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Valerie Denise Jones(I)

  • Producer
  • Actress
  • Director
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Valerie Denise Jones
Directed and edited by Valerie Denise Jones, "Kim Weston: Buried in Motown" is a narration-driven documentary short that examines the distance between recognition and remembrance. It follows the journey of Kim Weston, a Motown recording artist whose voice helped shape one of the most influential sounds in American music, yet whose story is too often overshadowed by the movement she helped define.

Rising from Detroit during a period when music was deeply connected to community, culture, and lived experience, Weston became part of Motown's historic legacy through recordings such as "Take Me in Your Arms" and the classic duet "It Takes Two" with Marvin Gaye. Behind that success stood Black Bottom, Detroit's historic Black community whose influence helped shape generations of artists, entrepreneurs, and cultural leaders.

As neighborhoods changed and history moved forward, many of those stories faded from public view. This film seeks not to rediscover what was lost, but to restore what has always been there. Through a thoughtful and intimate approach, "Kim Weston: Buried in Motown" reconnects artist to origin, voice to place, and legacy to its broader cultural context.

More than a film about music, it is a story about memory, identity, and the responsibility to honor living history while those who helped create it are still here to tell it. The project is accompanied by the book "Surviving Kim Weston: The Legendary Singer Buried by Motown" by Valerie Denise Jones, further exploring Weston's life, career, and enduring impact on American music and culture.

Together, the film and book challenge audiences to reconsider how history is remembered, whose voices are preserved within it, and why cultural legacy deserves to be protected while there is still time to hear it from those who lived it.
Play demo reel2:29
Kim Weston: Buried In Motown
15 Videos
10 Photos
Valerie Denise Jones is an award-winning director, documentary filmmaker, editor, producer, and U.S. Army veteran whose work is driven by curiosity, cultural preservation, and an instinct for finding compelling stories in unexpected places.

Before stepping behind the camera, Jones built a career in front of it. A former Ebony Fashion Fair model, she worked internationally, with modeling and editorial experience spanning the Bahamas, Italy, and Germany and appearances in publications including JET, Ebony, Essence, Shape, Rolling Stone, Glamour, Upscale, and Hype Hair. That experience gave her an understanding of image, composition, performance, and visual storytelling that would later influence her work as a director and editor.

Jones has since developed a body of independent work spanning documentaries, narrative shorts, experimental films, and vertical micro-dramas. An avid researcher and professional editor, she has been hired to edit documentaries, films, music videos, and social media content, often taking projects from raw footage through the final story. Her filmmaking explores identity, accountability, faith, survival, cultural memory, overlooked histories, and the complicated lives behind public images.

Her documentary work includes Kim Weston: Buried in Motown, which examines the life and legacy of Motown recording artist Kim Weston while confronting larger questions surrounding artistic recognition, aging, economic disparity, and cultural erasure. Her experimental storytelling also includes 23:56, a vertical micro-drama adapted from an original screenplay, and Mommy Issues, a psychological vertical micro-drama exploring trauma, perception, disability, and identity.

Jones' storytelling perspective has also been shaped by extensive travel throughout all 50 states and by periods of personal hardship that changed the way she observes America. She is particularly interested in people, communities, and histories that are easy to pass without ever truly seeing.

Beyond filmmaking, Jones has worked as an on-air radio personality, producer, researcher, media strategist, and celebrity consultant. Her professional experience has included work with Judge Joe Brown, CeCe Peniston, Adina Howard, Bonnie DeBarge, JT Money, Mathew Knowles, Motown legend Kim Weston, and professional athletes from the NFL and NBA.

Having spent her career on both sides of the camera, Valerie Denise Jones approaches filmmaking with the belief that compelling stories are rarely limited to the obvious. Sometimes the most important part of the job is simply knowing where to look.
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    • Awards
      • 6 wins & 15 nominations total

    Photos10

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    Known for

    Angela Bassett, Danny Glover, Giancarlo Esposito, and Julia Stiles in Gospel Hill (2008)
    Gospel Hill
    5.5
    • Mrs. B.(uncredited)
    • 2008
    Dr. Phil Saves A Marriage (2014)
    Dr. Phil Saves A Marriage
    TV Series
    • Self: Valerie Jones
    • 2014
    Agatha Nathalia Weston and Valerie Denise Jones in Kim Weston: Buried in Motown (2025)
    Kim Weston: Buried in Motown
    7.2
    Short
    • Producer
    • 2025
    Valerie Denise Jones and Derrick Muhammad in Mommy Issues (2025)
    Mommy Issues
    Short
    • Producer
    • 2025

    Credits

    IMDbPro

    Producer



    • William's Song 2025
      • producer
      • Music Video
      • 2026
    • The Legend of William Boucher: The Blood Curse
      • producer
      • Short
      • 2026
    • My Father: Before the Fall
      • co-executive producer
      • Completed
      • TV Special
    • 23:56 (Before Midnight)
      • producer
      • Post-production
      • Short



