she/her

Direct Contact
Hillview 798 Productions

Email Direct Contact

Talent Agent
WME Agency
(310) 285-9000 phone

Manager
Metamorphic Entertainment
Adesuwa McCalla
(310) 235-3152 phone

Hanelle M. Culpepper is an Emmy-nominated director known for bringing cinematic scale and emotionally grounded storytelling to some of television’s most ambitious dramas and franchises.

After directing acclaimed series including American Crime, Gotham, How to Get Away with Murder and Star Trek: Discovery, Culpepper was chosen to launch Star Trek: Picard, becoming the first woman in the franchise’s history to direct the premiere of a new Star Trek series. Her work on the pilot, “Remembrance,” earned her an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series.

That breakthrough led Culpepper to direct Westworld, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, and True Story and to become an EP and pilot director of Kung Fu. She then stepped into another iconic sci-fi universe, Star Wars: The Acolyte.

Culpepper's stellar directing of the finale of Paradise earned her a 2026 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, becoming only the second Black woman to ever accomplish that.

Alongside her work behind the camera, Culpepper mentors upcoming filmmakers as a Guest Artistic Director of AFI's DWW+. She has also served in leadership roles with the Television Academy and the DGA.

Her upcoming projects include Apple TV+’s adaptation of William Gibson’s landmark science-fiction novel Neuromancer and feature adaptations of Amari and the Night Brothers and 1000 Miles.

Grimm S4E9 "Wesenrein"

American Crime S1E5 "Episode Five"

Gotham S3 E10 "Mad City: Time Bomb"