filM + DIRECTING

intermission (late development)

A NEW SHORT FILM WRITTEN + DIRECTED BY MCKENZIE CHINN

Currently in late development and awaiting full funding. Writer/director McKenzie Chinn was awarded a grant from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, which will serve as the project’s initial funding.

In Intermission, former collaborators and lovers, Marlowe and Zora, haven’t seen one another in nearly 30 years, let alone performed together. Now, reunited on the opening night of the new play that has brought them back into each other’s orbits, they must reconcile the choices made in their past in order to embark upon their future.

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a real one

A SHORT FILM WRITTEN + DIRECTED BY MCKENZIE CHINN

A bright teenager on Chicago’s south side learns the power and beauty of true friendship when a closely-held secret is discovered amid the final weeks of her senior year in high school.

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A REAL ONE is the stand-alone short film and proof-of-concept for the Sundance supported feature of the same name, starring Eris Baker + Ireon Roach. The short film screened at film festivals across the U.S. and was long-listed for Academy Award consideration after winning the Gold Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival.

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KEERAH AT DEFINITION THEATRE

MCKENZIE RETURNS TO DEFINITION THEATRE TO DIRECT THE WORLD PREMIERE OF KEERAH BY NETTA WALKER

JUNE 2026

keerah follows two aspiring young writers who meet in a Chicago neighborhood on the cusp of gentrification. Ciara, a Black American poet, and Cormac, an Irish writer on a J1 visa. They connect over their shared love of language, literature, and the art of cruelty. What begins as fun flirtation transforms into an intense summer romance—until immigration, bad decisions, and unspoken truths tear them apart. 

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ALAIYO AT DEFINITION THEATRE

MCKENZIE MADE HER STAGE DIRECTORIAL DEBUT WITH ALAIYO BY MICAH ARIEL WATSON AT DEFINITION THEATRE

FEB 2023

When she realizes that she's in love with her best friend Kofi, hopeless romantic Ariel sets out on a quest to tell him how she feels...and make a pilgrimage to the shores of Africa. Inspired by A RAISIN IN THE SUN, Ariel seeks to heal a 400 year old wound through her journey toward selfhood. As she grapples with the gray space of being neither fully African nor fully American, she uncovers the darkest parts of herself and the sweet spots in her Black American identity. This choreopoem samples the old and makes space for the new as Ariel sails to Ghana to confess her love to Kofi.

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FIRST YOU NEED A BODY

A poetrymusic video by Growing Concerns Poetry Collective, Directed by McKenzie Chinn

Type Love

A music video by Mykele Deville, directed by McKenzie Chinn and Gregory Dixon

OLYMPIA (Trailer)

A feature film written by and starring McKenzie Chinn, Directed by Gregory Dixon

Now streaming on Amazon Prime