    • Path to Assencion (2025)
      Path to Assencion
      Podcast Series
      • producer
      • 2025
    • The Devil Walks at Midnight (2025)
      The Devil Walks at Midnight
      Music Video
      • producer
      • 2025
    • Agatha Nathalia Weston and Valerie Denise Jones in Buried in Motown: Kim Weston Horror Story (2025)
      Buried in Motown: Kim Weston Horror Story
      Short
      • executive producer
      • 2025
    • Agatha Nathalia Weston and Valerie Denise Jones in Kim Weston: Buried in Motown (2025)
      Kim Weston: Buried in Motown
      7.2
      Short
      • executive producer
      • 2025
    • Valerie Denise Jones and Derrick Muhammad in Mommy Issues (2025)
      Mommy Issues
      Short
      • executive producer
      • 2025
    • Jovaun L Brown, Kedra L. Curry, Valerie Denise Jones, Rhonda Marie Phillips, and Derrick Muhammad in 23:56 (2025)
      23:56
      Short
      • producer
      • 2025
    • The Legend of William Boucher (2025)
      The Legend of William Boucher
      Podcast Series
      • producer
      • 2025
    • The Legend of William Boucher (2025)
      The Legend of William Boucher
      Short
      • producer
      • 2025
    • Last Call (2007)
      Last Call
      Short
      • associate producer (as Valerie Jones)
      • 2007

    Actress



    • Dr. Phil Saves A Marriage (2014)
      Dr. Phil Saves A Marriage
      TV Series
      • Self: Valerie Jones
      • 2014
    • Gospel Good, Gospel Bad, Gospel Ugly (2012)
      Gospel Good, Gospel Bad, Gospel Ugly
      6.8
      • Christina (as Valerie Jones)
      • 2012
    • The Gainesville Ripper (2010)
      The Gainesville Ripper
      6.0
      • Crystal (as Valerie Jones)
      • 2010
    • Arthur L. Braddy III and Michael Sapp in Out on Parole (2009)
      Out on Parole
      8.1
      • Kiya (as Valerie Jones)
      • 2009
    • Angela Bassett, Danny Glover, Giancarlo Esposito, and Julia Stiles in Gospel Hill (2008)
      Gospel Hill
      5.5
      • Mrs. B. (uncredited)
      • 2008
    • We the People (2008)
      We the People
      Short
      • Brandi (as Valerie Jones)
      • 2008
    • County Road 14 (2007)
      County Road 14
      7.6
      Video
      • Jess Williams (as Valerie Jones)
      • 2007
    • Everyday Men
      7.8
      Short
      • Soul Sister Walking (as Valerie Jones)
      • 2006
    • Daron Fordham in Confessions of a Thug (2005)
      Confessions of a Thug
      6.2
      • Cabeera (as Valerie Jones)
      • 2005
    • America's 10 Most Wanted 3
      6.0
      Video
      • (as Valerie Jones)
      • 1998

    Director



    • My Father: Before the Fall
      • Director
      • Completed
      • TV Special
    • Gangsta to Grace
      • Director
      • Completed
      • Short
    • 23:56 (Before Midnight)
      • directed by
      • Post-production
      • Short



    • The Devil Walks at Midnight (2025)
      The Devil Walks at Midnight
      Music Video
      • directed by
      • 2025
    • Agatha Nathalia Weston and Valerie Denise Jones in Buried in Motown: Kim Weston Horror Story (2025)
      Buried in Motown: Kim Weston Horror Story
      Short
      • Director
      • 2025
    • Agatha Nathalia Weston and Valerie Denise Jones in Kim Weston: Buried in Motown (2025)
      Kim Weston: Buried in Motown
      7.2
      Short
      • Director
      • 2025
    • Valerie Denise Jones and Derrick Muhammad in Mommy Issues (2025)
      Mommy Issues
      Short
      • director
      • 2025
    • Jovaun L Brown, Kedra L. Curry, Valerie Denise Jones, Rhonda Marie Phillips, and Derrick Muhammad in 23:56 (2025)
      23:56
      Short
      • Director
      • 2025

    Videos15

    Kim Weston: Buried In Motown
    Demo Reel 2:29
    Kim Weston: Buried In Motown
    The Kim Weston Project:  Motown to Black Bottom (Detroit)
    Demo Reel 0:50
    The Kim Weston Project: Motown to Black Bottom (Detroit)
    The Kim Weston Project:  Motown to Black Bottom (Detroit)
    Demo Reel 0:50
    The Kim Weston Project: Motown to Black Bottom (Detroit)
    23:56 (Vertical /Teaser)
    Demo Reel 1:19
    23:56 (Vertical /Teaser)
    Mommy Issues (Snippets)
    Demo Reel 1:28
    Mommy Issues (Snippets)
    Kim Weston: Buried in Motown (Snippets)
    Demo Reel 5:16
    Kim Weston: Buried in Motown (Snippets)
    Congratulations Letitia Scott Jackson (Gangsta to Grace)
    Demo Reel 1:33
    Congratulations Letitia Scott Jackson (Gangsta to Grace)

    Personal details

    • Official site
      • Official Site
    • Alternative names
      • Valerie Denise Jones
    • Height
      • 5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
    • Other works
      TV commercial: January Blood Drive
    • Publicity listings
      • 1 Pictorial

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