Biography

Maya Washington is a filmmaker (writer/director/producer), actress, writer, poet, visual artist, Creative Director, and arts educator. Her production company, Running Water Entertainment, LLC produces and publishes award winning content with a global reach. Maya received a BA in Dramatic Arts from the University of Southern California and an MFA in Creative Writing from Hamline University. Her work has garnered awards from Jerome Foundation, Minnesota State Arts Board, Minnesota Film and Television, and others.

Originally from Minneapolis, MN, Maya began her creative career as a dancer turned musical theatre actor in the Twin Cities vibrant theatre community as a child performer. While at USC, she studied acting, directing, film and dramatic writing, which allowed her to explore her passion for storytelling in a variety of mediums. While pursuing her MFA, Maya worked full time as a professional actor and choreographer. She even managed to complete a national tour of William S. Yellow Robe’s Grandchildren of the Buffalo Soldiers, a co-production of Penumbra Theatre Company and Trinity Repertory Company, as she finished her MFA thesis.

Her background, on stage/camera and behind the scenes, has given her the opportunity to work on everything from live theatre, public art, commercials and print ads, to web series, films and television. Maya is dedicated to multi-disciplinary projects that have a sense of “purpose” in the world, selecting stories that illuminate some aspect of the human experience that is untold, rarely seen, or might benefit from new approaches to issues of diversity and inclusion, primarily in America. Her film work has also allowed her projects to have a global reach, including Toronto, Budapest, Hong Kong, Berlin, and Rome.

Her award-winning film, Through the Banks of the Red Cedar, about her father Vikings Legend Gene Washington and the desegregation of college football aired on the Big Ten Network and is currently available on PBS platforms including PBS Documentaries Channel through Amazon Prime, Comcast, and iTunes. Her memoir, Through the Banks of the Red Cedar: My Father and the Team that Changed the Game, was released in 2022 (Little A) and is an Amazon Editor’s Pick for Best History, and was a 2023 Finalist for the Minnesota Book Award. The book is available in bookstores, and the audio edition features Maya’s narration.  Her award winning-film CLEAR, about a family reconnecting in the aftermath of wrongful conviction is available on the streaming platforms Argo and Kwelitv. As a freelance tv and film director, Maya directed episodes of the Fox series The Killer Next Door and History Channel’s I Was There, both from Committee Films, and the PBS Kids series Black SciGirls. Her award-winning narrative short, White Space, (starring ABC Family Switched at Birth’s Ryan Lane) about a deaf performance poet aired on network television and was nominated for a Black Reel Award. Her commercial and brand work includes Best Buy, Target, The National Society of Leadership and Success and others.

Maya’s poems, and prose have appeared in Water~Stone, The Under Review (Pushcart Nomination), Rain Taxi, Perigee-Apogee Journal, Prairie Schooner, Gulf Coast, Talking Stick, Angel Face, Rock Paper Scissors, Lone Star Legacy and others. Her plays have been presented at Youth Performance Company in Minneapolis, MN, Congo Square Theatre’s August Wilson Playwriting Initiative in Chicago, IL, and appears in Playwrights’ Center Monologues for Women (Heinemann Drama, 2005). Her literary poetry and prose are featured in a number of anthologies including The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 2 : Black Girl Magic (Haymarket Books 2018), Nothing To Lose But Our Chains: Black Voices on Activism, Resistance and Love (Justice Matters Press, 2018) and The Beiging of America: Personal Narratives About Being Mixed Race in the Twenty-First Century (2Leaf Press, 2017). She is the editor of White Space Poetry Anthology featuring the work of deaf and hearing poets as a companion to her award-winning short film, White Space. Maya Washington also curates poetry readings and events featuring some of America’s most talented poets and writers.

On this website you will find updates regarding recent projects, events, publications, and performances. Her creative experience and zest for life have additionally yielded a successful career as a sought after speaker, workshop facilitator and panelist as well as public art installations. Maya and her team are dedicated to quality and seek to inspire by helping individuals and organizations identify their core strengths and pursue their dreams courageously and creatively!