Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published in “Festivals, Camps & Concerts”

African-American Women in Cinema Film Fest Announces 2014 Lineup (November 19-22)

By goodblacknews on November 7, 2014

75For those of you in New York City, here’s a film festival event to add to your November calendar… full details below:

The African-American Women in Cinema announced the full line-up of this year’s 17th Annual African-American Women in Cinema Film Festival (November 19th – 22nd), which features an opening night premiere and reception, keynote panels, additional premiere screenings, a youth filmmaking event, and a short films program. The films chosen for this year’s festival are judged by a jury committee made up of prominent industry leaders, who adhere to the organization’s mission statement of promoting films from African American, Latina, Native American and the Asian diaspora. AAWIC is the only film festival in New York City with such a wide multicultural reach.

Gladys Knight and Letoya Luckett star in Opening Night feature "Seasons of Love"
Gladys Knight and Letoya Luckett star in Opening Night feature “Seasons of Love”

The Opening Night selection is the New York premiere of director Princess Monique’s “Seasons of Love.”  Starring Gladys Knight, Taraji P. Henson, Method Man and LeToya Luckett, the film follows one couple’s romantic ups and downs, as they struggle to determine the things that matter most in life. The film also features Ana Isabella, a rising star from Puerto Rico. The film is a Lifetime Studios production and will premiere on Lifetime on November 23rd.

AAWIC is also pleased to announce the premiere event entitled INTERNATIONAL DAY presented by UNESCO NYS and African Women For Good Governance on November 22nd. There will be a panel discussion called Discussing the African Film Industry moderated by Winsome Sinclair (prominent casting director). Following the discussion there will be a special presentation organized by African Women For Good Governance and later a film screening hosted by producer Mohamed Dione.

The festival will close with an awards VIP reception that will take place at the United Nations and the Nigerian Embassy, respectively. The President of African Women For Good Governance and Ambassador of UNESCO, Sire Dione Conde, expressed her excitement for the festival, stating, “We are pleased to be a part of such a prestigious festival that celebrates women in the industry and are very happy to present the first ever International Day! We look forward to making history together.”

Below are the full program details:

Dave Chappelle Surprises at Hartford's 2014 Oddball Comedy Festival, Wins over Formerly Hostile Crowd

By goodblacknews on August 25, 2014
Dave Chappelle at 2014 Oddball and Curiosity Comedy Festival
Dave Chappelle at 2014 Oddball Comedy and Curiosity Festival

HARTFORD — One year after he bombed in one of the most notoriously disastrous stand-up sets in memory, Dave Chappelle made a surprise return here — and no one seemed more surprised than he.

“I didn’t think I’d ever come back to Hartford,” he said on Saturday, closing out a star-studded Oddball Comedy and Curiosity Festival show that was the biggest blockbuster in stand-up this summer.

After being roundly booed and heckled in 2013, Mr. Chappelle had promised that he would never return to Hartford, “not even for gas.” He also joked that if North Korea were to drop a nuclear bomb on the United States, he hoped it would fall on Hartford. He did not retract his criticism (“It was your fault,” he reminded the crowd), but on the day before his 41st birthday, he struck conciliatory notes. “I was really immature,” he conceded, before apologizing for making T-shirts that cursed the city.

The crowd embraced him without restraint, roaring when he appeared onstage, laughing throughout his set and remaining carefully quiet in between jokes. Mr. Chappelle, dressed in a long black dress shirt and smoking a cigarette, said that doing so poorly was hard on him. Then he confessed that he had not prepared anything for this show. “I figured showing up is funny enough.”

The warm show was in a stark contrast to last year’s Oddball performance, which began boisterous, turned contentious and ended with him running out his allotted time by, among other things, reading a book aloud onstage. Media accounts situated the show as part of a pattern of mercurial behavior, including his quitting his hit show on Comedy Central. Some described the evening as a meltdown, others as a crowd run amok.

As Mr. Chappelle has deftly done before, he turned bad press to his advantage, using it for comedy, starting with his next show in Chicago, where he described the Hartford crowd as “evil.” The jokes must have stung, since they earned a response from the mayor of Hartford, Pedro Segarra, who tweeted, “Dave Chappelle needs to quit whining, do his job and try some yoga.”

