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Natalie Holly Purviance

"I believe stories are living forces. They can heal, rebuild, and imagine the worlds we deserve."

I am a Haitian-American writer, filmmaker, and educator working at the intersection of story and social change. My work weaves together acting, writing, filmmaking, education, and language innovation.

After beginning as a performer in New York theater, I moved behind the scenes to write and produce stories centered on underrepresented voices. I associate-produced White for ITVS’s Futurestates series, which premiered at SXSW, Tribeca, and the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival. I later moved to Haiti, teaching Leadership for Social Change at the university level and supporting a USAID-funded housing initiative for displaced communities. During this time, I also developed a television pilot selected for the CaribbeanTales Incubator at the Toronto International Film Festival and was commissioned to produce a short educational film on sustainable agriculture by the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine campus.

Today, I am developing The Radical Experiment of Haiti, a documentary that will explore migration, democracy, and collective action through the lens of my ancestral ties to abolitionist James Theodore Holly.

My writing has appeared in Harper’s Magazine, The Haitian Times, and elsewhere. A finalist for the Writers Guild of America East’s Made in NY Writers Room, I am expanding to bridge storytelling and technology through applied natural language processing, developing ethical language systems that defend truth across cultures.

Raised in Queens, NY, I am fluent in Haitian Creole and French and am committed to reimagining how stories can shape a more just and connected world.