Tag: Emmy Award

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How To Find Your TRIBE ft. Emmy nominated Writer/Producer, Amy Aniobi

Join us for this exclusive chat with Amy Aniobi, the Emmy nominated Writer/Producer on how finding her TRIBE helped her build a dynamic multi-hyphenated career.

OnThursday, March 14th at 5PM PT, we are celebrating Women’s History Month withThe Download with Amy Aniobi, Black Reel Awards for Television-winning x Emmy nominated screenwriter and producer-director. We’re discussing what it takes to sustain a multi-hyphenated career in this industry as Amy speaks to her journey to becoming creative under an overall deal with HBO/Max. Amy is the founder of production company, SuperSpecial, and industry talent incubator, TRIBE. Amy is Nigerian, attended Stanford University and UCLA and hails from Dallas, Texas. She was most recently Executive Producer on INSECURE and Showrunner/Head Writer on 2 DOPE QUEENS for HBO. Prior to that, she was consulting on BROTHERS IN ATLANTA. Previously, she was a Story Editor on SILICON VALLEY and a Staff Writer on THE MICHAEL J FOX SHOW for NBC. She also recently co-hosted comedy and wellness podcast, THE ANTIDOTE, produced by APM studios, named one of The Guardian’s “Best New Podcasts of 2022.”

If you are struggling to break through to build a sustainable career as a multi-hyphenated creative in this industry, you do not want to miss this! Mark your calendars for March 14th at 5PM PT!

Join us at this edition of The Download and get the information and inspiration you need to #MakeYourWork! RSVP today!

Questions? Contact [email protected].

Interested in becoming a member? Sign up for our BTFC Membership! ! Get access to exclusive programming like the Download and more!

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A Love Letter To BTFC: The Possibilities of Stories on Giving Tuesday

Join us for our inaugural virtual Giving Tuesday Telethon! 

OnTuesday, Nov 28th at 9 AM PT, join us for a virtual Giving Tuesday Telethon “A Love Letter to BTFC: The Possibilities of Stories.” We will shine a spotlight on all of our amazing members, showcase the awesome work you are creating in partnership with the BTFC, and raise critical money to fund our work!

Through live broadcasts of member created films and personal conversations with the creators behind them, the Love Letters Telethon aims to galvanize support for black creatives, fostering a deeper connection between artists and audiences, while simultaneously raising crucial funds to further BTFC’s mission. This event stands as a testament to the power of community, celebrating achievements and fueling future artistic endeavors the center Black stories. It will also be a dynamic platform to spotlight the immense talent and stories of Black and African descent artists, underlining their contributions to the entertainment industry.

So after your Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping, we invite youto feed your soul and spirit of gratitude by tuning into the BTFC Telethon. Be part of a celebration of the rich and notable tapestry of Black Stories, and a declaration for why we mustensure that every hue of our diverse experience is seen and heard.

It’s completely free day of fun, joy and awesome entertainment soRSVPtoday!

Interested in showing your support for a world where bringing the full spectrum of Black stories to the forefront. Then support our Giving Tuesday Campaign andDONATEtoday!

Interested in becoming a member? Join BTFC HERE and become a MAKER today!

Questions? Contact [email protected].

Interested in becoming a member? Sign up for our BTFC Membership! ! Get access to exclusive programming like the Download and more!

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The Download ft. BTFC Advisory Board Member x Golden Globe Award-winning Writer/Director, Kemp Powers

Join us for this exclusive virtual conversation! 

On Tuesday, December 5th at 8PM ET/ 5PM PT, join us at the virtual table for The Download with Kemp Powers, BTFC Advisory Board Member xGolden Globe Award winning and Academy nominated Writer/Director ofSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse andSoul.

 

We’re discussing what it takes to become a dynamic, multi-hyphenated creative with “writer’s wisdom and a director’s heart”. Powers was named one of VARIETY’s 2020 “10 Screenwriters to Watch.” Powers wrote the critically acclaimed Amazon feature, One Night in Miami…, adapted from his 2013 award-winning stage play of the same name. He is also the co-director and a screenwriter of Disney/Pixar’s Academy Award-nominated animated feature Soul with which Powers made history as the first Black person to receive a director or screenwriter credit on any Pixar project. This year Powers was tapped by Sony Pictures Animation to direct the sequel to the Oscar-winning animated feature Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, along with Joaquim Dos Santos and Justin K. Thompson, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

If you have dreams of becoming a dynamic creative on stage, in television or film, you do not want to miss this event!

Join us and get the information and inspiration you need to #MakeYourWork!

