Chris Bournea (bor-NAY) directed, produced and narrated the documentary Lady Wrestler: The Amazing, Untold Story of African-American Women in the Ring. He is a journalist, author and documentary filmmaker based in Columbus, Ohio, where many of the lady wrestlers trained during the sport's golden age, and where some still live.
Bournea completed Lady Wrestler through a residency with the Wexner Center for the Arts Film/Video Studio Program. The program is housed at The Ohio State University, where Bournea graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English.
Bournea is the co-author, with Raymond Lambert, of the critically acclaimed nonfiction book All Jokes Aside: Standup Comedy Is a Phunny Business. The book chronicles the legendary Chicago comedy club All Jokes Aside, which helped launch the careers of superstars such as Steve Harvey, Oscar winner Mo'Nique, Chris Rock, D.L. Hughley and Dave Chappelle, among many others. The club was also the subject of the award-winning documentary, Phunny Business, which aired on Showtime in February 2012 during Black History Month.
Bournea wrote and directed the dramatic play, The Springtime of Our Lives, and is also the author of the novel The Chloe Chronicles. He began his career at Ohio's historic African-American newspaper, the Call and Post. He has also written for the Columbus Dispatch, where his interview with African-American wrestling legend Ethel Johnson first appeared during Women's History Month in March 2006.