Laurens Grant

Movies

For All Humankind
Director
Discover the story of humanity and space exploration as witnessed in the interrelated events of 1968 and 2020.
For All Humankind
Executive Producer
Discover the story of humanity and space exploration as witnessed in the interrelated events of 1968 and 2020.
A Crime on the Bayou
Consulting Producer
A Crime on the Bayou is the story of Gary Duncan, a Black teenager from Plaquemines Parish, a swampy strip of land south of New Orleans. In 1966, Duncan tries to break up an argument between white and Black teenagers outside a newly integrated school. He gently lays his hand on a white boy’s arm. The boy recoils like a snake. That night, police burst into Duncan’s trailer and arrest him for assault on a minor. A young Jewish attorney, Richard Sobol, leaves his prestigious D.C. firm to volunteer in New Orleans. With his help, Duncan bravely stands up to a racist legal system powered by a white supremacist boss to challenge his unfair arrest. Their fight goes all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and their lifelong friendship is forged.
The Campaigns That Made History
Executive Producer
Dive into the unexpected twists and turns that have highlighted presidential politics over the last half-century with a focus on the 10 most surprising and shocking political contests, leaning into the personalities and the brawls, the unlikely moments, missteps and backstabbings that would shape the history of the country forever.
Black in Space: Breaking the Color Barrier
Director
America's experiences during the Civil Rights Movement and the Space Race are well documented. However, few know about the moment these two worlds collided, when the White House and NASA scrambled to put the first black astronaut into orbit. This is the untold story of the decades-long battle between the U.S. and the Soviet Union to be the first superpower to bring diversity to the skies, told by the black astronauts and their families, who were part of this little known chapter of the Cold War.
Mr. SOUL!
Consulting Producer
On the heels of the Civil Rights Movement, one fearless black pioneer reconceived a Harlem Renaissance for a new era, ushering giants and rising stars of black American culture onto the national television stage. He was hip. He was smart. He was innovative, political, and gay. In his personal fight for social equality, this man ensured the Revolution would be televised. The man was Ellis Haizlip. The Revolution was soul!
Stay Woke: The Black Lives Matter Movement
Director
Documentary about the Black Lives Matter movement.
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
Producer
The story of the Black Panthers is often told in a scatter of repackaged parts, often depicting tragic, mythic accounts of violence and criminal activity; but this is an essential story, vibrant, human; a living and breathing chronicle of a pivotal movement that birthed a new revolutionary culture in America.
Jesse Owens
Producer
Jesse Owens details Jesse's early career; describes Adolf Hitler s outsized ambitions for the 1936 Olympics; explores the movement in Western democracies to boycott the event; and explains the pressures on Owens to attend. The film also explores why, despite his success in Germany, Owens struggled to find a place for himself in a United States that was still wrestling with its own deeply entrenched racism.
Jesse Owens
Director
Jesse Owens details Jesse's early career; describes Adolf Hitler s outsized ambitions for the 1936 Olympics; explores the movement in Western democracies to boycott the event; and explains the pressures on Owens to attend. The film also explores why, despite his success in Germany, Owens struggled to find a place for himself in a United States that was still wrestling with its own deeply entrenched racism.
Freedom Riders
Producer
This is the story of more than four hundred Americans who participated in a bold and dangerous experiment designed to awaken the conscience of a complacent nation. These self-proclaimed, 'Freedom Riders' challenged the mores of a racially segregated society by performing a disarmingly simple act.
Rokia: Voice of a New Generation
Screenplay
Documentary about the life and career of Rokia Traoré, a musician from Mali, an African country, who is one of the few women in her country, perhaps the only one, who manages to have a career in music. She's recorded with Kronos Quartet, and lives between France and Mali.
Rokia: Voice of a New Generation
Director
Documentary about the life and career of Rokia Traoré, a musician from Mali, an African country, who is one of the few women in her country, perhaps the only one, who manages to have a career in music. She's recorded with Kronos Quartet, and lives between France and Mali.