Writer, Director, Producer Chance Anderson

The cast and crew of TRUST NO ONE are sad to announce the sudden passing of Chance, the play’s visionary and its lead actor.

Chance Anderson was also a dancer, promoter and the television producer of WHAT’S THE T on Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN).

The January 14, 2012 performances of TRUST NO ONE will be cancelled, but we plan to produce the show on a later date. We will keep everyone posted.

LINKS:

WHAT’S THE T

http://whatsthet.org/

TRUST NO ONE promo piece

http://blip.tv/whats-the-t/trust-no-one-5580365

Filmmaker Olu Gittens, Host Toni Yuill Williams, noted film producer Lisa Cortes

The episode was broadcast on the award-winning city-wide channel in all five boroughs and is available for on-demand viewing at http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycmg/nyctvod/html/home/brsa102.html.

Check it out! And “Like” it as a way of saying “keep this kind of programming coming!”

Rahsan’s aspirations propelled him to leave the Windy City for the Big Apple, where he worked in advertising sales at BET Weekend Magazine. Following that, he became the National Sales Manager for the African Heritage Network, which eventually became The Heritage Networks (THN), rising to Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. THN, ground-breaking at its time, was one of the largest independent, minority-owned syndication companies in the country; it carried The Steve Harvey Show, The Parkers, and movie classics from Warner Brothers, Paramount and Universal, hosted by legendary actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. Rahsan is now the Vice President of Client Strategy for VIACOM Media Networks, where he is responsible for growing revenue for all MTV and VH1 channels.

While at THN, Rahsan immersed himself in the production process, working closely with the production staff on integrations and branded-content. In 2000, Rahsan produced and starred in the feature film Cold Feet, which played to sold-out houses at Lincoln Center and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and received a limited theatrical release and distribution on DVD, pay TV, basic cable and syndicated TV. Rahsan was executive producer for the feature film Get Famous, to be released on home media in 2012. As a producer, Rahsan has worked in the areas of marketing/product placement, fundraising, line producing, script development and casting.

Rahsan understands the entertainment business from both sides of the camera. He is a Screen Actors Guild member who has appeared on daytime television’s One Life to Live and All My Children, and in national commercials for Best Buy, Lowe’s and Amica Insurance. Rahsan is currently a segment host for Made in Hollywood, a nationally-syndicated television series now in its sixth season, broadcast in 90.7 million homes.

Rahsan graduated from Brown University with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology; he is a former lacrosse player and proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.  Passionate about service, Rahsan is a Board Member – alongside such notables as former New York State Human Rights Commissioner Douglas H. White, Esq. – of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol, a Harlem-based non-profit organization that has successfully provided support services and leadership training for at-risk youth.

TRUST NO ONE, the stage comedy by Chance Anderson

As we all know from the Talented Tyler Perry, multi-talented directors can wear many hats in a production. As Assistant Director for TRUST NO ONE, my job on the project is to help the director achieve his vision; give feedback, directions and professional support at rehearsals, and help foster an environment where actors can connect and take risks.

The project has a strong cast, laugh-out-loud script with an intriguing plot, and a strong spirit of collaboration, all of which are making the work I do that much more enjoyable.

I am sure that TRUST NO ONE will win over audiences, and I am very excited to see TRUST NO ONE come to life.

Opening dates to be announced.

-O.G.

LINKS:

WhatsTheT.org

TRUST NO ONE promo piece

A few highlights included:

• The Independent Pilot Competition Works featured works by filmmakers with small screen dreams. OB/GY Anne, an offbeat comedy about a female gynecologist working for her family practice, won the IPC Best Writing award.

• Actor and filmmaker Al Thompson, whom I profiled in my Atlanta Post article on African-American web series producers, took home two  awards for his science fiction piece Odessa, winning Syfy Digital Studio Imagine Greater Award and the IPC award for Actor in a Drama or Dramedy.

• Stand up comedian Mike Maron, who has a huge following in the indie comic scene, was headlined in the Opening Night Comedy Extravaganza.  His pilot WTF, about middle-aged man’s growing pains as he navigates the waters of “real” adulthood, was loosely based on his own life as host of a weekly podcast with the same title.

