Mary Lou Belli
Standing just under five feet tall, two-time Emmy award-winning Mary Lou Belli has always stood out from the rest of the pack.
Mary Lou has been directing television for over 30 years including “NCIS New Orleans,” “True Lies,” “Black Lightning,” “Bull,” “Legacies,” “Station 19,” “Sweet Magnolias,” “Pitch,” “Monk,” “Famous In Love,” “Devious Maids,” “The Quad,” “Kingdom Business,” and “Hart of Dixie” as well as Disney’s “The Secret of Sulphur Springs,” “Raven’s Home,” “Ms. Pat,” “Wizards of Waverly Place,” “Sister, Sister,” “Girlfriends,” and “The Game.”
Belli just received her third Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series for her work on “The Ms. Pat Show” on BET+.
Her short film, “Straight Eye for the Gay Guy” won Best Mini-short at the California Independent Film Fest where she also premiered “I Heard Something,” a thriller that went on to play festivals internationally. She has also done ground-breaking work on several web series. Her award-winning short, “America,” played its 14th festival on its 4th continent at The Hague and won best micro short.
Mary Lou served two terms as the co-chair of the Women’s Steering Committee at the DGA where she has also served on the Western Director’s Council. Presently, she is on the Leadership Council PAC and is an alternate to the National Board. She is an Honorary Board member of the Alliance of Women Directors and Advisory Board member of Women in Media. She is also on the Advisory Circle of Film Fatales and is a longtime member of Women In Film. Currently she is one of Governors of the Peer Group Executive Committee of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
She has served as judge and/or guest speaker for the CSU Media Arts Festival, a judge for the Miss America Outstanding Teen Pageant, a jury member at the Sapporo Short Festival, The Newport Beach Film Fest, The Regina International Film Festival, and The Voice awards. She was a lecturer at the Chautauqua Institute, and a panelist for Women In Film, the DGA, SAG, and AFTRA and the LA Times Festival of Books. She has been a guest artist at the International Thespian Festival for secondary school theatre where she taught workshops to thousands of teens and high school theatre teachers. Through her teaching, she supports many of the vibrant diversity programs including ABC/Disney, CBS, NBC Launch, SONY, HBO Access, AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women, and Warner Bros. Directing Workshop mentoring the next generation of directors.
She is the co-author of four books: “The NEW Sitcom Career Book,” “Acting for Young Actors,” and “Directors Tell the Story,” which she co-wrote with fellow DGA member Bethany Rooney. Her 4th book, “Acting for the Screen” was published by Focal Press in the summer of 2019.