Kirby Marshall-Collins

✨ That’s a wrap on @waystoflyshort ! ✨ A year ago, I decided that this script should be my (short) film directorial debut. From writer to writer/director/executive producer (production designer, etc.) in one fell swoop. Quiet as it’s kept, I wondered if we’d make it more than a few times. Production is HARD, and there’s so much to figure out before you get to the actual filming. Through it all, I had so many friends, family, and strangers who kept me going with their enthusiasm and belief in me and what I was making. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for helping us fly 💖 Can’t wait to show you what we’ve created. If you want to help us pay for Post Production (and the extra costs of production), head to the link in bio to give! Produced, Written, and Directed By @kirbysaid Starring | @kyriemcalpin @facarmelle @zaireadavis @ashley_chatman Dance Students | @ia.pea @ellaroseg23 Producers | @aye_effie @c_estpasmoi 1st AD | @rachmfrank Director of Photography | @iambrimonet Steadicam Op | @badbitchsteadi 1st AC | @therealgent_ 2nd AC | @mike.radeff Gaffer | @gaffernerd Key Grip | @tonehammond G&E Swing | @eakinnitire Production Sound Mixer | @josejrodriguezluna Boom | @hilaryfdoe HMUA | @g.palm.makeup Script Supervisor | PAGES Matam Production Assistants | @abcdefghess @braedon.walters @brockfeb Tye Nevarez Gear via @panavisionofficial #PanavisionNFP and @specialpurposelightingandgrip Special thanks to our @indiegogo supports, @laperformancepractice for my Emerging Artists Grant, which I put into our budget, and all of you for supporting us this far!

forgive the little throwback to last year’s room. I realized I didn’t have this on the grid, and it took a lot of work to get this little screenshot (and to get into such a great room with great people that I still talk to) 💖

✨ I claimed 2022 as the year of the fellowships, and Y’ALL, I booked the HARDEST FREAKING one!! The Disney General Entertainment Writing Program is an ultra competitive, highly selective, annual TV staffing program that’s entire goal is to staff emerging TV writers on DGE shows. And out of the thousands of people who applied, you know who got in? ME! The same kid who cancelled plans with friends for a new episode of “Kim Possible,” the same one who got her first laptop and immediately wrote her own season of “Suite Life of Zack and Cody” and a version of “High School Musical 2” because I was convinced I knew how the sequel would go. (I was very wrong, but the tone is spot on!) It’s always been my dream to work for and write for Disney, and half of that just came true. The other half (the writing half) still TBD, but that’s what this year is for! Staffing in 2023 baby, let’s get it! 🤸🏽‍♀️ Thank you, thank you, thank you to the entire DGE CTDI Team. Thank you to my friends and family. Thanks for your enthusiasm and your hope and rocking with me on this journey. Swipe for a few fun surprises. And idk, stay tuned bc I can’t wait to see what happens now that I’ve got the Mouse on my side. ✨

Happy Mother’s Day to everyone making dreams come true and doing a little negotiation along the way 💐💆🏾‍♀️🥰 @waystoflyshort is a love letter to Black girlhood and motherhood. Thank you to @facarmelle and @kyriemcalpin for inhabiting this so beautifully. #LosAngeles 📍you can watch “Ways to Fly” next Saturday, 5/16 at @believepsychologyfilmfest ! 🎟️ in 🔗 ⬆️ 🎥 Clip from “Ways to Fly,” directed and written by @kirbysaid , with cinematography by @iambrimonet and original score composed by @keylolo812 . #HappyMothersDay #MotherhoodOnFilm #BlackMotherhood #Motherhood

Y’all, @waystoflyshort is an official nominee at next month’s @believepsychologyfilmfest 💫 Honored, excited, and really so ready to share “Ways” in a space dedicated to understanding how our minds work! And we get to screen in LA again! Catch us in Block A on Saturday, May 16th. Tix 🔗 on our page! #BelievePsychologyFilmFestival #BlackFilm #ADHD #ADHDAwareness #LAFilmFestival

paper towel holder was so reflective that it brightened my day + other little pockets of joy! Charcuterie, artfully arranged by Ro! Zoom with Mike in surprise matching fits! Souvenirs from the best bday tourney! Circle mirror selfie! I’m smiling like this Paddington puppet at the Oscars fr.

