Creative Connect: Sam Bailey

Monday, February 9, 2026 at 12:00 PM until 1:00 PMCentral Standard Time UTC -06:00

Frances Searle 1-421
2240 Campus Dr
Evanston, IL 60201
United States

Join us for our second Creative Connect of the year, with TV writer and director Sam Bailey! This event is free and open to the public; lunch will be provided for all attendees.

Our Creative Connect speaker series brings impactful leaders from creative industries to share their career journeys and insights with the MSLCE program and the Northwestern community in intimate, conversational settings.

Sam Bailey is an Emmy-nominated writer and director from Chicago. Bailey directed and co-executive produced the first 3 episodes of Marvel's series IRONHEART. She is the co-creator of the acclaimed Emmy-nominated webseries BROWN GIRLS and the creator of the Gotham-nominated webseries YOU'RE SO TALENTED, which premiered at Tribeca.

Bailey served as a producer and director on the final season of Netflix’s DEAR WHITE PEOPLE and a director on the show's previous season. Bailey directed the Powderkeg digital series EAST OF LA BREA (SXSW Selectee, Urban World Film Festival Winner) and several episodes of television, including GROWN-ISH and THE CHI. Bailey received praise for her examination of gender and patriarchy in her short film MASCULINE/MASCULINE, which premiered on Vice. Bailey's work has been featured in many publications, and she was included on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, The Root’s 100 Most Influential African Americans, and received Shadow and Act’s Rising Award. Sam was recently awarded OTV's inaugural Beyond The Screen Legacy Award in honor of their ten-year anniversary.