Indiana Made wins an EMMY!

Last summer, Jeff Pinilla and I went on a research shoot to convince Jeff's bosses at PIX 11 in NYC that buying a RED camera would be beneficial for the creative services department. The shoot was simple. We would drive around various neighborhoods in the city and capture the architecture, people and details of the areas. We were under the impression we had the whole day to drive around and capture footage. It turned out that we only had an hour to get all of this done. Despite the time crunch, we captured some great stuff and figured we had a good shot at a successful pitch. What came out of it was more than I ever imagined. Jeff turned the footage into an impromptu spot for PIX entitled "New York Perspective." He wrote a beautiful script to accompany the visuals and the promo ran almost nonstop. The success of Perspectives caught the attention of the creative team at FOX 59 in Indiana. They were looking to create a dynamic campaign that connected their news team with the people of Indianapolis and the surrounding towns. Jeff and I spent a week in Indy capturing the beauty of the people and the city. What we ended up with was a spot named "Indiana Made."

I'm really happy to share the news that Indiana Made is the winner of a 2013 local Emmy. I never thought I would be considered for an Emmy, let alone a recipient of one. To be honest, the idea  never crossed my mind. It is a wonderful accomplishment that I am proud to achieve. It was just as special to work with the great people in Indy: Michael Brouder, Andrew Witham and Shelby Simpson. It was a pleasure working with you guys. If you want to see the promo along with New York Perspective you can click here.

Docket 32357 Screening on the Huffington Post!

As you can tell from the title of this post I have some exciting news to share with you all. Our short, "Docket 32357," is the inaugural film of the Huffington Post's Black Voices Breakthrough Theater film series. The film is available for the next week in its entirety. I ask that you all take 15 minutes of your time to see what I have been posting about over the last couple of months. I also ask that you please like, share, tweet, instagram, reddit, share of on google + and email your networks about this screening. We really need all the help we can get in spreading the word. Just as important are your comments on the film. We would love to hear feedback from our audience. This is really exciting and I would have NEVER thought the film would have an opportunity like this. Docket has gone through a wonderful journey up until this point and I hope it continues. Please join us for the ride. You can see the film at the Huffington Post here.

Docket 32357 is an Official Selection of the Montreal Black International Film Festival

I am proud to announce that Docket 32357 is an Official Selection of the Montreal Black International Film Festival. This is our Canadian premiere and the film's 19th selection. This has been a tremendous run for us and I'm really excited that the film is a part of this festival. A friend of mine, Donald Conley who directed "Sleep" the winner of the festival's Best Short Award, had some great things to say about it so I look forward to experiencing it. I think this is one festival where we will be live blogging and posting pics of since we've missed out on attending some other great festivals with the film. It's a great feeling to see that the film is still finding venues to play in and hopefully the run will continue. Thank you to all cast and crew and thank you to all of those that continue to support Docket.

Docket 32357 is an Official Selection of the Phoenix Film Festival

Docket 32357 will be a part of the 2013 lineup for the Phoenix Film Festival, which will take place April 4th through the 11th. We are really excited to be a part of the Prime Shorts Showcase, which is a category representing "strong films that were notable, recognized and handpicked by our festival leadership." This is festival selection number 15 and I'm excited that the film continues to gain exposure while playing in cities in the country I have never had a film play in. I'm gonna try my best to make it to this festival so there is the potential for some blogging coverage of the event. Congrats to the cast and crew on yet another accomplishment.

Docket 32357 is an Official Selection of the Dam Short Film Festival!

I'm proud to announce that our short film "Docket 32357" is an Official Selection of the 2013 Dam Short Film Festival in Boulder City, Nevada! This is our first festival screening for the New Year and I'm really proud to be a part of this wonderful festival. It takes place February 6-9. Congrats to the cast and crew and thank you everyone that has supported the project.

Docket 32357 Wins Audience Choice Award at IBFFN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyvZgcQpTVg&feature=youtu.be&a It is with great pride and excitement that I announce Docket 32357 is the winner of the Audience Choice Award at the 2012 International Black Film Festival of Nashville. It is a great honor to receive this award that reflects the people's interest in our work. It is humbling and inspiring to know the public enjoyed the result of the cast and crew's dedication and hard work for the film. We were also nominated for Best Short Film. There may be an added benefit for winning the award, but I will have more info on that in due time. I want to congratulate Eljon Wardally, Jessica Karen Brown, Tara Gadomski, Ashley Denise Robinson, Kiel Perry, Ryan Denmark, Jeff Pinilla, Blair Doroshwalther, Jon Altman and everyone else who made the film come to life. It is a shared accomplishment.