💫WAYS TO FLY is headed to SEATTLE for the Seattle Black Film Festival! SBFF runs in person from April 30th to May 3rd and will have a Virtual Festival too! YES, YOU CAN SEE @waystoflyshort ONLINE FOR A LIMITED TIME! Details to come 🦋 ABOUT @waystoflyshort •• When her barrettes mess up her pirouettes, an excitable, hyper-focused Black girl must power through the distractions — and her mother’s expectations — to fly like the ballerinas do. WRITTEN, DIRECTED, AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY: Kirby Marshall-Collins @kirbysaid DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY | Briana Monet @iambrimonet EDITOR | Jill Sarao COMPOSER | Logan Johnson EXECUTIVE PRODUCER | Kirby Marshall-Collins PRODUCERS | Efa Akutekha, Musau Onwubiko CAST - NIA | Kyrie McAlpin @kyriemcalpin MISSY | Zaire Davis @zaireadavis RENEE / MOM | Fadhia Carmelle Marcelin @facarmelle DANCE TEACHER | Ashley Chatman @theashleyclarice DANCE STUDENTS | Sophia Peabody, Chloe Watson, Ella Rose Garrison, Sariah Hunter, Laila Keller ASST DIRECTOR | Rachel Frank PRODUCTION AND SET DESIGN | Kirby Marshall-Collins STEADICAM OPERATOR | Keitumetse Mokhonwana 1st ASST CAMERA | Christopher Gentry 2nd ASST CAMERA / DIT | Mike Radeff GAFFER | Blake Smith KEY GRIP | Tone Hammond G&E SWING | Emmanuel Akinnitire PRODUCTION SOUND MIXER | Jose Rodriguez-Luna BOOM OPERATOR | Hilary Fabian Rodriguez HAIR AND MAKE-UP | Gabriel Palm SCRIPT SUPERVISOR | PAGES Matam PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS | Madeleine Hess, Tye Nevarez, Braedon Walters, Jeremy Brockman Post Production Crew — EDITOR | Jill Sarao POST SOUND DESIGNER/MIXER | Marco Cordova COLORIST | Kaela Rae Jensen VFX | Ted Stanley MUSIC COMPOSED BY: Logan Johnson @keylolo812 #Ballet #WomensHistoryMonth #BlackInSeattle #SeattleBlackFilmFestival #SBFF26

WAYS TO FLY is headed to New York!! 🗽 Grab your tix now to watch us at #BAMKidsFilmFestival in Brooklyn next month! 📍ADVENTURES IN BRAVERY - SHORTS BLOCK 🗓️ Sat. 2/07, 01:15 PM 🗓️ Sun. 2/08, 12:50 PM 🎟️ /films/2026/bkff-adventures ABOUT @waystoflyshort •• When her barrettes mess up her pirouettes, an excitable, hyper-focused Black girl must power through the distractions — and her mother’s expectations — to fly like the ballerinas do. WRITTEN, DIRECTED, AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY: Kirby Marshall-Collins @kirbysaid DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY | Briana Monet @iambrimonet EDITOR | Jill Sarao COMPOSER | Logan Johnson EXECUTIVE PRODUCER | Kirby Marshall-Collins PRODUCERS | Efa Akutekha, Musau Onwubiko Full Cast — NIA | Kyrie McAlpin @kyriemcalpin MISSY | Zaire Davis @zaireadavis RENEE / MOM | Fadhia Carmelle Marcelin @facarmelle DANCE TEACHER | Ashley Chatman @theashleyclarice DANCE STUDENTS | Sophia Peabody, Chloe Watson, Ella Rose Garrison, Sariah Hunter, Laila Keller Full Crew — ASST DIRECTOR | Rachel Frank PRODUCTION AND SET DESIGN | Kirby Marshall-Collins STEADICAM OPERATOR | Keitumetse Mokhonwana 1st ASST CAMERA | Christopher Gentry 2nd ASST CAMERA / DIT | Mike Radeff GAFFER | Blake Smith KEY GRIP | Tone Hammond G&E SWING | Emmanuel Akinnitire PRODUCTION SOUND MIXER | Jose Rodriguez-Luna BOOM OPERATOR | Hilary Fabian Rodriguez HAIR AND MAKE-UP | Gabriel Palm SCRIPT SUPERVISOR | PAGES Matam PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS | Madeleine Hess, Tye Nevarez, Braedon Walters, Jeremy Brockman Post Production Crew — EDITOR | Jill Sarao POST SOUND DESIGNER/MIXER | Marco Cordova COLORIST | Kaela Rae Jensen VFX | Ted Stanley MUSIC COMPOSED BY: Logan Johnson @keylolo812 #BAMKids #ADHDKids #ADHD #brooklyn 🗽

