Wednesday Entertainment News: ABFF Part 1

Sharee and I will be attending the 18th Annual American Black Film Festival (ABFF) in NYC June 19-22.   We previously attended ABFF in Miami, Florida in June 2010.  Here are the recaps of that experience.  Day #1, Day #2, and Day #3.  This is the first year in New York, and we will share similar recaps, and dozens of pictures!!

This year we will be attending two separate Master Classes:

How to Avoid the Pitfalls of Producing (Rhonda)

Robert Townsend's "The Ultimate Pitch" (Sharee)

Other Master Classes being held are:
Bill Duke's Actors Boot Camp
Writing for Television
Rob Hardy's Amazing Stories

On a side note, this blog will be discontinued at the end of the month.  However, the archive will remain available for view of past posts.  Our entertainment updates will be found on our Take A Leap Blog on 3rd and 4th Wednesdays of the month starting in July.  If you are not following us there, please make sure you subscribe TODAY!!

Entertainment News Wednesdays: Belle at The Nickelodeon

The Nick as it is known in Columbia, SC was at full capacity when Sharee and I arrived inside the theater for the 5:30pm screening of the independent film Belle on Memorial Day. The first thing the announcer said at the start of the movie was that due to the high demand and sold out screenings, Belle has been extended to June 5. We previously posted that Belle was screened in limited cities and was happy Columbia was one of the selected cities.

We began Memorial Day weekend in NYC  attending a "Directing the Camera" workshop.  I was paying a lot of attention to head space, one thirds, composition, and was that a "track-around" or a "back parallax" shot.

Besides the beautiful shots of the film, the actors and storyline will have you emotionally connected to the movie. The audience at The Nick was a mix of young, old, African-American, Caucasian, Native American, and many more ethnicities. As everyone left, I heard many comment that they truly enjoyed the movie especially the woven storylines of love & politics. 

British Director Amma Asante
Photo Credit: Afrocelebs.net

No matter who directed or wrote a film or the actors in the film, if the script is good and marketed well, with positive word of mouth, people will come, as they did at The Nick.

Have you seen the movie Belle? What are your thoughts?