Patrik-Ian Polk

Patrik-Ian Polk (Director, Writer, Producer), attended Brandeis University in Massachusetts and received his undergraduate degree in film and theatre from the University of Southern Mississippi in his hometown of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He then attended graduate film school at the prestigious University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television, where he wrote and directed a number of short films. After a brief stint as a producer's assistant on Amblin Entertainment's television series, "SeaQuest,DSV," Polk was hired as a development executive at MTV's then-new Paramount-based feature film division, MTV Films. Polk actively participated in the development of such productions as the hugely successful "Beavis and Butthead Do America" and the critically acclaimed and Oscar-nominated high school dark comedy "Election." Next, Polk served as Vice President of production and development at Tracey and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds' Edmonds Entertainment/e2 filmworks. During his tenure there, Polk worked on the films, "Soul Food," "Hav Plenty," and "Light It Up." Polk made his feature film directorial debut with "Punks," an independent feature that he also wrote and produced. Often described as a male "Waiting to Exhale," "Punks" was produced by Tracey and Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds and had its world premiere in January 2000 at the Sundance Film Festival, as part of its prestigious American Spectrum series. The film delighted audiences, picked up many awards at festivals around the world and was released theatrically in November 2001. In New York City, the film played at the Quad to sold-out screenings and lines around the block. "Punks" was nominated for a 2002 Independent Spirit Award for Best low-budget feature. In 2006, Polk made his first foray into television with the original comedy-drama series "Noah's Arc". Often described as a gay male "Sex and the City", the show centers around four black gay men in Los Angeles and was the first scripted series for the MTV/Viacom gay & lesbian themed cable network, Logo, which launched in June 2005. After its premiere, "Noah's Arc" quickly became Logo's highest rated series garnering a passionate fan base that crosses all demographics. In addition to creating and executive producing the series, Polk wrote and directed all nine of the first season's episodes. The first and second seasons of "Noah's Arc" are available on dvd in stores now and also available for download on iTunes and other on-line download services. With the two seasons fast approaching online and dvd sales of 100,000 units and recent airings on Viacom sister network BETJ, the popular series is now poised to make the transition onto the big screen this fall as the raucous and heart-warming feature film, "Noah's Arc: Jumping The Broom"- written, directed and produced by Polk. The film hits movie theaters in select cities across the country on October 24th. In addition to his work on the "Noah's Arc" film, Polk also wrote and performs three tracks on the film's upcoming soundtrack album (Tommy Boy Music/Silver Label). Polk's next feature film is "Blackbird", based on the novel by Larry Duplechan. This coming-of-age high school drama begins production in Polk's hometown of Hattiesburg, Mississippi (Nov. 17, 2008).