Dr. Artel Great is an Independent Spirit Award-nominated filmmaker and a scholar of Black cinema and media culture. He is the George and Judy Marcus Endowed Chair in African American Cinema Studies and Assistant Professor of Critical Studies at San Francisco State University. In addition to his work as the director of the acclaimed "Love Cycle" film series, Dr. Great is also the co-editor of the forthcoming book: Black Cinema & Visual Culture: Art and Politics in the 21st Century, which is slated for publication in April 2023 at Routledge.