Meet Kemp Powers

Prior to his work on stage, television and film, Powers was a journalist for 17 years. His stage plays include the award-winning One Night in MiamiLittle Black ShadowsChrista McAuliffe’s Eyes Were Blue, The Two Reds and A Negro by Choice. The 2016 production of One Night in Miami... at London’s Donmar Warehouse earned Powers an Olivier Award nomination for Best New Play. One Night’s Los Angeles world premiere won the production three LA Drama Critics Circle Awards and four NAACP Theatre Awards, as well as the 2013 Ted Schmitt Award for Outstanding New Play for Powers.  Kemp’s most recent stage play, The XIXth (The Nineteenth) premiered at The Old Globe in San Diego, March 2023. Previously, Powers wrote for the popular CBS All Access series, Star Trek: Discovery.

Kemp Powers is a Golden Globe Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, playwright, producer and director who was named one of VARIETY’s 2020 “10 Screenwriters to Watch.” He is also the co-director and a screenwriter of Disney/Pixar’s Academy Award-nominated animated feature Soul, which centers around a middle-school band teacher whose life hasn’t quite gone the way he expected. When he finds himself in another realm helping someone else find their passion, he discovers what it truly means to have soul. Powers makes history with Soulas the first Black person to receive a director or screenwriter credit on any Pixar project. The film, which was accepted into the Cannes Film Festival and premiered to rave reviews at the London Film Festival, introduces Pixar’s first Black protagonist and features the voices of Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Daveed Diggs and Angela Bassett, among others. INDIEWIRE called the film “one of the studio’s very best.” Soul debuted on Disney+ on December 25, receiving Golden Globe Awards for “Best Animated Film” and “Best Original Score,” three Critics’ Choice Super Awards for “Best Animated Movie” and for two of its voice actors and was also selected for the AFI Awards’ list of “Movies of the Year.” The film received six NAACP Image Award nominations, including “Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture” for Powers, and won for “Outstanding Animated Motion Picture.” The film also won a PGA Award.

Powers wrote the critically acclaimed Amazon feature,One Night in Miami…, adapted from his 2013 award-winning stage play of the same name. This drama tells a fictional account of one evening in which Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Sam Cooke and Malcolm X celebrate Ali’s win over Sonny Liston in 1964. Directed by Regina King (in her directorial debut) and starring Eli Goree, Leslie Odom, Jr., Aldis Hodge and Kingsley Ben-Adir, One Night in Miami… debuted to critical acclaim at the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals, before it opened in select theaters on December 25 and launched on Amazon Prime Video on January 15. This “skillful adaptation” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER) sits at 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. Powers was nominated for an Academy Award for ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ on behalf of his work on the film. In addition to being selected as one of AFI Awards’ “Movies of the Year,” the film has also garnered a WGA Award nomination for Powers, four NAACP Image Award nominations including “Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture” for Powers and “Outstanding Motion Picture” for the film, six Critics Choice Award nominations including “Best Adapted Screenplay” for Powers and “Best Picture” for the film, three Golden Globe nominations and a PGA Award nomination. 

Powers was tapped by Sony Pictures Animation to direct the sequel to the Oscar-winning animated feature Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, along with Joaquim Dos Santos and Justin K. Thompson. Returning producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller said “Kemp’s work is incisive and ambitious and funny — with a writer’s wisdom and a director’s heart — he just knows what matters in every scene.” The critically acclaimed film surpassed expectations at the box office by besting the original, becoming the highest-grossing debut for SPA, the highest-grossing SPA animated film ever, and the highest earning animated comic book ever.  

  

The Download

Offered multiple times a year, The Download is a special virtual guest conversation series hosted by the Black TV & Film Collective. It features impactful filmmakers who provide insider knowledge to help Black creatives do their work. Recent guests on The Download have included Aaron Rahsaan Thomas, Charlene Polite Corley, the editing team of A Black Lady Sketch Show, Janine Sherman Barrois and Pete Chatmon. 

#MakeYourWork

You must be a current paid member of the BTFC to attend. Registration does not confirm attendance. Only paid members will be sent the zoom link prior to the event.

Interested in becoming a member? Join BTFC HERE and become a MAKER today and attend this exclusive programming like the Download!

This event will be recorded, but access is for paid members only.

Members, use your code to access your registration!

RSVP today!

Questions? Contact [email protected].

Interested in becoming a member? Sign up for our BTFC Membership! ! Get access to exclusive programming like the Download and more!

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The Download ft. Former BTFC Advisory Board Member x Emmy-winning writer-producer, show runner Jeff Melvoin

Join us for this exclusive virtual conversation! 

On Tuesday, October 24th at 7PM ET, join us at the virtual table for The Download with Jeff Melvoin, Former BTFC Advisory Board Member x Emmy-winning writer-producer, show runner, educator, and author!