Mr. Chappelle’s return capped a dynamite night of stand-up comedy featuring a murderers’ row of comics, including Sarah Silverman, Hannibal Buress, Dave Attell, Amy Schumer, Aziz Ansari and Louis C.K. In a nice bit of suspense-generating stagecraft, Louis C.K., the final act on the bill, finished his set, started walking offstage, only to stop, return to the microphone and dramatically tell everyone to stay, before introducing Mr. Chappelle.

Last year’s Hartford show was so infamous that at several points, jokes by comics evoked the controversy. When after Mr. Ansari made his entrance and thanked the crowd, he made a joke demanding to know whether the audience would finally be quiet and let him speak.

Louis C.K. made an even more pointed jab by opening his set by saying of Hartford, “Nice area,” then making a wry face. The large screens picked up his smile and raised eyebrows when he held onto the moment, extending the pause, and repeating sarcastically, “Really nice.” With a new set dense with jokes, Louis C.K. was in peak form, returning to bread-and-butter subjects like raising two kids and also mining humor through some of the most unpredictable punch lines in comedy. After a setup about trying to answer the question of why babies always cry on planes, he concluded, “They are upset about gay marriage.”

Mr. Chappelle made a callback to this joke in a bit he does about Chaz Bono. While Mr. Chappelle comes off as the absent-minded enigma, he has a showman’s sense of event honed over a lifetime of performing. (He did his first stand-up set in Washington at the age of 14.) But on this night, he also seemed genuinely moved by the response.

“Are you sure this is Hartford?” Mr. Chappelle asked toward the end. Then, not much later, looking pleased and a little mischievous, he pointed to the front rows and said, “There’s someone giving me the middle finger.”

article by Jason Zinoman via nytimes.com

The Wayans Brothers Kick Off Brand-New Comedy Tour in U.S.

By goodblacknews on July 21, 2014
Wayans brothers Keenen (56), Damon (53), Shawn (43) and Marlon Wayans (41) are known around the world as some of the funniest comedians in the game.  Continuing to build on their huge successes on television (“In Living Color”, “Last Comic Standing”, “My Wife and Kids”) and in film (“Scary Movie”, “White Chicks”, “Haunted House”), the Wayans’ are currently on traveling the U.S. with “The Wayans Brothers Tour”, bringing the siblings on stage together as they’ve never been before.The tour kicked off last week on the East Coast – check below for upcoming cities and tour dates:

The Wayans Brothers Tour Dates
July 23-24, 2014- Potawatami Casino / Milwaukee, WI
July 25, 2014 – Star Plaza Casino / Merriville, IN
August 1, 2014 – NJPAC / Newark, NJ
August 2, 2014 – Tower Theater / Philadelphia, PA
August 8, 2014 – Chuckchansi Casino / Coarsegold, CA
August 15, 2014 – Seminole Hard Rock Live Arena / Hollywood, FL
August 16, 2014 – Hard Rock Live / Orlando, FL
August 21, 2014 – Wagner Noel Pac / Midland, TX
August 22, 2014 – Abraham Chavez Theatre / El Paso, TX
September 12, 2014 – Jackson Convention Complex / Jackson, MS

article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)

Miles Johnson, 16, Wins 1st Place at Youth Entrepreneur Camp with Financial Tracker App for Teens

By goodblacknews on July 17, 2014
As a boy, 16-year-old Miles Johnson‘s father taught him about the power of compound interest: If he had money and put it away, it would grow so that one day he’d be able to buy something he really wanted.  Steadily contributing to his savings account, he got a nice pair of headphones, a laptop for school and an idea — a mobile app that could help others from low-income backgrounds reach retirement and financial freedom.
His plan for the “Next Generation” mobile app took first place and won $1,000 at a business plan competition recently, part of the free Los Angeles BizCamp Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge. The summer camp was created by the nonprofit Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship in partnership with the Los Angeles Urban League.

Johnson was one of 21 underserved high school students from across Los Angeles who met with teachers and business mentors every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the two-week camp to find a problem in their communities and address it with a business solution.
Miles proposed a host of simple financial tools that help people, at the touch of a screen, check their budget daily, monitor their credit and access resources about getting out of debt.
“I thought this could help them and prevent them from being broke at 65 … or see how a car or house payment might fit in their budget,” said Miles, who now has a shot at competing on the national level for $25,000 with a free trip to Silicon Valley.
Adrian Griffin, his mother, described him as “completely self-motivated.”
“I can’t say whether I’m proud or embarrassed that I didn’t help at all,” said Griffin, who couldn’t attend the event because she was working. “I had a feeling that he was going to win, so that day I put my phone in my pocket, something I don’t usually do. I wanted to make sure he could get hold of me no matter what.”
At the event, the high schoolers studied concepts in finance, marketing and recognizing business opportunities. They put their knowledge into action by drafting plans for a music school for children with autism, a multicultural magazine to boost young women’s self-confidence, a healthy food truck for high school and college campuses, and more.

