Nia Ervin was born in Atlanta, GA, but was raised from early childhood in Athens and considers herself a native Athenian. A graduate of Clarke Central High School, Nia went on to attend Spelman College, where she became the founding Director of the Spelman-Morehouse Mock Trial Program, an inductee of Phi Beta Kappa honor society, and a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Eta Kappa Chapter, graduating summa cum laude with the Class of 2006. After attending law school at Georgetown University, Nia returned to Atlanta with renewed focus on the arts, her first and truest passion, and made the career leap into the then-burgeoning Atlanta film and television industry.
Over the course of her tenure in Atlanta, Nia worked as a Production Coordinator, Story Producer, and Assistant Director on various independent film and television productions, with talent such as Kim Fields, Meagan Good, Sean Astin, and Raven-Symone. When she wasn’t filming on set, Nia was developing, writing and co-producing original material with her writing and producing partners, who often included The Horne Brothers, with whom she co-wrote the Covid-era short film INVASION (2020). As the film industry began to recover from the pandemic shutdown, Nia was back in Athens similarly recovering—from multiple surgeries after completely tearing her ACL. During that downtime, however, she learned of UGA’s new M.F.A. in Film, Television and Digital Media, and resolved to go back into academia to get the technical skills and formal training she missed on her path toward a career in law. An aspiring Writer/Director/Producer, Nia will graduate from UGA’s intensive new MFA Film program as a member of its 2023-2025 Cohort.