Born and raised by Caribbean immigrant parents in the Bronx, Sadé Clacken Joseph fell in love with telling stories at a young age through music and writing. Inspired by watching the behind-the-scenes features on her Lord of The Rings Special Edition DVD boxed sets obsessively as a child, Sadé’s passion for filmmaking was intrinsic. However, as a first-generation American, pursuing the arts was seen as an unconventional and even risky career path.
After graduating with a degree in Anthropology from Barnard College of Columbia University, she joined the production team for the ABC Daytime Television talk show The View. After four years on the show, and freelancing as a photographer and documentarian, she took a leap of faith and moved across the country to get a master’s degree in directing at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. The breadth of Sadé’s work in her short time since graduating has been dynamic, evolving to showcase her unique style with each new endeavor.
Her film Knight, starring Grammy-Award-winning Robert Glasper, was the first narrative film produced by Spotify via their Black Girl Magic platform. Her documentary work on Common’s Hope and Redemption Prison Tour has been featured on VICE, Variety, and Rolling Stone. Her short film Ponyboi premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival where it was named one of the “Five Not To Be Missed Short Films” by Forbes.
Her commercial work includes Planned Parenthood’s 2022 campaign “Force of Nature”, Madewell’s Spring 2021 campaign with Issa Rae, Target’s “Black Beyond Measure” campaign, and second unit director on Indeed’s 2021 Super Bowl ad. In the scripted space, Sadé directed the music video for Common’s “Show Me That You Love,” two episodes of Issa Rae’s comedy television series RAP SH*T on HBO Max, and is in development on her first narrative feature film.
As a director, Sadé has a unique ability to recognize and bring out the beauty in the mundane and in the smallest, most tender of human moments. Sadé is dedicated to shining a light on underrepresented groups and aims to build community through her work above all else. Her honest, music-driven storytelling and strong technical visual style permeate through her work.
