Morenike Joela Evans

Morenike Joela Evans is a Director, Writer and Creative Producer known for her calm leadership, clear vision and positive vibes on set. She's passionate about directing stories for TV & Film that are compelling, provoking and have heart. She's one of a handful African-American women actively working as a multi-cam director in scripted television who also directs single cam projects. She recently directed the hit CBS Comedy The Neighborhood, the successful reboot of iCarly for Paramount + and the much-anticipated series How I Met Your Father for Hulu. She's also directed 3 episodes of the NAACP Image Award Winning and Emmy-nominated hit Netflix series Family Reunion, the Disney hit Raven's Home and the newly released Nickelodeon Series That Girl Lay Lay. As a single-camera director, Morenike recently took the helm of the winter finale of the 1-hour CW series Legacies and directed three episodes of the Paramount+/Funny or Die series, Guilty Party starring Kate Beckinsale which premiered in October 2021. She has also directed episodes of the hit supernatural series The Secrets of Sulphur Springs for Disney+, episodes of Apple+ TV's series Puppy Place, and an episode of Season 2 of the Disney+ series Diary Of A Future President. In Fall of 2020, Morenike was selected as a participant in the highly competitive CBS Directing Initiative. She was also named one of 8 directors to watch after being selected to be in the Alliance of Woman Directors 2019-2020 Industry Support program! Most recently, she was selected to participate in the DGA Women's Steering Committee's inaugural mentorship program and, based on her request, was paired to be mentored by the iconic and legendary Debbie Allen! Her goal is to follow in the footsteps of the path that Ms. Allen has blazed as a multi-talented creative by directing pilots, serving as a Producing Director, writing and producing series , and even launching her own school-teaching future directors and producers of color through her MOJO Academy. Morenike transitioned to directing scripted television after an impressive career producing entertainment and docuseries for MTV News, BET, NBC, TNT, OWN, TV One and PBS. Originally from the DC area, earned her Master's in Film from The American University and is a proud Prairie View A&M undergraduate. She is married and raising two children in Los Angeles. If she wasn't working as a triple threat in the entertainment industry, she'd be Janet Jackson's backup dancer, a detective, or an archaeologist--in that order.