RADICAL HARLEMITE FILMMAKER CHAMPIONS AFRICAN AMERICAN ABSTRACT ARTISTS FOR CROWDFUNDING RALLY WITH THE DUPLASS BROTHERS

Award-winning Black artist Mtume “Core Rhythm” Gant is proud to present his first-feature, I DON’T LIVE TODAY, in a 30-day intensive crowdfunding campaign through Seed&Spark’s Hometown Heroes rally, partnered with Duplass Brothers Productions, Salem Street Entertainment and UnLTD Entertainment.

I DON’T LIVE TODAY is a story about a Black struggling painter who has become disillusioned with the art world in New York and, on his final night in the city, wanders the streets on a moralistic crusade to cut ties to the city and face the demons that he’s tried to keep hidden.

This past month, the Duplass Brothers partnered with Seed&Spark to challenge filmmakers to make a feature film about their Hometown. Filmmakers that raise at least 80% of their goal and 1000 followers during the rally would be eligible for one of five no-interest loans for $50,000!

Gant had already been in the midst of developing his expressionist feature with producers Shant Joshi (PORCUPINE LAKE) and Christopher Everett (WILMINGTON ON FIRE), and saw the rally as an opportunity to access a larger platform from which to champion abstract artists.

I Don’t Live Today is as much an exploration of the life of the visual artists as any of the other subjects. Influenced by the abstract expressionist work of Norman Lewis, Mark Rothko, Romare Bearden and Alma Thomas, the film will exist also as much needed homage to radical abstract art, in particular the abstract art of African Americans that for many years went ignored and underappreciated. The film will feature original works from living artists, as new pieces will be commissioned to make sure an authentic representation of abstract art is seen in the story and aesthetic, showing the vibrancy of visual art culture today.

Mtume’s previous short films SPIT and WHITE FACE have screened at dozens of festivals garnering a number of awards both locally at Coney Island, Bushwick, Harlem, Lower East Side, and abroad at San Francisco, Woodstock, Aspen, Ashland, & Manchester.

Mtume and team are very excited to be raising funds for I DON’T LIVE TODAY with a goal of $40,000 from September 17th to October 17th and appreciate any level of donation whether $25 or $2,500!

You can find the project on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram under the handle @IDLTFilm and under the hashtag, #NoKingsHere

Donate to the campaign at
www.seedandspark.com/fund/idltfilm

Chat w/ Filmmaker Catriona McKenzie, "Don't wait for permission, just do it!"

Multi-award-winning writer/director/ producer Catriona McKenzie has announced that she is setting up her own production company, Dark Horse. The first Indigenous Australian woman to direct series television in the US (Shadowhunters for Freeform), Catriona spent time as a director’s attachment on the television series Prison Break (Fox) and she interned at Ridley Scott’s production company and as a director’s attachment on his film Alien: Covenant.

Premiering at LA Film Festival, Kiki and Kitty, based on an original concept from and written by Nakkiah Lui and produced by Porchlight Films’ Liz Watts and Sylvia Warmer, is a 6 x 12-minute series about the adventures of a young, black woman in a big, white world, where her vagina is a big, black woman and her best friend. The series won two prizes at Series Mania in Paris.

We had a chat with Catriona, here are the excerpts:

What was the most challenging and most rewarding part of making this project, Kiki and Kitty?

It was a low budget, single camera production with not a lot of time so I had to be efficient and smart about constructing it. We used every cinematic tool - colour palette in locations, costumes. Kitty wears bright red dress, (of course because she is a vagina). Music, editing etc

Nakkiah Lui (KIKI)

Harriet Dyer (CHERISE), Nakkiah Lui (KIKI), Elaine Crombie (KITTY)

Harriet Dyer (CHERISE), Nakkiah Lui (KIKI)

Nakkiah Lui (KIKI), Elaine Crombie (KITTY)

The rewards were working with such great creatives people. Nakkiah and Elaine are fearless actors. Any Ideas I had for the scenes they completely embraced, (as they tick off their crazy bucket list scenes for example) It gets pretty wacky and they were always up for it.

And the production crew were almost all women. That was great. Sylvia Warmer is a great producer and she was always there for the production. Thats inspiring.

What inspired you to launch DARK HORSE and what are your immediate goals?

I'm the first indigenous director from Australia to direct episodic TV in USA. I studied at NYU Tisch, New York. I understand the US industry and the Australian, and there's opportunities to take our stories to a bigger platform. As storytellers we need to take up the space telling our stories otherwise those spaces will be colonized by others. Thats a big part of it. And I'm a huge fan of genre. Ridley Scott selected me to shadow him on Alien Covenant. I have a slate of genre projects across the board that come from my 'diverse' community and its the right time to tell those stories. (I don't like the word 'diverse' but we all understand what it means but I think it minimizes everything we are about)

Who are your favorite filmmakers/storytellers? What are your favorite TV shows or movies?

Ridley Scott and Martin Scorsese are big influences for me. Denis Villeneuve' Incendies was a powerful film. The Dead Girl by Karen Moncrieff is such a great film. And then there's TV and the rest. The Wire is always a go to for me. Shameless, Breaking Bad. Chewing Gum. We have such an increasing opportunity now to watch programs that reflect who we are. I'm hopeful for the future of telling our stories.

What Australian movies or TV shows, you'll recommend American audiences to watch?

Peter Weir is another favorite filmmaker and he's Australian. From Gallipoli to Witness to The Truman Show he is a master storyteller with an instinct for the emotional heartbeat of the film. He's definitly an inspiration for me.

Based on your own experiences, what are 3 things you would like to tell other aspiring storytellers?

