One of These Days Synopsis
After unfortunate circumstances, Manny, an aspiring musician, must decide between becoming the sole guardian of his uncle’s daughter, Marisol, and pursuing his band’s tour of the U.S
Rudy Lopez Bio
Rudy is a native Angelino born of immigrant parents from Mexico and El Salvador. At an early age he developed a penchant for film-making and screenwriting. He attended UC, Berkeley where he received a BA in English Literature. It was during his time at Berkeley that Rudy would write and direct dozens of short films and videos which eventually led him to become a Video Producer in the video-game industry. He went on to produce and edit video content for companies such as IGN Entertainment, Blizzard-Activision, RIOT Games, and NetEase. Seeking to elevate his film-making abilities, Rudy attended the AFI Conservatory and earned an MFA in Directing. Rudy now dedicates his time to directing films that explore the comedic nature of misfortune, and the hidden absurdity of one’s hopes and dreams.
King Lajoie Synopsis
King Lajoie delves into the kitsch universe of an Elvis Presley impersonator who has been shaping his life around his idol for over 40 years.
Joannie Lafrenière Bio
Documentary filmmaker and photographer, Joannie Lafrenière loves humans. Her work is influenced by an anthropological approach. In recent years, she has directed for television, for the web and has collaborated on many different independent projects. Her latest films, THE WOMAN WHO SAW THE BEAR and SNOWBIRDS has been screened at major festivals across Canada and internationally. Joannie lives, works, and plays in Montréal, Canada–but has been known to escape to faraway places. MFA in Directing. Rudy now dedicates his time to directing films that explore the comedic nature of misfortune, and the hidden absurdity of one’s hopes and dreams.
Lara and the Beat Synopsis
Lara and the Beat is a coming of age movie about the young and beautiful Giwa sisters caught in the centre of a financial scandal with their late parents’ Media Empire. The sisters are forced out of their privileged bubble, and must learn to build their own future – through music and enterprise – to salvage their family’s past
A Statement from Tosin Coker
I decided to make Lara and the Beat because I saw the need in telling the story of the dreamer’s struggle highlighting the thematic values of finding courage through pain and loss to pursue dreams and passions.
Nigeria is a third-world country, which has been in a constant economic recession over the past three decades. There is a socio-economic disparity between the rich and the poor. Many citizens are introduced to the harsh reality of shelving their artistic dreams and aspirations in favor of seeking tangible financial stability through conventional employment in the corporate world. Some people are also forced to adhere to high-class societies assessments of the arts; both visual and musical, being an undignified career choice.
I have met many people who have had to forget their passion for the arts because it simply wasn’t paying the bills or it was looked down upon thus living an unfulfilled life.
The fact that this film revolves around two wealthy people who lose everything overnight helps us place a faction of society in a destabilizing situation where the security of financial independence is absent. This forces our protagonists to dig deep within to find out who they are and what they are really made of. I feel the message of trusting one’s self would benefit just not people in tough economic circumstances but could also be a global introspective device to inspire those who once dreamt.
The journey of making a film such as Lara and the Beat can subsequently be considered a story of triumph by way of trial by fire as it was extremely challenging due to the extreme limitations of shooting in the developing industry of Nollywood (Nigeria’s Motion Picture industry).
We were made to overcome challenges many would consider insurmountable in the filmmaking process such as limited and irregular power supply, constant harassment by local authorities, and neighborhood thugs who shut down production in order to extort money from us. We also had to deal with hindrances in logistical and equipment resources.
Most of our Pre-Production was done on-site. All the blocking, production design choices, cinematography and costume decisions were made on location on the day of the shoot because we weren’t given the approval to shoot in many locations till the day of the shoot in order for location proprietors to maximize their fees.
I guess it is safe to say there was a lot of Guerrilla filmmaking involved despite legally securing permits to restrict the extortion.
The reason I am mentioning these trials isn’t to form a sob story because I believe that when all is said and done, all the adversities helped in making us as a team, better filmmakers. We were challenged to think on our feet and be resourceful in our technical achievements and I believe this shines through in the film.
The aesthetic approach on Lara and the Beat is very different from what most Nigerian films would consider traditional. Given the fact that we were creating on the go, we chose a subjective approach to the cinematography where we immersed the audience in the experience.
We adopted a live camera aesthetic inspired by Terrance Mallick and Chivo Libeski, which serves to highlight the emotion within individual scenes and moments often simulating itself as another party witnessing the journey of the characters from within the story.
There is spontaneity in movement to some scenes and others extremely deliberate to enhance the emotional impact of the moment. There is also the unique utilization of light and color to establish mood and visual appeal of the film.
Fashion is used as a form of expressing each character’s personality on this project. We utilized it as a platform to showcase Nigerias fashion forward culture while integrating traditional flare to western influenced fashion pieces.
Lara and the Beat is a film in the vain of Brown Sugar and Beyond the Lights with Nigerian Afro Pop music at its heart.
Tosin Coker Bio
Tosin Coker is a multiple award winning
filmmaker of both Nigerian and American heritage with a corporate background in entertainment marketing and licensing at Viacom, and Universal Music Publishing.
He has produced, directed and edited music videos for international talents, documentaries, short films Television Series and feature films including the award winning film ‘Doorways’ starring Emmy Award Winner Diahnna Nicole Baxter (‘Scandal’, ‘True Blood’ Bosch) and Elimu Nelson (‘House of Lies’, ‘Things Never Said’ and ‘Private Practice’).
