NCIndieSeen

Today is the last day to send your film off to the upcoming North Carolina Black Film Festival scheduled to launch on March 22-25 2012 in Wilmington, NC.  

NCIndieSeen's interview are starting to go viral! Stay tuned for more interviews and videos from your favorite North Carolina film blog! The transcript below is available if there are some issues with hearing any audio. We're gettin there guys!









NCIndieSeen: Tell us a little bit about the film "I Will Follow"

Ava: "I Will Follow" is really about a woman at a crossroads.  The main character name is Maye and she's a makeup artist in New York City.  She has a hot career and a hot boyfriend played by Blair Underwood.  Then tragedy strikes in her family and she has to go home and take care of some things and in the process is struggling to keep her balance and keep her identity and so the film explores how to maintain yourself amidst personal chaos.

NCIndieSeen: Where was it shot and how long did it take for production on that?

Ava: 15 days.  In Topanga Canyon, CA.  I was really interested in Topanga its a canyon community in California.  I'm from California and usually when you wanna see black people on screen they're not against greenery unless they're in the South and its a period piece. So I was really interested in seeing contemporary black people in a canyon setting which happens to not really have been captured on screen.  So in moments in the film you see her walking in the street its greenery and that where they live, which I think that it's a little different from how we usually see ourselves in an urban setting or on the mean streets.

NCIndieSeen:  How did you go about casting in this film?

Ava: I met the casting director Aisha Coley who actually cast Secret Life of Bees and Akeelah and The Bee and did alot of work with Spike Lee and so she was agreed to work with me early on and some of it was Aisha Coley auditioning in meetings and some of it was personal relationships like Blair Underwood is a good friend and his part was written with him in mind with hopes he would come out for a couple of days and do it. It was a mixuture of relationships and standard casting.

NCIndieSeen: What advice would you give to independent filmmakers trying to break out in the film industry and start their own feature films?

Ava:  Well that's a huge question there are so many things to do.  In general you have to have a passion for what you are doing for alot of folks when they are thinking about their first feature they're thinking about ok what will sell in the studios or what's in right now or other trends and I think the best films come from someone's heart and so you can tell when something is being done just to be done and something that means something to someone the film just feel different to the audience, and those that have some kind of connection are the most successful with audiences and stand the test of time I think.  So I would just encourage people to dig deep and bare their soul and make something that's important to them, you may not get another chance.

Exclusive video from the filmmakers about the indie film Punch Me which debuted at the North Carolina Black Film Festival last March.

Pictured Here (L to R): Rhonda Bellamy, Saba, Keita, and Tajiya Baba

The North Carolina Black Film Festival salutes Charlotte, NC sisters Tajiya, Keita, and Saba.  What started out as a hobby to entertain friends and family with self-made short movies has turned into a full-time business for the sisters, ages 13, 17, and 21. The three young entrepreneurs have their own animation company and is fully independent with everything from scriptwriting to directing.  We caught up with the three sisters at NCBFF to find out how they got this started!

Tajiya: My name is Tajiya Baba and I am 21 years old.

Keita: My name is Keita Baba and I am 17 years old.

Saba: And my name is Saba Nanette Baba and I am 13 years old and our company is EYI Publications which stands for...

In-Sync (all 3 sisters):  Entrepreneurs of Youth and Integrity.

NCIndieSeen: Awesome!  How did you guys go about starting this company and what inspired you to think of something so groundbreaking as starting a company at such a young tender age?

Tajiya: I can start by saying it started from young early childhood.  When I was about five years old that was when I wanted to become an animator, after watching all of the cartoons that I watched on television.  So from there I kinda was wanting build my skill and develop my artwork so to match that up on a professional level so that I could possibly become an animator which is what I've become now.

Keita: What got me started was when I was young, and my older sister was 8 and I was 4, I was totally inspired by her she was my idol, and I was like her secretary.  Whatever she did was what I wanted to do.  I love art and my mother is an artist and she inspired us greatly.  Tajiya wanted to be an animator ever since she was really young  but that's what I wanted to be as well. 

Saba: Since these two wanted to do animation, when I came along I was like oh well I guess I gotta do animation with them. (laughs)

Keita: When Saba was born she was like oh wow I like this. 

Saba: But also what drove me was I love cartoons, the animation in th emovies and stuff, but when I realized I actually had the talent to create those things, I kept building and building on it and like what happned to them I was like this is what I want to do.  I wanted to be an entrepreneur and be independent and I knew if you strive for that, you will never work a day in your life.

