Awards, Honors & Distinctions

Achievements in Television (as Director)

Winner – David Makes Man (Season 1) – Peabody Award, Entertainment – Peabody ***Kiel directed episodes 2, 3, and 4 of this award-winning season.***

Nominee – David Makes Man (Season 1) – Critics Choice Award, Best Drama Series – Broadcast Film Critics Association 

Nominee – David Makes Man (Season 1) – Gotham Independent Film Award, Breakthrough Series (Longform) – Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP)

Winner – The Bobby Brown Story NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Television Movie, Limited Series or Dramatic Special – National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) (Also Nominated for Outstanding Actor – Woody McClain as Bobby Brown, and Outstanding Actress – Gabrielle Dennis as Whitney Houston) ***Kiel directed both parts of this two -part television movie event***

Nominee – The Bobby Brown Story – Black Reel Award, Outstanding Directing, TV Movie/Limited Series – Black Reel Awards

Achievements in Film (as Writer-Director & Producer)

Winner – Samaria – Audience Award for Best Short Film – Urbanworld Film Festival

Winner – Samaria – D.G.A. Student Film Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement (African-American Category) – Directors Guild of America

Finalist – Samaria – Best Narrative Student Film, Student Academy Awards – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Winner – Samaria – Spike Lee Production Award (for Samaria screenplay, formerly titled Epilogue) – New York University and 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks

Inaugural Selection – Epilogue – New Orleans Film Festival’s Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sponsored Emerging Voices Program

Winner – The Roe Effect – Grand Jury Prize, HBO Short Film Competition – American Black Film Festival

Winner – The Roe Effect – Best Dramatic Short – Urbanworld Film Festival

Winner – The Roe Effect – Saatchi & Saatchi’s NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE Producers Award presented at the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival

Winner – The Roe Effect – Jury Award, Best Short Film – Connecticut Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

Winner – The Roe Effect – Chessie Award, Best Short Film – CineSLAM Film Festival

Nominee – The Roe Effect – Hugo Award – Chicago International Film Festival

Nominee – The Roe Effect – Best Independent Mini Feature – Black Reel Awards

Featured – The Roe Effect – NewFilmmakers Film Series – Anthology Film Archives NY

Featured – The Roe Effect – Festival de Cannes’ Court Métrage (Cannes Film Festival’s Short Film Corner)

Regional Finalist – Shallow Waters – Best Alternative Student Film, Student Academy Awards –  Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Fellowships & Scholarships

Spike Lee Fellowship / Production Award for Samaria (later renamed Epilogue) screenplay – New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, Kanbar Institute of Film & Television

Full Tuition Dean’s Fellowship – New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Kanbar Institute of Film & Television M.F.A. Program

Full Tuition Scholarship – The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, School of Art  B.F.A. Program

Achievements in Fine Art

The AA Low Fund Prize for Excellence in Art – The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art

Harold Steinberg New York Central Art Award – The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art

Mary M. Doyle Memorial Prize in Art – The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art

Hearst Foundation Scholarship for Excellence in Art

NAACP ACT-SO (Regional) Gold Medal for Excellence in Painting – National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

NAACP ACT-SO (Regional) Gold Medal for Excellence in Drawing – National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Overture to the Cultural Season Award for the Visual Arts

Pieces of Power/Richard C. Thomas Fine Art Award 

The Helen A. Mervis Award – Top Student Honor for the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts

Community Service

Member, Board of Directors – New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts Foundation

Black Genius Brain Trust Member – The Black Genius Foundation

Member, Board of Directors and Executive Board – Guardians Institute

The Cooper Union Alumni Association Outstanding Service to the School Award – The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art

The Cooper Union Student Services Award – The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art

Certificate of Merit – The City of New Orleans

Additional Distinctions

Nominee (New York University) – Princess Grace Award in Film

Finalist – New York University’s Reynolds Fellowship for Social Entrepreneurship

Nominee (The Cooper Union) – The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Fellowship Competition

Student Commencement Speaker – The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, 146th Commencement

Nominee (The Cooper Union) – The Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s William E. Simon Fellowship for Noble Purpose Competition

Nominee (The Cooper Union) – The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship Competition

Member – National Society of Collegiate Scholars

***Awards in every category are listed chronologically.