 

We’re discussing how Jeff sustained a 30 year TV writing career in Hollywood, and created hit after hit. This veteran writer/producer has created hits like Designated Survivor and Killing Eve, was an EP on Early Edition and Picket Fences and a Supervising Producer on Hillstreet Blues and Remington Steele. He is the co-founder of the WGA Showrunners Training Program, and currently touring the country celebrating his new book: Running the Show: Television From the Inside, where he shares his fascinating insider’s perspective on how to call the shots and make the final decisions in the world of TV showrunning. 

This is a do not miss event if you have dreams of being a great showrunner.

Join us and get the information and inspiration you need to #MakeYourWork!

Meet Jeff Melvoin

Jeff Melvoin has spent the last 30 years as a writer-producer in episodic television, most recently as Executive Producer of the Lifetime series Army Wives, which ended its seven-year run in 2013. Prior to that, Melvoin was Executive Producer of the ABC series In Justice, Alias, and Line of Fire, Executive Producer of the Showtime series Going to California, and Executive Producer of the CBS series Early Edition and Picket Fences. He also served as Supervising Producer of the CBS series Northern Exposure, for which he wrote 18 episodes.

A five-time Emmy nominee for his work on Northern Exposure, Melvoin earned a 1992 Primetime Emmy Award, shared for Outstanding Drama Series, two Golden Globes, and a Television Critics Association Award, as well as receiving Emmy nominations (Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing in a Drama Series) for penning the episodes “Democracy in America” (1992) and “Kaddish for Uncle Manny” (1993). Melvoin’s other writing-producing credits include the NBC series Hill Street Blues and Remington Steele.

A Writers Guild member since 1983, Melvoin has been a strong presence at the WGAW over the past two decades, whether serving on the WGAW’s Board of Directors (2001-04) or as founder and Chair of the Guild’s Writers Education Committee from 2002 to present. Under Melvoin’s direction, the Writers Education Committee has put on 50 programs for Guild members to date. In addition, he has served on a wide range of other vital Guild committees, including: Board Nominating (2006, 2008), Officers Nominating (2001), Television Writers Council (1999-08). In 2004, Melvoin co-authored the WGA booklet, Writing for Episodic TV: From Freelance to Showrunner, which offers practical knowledge for aspiring TV writers.

A graduate of Harvard University, Melvoin worked as a Time magazine correspondent early in his writing career before entering the television industry. In the academic field, he has taught screenwriting at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and UCLA Extension and has been a Visiting Lecturer in Dramatic Arts at Harvard. He is also a past board member of the Mystery Writers of America (Southern California Chapter). He and his wife, Martha Hartnett Melvoin, live in Los Angeles and have two sons, Nick and Charlie.

The Download

Offered multiple times a year, The Download is a special virtual guest conversation series hosted by the Black TV & Film Collective. It features impactful filmmakers who provide insider knowledge to help Black creatives do their work. Recent guests on The Download have included Aaron Rahsaan Thomas, Charlene Polite Corley, the editing team of A Black Lady Sketch Show, Janine Sherman Barrois and Pete Chatmon. 

#MakeYourWork

You must be a current paid member of the BTFC to attend. Registration does not confirm attendance. Only paid members will be sent the zoom link prior to the event.

Interested in becoming a member? Join BTFC HERE and become a MAKER today and attend this exclusive programming like the Download!

This event will be recorded, but access is for paid members only.

Members, use your code to access your registration!

RSVP today!

Questions? Contact [email protected].

Interested in becoming a member? Sign up for our BTFC Membership! ! Get access to exclusive programming like the Download and more!

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The Download ft. BTFC x Netflix ‘Created By’ Fellow Latasha Mercer

Join us for this exclusive virtual conversation! 

On Wednesday, March 8th at 7:30 PM ET, join us at the virtual table for The Download with Latasha Mercer, BTFC x Netflix ‘Created By’ Fellow and Screenwriter!

 

We’re discussing Latasha’s journey as a storyteller – from starting out in independent entertainment and creating her own work, navigating challenges and experiencing growth as a creative , to her latest opportunity – receiving a script development deal from Netflix.

Join us and get the information and inspiration you need to #MakeYourWork!

Meet Latasha Mercer

Latasha Mercer is a screenwriter who began by producing digital content since 2010. Her first was the celebrity and indie interview platform, Dope Files, predating her position as the Writer & Producer of two seasons of the comedy web series Sit Black & Relax. She is currently starring in the third series she wrote and produced, JustLatasha’s Inner Actions.

Her popular Dissection series on YouTube expanded her film notoriety, grabbing digital nods from Lena Waithe and Katori Hall. Latasha was also a staple panelist on The Grapevine TV, and has been featured on Entertainment Tonight Canada, AFROPUNK, Dark & Lovely, Teen Vogue, and more.

Her writing has been top rated and awarded, as well as placed on Coverfly’s The Red List. She was the 2022 Roadmap Writer’s Diversity Recipient, 2022 OTV Writing Fellow, and is signed to Damn Write Originals. Credits include Revolt TV, Keke Palmer’s KeyTV Network, and a script development deal with Netflix.

