Taj Paxton is an award-winning producer, writer, filmmaker and currently the head of Logo Documentary Films. As one of few Black and openly LGBTQ film executives, Taj proudly stands on the front lines of diversity and representation. Taj and Logo TV are excited to announce the releases of two exciting and groundbreaking documentaries this fall: The IF Project, premiering September 14, and Hungry, premiering this November.
The IF
Project tells the story of openly LGBTQ Police Officer Kim Bogucki and the writing program she started seven years ago in a Seattle prison. Incarcerated women are asked if there was something someone could have said or done to change the path that led them to prison, and the answers lead the women to examine their pasts and create new futures. Hungry, another long form dramatic documentary coming later this fall, tells the stories of three female chefs, revealing their passions, partners, and challenges of running demanding kitchens.
In both her work and in her volunteer work, Taj Paxton champions the stories seldom heard and the faces that are ignored. She is the head of Logo Documentary Films, which won its first Emmy Award in 2016 for the critically acclaimed documentary Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine.
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Taj Paxton earned her big break managing Madonna's protégé, Meshell Ndegeocello, in the mid-nineties. Meshell, an openly bisexual recording artist, taught Taj lessons of authenticity and how to fight for the integrity of your art form. Inspired to move into film and television after working with Meshell, Taj has worked as an independent producer on films like Green Dragon, starring Forest Whitaker, as well as with major studios to develop multi-million dollar films, such as Chasing Papi, Sofia Vergara's American film debut. Green Dragon competed at the
Sundance Film
Festival and was honored with the Humanitas Prize for works that inspire human freedom. It was through running Whitaker's production company and her experience as an executive at MTV Films that she earned a reputation for being clear, effective and compassionate when dealing with everyone from A-list stars to up-and-coming filmmakers.
Interested in expressing her own voice, Taj expanded into writing and captured top honors at NBC Universal's Comedy Short Cuts Film
Festival for her short film, A Fat Girl's Guide to Yoga. She continues to write across formats, screenwriting and cultural essays. Her motivation is using storytelling to encourage people to embrace difference and see beyond their own lens.
In her personal life, she has visited over 15 countries, including extensive travel in the Caribbean, South Africa, Namibia, Hong Kong and Vietnam.
Taj divides her time between work, writing, travel and volunteer work. She is a former board member of Outfest Los Angeles, the world's largest LGBTQ film festival and the former co- chair for Outfest's first multicultural film festival. She is currently a mentor for Women in Film and a member of Georgetown University's Alumni Entertainment and Media Alliance (GEMA).
Taj's interests lie at the intersections of art and social change. Her journey is filled with life lessons that cannot be confined to the boxes of gender, race and sexual orientation. She hopes her work will continue to shape the conversation around the kinds of stories we tell and that those stories become a tool for greater cultural understanding and cohesion.