If you want to be a story teller then tell stories. It sounds simple but there's so many barriers, (although its cheaper to tell stories now that technology has opened up) you just have to do it. 

Don't wait for permission just do it. Just do it!

You have to be stubborn and inspired at the same time. Write, read books, study people. re write. Interrogate the characters you've written. We are all colonized by the powers that be and we are part of it. Don't let your characters roll onto the page without  deeply 'scratching their surface'.

Do good work. 

Be Patient with yourself. There's so much joy to be had from a creative life and it can be frustrating too. There's ups and downs but beyond it all be inspired by doing good work. 

"THUNDER ROAD" sets Theatrical Release in October!

SXSW 2018 FEATURE GRAND JURY WINNER THUNDER ROAD SETS OCTOBER THEATRICAL RELEASE DATES

Vanishing Angle, in association with The 10 East Pictures, and with the support of Sundance Institute’s Creative Distribution Fellowship, will distribute the SXSW 2018 Grand Jury Winning Feature Film THUNDER ROAD in theaters beginning on October 12th as an exclusive engagement with Alamo Drafthouse Theaters. The film will expand further theatrically on October 19th and release for sale and rental on October 26th; it is currently available to pre-order on iTunes.  On September 13th, the film released theatrically in France to critical acclaim and this Sunday, September 23rd, it will be participating in Art House Convergence’s Art House Theater Day, playing in select theaters across the country.

Written by, directed by, and starring first-time feature director Jim Cummings, THUNDER ROAD is based on the 2016 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Grand Jury Prize winning film of the same name. THUNDER ROAD centers on Jim Arnaud, a Texan police officer, as he struggles to raise his daughter as a love letter to his late mom. It is a tragicomic portrait of a failing figure of authority in America.

Beyond its success at SXSW, THUNDER ROAD has been a festival favorite both internationally and domestically. The film was in the top five best reviewed films at Cannes this year where it premiered internationally. Most recently it was awarded the Grand Prix at Deauville American Film Festival in France. THUNDER ROAD has also received the New Directors Grand Jury Award at Nashville Film Festival, the New American Cinema Grand Jury Award at Seattle International Film Festival, the Narrative Feature Jury Prize at the Indie Street Film Festival, and the Best Feature Award at the Sidewalk Film Festival.

THUNDER ROAD stars Cummings, Kendal Farr, Nican Robinson, Jocelyn DeBoer, and Macon Blair. The film is produced by Natalie Metzger, Zack Parker, and Benjamin Wiessner. It is executive produced by Matt Miller of Vanishing Angle.

Writer/director/producer/actor Jim Cummings was selected for Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2012. Jim has also written and directed the Topic original series STILL LIFE, episodes of which have been Vimeo Staff-Picks, and the Fullscreen original series THE MINUTES COLLECTION, recently featured by FilmStruck and select episodes screened at Sundance and SXSW.

Vanishing Angle is an independent studio based in Los Angeles. Previously, VA distributed the successful, 35mm only, theatrical release of Dennis Hauck’s TOO LATE starring Academy Award nominee John Hawkes. Vanishing Angle will also be releasing Patrick Wang’s A BREAD FACTORY PART 1 and A BREAD FACTORY PART 2 on October 26th, and Wang’s previous film THE GRIEF OF OTHERS on November 2nd, in New York and Los Angeles. THE GRIEF OF OTHERS was produced by Cummings, Miller, and Wiessner.

This is a first-time collaboration between Vanishing Angle and the newly formed Texas-based production company The 10 East Pictures, founded by producer Zack Parker to facilitate the next generation of independent filmmakers.

For more information visit www.thunderroadfeature.com

Chat w/ Molly Ryan, from Brooklyn Moving Company & 24 Hour Musical

Molly Ryan is a New York based actor. She recently co-stared in and produced Brooklyn Moving Company, a Pilot selected to headline this year’s New York Television Festival. 

We had a chat with Molly and here are the excerpts:

• What was the most difficult and most rewarding part of making Brooklyn Moving Company

• The most difficult part was really just the legwork involved, something that comes with creating anything independently and within a tight budget. However, I would say this was also the most rewarding part as well - to be a part of a project you are truly proud of that was 100% the effort of everyone involved in the small cast and crew. 

• What's next with the project?

• The Pilot premiered in July at the New York Television festival. It would be awesome to see something more come of it, but that’s really up to the writers and the vision that they have going forward. As individuals we’re all continuing to work on different projects in New York and Los Angeles but as a group we’re still performing together regularly in Tuff Boys Present: 24 Hour Musical.

• What’s next with you and 24 Hour Musical?

• We are performing two more dates this year, including a holiday themed “extravaganza”! More dates in information can be found here: http://www.tuffboys.xyz/events/

  What's your message to other aspiring actors and filmmakers, specially in NYC?

• Finding fellow artists to collaborate with that you genuinely enjoy working with may be the most important lesson I have learned. It’s certainly not the easiest or most predictable path to take, so when you’re able to enjoy and have fun with a creative experience - hold onto it. 

• What’s your most favorite and least favorite thing about NYC?

• Favorite = the people. Least favorite = ...honestly? Subway delays.

You can see Molly perform monthly at the People’s Improv Theater in the 24 hour Musical with her musical comedy group Tuff Boys and at the PIT Loft in ZIP ZAP DEAD the non-improv short play about improv gone wrong. She can also be seen in the Lloyd Kaufman and Troma Movies produced series Exorsisters as well as the feature film Present From the Past shooting this November in New York City. Molly is a graduate of Michael Howard Studios One-Year Acting Conservatory, The Actor’s Program at Freeman Studios and Bentley University where she obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Film Studies.