The South Branch of Alliance of Women Directors (AWD) is steered by a dynamic group of women with years of combined experience in the film industry, including television and related fields of media.
The AWD South Chair, Leadership Committee, and Advisory Team work to further AWD’s mission of advocating for, supporting, and educating women-identifying and gender-expansive directors in the Southeast.
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Women and gender-expansive directors who wish to apply should visit our Join page and fill out an application. Please check yes to the question: If you reside in the Southeast, will you be affiliated with the AWD South Branch? Note: All AWD members receive the same benefits. Emails about events and local partnerships are tailored to the AWD South branch. Please contact us via email at info@allianceofwomendirectors.org with any questions.
Co-Chairs of AWD South
AWD South Leadership Committee
AWD South Advisory Board
Cas Sigers Beedles
Cas Sigers Beedles is a professional writer, director, and producer with over 18 years of experience. In 2021, Cas wrote and directed the all-female heist film Scheme Queens, which premiered in the winter of 2022 on BET and aired on Apple and Amazon in the summer of 2023. Her most recent projects are A Mother’s Intuition, a suspense drama she directed, starring Denise Boutte, airing on TVOne and Lifetime, and The Match, a suspense thriller she wrote and directed, starring Brittany S. Hall and Lanre Idewu, airing on AMCs Allblk Fall 2024.
Cas has written and sold over twenty screenplays for various television networks, studios, and production houses.
She has written and produced many of the highest-debut television movies for multiple networks. Some of her television films include Where’s the Love, Girlfriends Getaway 1 & 2, and Welcome to the Family. Other titles include the NAACP Image Award-nominated Sugar Mommas, Between Sisters, and A Cross to Bear. Her most famous film is the biopic drama When Love Kills, the Falicia Blakely Story. This film was nominated for two NAACP Image Awards, Outstanding Writing and Outstanding TV Feature.
Through Nina Holiday Entertainment, her production company formed in 2008, Cas has had three films released through Viacom. Angrily Ever After, Hip Hop Holiday, and T’was the Chaos before Christmas, one of the highest-rated Christmas films in BET history, and nominated for a 2020 NAACP Image Award for outstanding writing. In March 2020, Cas had her writer/director debut with the release of her feature film Open, a drama about a couple in an open marriage starring Keith Robinson, Matt Cedeno, and Essence Atkins. Also, in 2020, Cas directed Mediator, a psychological thriller about a missing children’s counselor being haunted by one of her cases. In 2021, Cas penned Sugar Plum Twist, which aired on Hallmark during the holiday of 2021. In 2022, Cas had two projects for Hallmark’s new Mahogany initiative. Gracie Award-winning Unthinkably Good Things and The Holiday Stocking was Mahogany’s first Christmas film.
Cas is a member of the Writer’s Guild of America and the Producer’s Guild. Through Kensington Press Publication, she has authored six fiction novels. Most importantly, she is the mother of two exceptional children, Kingston and Brooklyn Beedles.
Kristen McGary
Kristen McGary's feature directorial debut, THE ADVENTURES OF OCIEE NASH, starring Keith Carradine and Mare Winningham, was distributed by 20th Century Fox for DVD/Home Video release, HBO Central Europe, and Netflix. The script, adapted by Kristen and Amy McGary from a Milam McGraw Propst novel, won the Southeastern Mediamakers Award from IMAGE (now Atlanta Film Society). “Ociee” also won an iParenting Media Award and was awarded five doves by the Dove Foundation. “Ociee” was named in the top twenty sales of family feature films for home video rental in Video Business Magazine (Jan, 2006). McGary's short film “Rain” was awarded a 2016 Accolade Award for Excellence: Women Filmmakers, and was selected along with 30 international films to be presented worldwide in the Women in Film International Shortcase (2016). McGary won a 2006 CINE Golden Eagle Award and was nominated for a 2008 Southeastern Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Directing: Short Form for "The Intruder Within" for the GA Coalition Against Domestic Violence. McGary is one of a handful of directors also shooting their own work. McGary is a member of the DGA, Directing category, IATSE, Women in Film and Television Atlanta, and Film Fatales, Atlanta.
Lou Simón
Loou Simón has been working nonstop since 2011 when she wrote her first screenplay. In the past 14 years, she has written, produced and directed seven features and one short film. Her films have won various awards and received distribution throughout the world. Her features include: HazMat, Agoraphobia, All Girls Weekend, 3:An Eye for An Eye, and 73 Minutes. Her last film, 9 Windows, with William Forsythe and Michael Paré, was just released by Gravitas Ventures in October, 2024.
Terri J. Vaughn
Terri J. Vaughn is the definition of multi-hyphenate magic. A three-time NAACP Image Award winner, she broke out as America’s favorite homegirl, Lovita Alizé Jenkins, on The Steve Harvey Show — and she’s been stealing scenes and stacking credits ever since.
From cult classics like Friday and Don’t Be a Menace… to bold TV hits like Soul Food, All of Us, and Meet The Browns, Terri has always brought heart, humor, and tons of charisma to the screen. She’s brought her talents to Ava DuVernay’s Cherish The Day, BounceTV’s Johnson, and HBO’s Insecure, where her recurring guest role was so memorable it spun off into the hit comedic podcast series We Stay Looking — a Webby Award winner (x3!) produced by Issa Rae’s Raedio and TenderfootTV.
In 2025, she’s shaking up Netflix as Antoinette Dunkerson in Miss Governor — the sharp, satirical comedy series she co-created with Niya Palmer and entertainment mogul Tyler Perry.
Behind the camera, Terri is a force. She’s directed everything from soul-stirring dramas (Kingdom Business) to laugh-out-loud holiday hits (‘Twas The Chaos Before Christmas, Christmas Belles) and even brought Hallmark its first-ever Gracie Award with Unthinkably Good Things, shot on location in beautiful Rome, Italy. Her signature? Real characters, great vibes, and stories that feel like home.
Her directing credits span several projects for BET, Paramount, ABC Studios, Disney, Viacom, and Hulu — including Reasonable Doubt and Bunk’d. She made her directorial debut with the self-produced indie hit #DigitalLivesMatter, bringing together viral comedy stars like DC Young Fly and B. Simone for a modern-day Friday.
As co-founder of Nina Holiday Entertainment, Terri has produced over 16 projects with longtime creative partner Cas Sigers-Beedles. In 2025, Terri launched TJV Enterprises — debuting her original Netflix series Miss Governor and setting the stage for what’s next in her ever-evolving creative empire.
Terri J. Vaughn is not just showing up — she’s building legacy, shifting culture, and creating lasting impact, all while leading with joy, heart and laughter.
Represented by Buchwald Talent Agency www.TJVenterprises.com / www.TerriJVaughnDirector.com
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