Ira Mallory is an Indiana based film director and founder of production company IRA FILMS/BJYL PRODUCTIONS LLC. Ira’s education in film began in Los Angeles inside Fox Searchlight’s Director’s Labs in association with the American Black Film Festival, receiving instruction from the late John Singleton (Boyz n Tha Hood, Snowfall) , F Gary Gray (Italian Job, Straight Outta Compton) and Zola Mashariki (BET Networks). Mallory’s film education continued at  Indiana University where he studied Communications, Media and Film History.

Mallory has directed over a dozen narrative and documentary films,. Mallory’s 2020 documentary release, in Closing chronicled the closing of iconic Broad Ripple High School and is now streaming on HoodoxTV.  In 2021 Mallory was awarded a fellowship with the onRamp Artist Cohort sponsored by the Indiana Art Commission. Mallory wrote and directed the award winning film project Hadassah: Queen Esther, which has been showcased at international film festival’s, including the notable Silicon Valley African Film Festival in October 2022. 2023 saw the release of the Ira co-directed commercial ad spots for “Promise Land as Proving Ground”, a new exhibit at Conner Prairie Museum in Fishers, IN. Both commercials aired during the Super Bowl.

Mallory recently accepted an invitation from the Black Film Center & Archive at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN to house his films Hadassah Queen Esther, The Dreidel and in Closing for each film’s merit and unique cultural significance. He now serves on the advisory board of the Indianapolis Black Documentary Film Festival and is the lead film instructor for 40 West Digital in Indianapolis, IN.