Marlon Royal Reid

Marlon Royal Reid is a native from Detroit, Michigan, the oldest of four children and probably one of the youngest filmmakers in Detroit growing up. At the age of four after watching a screening of Ben Hur, he knew that he wanted to do in life: make films. At age ten, he mastered the art of obtaining production work by annoying a group of teenagers who had a 8mm film camera into letting him become a part of their film crew and he’s been working in film ever since. From there, Marlon began to write skits, short stories for his radio & television classmates while creating his own comic book. While in college, Marlon honed his craft by directing, producing and writing several commercials for the school’s campus. After graduating from Morgan State University with a degree in Telecommunications, Marlon teamed up with author and fellow filmmaker, Andre Seewood, to make several award winning short video productions: Wasteland, I’m Broke, Why Are you Following Me?, and Flowers and Trees. Marlon’s short video, The Visit, a production he wrote, produced and directed about a broken relationship between a father who is in prison and the son who visits won 3rd place in the AFI/Sony Visions Video Competition. His short film, The last Condom which played in several film festivals was awarded the People’s Choice Award at the Motor City International Film Festival. The short film was also selected for the Russell Simmons Def Filmmakers Showcase. Marlon was published in the national magazine, A & U (American Aids) for his short film, night, which tackles the controversial subject of men on the down low and the spread of HIV/Aids in the black community. He currently resides in Los Angeles and works on the production of commercials, short films, music videos, reality television, and feature films such as Crossover by Preston Whitmore and Four Brothers by John Singleton. Marlon is currently editing the feature length documentary, Story of A Village. The film is directed by Dwayne Johnson-Cochran & Regina King.