Crystal McCrary
Crystal McCrary is an award-winning film, television producer, director and author. She began her career practicing entertainment law with the New York City firm of Paul Weiss before leaving to pursue a full-time career in writing, directing and producing. Since that time, she has written for several magazines, published two New York Times best-selling novels, and produced original programming for TV & Film including HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE, GOTHAM DIARIES and INSPIRATION: Profiles of Black Women Changing Our World. She also produced the independent film DIRTY LAUNDRY (FOX Films) and for six seasons Ms. McCrary served as co-creator/executive producer for the NAACP Image Award nominated BET documentary series LEADING WOMEN and LEADING MEN which profiled women and men who have impacted the country socially, politically and culturally. She also created and executive produced the three-part documentary series INSIDE: Black Culture profiling The Studio Museum in Harlem, Evidence Dance Company and Abyssinian Baptist Church.
Most recently, Ms. McCrary directed and produced the feature-length documentary along with Amar'e Stoudemire and Lupe Fiasco, LITTLE BALLERS, which premiered on Nickelodeon Sports this past February. She has just begun production on 2 new films, LITTLE BALLERS-Indiana with Skylar Diggins and a short film on the NAACP Legal Defense Fund for their 75th anniversary.
Ms. McCrary published the New York Times Best-selling novels HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE (Harper Collins) and GOTHAM DIARIES (Hyperion). She also produced the independent film DIRTY LAUNDRY (FOX Films). For six seasons Ms. McCrary served as co-creator/executive producer for the NAACP Image Award nominated BET documentary series LEADING WOMEN and LEADING MEN which profiled women and men who have impacted the country socially, politically and culturally. The series included profiles on Dr. Maya Angelou, Patti LaBelle, Lisa Leslie, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Debra Martin Chase, Wynton Marsalis, Wyclef Jean, Hill Harper and Terrance Howard to name a few. She also created and executive produced the three-part documentary series INSIDE: Black Culture profiling The Studio Museum in Harlem, Evidence Dance Company and Abyssinian Baptist Church.
Ms. McCrary also directed and produced the feature-length documentary, LITTLE BALLERS, which chronicles the lives and challenges of four socially and culturally diverse eleven-year old basketball players and their journey to the AAU National Championship. The film features interviews with Carmelo Anthony, Steve Nash, Russell Westbrook, Joakim Noah, Amar'e Stoudemire, Walt "Clyde" Frazier, Tyson Chandler among others. LITTLE BALLERS premiered on Nickelodeon's Sports block in February of 2015.
Crystal’s most recent book, INSPIRATION: PROFILES OF BLACK WOMEN CHANGING OUR WORLD was published by Harry N. Abrams, March, 2012 and includes profiles of Judith Jamison, Shonda Rhimes, First Lady Michelle Obama, Debra Lee, Venus Williams, Thelma Golden, Ruby Dee, Whoopi Goldberg, Gayle King, Marian Wright Edelman, Misty Copeland, Mary J. Blige, Soledad O’brien, Mellody Hobson, Keke Palmer and many others.
Dedicated to and outspoken on education, children’s rights and women’s issues, Ms. McCrary has appeared on several national television shows including Good Morning America, The TODAY Show, and CNN. Ms. McCrary has also appeared as a guest co-host on ABC’s The View. She has also interviewed President Bill Clinton and Mayor Michael Bloomberg for her television shows. Ms. McCrary was named to Crain’s-New York Business Forty Under Forty.
Ms. McCrary is a cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and New York University School of Law and American University (J.D., 1995). Ms. McCrary also studied International European Community Law in Paris, France. She lives in New York City with her husband three