Harris Directs Is God Is Film, Preps New Play
Playwright Harris has written and directed a big-screen version of Harris's own play Is God Is for a major movie studio.
It is Harris's feature directorial debut, meaning the first cinema film Harris has directed. The cast includes Kara Young, Mallorie Johnson, Sterling K. Brown, Janelle Monáe and Vivica A. Fox, according to Variety.
The road to that film started small. Harris wrote Is God Is in 2014 in a North Hollywood apartment. It premiered Off Broadway, meaning in New York's smaller professional theatres outside the Broadway circuit, at Soho Rep in 2018.
That production earned Harris an Obie Award for playwriting, an annual award for Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway work. For the film adaptation, Harris teamed with Tessa Thompson, Janicza Bravo and Jeremy O. Harris.
Harris is represented by agency WME. Harris names Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler, Caryl Churchill and the Coen Brothers as influences.
There is more stage work to come. Harris will launch a new Off Broadway play titled Feast of Rabbits next summer and will also direct it. Harris also has a TV pilot in the works, meaning a test episode made to sell a possible series.
What makes this stand out is how many jobs Harris is holding at once. One story moves from page to stage to screen. Another starts on stage. A third is built for television.
Harris is profiled alongside other film writers in Variety's Screenwriters to Watch coverage published on 9 October 2026. The series has a live side too. Variety editor Todd Gilchrist was set to lead an on-stage panel at the Lensic in Santa Fe with the 10 writers travelling to receive the honour.
Other titles in the current watchlist conversation include Being Heumann. Siân Heder directed the film and co-wrote its screenplay with Rebekah Taussig, based on a memoir, according to Variety. It is an Apple Original Films title and is included in the Montclair Film Festival 2026 line-up.
Another title is Clarissa, a Neon film. Chuko Esiri wrote Clarissa, based on Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.
For fans, this means a busy calendar to track. A past stage success arrives as a film. A new play opens next summer. A pilot, a memoir adaptation and a literary remake move through festivals and studios.
