mars verrone
Photo Credit: Xander Opiyo
Mars Verrone is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker, musician (harpist/vocalist), educator and model from Los Angeles, CA, currently based in Brooklyn, NY.
Most recently, Mars directed, produced, edited and composed original music for their short documentary, BUCKSKIN, about their grandfather, Carroll B. Williams Jr., a ground-breaking African-American forester. They also produced feature documentary, WHO MOVES AMERICA (dir. Yael Bridge), which was funded by ITVS. Both films premiered at the True/False Film Fest 2026.
As a first-time producer, Mars produced Oscar-shortlisted feature documentary UNION, (dir. Stephen Maing, Brett Story) which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. Documentary Competition and won a special jury prize for “The Art of Change.” As producer, Mars received a Cinema Eye Honors Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Production.” The film was distributed by PBS POV and the Criterion Channel. In 2026, UNION was nominated for the “Best Documentary” Emmy award.
In 2022, Mars directed, produced and edited short documentary GOLDEN VOICE, which continues to be programmed at LGBTQ+ festivals and events across the globe.
Mars is a Sundance Documentary Producers Fellow, NBC Original Voices Artist Mentor and Fellow, PGA Create Fellow, Firelight Media Impact Fellow, Brown Girls Doc Mafia Sustainable Artist Fellow and Dear Producer Mentee. In 2026, Mars was selected as one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Film,” and in 2024, they were selected for DOC NYC’s “40 Under 40” cohort. Their work has been supported by Sundance Institute, Ford Foundation, Field of Vision, and the International Documentary Association, among others.
Mars is currently working on their feature directorial debut and first album. For modeling inquiries, Mars is represented by Click Model Management.
The Indypendent, Interview: How The Indie Amazon Labor Documentary “Union” Self-Distributed
Upstream, From the Frontlines: Organizing Against Amazon w/ Chris Smalls and Mars Verrone
Dear Producer, Samantha Curley and Mars Verrone on Producing UNION and Distribution Beyond Sundance