The Color of Medicine
Writer / Producer / Director
Joyce Marie Fitzpatrick, a native of Indianapolis, Indiana is a Producer / Writer / Director who creates content for television, film, webseries and promotion. She graduated with honors from California State University of Los Angeles with a Bachelor’s Degree in Telecommunications and Film, and has worked for ABC, NBC, the CW/UPN network, PBS, Discovery Channel, E! Entertainment, and Black Entertainment Television (BET). Her producing and writing career began where she produced and wrote over 60 on-air promos for PBS and for the Discovery Channel’s “Animal Planet.” She also created several original programs for PBS including the Bill Moyers live special titled, “Moyers on Addiction: Close To Home in LA” and “Teen Connection.”
Fitzpatrick went on to write and produce content for several genres including comedy sketches, webisodes, tv pilots, short films, documentaries and features. Joyce was a comedy sketch writer for the national television CW/UPN network show “The NEWZ. She then became a producer, writer and copy editor for E! News and E! Online for E! Entertainment Television. She then worked as a Managing Coordinator for Black Entertainment Television (BET) for “Comic View: Caliente Edition,” “The Way We Do It,” and “Holla” hosted by comedian Sheryl Underwood from the CBS show “The Talk.”
Then in 2011, Joyce launched her film production company, Flatcat Productions, LLC, in Los Angeles. FCP’s mission is to develop, produce and create engaging, entertaining and informative film and television projects for distribution. FlatCat Productions also understands and supports the independent filmmakers logic and focuses on developing partnerships that help filmmakers achieve the most creative and well-produced project.
She then went on to co-create the award-winning TV pilots, “Animal Control TV,” and “Identity Confirmed.” Then she created “The Sweet Life” reality web series starring Food Network “Cupcake Wars” champions, Southern Girl desserts owners, Catarah Hampshire Coleman and Shoneji Robison. Joyce also co-created the animated webisodes: “Chinese, Chicken and Checks,” “Black Exploitation Sunday: Halloween Special” and “Black Exploitation Sunday.” She also co-produced the webseries “Film Permit Police.”
Joyce also co-produced the documentary: “A Night at the Hungate” about the U.S. House of Representative William Hungate’s influence in desegregation, busing and the Watergate scandal narrated by his son David Hungate, original member of the rock group “Toto.” She then wrote, produced and directed the award-winning documentary, “The Color of Medicine: The Story of Homer G. Phillips Hospital” about the rise and fall of the first all black premiere hospital in the world from 1937-1942.
She also wrote, produced and directed the award-winning PBS feature “Sunshine, Noodles and Me” about one women’s journey through breast cancer while adjusting to life in SIngapore, Malaysia, and the documentary “Discovering Mary” about the life and times of Mary Fields or “Stagecoach Mary,” the first black female mail carrier/stagecoach driver in the West, shot on location in Cascade, Montana.
In 2019, Joyce executive produced and wrote the story for the family-friendly hit film, “Hidden Orchard Mysteries: The Case of the Air B and B Robbery. Then in 2020, she co-executive produced “Estilo Americano” starring Lidia Porto from Showtime’s “Vida,” Epix’s “Get Shorty” and “Horrible Bosses,”’ directed by award-winning director Miriam Kruishoop (Greencard Warriors) and produced by award-winning producer Ellen Utrecht of MikeTeeVee Productions.
Joyce has also directed, produced and wrote the award-winning short, “Welcome to the Neighborhood,” and produced other shorts including: “Waiting For Supermen,?!” the award-winning “Kill Me” and “Go With the Fro.” She has also directed, wrote and produced several live-action, animated and music video promos for Los Angeles County’s Parks and Recreation.
Joyce has also written several screenplays. Her comedy romcom “An African-American in Paris,” won 1st place at the Hollywood Black Film Festival (HBFF), and her science-fiction/thriller “Feeding Time,” is currently represented by The Gersh Agency (TGA), a talent and literary agency in Beverly Hills, California.