Adia Ivey is a filmmaker based in Chicago, currently living in LA. As a director, Ivey is drawn to isolated characters who find connection in unexpected places. They blend genres to explore self-discovery and intergenerational healing.

Interning at Kartemquin in 2019, they discovered impact producing and grew interested in making storytelling a communal experience that lives beyond the screen. This inspiration expanded to co-founding The Reservoir Collective, a mutual-aid collective focused on creating sustainable systems of care for queer trans and/or disabled artists, which has hosted five local screenings thus far and partnered with other Chicago organizations for gear swaps and workshops.

Ivey’s fellowship with OpenTelevision in 2021 led to developing MANIFOLD, a docuseries following the stories of Chicago's Black and Queer artists, organizers and everyday people. The series has screened at Chicago’s Reeling, Black Alphabet, Flip The Script, Gary International Black Film Festival and Irepetra International Documentary Festival. MANIFOLD is available on OTV’s streaming platform. In 2024, Ivey was a semifinalist for New Fest + Concord’s Sound & Scene program. In 2025, Ivey was selected to attend GLAAD’s Black Queer Creative Summit.

Most recently, Ivey directed four short films with premieres at Indie Night Film Festival, Indie Film LA, The Great Film Club, and The Film & Fabric Screening Series. They are writing and developing two feature films through AFI’s producing program, from which they graduated in 2025. When they are not making films, they’re either hiking, painting, or trying to learn how to surf (and most likely falling off their board, but that’s okay).