Ebony Blanding is a writer and director with deep Southern roots and a passion for telling the stories of Black people navigating the world and internal discoveries. She explores the complexities and possibilities of Blackness and female relationships on screen through narrative, experimental and documentary film.
Her debut feature film, A Mess of Memories, a family drama about the weight of things and the memories we carry, was developed during her time as Trilith Institute’s first Emerging Creative in Residence and is the first feature produced with Trilith Institute.
Blanding has helmed branded content for Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, directed documentaries for major artists, and created multiple award-winning short films, including Levitate Levitate Levitate, which streamed at Atlanta International Airport.
A co-founder of the art film house House of June, Blanding has shared her work at institutions including Spelman College, Emory University, and Johns Hopkins University. Her films have screened at festivals such as SXSW, Cape Town International Film Festival, and Atlanta Film Society.
She is an alumna of the 2021 Blackmagic Collective Future Directors of Studio Features Fellowship and the Atlanta Film Society’s 2017–2019 Filmmaker-in-Residence Program. Across mediums, Blanding’s work continues to explore womanhood and spirituality through a vibrant, fantastical lens.
A Mess of Memories grew out of real reflection on my own healing — how messy, complicated, and ongoing that process is. I often ask myself: who am I without the familiar weight of trauma, fear, or mental health struggles?
With this film, I hope we remember we were never meant to carry the weight of our pain, our past, or our healing alone — that there’s grace in beginning again, in continuing, in simply trying.
This story blends family drama, humor, hard truths, and surreal, reflective moments. It’s about how we grow with and because of each other.
In the clutter of the past, healing finds a way
Trilith Institute Productions, LLCThis milestone marks a significant achievement for both Blanding and Trilith Institute, an education and workforce development nonprofit dedicated to developing the next generation of great storytellers. As the first major project from the Institute’s innovative ECR program, A Mess of Memories represents a bold fulfillment of its mission to empower emerging Georgia-based filmmakers with production funding, mentorship, and access to industry-leading resources.
The ECR Program allows selected writers and directors to live, learn, and create with Trilith Institute, receiving $100,000 in production funding and housing in the Town of Trilith. Trilith Institute is currently working with its 2025 ECR on the development of an original TV comedy pilot. Applications for the 2026 residency will open later this year.
“With our first major project, A Mess of Memories, we are realizing the mission of Trilith Institute to foster the development of Georgia writers and filmmakers and provide them with the access and resources they need to advance,” said Jeffrey Stepakoff, President and CEO of Trilith Institute. “By empowering talented writers and directors like Ebony, we are not only developing and retaining Georgia’s creative class but also helping to build a sustainable future for storytelling in our state.”
We're currently seeking distribution partners for this project and welcome inquiries from distributors, programmers, exhibitors, and industry professionals. If you're interested in bringing this production to new audiences, please contact contact@trilithinstitute.org
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The Trilith Institute 365 Fund supports all aspects of the 501(c)(3) organization.
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$500 feeds cast and crew for one Creative Excellence Fellowship Grant film
$650 provides a one-week scholarship to the Script to Screen Summer Camp
$1000 covers a Dinner With… events where students talk with industry experts over dinner
No amount is too big or small.