The competition gave students such as 16-year-old Mario Seki the chance to work on their own ideal careers. Moonlighting as a magician since the age of 6, Mario, now a student at the School of Arts and Enterprise in Pomona, said he hopes to expand his business, which already includes performing at birthday parties, and social and community events.
“Magic is a really nice form of medicine in a way. My mission is to make someone’s day better,” said Mario, who placed second at the BizCamp competition and won $750.
“I thought this is for him because he can really learn about running a business,” said Judy Seki of her son, the youngest of nine children. “Each one has a different interest and you just support them in any way you can. Part of that was finding this.”
Sisters Passion Lord, 15, and Dajah Blades, 14, saw their confidence skyrocket over the course of the camp as they developed presentation skills.  On competition day they fearlessly shared slices of lemon pie and their vision for “P and D’s Sweet Treats” to promote peace through pastries from around the world. They placed third and won $300.
“Why not do something that brings everyone together?” Dajah said.  “The secret ingredient is love,” Passion added.
“To see them light up and fill the room was phenomenal,” said Jessie Mosqueda, a community development officer for Citi, which sponsored the camp through its foundation’s commitment to spend $50 million over three years on programs for youths in low-income communities.
Romann Anderson, who will be a sophomore at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, won the BizCamp fast-pitch competition and $75. He impressed judges with his pitch for “Prism Gaming,” a compact video game console.  “I was very proud that he was able to tap into the business aspect as well as the fun,” said Stacy Beverly, Romann’s mom.
It’s a lesson Romann said he hopes to take with him going forward.  “If I go into business in something I’m passionate about, I won’t back down,” Romann said.
A 2013 NFTE research project found that alumni from their programs beat the national employment average of 69% — 88% of their participants are in the workforce. They’re also more likely to be self-employed: 22% of NFTE alumni have their own businesses, compared to the national average of 11%.
“It teaches them how to fish and build futures,” said Estelle Reyes, NFTE executive director.
With participants being tasked to deliver a 30-second elevator pitch and an eight-minute presentation by the program’s conclusion, BizCamp covered a curriculum that typically takes a full academic year, according to teacher Timothy Dura.
“It’s like taking someone, opening up their mouth, shoving in a fire hose and turning it on to see how much they absorb,” said Dura, who teaches at the Hawthorne Math and Science Academy. “They’ve done really, really well. I’m very proud of them.”
To learn more about BizCamp, visit http://www.tinyurl.com/2014BizCampApplication.
article by Sara Hayden via latimes.com

 

Jay Z and Beyoncé "On the Run" Tour Is Headed to HBO

By goodblacknews on July 13, 2014
"On The Run Tour: Beyonce And Jay-Z" - Opening Night In Miami Gardens
Jay Z and Beyonce perform during opening night of the “On The Run Tour: Beyonce And Jay-Z” at Sun Life Stadium on June 25, 2014 in Miami Gardens, Florida.Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty Images

Missed Bey and Jay in concert? Not to worry, you can watch them on HBO.  Beyoncé and Jay Z will perform over 40 songs for their first HBO concert event, the premium cable network announced Thursday. HBO will tape the pair’s September 12 and 13 performances in Paris, the only international stop on their “On the Run” Tour.
The event builds on the power couple’s extensive partnership with HBO. The 17-time Grammy winner is currently appearing on HBO in Beyoncé: X10, a ten-episode miniseries featuring 2-minute clips from concert performances every sunday night. In February 2013, HBO aired the Beyoncé documentary, Life Is But a Dream. Jay Z’s Picasso Baby: A Performance Art Film also premiered on the cable network in August 2013.

