FOCUS: Filmmakers of Color United In Spirit

Download the Macromedia Flash Player Now!
Thursday, October 15, 2009

Carla Kuhn & FOCUS Present Lee Daniels' Precious

* Note: This screening is only open to current Columbia University Film Students

The Carla Kuhn Series
and Filmmakers of Color United in Spirit

are thrilled to announce

PRECIOUS

Friday October 16th at 3:45pm
Dodge Hall, Room 511 Lifetime Screening Room

Followed by Q + A with screenwriter Geoff Fletcher + director Lee Daniels!
Moderated by Jamal Joseph. FOCUS Reception immediately to follow.

We hope you can join us for this exciting event.



More →

Thursday, September 24, 2009

FOCUS Meeting this Friday

FOCUS meeting this Friday.

2 - 3 P.M. room 512

Filmmakers of Color United in Spirit invites you to our first general meeting, this Friday at 2 P.M.

Filmmakers of Color United in Spirit is a multicultural organization dedicated to increasing the visibility of filmmakers and film scholars of color within Columbia University, networking with alumni and the film industry at large.

We are really excited to start the new year, and invite you to join us at our first gathering so you can share your thoughts, any issues that might concern you, and become a participant in this organization.

http://columbiafocus.org/

We Look forward to seeing you,
-Wendy James
- Jamal Joseph 2nd

More →

Saturday, May 16, 2009

FOCUS Year-End Wrapup Celebration

Monday, May 18 at 1pm FOCUS will host its first annual "Picnic, Potluck, & Field Day" in Morningside Park. The event will embrace the true spirit of a potluck so everyone is encouraged to bring their own dish.

Monday May 18, 2009 - 1:00 pm
MORNINGSIDE PARK
Picnic Area
(near pond next to basketball court / south end of park, 110th side)

My Fine Fellow Filmmakers ---
Your FOCUS fellows are working to put together a day at the park with a potluck, barbecue and silly games to entertain you after a rough semester of overdue pages and hastily edited directing exercises.

As Chanelle is out of town and we've been having lovely weather, we've decided to move the party outdoors to Morningside Park, complete with ball fields, a basketball court and idyllic settings. We need your help, however, to contribute to this lovely event.

1PM, MORNINGSIDE PARK
PICNIC TABLES by the POND and BALLFIELDS
SOUTH END OF PARK, NEAR 110TH
Look for the balloons, that's our party!

Thank you all,
Jasmine and Your FOCUS Crew

For additional information, send an email to info@columbiafocus.org


More →

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Three Columbia Alumns Among 10 New Voices in Black Cinema

Khary Jones, Randall Dottin, and Moon Molson were among those honored with the distinction of "Ten Exciting New Voices in Black Cinema" in Indie Wire's Shorts Monthly section.

The filmmakers featured are as follows:

Randall Dottin - Dottin's 30-minute short, "Lifted," is a captivating story of an aging dancer/single mother and the encounter in a subway station that changes her life. A graduate of Dartmouth and Columbia, Dottin made his student film debut with a short called "A-Alike," which won the Directors Guild of America Award for Best African-American Student Filmmaker, a National Board of Review for Motion Pictures Award for achievement in filmmaking, and the gold medal in the narrative category at the Student Academy Awards.

Khary Jones - Jones's 16-minute short, "Hug," about friendship and mental illness, was one of ten 2009 Sundance Film Festival official selections chosen to screen for free on iTunes during the festival. It is also an official selection of the 2009 South by Southwest Film Festival. A Morehouse and Columbia man, Jones has taught filmmaking at Clark University. He is currently working on his next short film, a coming-of-age story entitled "Chrysalis."

Moon Molson - A Dartmouth alumnus, Molson made his thesis film, "Pop Foul," as part of the Columbia MFA program. The emotional father-son drama world-premiered at the 2006 American Black Film Festival, where it won the HBO Short Film Award. It then won the 2007 REEL Shorts Jury Prize at SXSW and was honored at the 2006 Student Academy Awards. Molson was named one of Filmmaker's Magazines 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2007.

Read the entire article here



More →

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Susan Batson Directing Actors Workshop - Saturday, March 7

(Note: This event is only open to Columbia School of the Arts Students) FOCUS is thrilled to announce that Susan Batson-Artistic Director of the Black Nexxus Studio, author and acting coach to actors such as Juliette Binoche, Nicole Kidman, Chris Rock and Tom Cruise will be holding a directing actors workshop on Saturday, March 7th at 11:00 am in Room 501 along with the founder of Black Nexxus Carl Ford.

Susan will talk about strategies to get the most memorable performances, how to best utilize audition time, and offer suggestions about what to do doing rehearsals, and much, much more. She will also guide us through a series of exercises she uses during labs at her studios.

Again,
Saturday, March 7th
11:00 am
Rm 501
(RSVP to chanelle.elaine@gmail.com to reserve a spot)
you won't want to miss it!


Ms. Batson's first book TRUTH is herald as a Bible for actors. She has been publicly thanked by Tom Cruise for her contributions to his role in "Magnolia" and Nicole Kidman for both her role in "Moulin Rouge" and her Oscar award winning performance in "The Hours." Ms. Batson was also a creative consultant for many of Spike Lee's films. She has had
the good fortune to work with the likes of Juliette Binoche, Jennifer Connelly, Sean Combs, Lauryn Hill, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna and Liv Tyler. As an actress, Ms Batson is the recipient of a New York and Los Angeles Drama Critics Award and an Obie. She was recently profiled in the New Yorker, Backstage and The Hollywood Reporter. Most recently Susan and her producing partner, Carl Rumbaugh will be Co-Producers along side the Oscar Award winning producers of "American Beauty" Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen on the feature film "The Rivals." "The Rivals" will star Nicole Kidman. Susan's second feature project, "American Darlings" will star Queen Latifa and Nicole Kidman. Susan will produce with her partner Carl Rumbaugh alongside the Oscar award winning producing team of "Chicago," Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. Batson was on the producing team of the hugely successful Broadway revival of "A Raisin in the Sun." In the spring of 2006, she and her partner produced the very last play written by Tennessee Williams on Broadway.

In 2008, Susan received a Tony and an Emmy nomination for her work with the televised version of A Raisin In the Sun. She is also the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from Pratt University.

More →