NCIndieSeen:  Obviously this talent is homegrown learning animation and doing it so well.  How did you even think to start a business where did you get the sense that ok we're gonna go ahead and create our own studio and be our own boss.

Keita: Well what we did our mom always taught us to be independent and to be entrepreneurs and to have integrity and thats why we named the company Entrepreneurs of Youth and Integrity.  Its always good to have morals and integrity.  So what we did, we thought about it and we said, you know what since we do love art, and animation that's a wonderful thing to get into.  We might as well actually sell them.  We used to do home animations for our house and for our family and friends.  So our mom took us downtown and she helped us get licensing for the business, and so then it began in 2009.

NCIndieSeen:  What kind of animations do you do?  What type of genres do you dwelve in?

Saba: We do a whole variety of things we do, we have 4 animations out we do things for like little kids, we do things for like a family, and Tajiya will do things for more mature crowd but me and Keita do things for smaller kids and family type movies.  We want postive and family friendly films that will appeal to people.

Tajiya:  Even the more mature cartoons that we might do are the jokes.  The theme may not necessarily be things kids would understand, so it would be something written about funny stuff that I came up with that I have encountered in my own life and stuff I've heard other people encounter and it would be like wow, that would make a funny story.  It may not be something kids would understand, so that's what I mean by more mature.

NCIndieSeen:  Do you guys individually write, direct, and produce your own material?  Do you have help or is it completely independent?

Tajiya: Everything is completely independent, we would come up with an idea and we do write a little but all of the writing comes from our mother.  She's a writer, and she has alot of friends that are involved in theater, and do screenplays and stuff. So she picked up alot from them, and she got into So we let her handle the writing of the scripts but for our latter projects, that we've got going individually, we have produced our own stuff as well.  All of the projects we have now are stuff that was collaborative work. 

NCIndieSeen: What advice do you have for indie entrepreneurs?

Keita: I would say for one thing, always maintain your integrity.  Always remember to never give up and to always have faith in what you do and find something that you enjoy and to pursue it and let that be what you actually turn into your business if you want to become an entrepreneur.  If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life.








Benedict A. Dorsey is the director of the 2010 film The Human Web.  The is currently being screened at NCBFF.

NCIndieSeen: I'm here with Benedict A. Dorsey, director of the film The Human Web.  Hi nice to meet you today.  Tell us a little bit about the film.

Benedict:  It's a gritty urban tale dealing with a youg man who has to make some hard decisions in life.  He grew up in a single parent home, so he's making these decisions without the influence of a father figure.  He's making these decisions to please everybody and he gets trapped into this web of trying to please people.  When you're in a web, there's only one way off and it's death.    So in order to get off this web there has to be this sacrifice and he has to figure out, who's going to die.  By this painful sacrifice that is made in the movie he finally gets freed. 
NCIndieSeen: What inspired to you to tell a story like this?

Corey L. Branch directed the 24 minute short film "Snipped" about a man who gets a vasectomy.  Based on his own real life experience, Corey took the the to talk to NCIndieSeen about his film. 



NCIndieSeen:  I'm here with Corey L. Branch writer and director of the film Snipped it's nice to meet you Corey.

Corey: Thank you very much.

NCIndieSeen: Tell us a little bit about the film.

Corey: Snipped is a comedy about a man who gets a vasectomy.  It pretty much goes through what men typically go through when they are making a decision to get a vasectomy and the discussion he has with his friends. Most people are uneducated about vasectomies and what it does and even just the procedure.  Technology today makes it pretty easy, so going into that you deal with the discouragement from a male and the encouragement from a female and then the attitude and the emotions that come out of his wife.  He's addressing it as a major surgery and her attitude is I've had three kids you don't know what major surgery is and the insecurity that is there.

NCIndieSeen: Very interesting.  I know that most writers draw from what they know, any personal experience with this?

Corey: (laughs) Very much so.  Actually Snipped is me!  The facts are the information the actor gives about the procedure-- the no scalpel procudure-- doctors call NSP is legitimate the fact that he presents that in the film  is real there is nothing exaggerated about what he says.  There is little cutting and no pain with quick recovery all of that is legitimate.  It's just the fact because you are dealing with getting a vasectomy, the private area of a man, its just over-the-top sensitive. 

NCIndieSeen: How was the production on this?  How long did it take to shoot and how did you assemble cast and crew for the film?

Corey: I worked with some guys out of Atlanta and basically I met Brian who was the cameraman at a baby shower I shared with him I was getting into writing film and he was a videographer had done alot of videos.  We pretty much decided to collaborate together and come up with a project that I can showcase my writing he could showcase his film. Fran came in as the middle man he helped continue to keep the production going.  Brian had alot going on and I live in North Carolina and they live in Atlanta, so its hard for me to stay on top of things because of the distance.  Fran was the one who pretty much made sure things continued to move forward with shooting the film.  It took 3 days total to shoot it. 

