PHOTO BOOTH: ‘Ironheart’ Director Sam Bailey Headlines IFA Chicago Event

The highly anticipated Marvel Studios series Ironheart landed in Chicago to film in October and November, and it did so with a Chicago filmmaker in the director’s chair. The Emmy-nominated director and Chicago native Samantha (Sam) Bailey is one of the directors for the new Disney+ franchise. The director made time to step away from set and join IFA Chicago for an intimate chat, which was open to the public. And SCREEN has photos for you from the festivities.

On Thursday, October 20th, IFA Chicago hosted an intimate conversation Ironheart series director and Chicago filmmaker Sam Bailey. This event was part of IFA’s In Focus with… series.

Doors opened at 6:30 pm Central. The event took place at IFA (Independent Film Alliance) Chicago’s Hub, 2602 W. 16th Street 4th Floor, located on the Cinespace Film Studios campus.

Let’s take a look at some photos from the packed IFA Chicago event with Sam Bailey…

More About the Chicagoan in Marvel Studios’ Director’s Chair

As SCREEN reported earlier this year, Chicago native Sam Bailey is directing multiple episodes of this latest foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Sam Bailey’s star has taken off since her Primetime Emmy nomination for the web series Brown Girls, which she created with poet Fatimah Asghar in her hometown of Chicago. The series starred two young women coming to terms with queer identity, and navigating career and relationships, and went on to be developed with HBO. Since then, Bailey has become a mainstay in the television circuit, directing episodes of the series Alone Together, First Wives Club, East of La Brea, Grown-ish, Loosely Exactly Nicole, and Netflix’s Dear White People, for which she was also a writer and producer.

As for Bailey’s Chicago roots, she was born in the city’s Logan Square neighborhood. Bailey began stage acting as a teenager and received her bachelor’s degree from Columbia College Chicago, before co-creating the aforementioned Brown Girls.

For more about Marvel Studios’ recent shoot in Chicago, click here for SCREEN’s extensive coverage of the Ironheart production.

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Check back here at SCREEN for updates as Ironheart forges ahead to a 2023 release. You can also click right here to subscribe to our weekly email newsletter.