Living in Auckland, New Zealand, Mary-Lyn Chambers was born in Fiji and raised in Nauru and Aotearoa, New Zealand. She has worked in Los Angeles, London and Doha and is known for tackling stories about inequality in the narrative space in mixed languages. She is a directing Fellow from the Sony Pictures Television Diverse Directors Program, Film Independent's Project Involve, the Alliance of Women Directors' Career Advancement Program, and the Directors Guild of New Zealand's Female Incubator. In addition, she was pronounced one of the top ten female directors to watch from Diversity in Cannes.
She spent a decade cutting her teeth in the industry by working as the associate producer of the Independent Spirit Awards, the LA Film Festival, and many years at the Denver International Film Festival. Then, she worked in Qatar for the Doha Tribeca Film Festival for three years.
Chambers is the creator of a historical crime drama series set in 1920s Mexico in partnership with her Mexican creative partner. She recently wrapped KARANGA, a collaboration with Māori choreographer Merenia Gray, inspired by Gray's mother. Creative New Zealand funded it for Sky TV. She is currently penning a New Zealand limited series exploring a toxic man's journey in coming to terms with his influence on a young man's suicide decades ago.
In 2019-20, Chambers won a 50K grant from Film Independent to create a PSA series for the Children's Institute about childhood trauma. Her Imagen Award-nominated short film pilot TIJUANA screened at Slamdance, Bentonville, HollyShorts film festivals. It was one of eight projects selected out of 400 to attend the TV development conference Content London in their Short2Series program.
Chamber's pilot, THE PLURAL OF BLOOD, won Best TV Pilot at the Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival. DEBRIS (ESCOMBROS), exploring child refugees in a U.S. Immigration Detention Center, screened at The American Pavilion, Diversity in Cannes, and participated in the United Nations Refugee Voices in Film Conference at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. DEBRIS travelled the globe, winning several awards, including Best International Short Film at the Manchester Film Festival and Best Female Director at HollyShorts.
Chambers is known for hiring women and minorities and is vocal about inclusion and equality.