NCIndieSeen: What are your thoughts about the North Carolina independent film scene and what kind of advice would you give to filmmakers looking to break out in indie film?

Corey: I still consider myself on the ground level, I say don't get overexcited about things.  I'm no longer overexcited about anything anyone says.  My thing is funding and distribution.  Until someone is standing in front of me with a checkbook, I don't get excited about getting my film out there.  I get excited about doing my work, but in this industry, everyone's ultimate goal is to make money on what they do.  I find myself meeting alot of cousins who know "the man" or friend of a friend who know "the man" who got the checkbook.  I find now I don't even wanna talk about it.  You know I'll hear "oh my cousin works with Denzel..." unless you can pick up the phone and call Denzel, and say I got someone who has some material for you, I'm not impressed.  It doesn't move me anymore.  It used to in the beginning, that's how Snipped came about because one of the guys knew the guy who worked with Denzel in one of his movies.  They knew each other and hung out or whatever and that's cool, and as soon as we get Snipped done and we can hang out and we can talk...been waiting on that phone call.  I realize that Hollywood is all about image, and people like to look good.  Don't get overly excited until someone is willing to close the deal and that check clears.

NCIndieSeen:  Thanks for taking the time to chat and Snipped is currently being screened at the North Carolina Black Film Festival.

NCIndieSeen: Tell us a little bit about the film "I Will Follow"

Ava: "I Will Follow" is really about a woman at a crossroads.  The main character name is Maye and she's a makeup artist in New York City.  She has a hot career and a hot boyfriend played by Blair Underwood.  Then tragedy strikes in her family and she has to go home and take care of some things and in the process is struggling to keep her balance and keep her identity and so the film explores how to maintain yourself amidst personal chaos.

NCIndieSeen: Where was it shot and how long did it take for production on that?

Ava: 15 days.  In Topanga Canyon, CA.  I was really interested in Topanga its a canyon community in California.  I'm from California and usually when you wanna see black people on screen they're not against greenery unless they're in the South and its a period piece. So I was really interested in seeing contemporary black people in a canyon setting which happens to not really have been captured on screen.  So in moments in the film you see her walking in the street its greenery and that where they live, which I think that it's a little different from how we usually see ourselves in an urban setting or on the mean streets.

NCIndieSeen:  How did you go about casting in this film?

Ava: I met the casting director Aisha Coley who actually cast Secret Life of Bees and Akeelah and The Bee and did alot of work with Spike Lee and so she was agreed to work with me early on and some of it was Aisha Coley auditioning in meetings and some of it was personal relationships like Blair Underwood is a good friend and his part was written with him in mind with hopes he would come out for a couple of days and do it. It was a mixuture of relationships and standard casting.

NCIndieSeen: What advice would you give to independent filmmakers trying to break out in the film industry and start their own feature films?

Ava:  Well that's a huge question there are so many things to do.  In general you have to have a passion for what you are doing for alot of folks when they are thinking about their first feature they're thinking about ok what will sell in the studios or what's in right now or other trends and I think the best films come from someone's heart and so you can tell when something is being done just to be done and something that means something to someone the film just feel different to the audience, and those that have some kind of connection are the most successful with audiences and stand the test of time I think.  So I would just encourage people to dig deep and bare their soul and make something that's important to them, you may not get another chance.


I Will Follow is currently released in selected theaters this month

Director Tonya Hamilton's NIGHT CATCHES US, starring Anthony Mackey and Kerry Washington, is hailed as a "rare American-independent film to go beyond the private dramas of its protagonists, imagining them as players in broader historical moments." In 1976, after years of mysterious absence, Marcus returns to the Philadelphia neighborhood where he came of age in the midst of the Black Power movement. While his arrival raises suspicion among his family and former neighbors, he finds acceptance from his old friend Patricia and her daughter. However, Marcus quickly finds himself at odds with the organization he once embraced, whose members suspect he orchestrated the slaying of their former comrade-in-arms. In a startling sequence of events, Marcus must protect a secret that could shatter everyone’s beliefs, as he rediscovers his forbidden passion for Patricia. Rated R

NCBFF screening: I Will Follow


Chronicling a day in the life of a black woman at a personal crossroads, I WILL FOLLOW stars Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Omari Hardwick, Michole White and Dijon Talton, with Blair Underwood and Beverly Todd. In addition to a "thumbs up" from Roger Ebert, the film has garnered praise from critics at Village Voice, LA Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, Philadelphia Inquirer, Seattle Times, BET, New York Daily News and more.

