Official Selection |
| La Femme Beverly Hills
|Best Producers |
| rowspan="1"|2012
|Houston International Film Festival |Best Dark Comedy |
| rowspan="1"|2013
|LA Comedy Festival |rowspan="1"|One Small Step for Neil |Best Screenplay |
| rowspan="6" |2018
|Catalina Film Festival | rowspan="9" |Mixed Signals |Best Short |style="background: #ffdddd"| Nominated |
| LA Femme International Film Festival
|Best Short |style="background: #ffdddd"| Nominated |
| LA Shorts International Film Festival
|Best Short Film |style="background: #ffdddd"| Nominated |
| Louisville's International Festival of Film
|Jury Award |style="background: #ffdddd"| Nominated |
| Portland Film Festival, US
|Best Short Film |style="background: #ffdddd"| Nominated |
| Women Texas Film Festival
|Best Director |
| rowspan="3" |2019
|Independent Shorts Award |Best Director (Female) | bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| Method Fest
|Best Director |bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| LA Under the Stars Film Festival
|Best Writer |bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| rowspan="16" |2021
|Catalina Film Festival |Saturday Night Lesbian |Best Feature Screenplay |bgcolor="#ddffdd"| 1st Place |
| rowspan="2" |Big Bear Film Summit
| rowspan="16" |Ghosted |Best Director | bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| Best Narrative Short Film
| bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| Big Sur International Short Film Screening Series
|Best Director | bgcolor="#ddffdd"|Won |
| LA Shorts International Film Festival
|Best Short Film |style="background: #ffdddd"| Nominated |
| Los Angeles Shorts & Script Festival
|Best of Festival |bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| Hollywood Gold Awards
|Best Director |bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival
|Best Short Film |style="background: #ffdddd"| Nominated |
| Portland Film Festival
|Best Short Film |style="background: #ffdddd"| Nominated |
| San Diego International Film Festival
|Best Short Film |style="background: #ffdddd"| Nominated |
| rowspan="3" |Seattle Film Festival
|Best Short |bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| Best Director
|bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| Best Writer
|bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| rowspan="2" |Women Texas Film Festival
|Best Director |bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| Storyteller Award
|bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| Yucca Valley Film Festival
|Best Short Film |bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| 2022
|LA Under the Stars Film Festival |Superstar (Best Rated Film) |bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| rowspan="15" |2024
|SXSW Film Festival | rowspan="17" |Bob Trevino Likes It | rowspan="6" |Narrative Feature |bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| rowspan="2" |San Diego Film Festival
|bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| Hamptons International Film Festival
|bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| New Hampshire International Film Festival
|bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| Nashville Film Festival
|bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| Newport Beach Film Festival
|Best Actor (John Leguizamo) |bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| rowspan="3" |Rome International Film Festival
|Narrative Feature |bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| Best Actress (Barbie Ferreira)
|bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| Best Support Actor (French Stewart)
|bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| Tallgrass Film Festival
|Narrative Feature |bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| Denver Film Festival
| rowspan="2" |Narrative Feature (Audience Award) |bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| Virginia Film Festival
|bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| rowspan="2" |Anchorage International Film Festival
|Best Director |bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| Narrative Feature
|bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| rowspan="2" |2025
|Dublin International Film Festival |Best Screenplay |bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
| Houston Latino Film Festival
|Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature |bgcolor="#ddffdd"| Won |
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite news|url=http://www.slackerwood.com/node/773|accessdate=December 13, 2010|title=Fantastic Fest 2009|work=Slackerwood|publisher=www.slackerwood.com|date=October 7, 2009|first=Debbie|last=Cerda}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0493543}}
- {{Tcmdb name}}
{{Portalbar|Film|Television}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laymon, Tracie}}
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Screenwriters from Texas
Category:Actresses from Houston
Category:American women film directors
Category:Moody College of Communication alumni