Nicole Avant John Russo Producer and former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas Nicole Avant will receive the Visionary Producer Award at this year’s Bahamas International Film Festival.
It’s a full circle moment for Avant, who is also being honored with the title of honorary patron of BIFF, as the award-winning producer, best-selling author and philanthropist attended the 2009 edition of the festival while the ambassador to the Bahamas.
Avant will be honored on the opening night gala of the festival, whose main part runs Dec. 10 to 14 in Nassau, after a three-day affair featuring a screenwriters residency and select film screenings in Harbour Island. The Visionary Producer Award recognizes Avant’s distinctive body of work as a producer who brings powerful and often untold stories to the screen.
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“Nicole Avant is a powerhouse in her own right: a producer, author and diplomat who has opened doors wherever she has gone, and her contribution to the Bahamas is part of its record,” said Leslie Vanderpool, the festival’s founder and executive director, in a statement announcing the award. “This honour reflects the regard in which she is held, not only by this festival, but by the film industry around the globe and The Bahamas as a whole.”
Avant, who is married to Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, produced the 2019 Netflix documentary The Black Godfather, chronicling the life and legacy of her father, legendary music executive Clarence Avant. The film was named one of the National Board of Review’s Top Documentaries of the Year and earned Emmy and NAACP Image Award nominations. She went on to executive produce the award-winning 2021 film Trees of Peace, the story of four women who form an unlikely bond while seeking refuge during the Rwandan genocide. And in 2024, she was a producer on Tyler Perry’s The Six Triple Eight, which told the true story of the first all-Black female battalion to serve overseas during World War II. That movie won five NAACP Image Awards and received an Academy Award nomination for best original song.
Storytelling has been at the heart of many of her endeavors. She began her career in in promotions at A&M Records before becoming vp at Interior Music Publishing, overseeing artist relations and music licensing. In 2023, she added author to her credits: her memoir, Think You’ll Be Happy, became an instant national bestseller. A children’s book is now in development.
“One of my earliest and fondest memories as the U.S. Ambassador to The Bahamas was meeting Leslie Vanderpool and everyone from the Bahamas International Film Festival,” said Avant in a statement. “My husband Ted and I were fortunate to be a part of this festival in its early years, and it has been a joy to watch it grow into a platform that gives filmmakers from The Bahamas and around the globe a place to be seen and heard. I have only the fondest memories of serving and living in The Bahamas. To return as this year’s honoree, and to celebrate producers and the power of storytelling, truly feels like a beautiful homecoming,”
With Avant’s presence at the festival acting as inspiration, BIFF will have a focus on producers, the creative forces behind the camera that shepherd stories from idea to screen. As such, BIFF will host a Producers Lab running throughout the Festival, with sessions on producing, pitching and development, giving Bahamian and international filmmakers the chance to sharpen their craft and bring their projects to market.
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