Sharon Lewis’s directing work has been well received on premium U.S. broadcasters such as HBO, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, FX and every Canadian broadcaster platform. Sharon is well known in the screen industry for her directing flair, distinct cinematic voice, respect with crew, and her ability to inspire award-winning performances from her actors. Sharon’s work has been recognized internationally and includes a Canadian Screen Award for Best Direction of a Factual Series, multiple nominations for Best Director for her feature and documentary film work, six Canadian Screen Awards nominations as a Showrunner and Director, and she can be seen in the Emmy and NAACP nominated documentary How It Feels to Be Free. Sharon honed her directing skills at the prestigious University of California Los Angeles and she went on to direct her award-winning feature film debut Brown Girl Begins.
In 2017, Brown Girl Begins, which earned a double CSA nomination and was named in the “Top 15 Black Sci-Fi Films” by Ranker.com, solidified her place as a sought after director in the realm of scripted, black women protagonists, genre, Caribbean, and BIPOC on screen. Sharon’s first feature documentary, Disruptor Conductor (2019), is about the first openly-gay, black orchestral Conductor in Canada and it won “Best Documentary” at both Black Alphabet Film Festival 2020 and G International Film Festival 2021. It has screened at several film festivals around the world and continues to air on CBC Gem.
Sharon has directed over 100 hours of popular television including: Death She Wrote for CTV, Song & Story Amazing Grace for the Oprah Winfrey Network, Merry Liddle Christmas Wedding and Secretly Santa for Lifetime, Hudson & Rex for CityTV, hit CBC series’ Murdoch Mysteries and Diggstown. Sharon has worked with some of the top talent in film and TV including: four-time Grammy Award Winner Kelly Rowland, Jason Priestly, Timothy Hutton, Doug Liman, and Clement Virgo. Her latest feature documentary, With Wonder (2021), is about the LGBTQI+ community’s grappling with the question: Can you be Christian and Queer? and it won the Audience Choice Award at Reelworld Film Festival Toronto, 2021.
At present Sharon is converging all of her experience, storytelling skills and directorial knowledge to fully realize her talent as an exceptional filmmaker. She is also continuing her work through her production company urbansoul inc on developing genre features and scripted TV series, highlighting the stories and talents of black women, black queer women, and the BIPOC 2SLGBTQ+ community.
Awards & Nominations
Murdoch Mysteries (television series)
2022 Nomination, Best Direction, Drama Series, Canadian Screen Awards
Death She Wrote (television movie)
2022 Nomination, Best Direction, TV Movie, Canadian Screen Awards
Paranormal Nightshift (television series)
2021 Nomination, Best Direction, Factual, Canadian Screen Awards
(for eps. Clown Boy’s Revenge, She Follows Me, and I.T.)
2021 Nomination, Best Direction, Factual, Canadian Screen Awards
(for eps. Night Radio, Lady in Red, and Spirit Alley)
It’s My Party (television series)
2020 Nomination, Best Direction in a Children’s or Youth Program or Series, Canadian Screen Awards
Brown Girl Begins (feature film)
2018 Nomination, Jury Prize, Pan African Film Festival
2018 Nomination, Youth Prize, Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival
2018 Special Merit Mention, IndieFEST Awards
2018 Nomination, Outstanding World Cinema Award, Black Reel Awards
2017 Nomination, Best Feature Film, Urbanworld Film Festival
2017 Nomination, Best Narrative Feature Film, Montreal Black Film Festival
2015 Finalist, Telefilm Canada / TIFF Pitch This! Competition
2010 Recipient, Quebecor Convergence Media Fellowship
2010 Recipient, WIDC BANFF Fellowship Award
Chains (short)
2009 Best Horror/Sci-fi Short, Eugene International Film Festival
2009 Nomination, Best Short Film, Chicago International Film Festival
2004 Nominee, Best TV Host, Leo Awards
2004 Nominee, Best TV Host, Canadian Screen Awards (formerly Gemini Awards)