Essence’s 20th Anniversary Festival Largest Ever With 550,000 Attendees

By goodblacknews on July 8, 2014

This past weekend’s Essence Festival surpassed its record setting attendance of last year’s 543,000 attendees by 7,000. At the 20th anniversary of the famed festival, more than 550,000 people attended and saw various performances, activities, and speakers throughout the Fourth of July weekend in New Orleans.
“Through a unique combination of entertainment and empowerment programming, the ESSENCE Festival has become the place where we come together to revel in culture and connect to our community,” said ESSENCE Communications President Michelle Ebanks. “In recognition of our 20-year milestone, we are tremendously proud to have offered more curated content than ever before—live in New Orleans for our more than 550,000 festival-goers and available digitally on multiple screens for our ESSENCE community of 11.5 million.”
There were more than 80 performers including such dignitaries as Prince, Mary J. Blige, Lionel Richie, Robin Roberts, Alicia Keys, Steve Harvey and Rev. Al Sharpton.
article by Cedric “BIG CED” Thornton via blackenterprise.com

Award-Winning Director, Writer Alton Glass Makes History at the 18th Annual American Black Film Festival, ‘CRU’

By goodblacknews on July 4, 2014

Alton Glass
Los Angeles, CA — Director, writer, producer Alton Glass made history at the 18th annual American Black Film Festival (ABFF) held in New York City this June.  Glass and his ensemble won awards for his engaging and heartfelt drama, “CRU”, making history by winning all nominated categories.
The award-winning film “CRU” tells the story of four high school best friends whose lives are dramatically changed after a near fatal accident, and when they reunite 18 years later they discover a set of past and present secrets that threaten to alter the course of their future.
The drama won the following awards in each nominated category:
* Grand Jury Prize for Best Director – “CRU,” Directed by Alton Glass, award and $5,000 prize provided by Cadillac
* Grand Jury Prize for Best Screenplay – “CRU,” written by Alton Glass and Oliver W. Ottley III, award and $5,000 prize presented by the Time Warner Foundation
* Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature – “CRU,” Written by Alton Glass & Oliver W. Ottley III, Directed by Alton Glass, Executive Producer Courtney Triggs, Produced by Danny Green, Alton Glass, Matthew Hatchette and Oliver W. Ottley III, award presented by BET Networks
* Audience Award for Best Film – “CRU,” Written by Alton Glass & Oliver Ottley III, Directed by Alton Glass, Executive Producer Courtney Triggs, Produced by Danny Green, Alton Glass, Matthew Hatchette and Oliver W. Ottley III, award presented by Nielsen
* Grand Jury Prize for Best Actor – Keith Robinson for his performance in “CRU,” award presented by UPTOWN Magazine
CRU stars Keith Robinson, Richard T. Jones, Harry J. Lennix, Melissa DeSousa, Sammi Rotibi, Antwon Tanner, Alison Eastwood and Jermaine Crawford.
Glass was overwhelmed with excitement over the history-making accomplishments. “I’d like to thank Jeff Friday, ABFF team, sponsors, my Mom who is my biggest supporter and film-lovers for supporting me and TeamCRU”, says Director/Writer/Producer Alton Glass while receiving back-to-back honors at the ABFF awards ceremony.
For more information on “CRU” or Alton Glass, visit www.glassrockent.com
article via blacknews.com

Mixed Remixed Festival to Host Largest West Coast Loving Day Celebration Tomorrow (June 14) in Los Angeles

By goodblacknews on June 13, 2014

Mixed Remixed Staff
Mixed Remixed Festival Founder Heidi Durrow (center); Festival staffers (l-r): Lesa Lakin, Jennifer Frappier and Jamie Moore