‘Doorways’ toured the national and international film festival circuit in 2011 and 2012; including The Pan-African Film Festival, Texas Black Film Festival, Action on Film International Film Festival and Urban Suburban Film Festival bagging several official selections and awards. It was also selected amongst the Black Stories Matter Series by the Diversity in Cannes Film showcase sponsored by the California African American Museum.
Doorways made its world television premiere on ‘Aspire Television Network’ with the American Black Film Festival showcase sponsored by HBO in September of 2015. It was viewed nationally in the United States and was later dubbed and subtitled for distribution in Francophone Europe and Africa after being Acquired by Ivorian Production and distribution company H-Studios.
Tosin’s other motion picture achievements include nominations and wins for: ‘Motherless’ which was Nominated for Best Short at the San Francisco Black Film Festival and ‘Finding Neptune which was nominated for Best Short Film at the SoCal Independent Film Festival, Langston Hughes Black Film Festival, Charlotte Black Film Festival, Gary International Black Film Festival and won at the Capital City Black Film Festival.
Tosin directed the Pilot season of the critically acclaimed Web series “On The Real”; dubbed Nigeria’s edgiest television show for continental cable broadcaster Ebony Life Television. The pilot season which was sponsored by Samsung and Ciroc, is currently streaming on Amazon Prime and Accelerate TV; an online content platform backed by Access Bank; a multinational financial services organization and one of Nigeria’s foremost financial institutions. Tosin returned to direct the second season of ‘One the real’ which premiered in the summer of 2017 to critical acclaim and is currently streaming on the EbonyLife ON Platform.
Tosin co-produced and directed the theatrical motion Picture “Lara and the Beat; A collaborative effort between Nigeria’s Biola Alabi Media and Tosin’s company Skylar Pictures LLC. The movie won the Programmers Best Feature Narrative prize at the 29th Pan African Film Festival. It has also won Best International Film at the Charlotte Black film festival 2019, Best Foreign Film at the Oakland International Film Festival, and an award at the Capital City Black Film Festival. Lara and the Beat has also been nominated in 7 categories at the upcoming Africa Movie Academy Awards.
Tosin is signed to Creative Artist Agency (CAA) where he is developing a slate of projects, with the first scheduled for release in 2020.
He has a bachelor’s degree in Media arts and Animation from the Art Institute of California, Los Angeles and received an MFA in Motion Picture & Television from The Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
On the Bruhl Synopsis
An Irish pastor living in Chemnitz, Germany, the heart of the neo-Nazi movement, helps transform a neighborhood and its people. The story of Rev Barry Sloan, who grew up as a tough kid living in Northern Island, starts a community center that includes whiskey tasting, while embracing a radical form of inclusion.
Steve Horswill-Johnston Bio
Steve Horswill-Johnston is a four-time Emmy Award-winning director with more than 20 years’ experience in both nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Steve currently works at an international agency of The United Methodist Church (HQ) in Nashville, TN.
Steve is the founder of Nashville Aerial, a company specializing in aerial cinematography and production. He is also the producer of “The Committee”, a web series that attracts more than 150.000 viewers each month. Steve is a former script consultant for DreamWorks Animation in Glendale, CA. Prior to his current position, he was the creative architect and executive director of The United Methodist Church’s first network television advertising campaign; the first and largest Protestant effort of its kind. He produced more than 16 national television commercials and 40 radio commercials.
When The Earth Took A Breath Music Video
Director/DP: Lambert Grand
Producers: Monika Ivonne, Adam Kruger
Planted Synopsis
Tammy wants to put her son, who is in a vegetative state after an accident, in a rehabilitation facility in order to save her family, which is already falling apart, in spite of her husband’s fierce objections.
A Statement from Amity Zmora
The film “Planted” is an independent film about a woman named Tami who refuses to accept the reality created by a family disaster and decides to impose her will on reality. I intended to create a film that shows a different heroine, that goes against what we expect from a mother and a woman but can still be understood. A few years ago, I met a woman who tried for 12 years to wake her husband from a vegetative state. She inspired me to write her story. As my research progressed, I learned about the mental hardships that these caregivers go through and decided to portray this kind of fight against the delusion arising from feelings of deep despair.
Amity Zmora Bio
Amity Zmora is an Israeli director and screenwriter. Amity graduated from Sapir College – School of Audio and Visual Arts in 2010. This is his first feature film.
Napo Synopsis
John, unable to understand the illness that drives his grandfather between past and present states, stumbles into an old album full of photographs and then lets the images guide his imagination, transforming his grandpa’s memories into drawing interpretations. Drawings that shape their relationship into a history of remembrance and memory building.
Gustavo Ribeiro Bio
Gustavo has made films for as long as he can remember. As a child, he used to gather his friends to record homemade films around the small town he lived in. Older, he graduated in Visual Arts at the Federal University of Paraná, where he developed his knowledge on the most diverse fields of art. Gustavo is one of the founders of the animation studio Fish Films and Revolution, a Digital Arts School, both based in Curitiba. There, he currently works as a director, screenwriter, and teacher.
Serum Synopsis
Infected with a deadly disease, three friends steal a serum in hopes that it can cure them before their time runs out.
Calvin Henson, Jr. Bio
Calvin was born and raised in the city of Lufkin, TX. After attending Angelina College he transferred to Stephen F. Austin State University where he graduated in December 2018 with a BFA in Filmmaking. He is currently enrolled in the SFA Graduate Film Program.
The Offline Playlist Synopsis
A first-of-it’s-kind concert that paired New Orleans artists on a Spotify playlist with the fans who were listening to it live at the hallowed Preservation Hall. Staring Jon Batiste, Irma Thomas, Curren$y, Mannie Fresh, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and more New Orleans legends.