Amanda Upson

Amanda Upson left traditional legal practice to produce movies, transitioning from labor and employment law at a large firm to independent producer. Her first film, MAGNUM OPUS, a spy thriller with timely themes, secured wide distribution in 2018 and a spot at the Virginia Film Festival. She produced A LONG MARCH, a 2022 Better Angels Lavine Fellowship Recipient. She produced RENEGADES: KITTY O'NEIL (pilot), is series producer for RENEGADES and coordinating producer for the VIA Incubator (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/pbs-american-masters-visibility-inclusion-accessibility-initiative-1235627567/), and serves as consulting producer for PBS' American Masters projects. In addition, she continues to develop and produce independent documentary, docu-series, and unscripted. Amanda focuses on advocacy of underrepresented in front of and behind the camera via producing and consulting, as well as opening up a pipeline for same. She serves as a mentor to students and alumni of her alma mater, University of Virginia, as well as attorneys in her home state of Colorado, where she co-founded and serves on the Board of Denver Mother Attorney Mentoring Association. She was appointed to the Colorado Task Force on Attorney Well-Being, was named one of FORBES 40 to Watch Over 40, and she is admitted to the bar of the US Supreme Court. Amanda is active in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Bar Association and Colorado Disability Bar Association. She served on the Labor Committee (forthcoming Labor Guidelines) and currently serves on Diversity and Structural Equality Committee of DPA (although in absentia due to FWD-Doc commitments), she was selected for RespectAbility’s Entertainment Professionals Lab, Summer 2021, for Realscreen’s 2022 DIALOG Mentorship Program, and for DOC NYC’s 2022 Documentary New Leaders program. Since November 2021, she has served as Interim Director of FWD-Doc, a global, intersectional community of disabled creators and allies working in media to build a more inclusive, accessible, and equitable entertainment industry. FWD-Doc cultivates and champions disabled media-makers, and FWD-Doc elevate stories by, for, and about disabled people. FWD-Doc's roots are in independent documentary film, and our long-term vision extends to the broader entertainment and creative industries through many forms of storytelling.