Hanelle M. Culpepper is an Emmy-nominated director known for bringing cinematic scale and emotionally grounded storytelling to some of television’s most ambitious dramas. Across prestige series, pilots and major franchises, her work is distinguished by an ability to build immersive worlds without losing sight of the characters at their center.

Her career has been marked by the trust to take on stories at defining moments. After directing acclaimed episodes of series including American Crime, Gotham, How to Get Away with Murder and Star Trek: Discovery, Culpepper was chosen to launch Star Trek: Picard, becoming the first woman in the franchise’s franchise’s 60‑plus‑year history to direct the premiere of a new Star Trek series. Her work on the pilot, “Remembrance,” earned her an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series.

That breakthrough led to increasingly ambitious work across both intimate drama and large-scale genre storytelling. Culpepper went on to direct Westworld, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey and True Story, and served as executive producer and pilot director of Kung Fu. She later crossed from the Star Trek universe into Star Wars, directing episodes of The Acolyte; becoming the first director to work across both television franchises.

Her work on Hulu’s Paradise marks another evolution. Culpepper’s direction of “Exodus,” the sweeping and emotional Season Two finale, earned her a 2026 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, making her only the second Black woman ever nominated in the category. She returned in Season Three to direct three episodes, continuing a creative collaboration that has become an important chapter in her work.

Throughout her career, Culpepper has moved fluidly between intimate character work and complex visual storytelling—whether reintroducing Jean-Luc Picard to audiences, entering the moral universe of Star Wars, or capturing the human consequences of a world coming apart in Paradise. Her ability to marry emotional storytelling with visual ambition and command of scale has become the defining throughline of her work.

Culpepper continues to expand that work across television and film. Her upcoming projects include Apple TV+’s adaptation of William Gibson’s landmark science-fiction novel Neuromancer. She is also attached to direct feature adaptations of Amari and the Night Brothers and 1000 Miles.

Alongside her work behind the camera, Culpepper has long advocated for and mentored other directors. A graduate of Lake Forest College and USC’s Annenberg School and an alumna of AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women, she later returned to AFI as Guest Artistic Director of DWW+, helping guide a new generation of filmmakers. She has also served in leadership roles with the Television Academy and the Directors Guild of America.

From breaking new ground in iconic franchises to earning recognition for Paradise and Star Trek: Picard, Culpepper’s career has been defined not simply by the worlds she has been invited into, but by the distinct point of view she brings to them.