I Will Follow will be screened at 10p.m. at Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington, NC

It is 1956. the previous year, 14-year-old Emmett Till from Chicago had gone missing in Money, Mississippi. Later, the boy's mutilated body was found in a river. William Bradford Huie of Look magazine sits down with the two men acquitted of the boy's murder, Roy Bryant, Jr. and J.W. Milam, to discuss the trial. Not a word had been uttered outside a courtroom by them or theier kin...until now.

Wolf Call will be screening among a Shorts Block at 6p.m. at Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington, NC

 Critically acclaimed director Ava Duvernay will headline the North Carolina Black Film Festival as it celebrates its 10th year. Duvernay will be recognized as the festival’s Distinguished Filmmaker honoree, for her meritorious contributions to American cinema as a publicist, director, and founder of AFFRM. Fresh from its successful opening weekend, her feature film I WILL FOLLOW begins the second-week expansion from five screens in five cities to 22 screens in 15 cities -- all through the black film distribution collective, AFFRM, founded by Duvernay. The film will screen Friday, March 25, at 10:00 p.m. at Screen Gems Studios.

Critics and filmgoers alike are embracing I WILL FOLLOW. Roger Ebert proclaimed on his national television show, "I WILL FOLLOW is one of the best films I've seen about the loss of a loved one. It isn't sentimental. It isn't superficial. It is very deeply true." His sentiments are echoed by reviewers from the Village Voice, NY Daily News, LA Weekly, Philadelphia Inquirer, Seattle Times, BET and The Hollywood Reporter.

Other additions to the festival include FILM HUSTLE, a nuts and bolts, no-holds barred primer chronicling the outrageous grassroots marketing campaign for the independently produced movie, "CONFESSIONS OF A THUG." After getting a distribution deal with Warner Bros., Daron Fordham and his filmmaking team discover that, "the deal is only the beginning..." with Bill Duke, John Martino, Sally Kirkland and Raymond Forchion as themselves.

Directors E. Raymond Brown and William Arntz’s film GHETTO PHYSICS is heralded as " a radically ingenious, in-your-face documentary 'bursting with insights' by the Philadelphia Inquirer. The film takes an eye-opening look at the power relationships that permeate American society from the toughest street corners to Wall Street, from classrooms to boardrooms.

Several North Carolina filmmakers will be featured during the festival, including Corey Branch director of SNIPPED, Rob Underhill of WOLF CALL, Nakia Hamilton of WELCOME TO PORT CITY, and Nick Dalmacy of SCORN. The North Carolina Black Film Festival (formerly Cine Noir) will be held March 24-27, 2011, at Cameron Art Museum, Hannah Block USO Community Arts Center, and Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington, NC.

The festival will showcase dozens of short and feature-length narratives, documentaries, and animation, with cash prizes awarded for the best films. Tickets are $5 per screening block and $25 for festival passes, which can be used to view any screening. Youth are admitted free to all age-appropriate screenings. The film schedule is posted at www.blackartsalliance.org.

Other highlights include:


CineMixer – Our opening reception will be held at Cameron Art Museum on Thursday, March 24, at 6 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. Sponsored by Ken Weeden & Associates. Cameron Art Museum will also offer free tours of two new exhibits during the CineMixer: “Remembering BIG”, honoring the life and work of the late Allen D. Carter, a.k.a. Big Al or Big, and “From Heart to Hand - African-American Quilts from the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.”

Emerging Filmmaker Honorees - The 2011 honorees are Charlotte sisters Tajiya, Keita, and Saba. What started out as a hobby to entertain friends and family with self-made short movies has turned into a full-time business for the sisters, ages 13, 17, and 21. They have crafted everything on their animation projects from character drawings, scriptwriting, and music scoring, as well producing and directing each project as a team.

Red Carpet Event for Youth – In association with the screenings for our Emerging Filmmaker honorees, we will host a red carpet event for youth prior to the 2 p.m. screening block on Saturday, March 26, at the Community Arts Center.

Visiting Filmmakers – Specially arranged tours of Screen Gems Studios and other film industry venues will be held on Friday, March 25.

The NCBFF is produced by the Black Arts Alliance, Inc. Sponsors include the North Carolina Arts Council, the Landfall Foundation, Cameron Art Museum, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Screen Gems Studios, Hannah Block USO Community Arts Center, Ken Weeden & Associates, DigiEffects, Coast 97.3, and Colortyme.

