April Wright is an award-winning filmmaker who fell in love with movies going to drive-ins and movie palaces in the Chicago area where she grew up. She brings a fresh and creative approach to her narrative projects and documentaries, and is drawn to material inspired by real people and events, especially underdog stories from an underrepresented point of view.
April’s newest documentary “Back to the Drive-in” released theatrically to much critical acclaim during summer 2022. She and the film were featured in Variety and Box Office Pro. April’s currently working on a number of film and television projects including directing the female-driven action-thriller “Pretty Packages” for which she also wrote the award-winning script.
April loved directing “Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story” executive produced by Michelle Rodriguez, which was awarded Best Documentary of 2020 from the national Women Film Critics Circle. She was fortunate to direct a drift car racing sequence with Michelle and her stunt driver from the Fast series. “Stuntwomen” is rated 100% by critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
April’s doc “Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace” enjoyed a theatrical release and won numerous festival Best Documentary and Grand Prize awards prior to broadcast premiere on TCM Turner Classic Movies.
April was a programmer for the Sundance Film Festival for over 15 years. She has an MBA from Northwestern and is an alumni of the Sundance Institute. T: @driveindoc