The Mixed Remixed Festival, a family festival, hosts the largest Loving Day celebration on the West Coast at the Japanese American National Museum in downtown Los Angeles (100 N. Central Ave.) tomorrow, Saturday, June 14, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Loving Day is officially held every year on June 12, the anniversary of the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia, which struck down all anti-miscegenation laws remaining in sixteen states.
The festival celebrates stories of the mixed experience and multiracial Americans, the fastest-growing demographic in the U.S., bringing together film and book lovers, innovative and emerging artists, and multiracial and multicultural families and individuals for workshops, readings, performances, and film screenings.
A fiscally-sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization, the festival is produced by New York Times best-selling writer Heidi Durrow and a talented staff of volunteers.
The event is free and open to the public. The complete festival schedule can be found at www.mixedremixed.org. Highlights include:
• The largest West Coast Loving Day celebration at 6:30 p.m. with the annual Storyteller’s Prize presentation and live show. The prize will go to Comedy Central’s hit comedic duo Key & Peele, award-winning writer Susan Straight, and Cheerios’ marketing team as part of a dynamic live show featuring comedians, musicians and spoken-word poets. This program is currently reserved at capacity, but any open seats near showtime will be offered to individuals on the wait list. Call (213) 293-7077 or email heidi@mixedremixed.org.
• Families can enjoy interactive craft activities all day as part of the Target Free Family Day; storytelling time with Sebastian Jones, co-author with actress Garcelle Beauvais of the children’s book “I Am Mixed”; and a writing workshop for kids with Lora Nakamura, author of “Bonsai Babes.”
• KPCC, Southern California’s largest public radio station, will produce a special panel called “#Multicultivate,” moderated by KPCC’s Josie Huang.
• Two award-winning feature films: “Sleeping with the Fishes” (directed by Nicole Gomez Fisher), winner of the Best New Director Award at the Brooklyn Film Festival, and “Closure” (directed by Bryan Tucker), a feature documentary about a transracial adoptee’s search for her biological parents. The latter screening will be followed by a panel discussion with the filmmaker and transracial adoptees and activists. The festival will also present a program of several ground-breaking short films.
• Readings by Krista Bremer, author of the hit memoir about her bicultural marriage, “My Accidental Jihad” (Algonquin Books); Crystal Chan, author of “Bird”; Chris Terry, author of “Zero Fade”; and many others. Skylight Books is the Festival’s official bookseller.
• Acting and writing workshops will be led by published authors and professional actors. Award-winning poet Aaron Samuels, author of the prize-winning “Yarmulkes & Fitted Caps,” will present a poetry-writing workshop; celebrated voice-over artist and acting professor Rayme Cornell will lead a voice-over class; and Khanisha Foster will offer a Performer’s Bootcamp. A complete list of workshops appears on the festival website.
• More than a dozen esteemed panelists will speak on diverse topics related to the mixed experience. Panelists include scholar Marcia Dawkins, activist/filmmaker Thomas Lopez, and YouTube’s Channing Sargent.
Festival sponsors include: Cheerios (Silver Sponsor), Japanese American National Museum (www.janm.org), Zerflin.com, Pitfire Artisan Pizza, Miss Jessie’s, and Poets & Writers through a grant from the James Irvine Foundation.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

Sony Pictures Television Launches Diverse Directors Program (Apply by June 6)

By goodblacknews on June 2, 2014

SPT Diverse Directors ProgramThe new Los Angeles-based initiative will provide an opportunity for candidates to shadow established TV directors on episodes of various hour and half-hour scripted Sony Pictures TV series. “The Diverse Directors Program will provide access and training to promising future directors and at the same time provide us with new, emerging talent behind the camera with various points of view,” SPT President Steve Mosko said. Submissions are being accepted online from May 23-June 6, or until 500 applications are received. Candidates must submit one completed example of a past directing project, letters of recommendation from entertainment industry professionals and an interview. Twenty semi-finalists will take part in an episodic directing workshop and attend networking events. The workshop will begin in June on Sony’s Culver City lot, and the curriculum will consist of six evenings of discussion and instruction from working directors and production personnel. Starting in August, three finalists will have an opportunity to shadow participating TV directors on various series and receive a weekly stipend. Participants be invited back to direct an episode of a scripted SPT series the following season. “Diversity on all levels is a central focus to many of our programs,” said Paul Martin, SVP and Chief Diversity Officer at Sony Pictures Entertainment, “and we fully believe that the Diverse Directors Program will not only provide access and experience to a diverse group of potential directors but will also become a key component of Sony Pictures’ business strategy.”
article via Deadline.com

Spike Lee Film Retrospective Coming to Brooklyn in June

By goodblacknews on May 29, 2014

Spike Lee is bringing it back to where it all began. BAMcinématek in Brooklyn, New York, will host a retrospective of the homegrown auteur’s films in a series titled By Any Means Necessary: A Spike Lee Joints Retrospective. The program will run for twelve days, from June 29-July 10, and showcase Lee’s classic works and even some of his rarely-seen films.

BAM’s series will even include a screening of Lee’s least-seen film, his NYU Master’s thesis Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads. The filmmaker’s most popular film, Do the Right Thing, will be the closing night film and will be attended by Lee and the cast.
Tickets for the full program are scheduled to go on sale soon, but passes for Do the Right Thing are available now for museum members.  Lee is a true American auteur whose films defined a generation and made Brooklyn a mecca for artists. Fans will surely relish this rare opportunity to see his (almost) complete body of work.
article by Evelyn Diaz via BET.com