Nekisa Cooper (born 1977 or 1978) is an American film producer. Cooper is best known for producing the 2011 film Pariah, directed by Dee Rees, and for her work as the vice president of Content at MasterClass.
Education Cooper received a BA from College of William & Mary and an MBA from Clark Atlanta University.
Career Following graduation, Cooper began her career as an assistant women's basketball coach at Christopher Newport University and the University of Richmond.
In 2005, Rees called Cooper to produce her thesis film, Pariah, a 27-minute drama depicting a girl in Brooklyn coming out as a lesbian. Cooper felt a deep connection to the story. In 2007, Cooper left the corporate sector and used her 401(k) savings to fund the film, which won the Audience Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival that same year.
In 2009, Cooper and Rees won the Iris Prize to produce a short film in Cardiff, Wales called Colonial Gods, which was critical to developing Pariah's visual aesthetic.
Nekisa supplemented her independent producing efforts by participating in multiple programs, such as Sundance Institute Creative Producing Lab, Film Independent’s Project Involve, The Rotterdam/Cinemart Producing Lab, The Gotham Film and Media Institutes (FKA IFP) IFP Market, The Transatlantic Producing Partners Program, and The Tribeca Film Institute’s All Access Program.
In 2011, Cooper produced Pariah, which centers on an African-American lesbian woman, and was marketed to a wider audience and branded as a coming-of-age tale with broad appeal. On December 1, 2011, the National Board of Review gave the film its Freedom of Expression Award. On June 29, 2021, Pariah became part of the Criterion Collection and earned a release of a special edition of the film on Blu-ray and includes behind the scenes on the making of the film. In 2022, the Library of Congress selected Pariah to the American National Film Registry, recognizing its cultural, historical, and aesthetic significance.
In 2014 Cooper joined MasterClass as lead freelance executive producer and in 2016, she became their first vice president of production then she served as the vice president of Content until 2023 where she oversaw the creation of the library with such instructors as Shonda Rhimes, Martin Scorsese, Sara Blakely, Neil Gaiman, Roxane Gay, Stephen Curry, Amy Tan, Walter Mosley, St. Vincent, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Malala Yousafzai, Tony Hawk and more.
In 2021, Cooper joined the Board of Directors of Chicken & Egg Pictures and served as vice president since January 2023. In December 2023, Cooper was appointed as the President of the Board of Directors for Chicken & Egg Pictures, a non-profit organization which provides funding and support to women and non-binary documentary filmmakers.
Filmography YearFilmNotes2005Orange Bowshort - co-producer2007Pariahshort - producer2008Eventual Salvationdocumentary - producer2009Ma cité, mon histoireshort - co-producerColonial Godsshort - producer2011Pariahproducer2014FuturestatesTV series, 1 episode - producer2016The Ugly Doll (La muñeca fea) documentary - producer
Awards and recognitions Year Work Award/Association Category ResultRefs2007 Pariah (2007)Chicago Gay and Lesbian International Film FestivalBest Narrative Short Pariah (2007)Iris Prize FestivalIris Prize Pariah (2007)Los Angeles Film FestivalAudience Award – Best Short Film Pariah (2007)Palm Springs International ShortFestFuture Filmmaker Award Pariah (2007)Best Live Action Over 15 Minutes Pariah (2007)San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film FestivalAudience Award – Best Short Pariah (2007)Urbanworld Film FestivalBest Narrative Short2012 Pariah (2011)Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Awardbest feature made under $500,000Pariah (2011)NAACPOutstanding Motion PicturePariah (2011)GLAADOutstanding Feature FilmChicken & Egg Pictures Award I BELIEVE IN YOU Creative Producing Award2013Fox Film GrantProject Involve Fellowship2015Clyde's New YorkNew York Emmy AwardsNostalgia Program
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