The announcement comes around the 6:16 mark if you want to skip right to it, but take a look at all the winners.

Thank you Docket 32357

Eljon Wardally. Jessica K. Brown.

Tara Gadomski.

Ashley Denise Robinson.

Kiel Perry.

Jeff Pinilla.

Blair Doroshwalther.

Sauniell Connally.

Ryan Denmark.

Kia M. Neal.

Jonathan Altman.

These wonderful talents, along with many others, have allowed "Docket 32357" to achieve success on the festival circuit in a relatively short amount of time. With our latest acceptance, the film has now reached ten selections. This landmark means a great deal to me. Docket was created because I wanted to keep my directorial skills sharp and I wanted to remain relevant to various film audiences. Eljon wrote a strong piece and it provided an opportunity to achieve those two goals. My hope was that our film would play in a couple festivals nationwide and showcase the talents of everyone involved. Now I can say with confidence that my expectations have been exceeded. It feels good when your work has an opportunity to be shown in front of diverse audiences that you haven't had a chance to engage with in the past. It is also satisfying because our determination to overcome numerous challenges is being rewarded by the overwhelming positive responses the film has received. I was a little concerned when I first took on the project because it is a simple premise in one location. But that concern dissipated when I trusted the talent around me and had faith that the audience will be engaged if we told the story with quality and care. Docket 32357 reminds me of why I love being a filmmaker. The adrenaline rush of being on set and the excitement of interacting with moviegoers. It is addictive. I wouldn't want it any other way.

Indiana Made

Here is a new promo that I shot recently for FOX 59 in Indiana entitled "Indiana Made." Jeff Pinilla and I spent a week there to help with a new campaign the creative team at FOX 59 wanted to execute. I got a chance to immerse myself with the wonderful people of Indianapolis and get an understanding of the pride that they feel for their city and region. We shot for five days and were split up into two teams where we traveled around the city in a run and gun style to capture the diverse aspects of Indy. One day of the five was spent in the Chase tower with the station's prominent talent. The spot is directed by Jeff Pinilla who also did additional cinematography and is produced by Michael Brouder, Andrew Witham and Shelby Simpson. Let me know what you think of the spot in the comments below. Hope you enjoy it.

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/48888772 w=600&h=337]

Indiana Made - Fox 59 Indiana Creative Promo

Directed by Jeff Pinilla

Cinematography by Randy Wilkins & Jeff Pinilla

Produced by Michael Brouder, Andrew Witham and Shelby Simpson

Shot on Canon 5D and 7D

"The Chase" wins a Promax Gold Award!

I am proud to announce that "The Chase," a promo for PIX 11 that I served as cinematographer, has earned the Promax Gold award! The spot is directed by the talented Jeff Pinilla. Here is some info on Promax:

The 2012 PromaxBDA North America Promotion & Marketing honor outstanding promotion, marketing and design content in the entertainment industry throughout North America during the eligibility period of January, 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011.

I would like to congratulate Jeff, PIX 11, the cast and visual fx crew that brought this spot together. I'm proud of how it turned out.

The spot can be seen on the Promos page of the site.

Docket 32357 is an official selection of The San Francisco Black Film Festival!

I am pleased to announce that Docket 32357 is an official selection of the San Francisco Black Film Festival! The festival runs from June 15-17. I would like to thank and congratulate the cast and crew of the film for all of their hard work and talents. You can get more info about the festival here. I will post more details about the festival screening as it comes in.

Docket 32357 Accepted in the Martha's Vineyard African American Festival!

I'm very excited to announce that my new short film Docket 32357, written by Eljon Wardally and produced by Jessica K. Brown, has been accepted into the 2012 Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival! The festival takes place August 7th-11th on Martha's Vineyard (obviously). I was a part of the festival a couple of year's back with Osvaldo's. I'm excited to bring the new film to the island. I would like to thank the hard working cast and crew who helped make the film a reality. They were awesome. Please come back to the site for more information as it comes in. Here is the teaser for Docket 32357.