💫 2025 cont • went to my first awards show, thanks to @b.l.a.c.k.b.o.y.w.r.i.t.e.s (and did a panel with Humanitas) • Curtis’ long con (to get me to Knott’s Scary) was finally successful 🎃 • Attended #WickedOneWonderfulNight and heard this amazing cast sing live. A win is a win 💫

⭐️ 2025 in pics of me since I often forget to share those! lots to say about probably the weirdest year of my life. I’m starting and ending 2025 at the same job, despite the unemployment stretch, some development stuff (🤞🏽), and my cake decorating saga. More to share probably but 2025 was a lot of discomfort and chasing joy where I could find it. also working (retail, cake decorating, unscripted PA, writing, editing, dog sitting). one of the best parts was seeing @waystoflyshort at festivals and connecting with audiences!! It’s doing exactly what I’d hoped, and I can’t wait to make more. One of my only trips this year was Sacramento for Oak Park Black FF. Got to see one of my besties, and let her be MUA for a bold look 💙 I spent so much of this year also grieving and grappling with what I’d thought this time would be for me. How I’d imagined things would be, professionally and otherwise. It’s still rough, but this year also really cemented how grateful and lucky am I to have met so many great people who continue to astonish me. With your lives and your stories and your support and your time. May 2026 be gentler and sweeter.

⭐️NEW DISRUPTING THE ALGORITHM ALERT!⭐️ Disruptors Fellowship alum Kirby Marshall-Collins (@kirbysaid ) stops by today’s episode to talk about the side hustles in between writing gigs and fellowships! Kirby is a Black TV writer and director who amplifies voices of color through ambitious, genre-bending stories. Kirby was a writer’s assistant on Season 4 of Nancy Drew on The CW and her short film “Ways to Fly” won a Panavision New Filmmaker Program Grant.   Kirby is drawn to shows that foster community and inspire hope, even in the bleakest of environments. Her love of character carries her through everything from supernatural dramas and network procedurals to fun and fantastical coming-of-age stories with a theme of self-advocacy. Kirby is a Disruptors alumni who was part of our program back in 2021. Visit the link in our bio to watch the full episode!

four WAYS TO FLY 🥰🦋 swipe for our trailer! Next up is #BHFF31 in Chicago! 🎬Join @waystoflyshort and an incredible lineup of filmmakers celebrating Black storytelling — 9 features, 9 shorts programs, and 70+ Chicago premieres from 12 countries, Nov. 7–16 @filmcenter After that, we’re at @cucalorus in Wilmington, NC! #CucalorusFilmFestival runs from Nov. 20-23! 🎟️ AVAILABLE FOR BOTH IN 🔗 • #PAFF #PanAfricanFilmFestival #OakParkBlackFilmFestival #OPBFF #OPBFF31 #ShortFilms #BlackFilmmakers #FemaleFilmmaker #FemaleFilmmakerFriday #FemaleFilmmakerEveryday