Shannon Donnell Washington — known in the industry as "Trilliam Shakespeare" — is a Houston-based writer, director, and producer who has been writing scripts since junior high and high school. He played football and ran track in college, and it was after an argument with his coach — and the free time that followed — that he taught himself how to write screenplays.

He entered his first script into a drama team competition in college and won — and that moment kickstarted everything. His mother was an Olympic torchbearer in 1988, so Shannon grew up surrounded by people who achieved greatness, making his pivot from athletics to cinema a natural extension of that legacy.

Today, Shannon is one of Houston's most prolific independent filmmakers — a local director with international ambitions. His films stream on Tubi and Amazon Prime, reaching millions of viewers nationwide. He has spoken passionately about Tubi's 80% ad revenue share model as a game-changer for Black independent filmmakers.

Shannon's creative process is character-first: he builds authentic people and lets them react naturally to the world around them, rather than forcing a plot. He is currently developing a Black Western set in a flourishing Black town in the 1800s — a project that reflects his commitment to telling stories that have never been told on screen.