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Producing ‘Farewell Amor’

How did Farewell Amor get produced from the script to distribution on Hulu? 

Learn about the process of taking Farewell Amor from script to Sundance to Hulu from Producer and BTFC co-founder, Huriyyah Muhammad. We know navigating this industry can be a challenge when you’re trying to source funding, hire your crew, cast your project – and keep the creative inspiration flowing. Producing a film or series requires patience, research, and resourcefulness. With preparation and an informed approach, you can target the right group of people and take your project to the next level. Join us as Huriyyah recaps her filmmaking journey and the process of making the award-winning film.

 

ABOUT FAREWELL AMOR 

After 17 years in exile, Walter finally reunites with his family after being forced to leave Angola for New York City. We meet the family as Walter is picking up his wife, Esther, and daughter, Sylvia, from the airport to bring them home to his one-bedroom Brooklyn apartment. They quickly discover how the years of separation have turned them into absolute strangers. As they attempt to overcome the personal and political hurdles amongst them, they rely on the muscle memory of dance to find their way back “home.” FAREWELL AMOR is an immigrant story that has come to define the American landscape since its inception. WATCH TRAILER
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Office Hours: Get Help On Your Projects

BTFC office hours are good for health – the health of your projects that is. Chat with BTFC Board Member and writer, director, producer Okema T. Moore about your project! During Office Hours we do our best to offer insight and feedback that can help push you forward!

For artists, isolation can be deadly to projects. In fact, it stops many projects before they have even fully begun. BTFC Office Hours were implemented to combat the isolation that we all sometimes fall victim to. During office hours we’ll answer general production questions and provide an environment where you can come in and work on your projects in the company of others.

How can we better describe them? It’s an open door for any member who would like to just come in and ask a question. Get a second pair of eyes on a rough cut, get some help on budgets, use a computer, work in the company of others. Remember back in the day when our professors had office hours and you would just go in to ask a question or get some help? That is what these office hours are like. You might have us all to yourself, or there may be one or two other filmmakers in the line ahead of you.

Join us to talk about your projects and ideas, so that you’re better equipped to move them forward. It’s all-time well spent.

NOTE: 40-minute slots will be assigned on a first RSVP basis. A zoom link will be sent to you 48 hours before your session. Please block out 4:30 – 8:30 PM ET on your calendar until your slot is received.

 

About Okema T. Moore

Okema T. Moore is a seasoned producer, writer, and director who started as a child actor on Sesame Street, cultivating quite a life of experiences since then. These experiences include sharing an EMMY Nomination for a PSA she AD’d, produced and voiced, premiering as a digital series producer at Tribeca Film Festival’s Tribeca N.O.W. 2019, producing the NAACP nominated doc series UNLADYLIKE2020 for PBS, and producing the American Black Film Festival 2019 Best Web Series, Little Apple. She can be seen as a hologram in Brian Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative Legacy Museum in Montgomery, AL, and in successful web series such as Makeup X Breakup and the Emmy Nominated Pillow Talk.

Behind the scenes, Okema holds a BS in finance and business from Brooklyn College and a Producing Certification from NYU’s SPS. A member of the Board of Directors of the Black TV & Film Collective, Okema leads Programming.

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Sound of Metal: Discussion Circle

Let’s talk about the highly acclaimed film, Sound of Metal. 

On Thursday, May 27th; we’re discussing the highly praised film,  the Sound of Metal. Come ready to dive into what makes this film that won the BAFTA Award for Best Editing, the Academy Award for Best Film Editing, the Academy Award for Best Sound…the Critic’s Choice Movie Award for Best Editing – to name a few – resonate with audiences across the globe.

We’ll be discussing:

  • The Protagonist
  • Characters
  • Themes
  • Three Act Structure

The Sound of Metal has reinspired filmmakers to take a creative leap in storytelling and owning diverse narratives. Please watch the film and read the script prior to our discussion.

