Shirah Dedman had a diverse career in the entertainment industry -- with positions at William Morris Agency, DirectTV and Paramount Pictures -- before her desire to create, a passion for storytelling, and the journey into health led her to pursue independent filmmaking. 

She is the filmmaker of two widely-released documentaries:  Follow the Drinking Gourd (2019) and YOU A NOMAD (2017).

Follow the Drinking Gourd is a feature documentary that explores the Black food justice movement by connecting slavery, landloss, climate change and food autonomy. It has screened at over a dozen domestic and international film festivals, and is currently available for streaming on kweliTV.

YOU A NOMAD, a short documentary that deconstructs the depopulation of African-Americans from cities, received support from the 2016 Cucalorus Work-In-Progress Program, screened at Netroots Nation 2018, and was licensed by Free Speech TV.

In addition, Let Her In (2016) an Afrofuturist short film she directed, produced and co-edited, was selected for several international film festivals and licensed by Shorts TV.

Shirah holds a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Southern California, and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Food and Agricultural Law from the University of Arkansas.