EXCLUSIVE: Arlene Nelson, the director known for her work on such unscripted series as Angel City and Secrets of Playboy, has signed with UTA for representation in all areas.
“I’m thrilled to be working with UTA,” Nelson told Deadline. “UTA’s track record of representing talented directors and its commitment to bringing distinctive and wide-ranging voices to the forefront of the industry, makes it the ideal partner to represent me.”
Nelson most recently directed Angel City, an HBO Original Series following the inaugural season of Angel City Football Club, a National Women’s Soccer League team born out of the Time’s Up movement and founded by Natalie Portman, along with a female-led ownership group including Eva Longoria, Jennifer Garner, Mia Hamm, Becky G and Serena Williams.
Prior to that three-parter, which debuted on HBO May 16th, Nelson helmed an episode of Apple TV+’s docuseries Gutsy with Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, also co-directing A&E’s Secrets of Playboy, a 10-part series investigating the dark underbelly of the Playboy world, which last year won the Critics’ Choice Real TV Award for Best Crime/Justice Show.
Also known for her Emmy-nominated work as a cinematographer on series like PBS’ American Masters, Nelson series-directed and served as lead DP on Ava DuVernay’s Home Sweet Home. She made her directorial debut with the award-winning HBO trilogy Naked States, Naked World and Positively Naked, spotlighting artist Spencer Tunick, with the first title winning the Discovery Award for Best Documentary at the AFI Film Festival.
As a DP, Nelson has worked with such notable directors as Christopher Guest, DuVernay, Agnès Varda and Morgan Neville, to name just a few.