Categories
First Fifteen

September 29, 2024

Feedback with Christina Martin and York Walker

A HAUNTING IN GATLINBURG written by Daniel Lynch (horror feature)

When a passionate filmmaker’s future is on the line, he is forced to work with other filmmaking students as they realize their hometown is a warzone for a local witch and Bigfoot.

Featuring John Chukwudelunzu, Isra Elsalihie, Leonard A. Thomas, Lorene Chesley,  LaNora Terraé Hayden, Torie Tyson, and J.D. Elliby

Daniel Lynch is an independent filmmaker, writer, and actor from Decatur, Georgia. He knew from an early age he wanted to be in the entertainment industry, but it wasn’t until 2020 when he started making self-produced content. His directorial debut was a Star Wars short film called The Legend of Doon Rah which screened at the National Black Film Festival and Hayti Heritage Film Festival. The Legend of Doon Rah has been reacted by the biggest Star Wars YouTubers such as Star Wars Theory and Kyle Katarn. In 2021, Daniel met his co-screenwriting partner Eric Krehbiel. Eric cast Daniel in a short film called Night, and soon after Daniel brought on Eric for another project, The Wild Ones, which they made a proof of concept for. His acting credits include Autobot Jazz in Transformers Rise of Unicron, Dante in The Wild Ones, Curtis in The Offer, Jet in Deadman Playground, and many more. Daniel sets out to create an exciting cinematic universe for aspiring filmmakers and their families to enjoy. 

SET written by Ade Dina (coming-of-age drama pilot)

De’Vonte has long been guarded from his gang-infested environment. When his older cousin’s, Aaron, affiliation with the Crips trickles down to his innocent family, De’Vonte is forced into navigating the dangerous world of blue and red. 

Featuring Jared Bennett, Darryl Dunning II, Lee Sherman, John Chukwudelunzu, Maurice Demus, Leonard A. Thomas, Courtney Gabrielle Williams, LaNora Terraé Hayden, and Gita Reddy

Ade Dina is a Houston-born writer-director and producer with a dynamic portfolio that spans short films, commercials, and feature screenplays. Ade’s work has not only received accolades at various film festivals and script competitions but has also contributed to global campaigns for Meta. With both of Ade’s Nigerian parents being an accountant and a lawyer, he didn’t grow up in the most creative household. Therefore, he found his love for film from movies placed in front of him passively. As he matured, so did his taste and approach to the art form. Ade has found influences in Martin Scorsese, Ryan Coogler, Damien Chazelle, and Christopher Nolan. Ade founded Oba Productions and has utilized the agency to create in-house films and commercials for various brands and clients. He wanted to create films and projects that felt like the art he grew up on but with people who looked like him for once. Oba also prioritizes the brand work of black and underrepresented groups who operate on slender budgets to deliver boundary-pushing campaigns. Currently, Ade is developing the feature Set, a story about two cousins navigating gang life amid rival warfare. He completed a proof of concept short film for Set and has played at film festivals nationwide. Set will be Ade’s feature directorial debut. 

Categories
First Fifteen

October 29, 2023

Feedback from Pilar Alessandra and Jonterri Gadson

DON’T FORGET DOROTHY written by Jana Smith (sci-fi feature)

A veteran actress and her daughter are both dealing with an identity crisis, body dysmorphia, and the pressure to meet society’s expectations of them when they are offered an opportunity to participate in a neurological experiment that would erase every racist, sexist, and hurtful memory that formed their insecurities; giving them the chance to restart their lives as free Black women.​

Featuring Shirley Jordan, Tehana Weeks, Conni Marie Brazelton, Bonnie-Rae Sunshine, Trip Langley, Caro Guzmán, Ashley J. Hobbs, Tamara McMillian, Janessa St. Pierre, and Inger Tudor

Jana Smith (she/her) is a Gary, Indiana-bred, interdisciplinary writer, filmmaker, and cultural worker passionate about intergenerational stories about women and femmes. Her prose has been published in Essence magazine! Jana was awarded the Inaugural Ida B. Wells Disrupting the Master Narrative Award for her film script, Baptême. She also participated in Ryan Murphy’s “Half Initiative” for rising writers, directors, and creatives. Jana wrote Built to Last a podcast by American Express hosted by Elaine Welteroth. She has worked for the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, The Good WifeMadam Secretary, HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness, America ReFramed, and POV. In 2018, her pilot was a finalist in the MACRO Episodic Story Lab. She studied filmmaking at Sarah Lawrence College. Her work examines the intersection of Black womanhood, erased historiographies, and intergenerational healing (basically, whatever she’s having an existential crisis about). The stories she tells often interrogate shame––illuminate the interior lives of women––and imagine a more human-dwelling future. Through her work, she strives to reflect the truth of our time while encouraging audiences to re-imagine our collective power for radical love and compassion. She is currently directing and producing a narrative audio drama centering Black women, love, and liberation, which she wrote titled Red for Revolution.

FARE by Karan Kendrick (suspense short)

A 50-something black woman, tired of losing, creates a deadly game that only she can win.

Featuring Tamika Simpkins, Shirley Jordan, Bonnie-Rae Sunshine, Chinai Routté, Gita Reddy, Kenajuan Bentley, Rod McLachlan, Leonard A. Thomas, and Toccarra Cash

Hailed for her powerfully nuanced portrayal of “Minnie McMillian” in the blockbuster Just MercyKaran Kendrick is among the artistic elite.

Additional credits range from The Hunger Games (Lionsgate), and The Hate U Give (20th Century Fox); to television favorites like Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), Greenleaf (OWN), and most recently, “Candace” on All American: Homecoming(CW).

In addition to her work as an actor, Karan is a philanthropist, speaker, and Honorary Astronaut (NASA Ames). Her long-standing passion, however, is the work she does through her arts organization, The Kendrick Academy (TKA), where she has served tirelessly to provide students with the opportunity to build character, discipline, and an eternal passion for the arts for over a decade.  Based in her hometown of Fort Valley, GA, TKA offers weekly acting and dance classes to students ages 3 to 85. In 2020, her Academy expanded to virtual acting and screenwriting classes and continues those offerings today allowing her to serve students in 7 states and counting.

As she expands her role as storyteller to include writer, Karan states: “I want to tell stories that center Black Women in the middle of their own discourse. I want to position us in the luxury of being human, vulnerable, weird, weak, warrior, and loved, all at the same time. I want to remind us to burn the cape, and keep the flame.”