Bio
November 25, 2019 2024-03-22 23:19Bio
A safe space to BE.
Stories made for the ones who've always felt invisible. The ones who usually fade into the background to protect themselves. The ones who have A LOT to say but would rather write it than speak it. The ones who can sense and see things no one else does. The ones who dream vivid dreams that literally come true.
The ones who just want to be FREE. Be HUMAN. Be HOPE. Be LOVE. Be TRUE. This is for YOU!
Welcome to
Sharee's world
About Me
Hello! My name is Sharee (Shuh-ree) Silerio (Sih-larry-oh) and I’m a St. Louis born and raised filmmaker who tells coming-of-age, self-discovery, and real-life stories where Black women and girls exist as full human beings on screen and feel seen, heard, loved, and affirmed beyond the screen.
My desire to make sure Black women and girls feel accepted and valued through my work comes from my personal experiences moving to a predominately white neighborhood after living in a predominately Black neighborhood.
One day, when I was a child, I sat on my parents’ bed, with my eyes closed, reveling in the warmth of the sun’s rays shining on my face. In that picture perfect moment, I was also praying to God, begging for my skin to miraculously become lighter. When I woke up the next morning and looked in the mirror, a knot of anxiety grew in the pit of my belly. I had to survive another day as me.
It didn’t help that a white classmate told me “You’re ugly because you’re black”, or that the kids who looked like me called my “burnt”, “crispy”, and “ugly” among other things. Unfortunately, I received everything everyone said about me as truth, so to protect myself, I withdrew from those around me. Thankfully, I had an outlet.
Watching movies, music videos, and sitcoms became my refuge. Expressing myself through poetry; videotaping myself lip syncing and dancing to my favorite music; reciting monologues on the family camcorder; and recording my sister act out scenes of a horror film I wrote allowed me to be and see myself.
LOL. LOL. I know, I know. Ha!
Anywayyy…in college, I was the first Black reporter and anchor for the campus TV news program, and my interests in writing and film merged when I took film classes and wrote my first screenplay. After college, I became an intern at STL TV, where I was quickly promoted to a producer and helped write and launch an entertainment news show.
A few years later, I was selected out of over 100 applicants to participate in Continuity’s inaugural media training program, where I produced several three-to-four-minute short documentaries.
One of the short docs I created as a participant in the cohort – The Mountains That Made Me – was selected for the 18th Annual St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase plus invited to screen at the 27th Annual St. Louis International Film Festival as part of the Doc Shorts: Black Voices line up.
After graduating from Continuity’s program, I worked as a Production Assistant on projects such as Rhythm + Flow (Netflix), The Disappearance of Phoenix Coldon (Oxygen), Hart of the City: St. Louis (Comedy Central), The Busch Family Brewed (MTV), and more.
My first crew-produced, crowd-funded documentary, a short titled Black Girl, Bleu, was completed in 2020. It has been selected to screen at film festivals across the U.S., including the African American Film Marketplace and S.E. Manly Short Film Showcase, the Denton Black Film Festival, The Micheaux Film Festival, the BronzeLens Film Festival, and the Imagine This Women’s International Film Festival.
Black Girl, Bleu has won multiple film festival awards, from Outstanding Special Programming (The Micheaux Film Festival) to Best Mental Health Promotion (Believe Psychology Film Festival), and an Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary Short (St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase).
Watch this video to see the moment me and my friend / the Director of Photography found out BGB won the Outstanding Special Programming award! I still remember this moment like it was yesterday!
Before becoming a director and filmmaker, I worked as a production assistant and helped launch and produce two entertainment television programs for STL TV plus executive produced and/or produced a digital series, narrative short, teen talk show, documentary feature, and more for other networks and independent creators.
I have also written feature stories, entertainment news and reviews, and wellness pieces for publications such as The St. Louis American, The Root.com, 21Ninety, and CurlyNikki.com.
In 2023, I launched Starlight Pictures, a film, television, digital and streaming production company that houses all of my heart-born projects.
From documentaries to digital series’ and narrative films, my mission is to use intimate and authentic storytelling to explore the depth, reality, gifts, magic, and beauty of being Black. My dream is to continue crafting narratives that cultivate empathy, encourage vulnerability, and spark healing.
An enthusiastic student of life, I have an MA in media communications from Webster University as well as a BA in communication with a film studies certificate from St. Louis University. I currently live in Los Angeles, CA.