About Sound of Metal :

The life of an itinerant punk-metal drummer (Riz Ahmed) begins to unravel when he suddenly loses his hearing, and with it, his identity. Directed by Darius Marder with an original screenplay by Darius and Abraham Marder; story by Darius Marder and Derek Cianfrance.

Genre: Drama

Watch the trailer:

 

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Filmmakers Pop-Up Legal Clinic

**This opportunity is available to Members only. Please Email your BTFC Username or Associated email address for a link to the application. All applications must be received by Thursday, May 13th at 4 PM.***

 

The Black TV & Film Collective and The Filmmakers Legal Clinic at Cardozo Law partnered on a monthly series of legal empowerment for Filmmakers.  This month, we offer a Pop-Up Legal Clinic.

Are you interested in getting free legal advice to get your project off to the right start? The Filmmakers Legal Clinic at Cardozo  School of Law will run a pop-up legal clinic for BTFC  filmmakers.  The Filmmakers Legal Clinic is a not-for-profit clinical program that provides free legal services to filmmakers producing narrative and documentary films and artists providing services in film. This is a unique opportunity to meet with a student legal team in a brief, intimate setting.  Bring your legal questions on fair use, entity formation, distribution, licensing, work-for-hire agreements, and other issues.  If you’re interested in participating in this event, please fill out this application by Thursday, May 13th at 4 pm. There are a limited number of meeting times available. 

The Clinic will be held on Wednesday, May 19th at 7pm.

Please Email your BTFC Username or Associated email address for a link to the application.

About the Black TV & Film Collective

The Black TV & Film Collective is a 501c3 development and production hub with a simple mission: to create career-advancing opportunities for Black and African Descent artists to achieve financial sustainability within the entertainment industry.

We provide critical production support enabling members to build a strong body of work, supplemented by workshops and labs focused on craft development and networking events to foster relationship building.

There is power in numbers and together there is unlimited potential in what we can achieve.

Check out the Black TV & Film Collective event calendar!


Our Event Calendar

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Breaking Into Directing

On Thursday, Aug. 5th at 7 PM ET; join us for an interactive conversation on breaking into directing whether it be film, television, digital – or commercial.

 

Did you start out as a Writer? An Actor? Maybe you were on a tight budget so you directed your own short or series. No matter what your journey may look like, many of us find ourselves in the lauded Director’s chair.

This panel will be moderated by Daytime Emmy nominated Filmmaker, Dui Jarrod (“King Ester,” Issa Rae Productions) featuring Okema T. Moore (Creative Director/Producer, OWN; Netflix, Fox, BET),  Stacey Muhammad (Director, “Queen Sugar,” “First Wives Club,” “Being Mary Jane”), and Quincy G. Ledbetter (Director, 2021 Webby Award Winner “Alieu the Dreamer”).

Our discussion will be followed by an audience Q&A – see you there! 

 

ABOUT DUI JARROD

Dui Jarrod is a Daytime Emmy nominated & award-winning screenwriter, director, and playwright residing in Brooklyn, NY best known for BROOKLYN. BLUE. SKY. It is the first acquired web series for BET Networks after winning the Xfinity Best Web Series Award at the American Black Film Festival. His new series, “King Ester” has been nominated for 4 Day-time Emmy Awards. Jarrod’s work focuses on the power of human connection in the landscape of America. duijarrod.com 

 

ABOUT OKEMA T. MOORE

Okema T. Moore is a passionate multi-genre producer turned director who never thought she’d be here! Starting as an actor/singer, she found the roles for Black women stereotypical and monolithic and vowed to figure out ways to change that. Leaving a cushy finance job at 36 to start all over, she worked her a** off to become a PGA Producer and Creative Director working with the likes of OWN, Netflix, FOX, BET, TLC, and more. Okema is committed to proving that good stories come from all corners of life and deserve to be told by the most unlikely people! And as development becomes more and more her calling, she presently revels in bringing the ideas of these unlikely people to the masses. moorethanenuff.com 

 

