Peres Owino

Emmy-Nominated Kenyan-American Writer, Director, Actor, and Producer

Peres Owino is an Emmy-nominated Kenyan-American storyteller whose work spans film, television, and theater. Her directorial debut, the 2014 docu-drama “BOUND: Africans vs African-Americans,” earned critical acclaim, winning the Women In Film Lena Sharpe Award at the Seattle International Film Festival and the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Pan African Film & Arts Festival in Los Angeles.

Owino co-wrote the 2024 Emmy-winning Netflix series “African Queens – Njinga,” which also received a nomination at the Buzzies from the World Congress of Science and Factual Producers. She followed this success by co-writing the global hit “Queen Cleopatra,” nominated for the 2023 National Film Awards.

In television, Owino has developed multiple projects, including a half-hour comedy for Warner Bros. TV, a historical drama with Gaumont TV US, and an untitled K-drama supported by the Seoul Film Commission.

Her feature films currently in pre-production include “The Boy and The Elephant” and “The Basket Weaver” — the latter a finalist in the Universal Studios GTDI Writing Competition and winner of the NYWIFT Writers Lab (supported by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman). Her recent short film, “Stray,” was produced by 20th Century Fox Digital and featured in Hulu’s Best of Huluween.

Owino also penned “Seasons of Love” (produced by Taraji P. Henson and Lifetime TV), which earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Writing of a Television Movie in 2015.

A classically trained actor, Owino is an LA Ovation Award nominee who has performed in numerous plays across New York and Los Angeles, taking on leading roles such as Hamlet in Hamlet: Princess of Nubia and Lady Macbeth in Mocbet. Her screen appearances include the feature film “Default” opposite David Oyelowo, as well as voice work in Christopher Nolan’s “Inception,” Sacha Baron Cohen’s “The Brothers Grimsby,” and Hulu’s “The Looming Tower.”

In addition to film and television, Owino is a playwright, novelist, and stand-up performer. Her theatrical works include Cut (premiered at The Walt Disney Concert Hall and REDCAT) and her one-woman show Beauty For Ashes. Her debut novel, “On The Verge,” was published by Underground Voices.

She studied improv at the Groundlings School and stand-up comedy under Judy Carter. Owino is represented by Creative Artists Agency (CAA), RMG, and Morris, Yorn, Levine et al.