Contact:

Rhonda Bellamy, Festival Director

Rhonda@blackartsalliance.org

910-431-9934

NC Black Film Festival CineMixer - The opening reception will be held at Cameron Art Museum on Thursday, March 24, from 6-7 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. Sponsored by Ken Weeden & Associates.



Red Carpet Event for Youth - In association with the screenings for our Emerging Filmmaker honorees, they will host a red carpet event for youth prior to the 2 p.m. screening block on Saturday, March 26, at the Community Arts Center.


Emerging Filmmaker Honorees - The 2011 honorees are Charlotte sisters Tajiya, Keita, and Saba. What started out as a hobby to entertain friends and family with self-made short movies has turned into a full-time business for the sisters, ages 13, 17, and 21. They have crafted everything on their animation projects from character drawings, scriptwriting, and music scoring, as well producing and directing each project as a team.

Punch Me is a 2011 award-winning short film drama about a young man who must embrace his identity or risk losing the two people he loves most. The film examines important messages regarding self, parental and societal acceptance as well as love and health awareness.

With a romance on the rocks and a father on his sick bed, a young man must accept his true identity before he loses the two people he loves the most.

Punch Me emerges amid the tragic suicides of several teenagers in the United States as a result of homophobic bullying.

The film will be screened at the NC Black Film Festival on Friday, March 25th, 2011 at 6PM and Saturday, March 26th, 2011 @ 4PM in Wilmington, North Carolina.




Check out the trailer here:

Take Too Long

In New Orleans, should you survive the winds, the floods and the heat, you are welcome to wait...in the dark, on a carpet of shit; without food, drink or dignity.


In the wake of hurricane Katrina, a young couple, Rich and Jessica, attempt to reunite with Rich’s father, Lou Robinson, but an ignorant and under staffed police department (combined with massive flooding and disorganization of a city in peril) conspire to make the reunion almost impossible.



Take Too Long will be screened at Screen Gems Studios at the NC Black Film Festival on Friday March 25th.

The North Carolina Black Film Festival (formerly Cine Noir) will be held March 24-27, 2011, at Cameron Art Museum, Hannah Block USO Community Arts Center, and Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington, NC. In its 10th year, the festival will showcase dozens of short and feature-length narratives, documentaries, and animation, with cash prizes awarded for the best films. Tickets are $5 per screening block and $25 for festival passes, which can be used to view any screening. Youth are admitted free to all age-appropriate screenings. The film schedule is posted at www.blackartsalliance.org.

Highlights include:

CineMixer – Our opening reception will be held at Cameron Art Museum on Thursday, March 24, from 6-7

p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. Sponsored by Ken Weeden & Associates. Cameron Art Museum will also offer free tours of two new exhibits during the CineMixer: “Remembering BIG”, honoring the life and work of the late Allen D. Carter, a.k.a. Big Al or Big, and “From Heart to Hand - African-American Quilts from the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.”

Emerging Filmmaker Honorees - The 2011 honorees are Charlotte sisters Tajiya, Keita, and Saba. What started out as a hobby to entertain friends and family with self-made short movies has turned into a full-time business for the sisters, ages 13, 17, and 21. They have crafted everything on their animation projects from character drawings, scriptwriting, and music scoring, as well producing and directing each project as a team.

Red Carpet Event for Youth – In association with the screenings for our Emerging Filmmaker honorees, we will host a red carpet event for youth prior to the 2 p.m. screening block on Saturday, March 26, at the Community Arts Center.

Visiting Filmmakers – Specially arranged tours of Screen Gems Studios and other film industry venues will be held on Friday, March 25.

The NCBFF is produced by the Black Arts Alliance, Inc. Sponsors include the North Carolina Arts Council, the Landfall Foundation, Cameron Art Museum, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Screen Gems Studios, Hannah Block USO Community Arts Center, Ken Weeden & Associates, DigiEffects, Coast 97.3, and Colortyme.



Contact:

Rhonda Bellamy, Festival Director

Rhonda@blackartsalliance.org

910-431-9934

The Black Arts Alliance is pleased to present the North Carolina Black Film Festival, formerly Cine Noir Festival of Black Film. Celebrating its tenth year, the four-day festival will be held March 24-27, 2011 at Cameron Art Museum, Hannah Block Second Street Stage, and Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington, NC. The festival spotlights features, shorts, documentaries and animation by and about African Americans, with cash prizes awarded to the best works in each genre.

The opening night reception, Thursday, March 24, at 6pm is free and open to the public. The opening selection, to be announced, will screen at 7pm. Tickets are $10. All other tickets are $5 per screening block and $25 for festival passes.