4 Things to Know About Nia DaCosta, the Insanely Impressive Captain Marvel 2 Director

According to a 2019 interview with IndieWire, DaCosta figured out early on that she wanted to be a filmmaker – and it all started with AP English in high school. “After we read the book [Heart of Darkness], we watched Apocalypse Now, because it’s an adaptation, and I fell in love with the movie, as well as the harrowing story about its making, and I fell in love with Coppola’s audacity.”

A New York native, she later attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and eventually became a production assistant in her quest to work her way up the industry ladder. In 2015, she was selected for the 2015 Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Labs, where she developed a script that would become her first feature: Little Woods.

DaCosta has only been on the scene for a short while, but she’s already making a splash in all the right ways. “I just want to tell good stories in ways that will shine light on lives rarely seen on screen, because stories can push humanity forward,” she told IndieWire. “And so I think a diversity of stories is really important in raising awareness and creating empathy. It’s through this medium of film that many of us learn about and communicate with one another, especially with people we don’t know.”

You bet! Like so many millennials, DaCosta often shares her thoughts on Twitter, @NiaDaCosta. She doesn’t currently have her own Instagram, though, so make sure not to follow any fake accounts pretending to be her!