The Download

Offered multiple times a year, The Download is a special virtual guest conversation series hosted by the Black TV & Film Collective. It features impactful filmmakers who provide insider knowledge to help Black creatives do their work. Recent guests on The Download have included Aaron Rahsaan Thomas, Charlene Polite Corley, the editing team of A Black Lady Sketch Show, Janine Sherman Barrois and Pete Chatmon. 

#MakeYourWork

Join us at this edition of The Download and get the information and inspiration you need to #MakeYourWork! RSVP today!

Members, use your code to access your discount!

Questions? Contact [email protected].

Interested in becoming a member? Sign up for our BTFC Membership!

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The Download with Rachel Watanabe-Batton

Join us for this exclusive virtual conversation! 

On Thursday, February 16th at 7:30 PM ET, join us at the virtual table for The Download with Emmy award-winning producer Rachel Watanabe-Batton to discuss producing for film and television.

Meet Rachel Watanabe-Batton

Rachel Watanabe-Batton is a film and television producer and founder of Contradiction and Struggle, which tells stories that reframe history and culture, and connects cinema, causes and capital. Watanabe-Batton executive produced the musical “Sneakerella” for Disney Plus starring Chosen Jacobs, Lexi Underwood and John Salley, released May 2022. Rachel recently won an Emmy for her work on “Sneakerella”, which was nominated an outstanding 11 times.

She produced the film installation “Out/Side of Time” by artist Jenn Nkiru for The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new Afrofuturist Period Room Before Yesterday We Could Fly; and was Consulting Producer on EPIX docu-series “By Whatever Means Necessary” by Director-Exec Producer, Keith McQuirter, which received the 2021 NAACP Award for Outstanding Directing in a Documentary.

Watanabe-Batton’s producing credits include non-fiction series “I Pity the Fool” with Mr. T (TV Land/ Lionsgate), barbershop documentary “Cutting Edge” (Cinemax/HBO), and sports docu-series “Insider Training” (Discovery). She has produced narrative films with numerous auteur directors including features “Ripe” (Mo Ogrodnik), “Book of Love” (Jeff Byrd), and shorts “The Killers” (Tanya Hamilton) and “Bajo del Perro” (Polish Brothers). Her directing-producing credits reflect her wide range of interests, like documentary “Crisis in the Crib: Saving Our Nation’s Babies” linking infant mortality to racism featuring Exec Producer and campaign spokeswoman for The Office of Minority Health, Tonya Lewis-Lee; and “Blueprint” lifestyle makeover series for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Her debut narrative film “Once You’re In,” co-directed with classmate Lauren Greenfield, starring undocumented Irish immigrants in Boston, aired on WGBH while she was an undergraduate at Harvard-Radcliffe and features Poet Laureate of Ireland Seamus Heaney.

Watanabe-Batton’s fluency in socio-historical storytelling is rooted in a lifetime of crossing class, race, gender, urban and rural lines, and is strengthened by years of collaborations with musical and visual artists. Her first jobs in film were as a temp development assistant at Danny Glover’s Carrie Productions and story researcher for Quincy Jones Entertainment. Her breakthrough job was working in creative development for veteran producers Paula Weinstein, Mark Rosenberg, Peter Heller and Julie Bergman at Spring Creek Productions on the Warner Bros lot. While there, she organized demonstrations from the studio lot during the L.A. Rebellion. She then assisted acclaimed Australian film director Peter Weir on “Fearless” starring Jeff Bridges and worked at the groundbreaking Propaganda Films on iconic commercial campaigns, music videos and sci-fi series “Thunderbirds Are Go.” During the heyday of music videos in the late 1990’s, Watanabe-Batton co-founded NY-based production company Department of Film with director Nick Quested at Goldcrest Post. She has produced content for leading recording artists including Diddy, DMX, Faith Evans, Fat Joe, Lil Jon, Nas, Trick Daddy, Usher, Wu-Tang Clan, and many others. Watanabe-Batton has also directed top ten videos in the U.S. (“Play No Games”) and Africa (“Incomplete”) and helmed international productions.

The Download

Offered multiple times a year, The Download is a special virtual guest conversation series hosted by the Black TV & Film Collective. It features impactful filmmakers who provide insider knowledge to help Black creatives do their work. Recent guests on The Download have included Aaron Rahsaan Thomas, Charlene Polite Corley, the editing team of A Black Lady Sketch Show, Janine Sherman Barrois and Pete Chatmon. 

#MakeYourWork

Join us at this edition of The Download and get the information and inspiration you need to #MakeYourWork! RSVP today!

Questions? Contact [email protected].

Interested in becoming a member? Sign up for our BTFC Membership!

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