ABOUT STACEY MUHAMMAD

New Orleans native Stacey Muhammad is a multi-hyphenate artist who has received rave reviews for her cinematic approach and distinctive style to storytelling and for creating emotionally charged character-driven stories. Since directing her first episode of TV on the groundbreaking series, Queen Sugar for OWN, she’s gone on to direct the season premiere and 2nd episode of Tracy Oliver’s First Wives Club for BET+ as well as episodes of the forthcoming Amazon series, HARLEM, starring Meagan Good and Whoopi Goldberg. She recently wrapped episodes of the forthcoming CBS / Paramount+ series, Guilty Party (starring Kate Beckinsale), and is currently directing two episodes of the second season of Love Life for HBO Max. 

Stacey is an alumnus of the esteemed Warner Brothers Directing workshop and was one of thirteen directors chosen by the Directors Guild of America and the Association of Independent Commercial Producers for the inaugural Commercial Director’s Diversity Program. She’s since gone on to direct three commercials for AARP. 

Stacey is currently in development with Malcolm D. Lee’s Blackmaled Productions on her first feature film titled, THE RETURN. staceymfilms.com

 

ABOUT QUINCY G. LEDBETTER

Quincy G. Ledbetter is a filmmaker, musician, photographer, and artist from Brooklyn, New York by way of Woodbridge, Virginia. As a self-taught jack of all trades, Quincy excels in writing, directing, editing, cinematography, and music composition. His work in digital media has won an Edward Murrow Award and an ASME Ellie Award for News Documentary (2018), an Emmy Nomination for Short Format Daytime Program (2017), and a Webby Award (2016 and 2021). Quincy has worked with notable organizations such as BET Networks, Paramount Players, NPR, Color of Change, Mashable, Mic.com, HuffPost, Vox, and The New York Times. qledbetter.com

 

Like this event? Check out other upcoming events and member opportunities.

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Office Hours: Get Help On Your Projects

BTFC office hours are good for health – the health of your projects that is. Chat with BTFC Board Member and writer, director, and 2021 producer Emmy-nominated producer (UnladyLike 2020) Okema T. Moore about your project! During Office Hours we do our best to offer insight and feedback that can help push you forward!

For artists, isolation can be deadly to projects. In fact, it stops many projects before they have even fully begun. BTFC Office Hours were implemented to combat the isolation that we all sometimes fall victim to. During office hours we’ll answer general production questions and provide an environment where you can come in and work on your projects in the company of others.

How can we better describe them? It’s an open door for any member who would like to just come in and ask a question. Get a second pair of eyes on a rough cut, get some help on budgets, use a computer, work in the company of others. Remember back in the day when our professors had office hours and you would just go in to ask a question or get some help? That is what these office hours are like. You might have us all to yourself, or there may be one or two other filmmakers in the line ahead of you.

Join us to talk about your projects and ideas, so that you’re better equipped to move them forward. It’s all-time well spent.

NOTE: 40-minute slots will be assigned on a first RSVP basis. A zoom link will be sent to you 48 hours before your session. Please block out 4:30 – 8:30 PM ET on your calendar until your slot is received.

 

About Okema T. Moore

Okema T. Moore is a seasoned producer, writer, and director who started as a child actor on Sesame Street, cultivating quite a life of experiences since then. These experiences include sharing an EMMY Nomination for a PSA she AD’d, produced and voiced, premiering as a digital series producer at Tribeca Film Festival’s Tribeca N.O.W. 2019, producing the NAACP nominated doc series UNLADYLIKE2020 for PBS, and producing the American Black Film Festival 2019 Best Web Series, Little Apple. She can be seen as a hologram in Brian Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative Legacy Museum in Montgomery, AL, and in successful web series such as Makeup X Breakup and the Emmy Nominated Pillow Talk.

Behind the scenes, Okema holds a BS in finance and business from Brooklyn College and a Producing Certification from NYU’s SPS. A member of the Board of Directors of the Black TV & Film Collective, Okema leads Programming.