• NYTVF and NBCUniversal co-presented Short Cuts, a festival showcase that displays and celebrates diversity in entertainment with works in comedy, drama, horror and sci fi. Founder and comedian Wil Sylvince and Festival Director Kendra Carter, whose work as Director of Talent Diversity Initiatives for NBC includes spearheading several groundbreaking initiatives, ushered in the 6th annual festival which was hosted by the hilarious J.B. Smoove (Curb Your Enthusiasm).

There were many more works, including shows sponsored be major networks, featured in the festival. For more info, check out NYTVF.com.

Congrats to all the filmmakers and TV producers featured in the fest!

-O.G.

LINKS:

New York Television Festival (NYTVF.com)

NBC Short Cuts Festival

l to r: NaShawn Kearse, Phyllis Toben Bancroft, Bianca LaVerne Jones, Josef Cannon and Jas Anderson.

Quite naturally, I attended this year’s BET-presented Urbanworld Film Festival presented in New York City, a world renowned showcase of filmmakers of color. There were dozens of great films that people were raving about and lining up to see, and the films I saw were incredible.

Yelling to the Sky, starring Zoe Kravitz and Gabby Sidibe and directed by Victoria Mahoney, is a coming-of-age story about a troubled teen girl who fights to survive a tough neighborhood and home life. Closing night film Kinyarwanda showed young love across tribal lines in the backdrop of the Rwanda Genocide; it was directed by filmmaker Alrick Brown and is part of the Ava DuVernay-led AFFRM film releasing movement, in partnership with Urbanworld.

actress Bianca LaVerne Jones (l) and filmmaker Olu Gittens (r)

I also caught an impressive lineup of short films with riveting stories that gripped the audience. Karim, directed by Carl Seaton (One Week), with orchestral music and absolutely no dialogue, is a darkly poetic story of justice and retribution. Burned, directed by BET Lens on Talent winner Phyllis Toben Bancroft (Spent) showed a female veteran, played by Bianca LaVerne Jones, struggling with alcoholism and PTSD; noted Hollywood actor Eric Roberts made a key appearance in the story. In The Boxer, directed by David Au and Teddy Chen Culver, who also starred, a young Asian-American boxer gets schooled by his ailing grandfather. In Geoff Bailey’s Counterfeit, a naive African street vendor finds out the hard way that anyone can be hustled. And in The Tombs, feature film director Jerry LaMothe (Amour Infinity, Blackout) tells the compelling story of a black man in NYC spending three days in a notorious holding area for the recently arrested, and the psychological torture incurred. The Tombs’ cast of noted actors included veteran actor Arthur French.

There were many more films and television series premieres, as you can find out at urbanworld.com. I have to say it was a very good year.

Shout out to Urbanworld Executive Producer Gabrielle Glore and Founder Stacy Spikes!

-O.G.

Opening night films were Obama’s Irish Roots, directed by Gabriel Murray of Ireland, which traces part of President Barak Obama’s ancestry to Ireland, andthe Burkina Faso documentary Kôglb-zanga directed by Ilboudo Yalgabama, forwhich Prince Wendemi, a fighter for social justice, was in attendance.

The festivities also featured performers from the Festival’s children and theArts Program, including talented teen singer Dylan Jenet Collins and young violin virtuoso Claudius Agrippa.

Shout out to Executive Director Princess Angelique Monet and film curator Rashid Bahati!

-O.G.

Hamptons Black International Film Fesival,  HBIFF.org

The Atlanta Post article “Black Filmmakers and Producers Use the Web to Take Control,” penned by yours truly, takes an eye-opening look at African-American web series and digital content producers.

Al Thompson; Korey Coleman; Issa Rae; Pete Chatmon and Hannelore Williams; Brown Paper Dolls and Idris Elba, and many more are highlighted, along with the Black Women’s Entertainment Network online channel and media studies expert Aymar Jean Christian. There’s also a mention of me, writer/director Olu Gittens and Oh Gee Productions’ web series CHOICES.  Black digital producers are making moves on the web.

Great piece, if I do say so myself!

-O.G.

http://atlantapost.com/2011/07/28/black-filmmakers-tv-producers-taking-creative-control-through-the-web/

***

Oh Gee Productions presents…CHOICES: A Soap-Style Web Series

CHOICES is a series of soap-style flash dramas with intertwined story lines. CHOICES highlights top notch actors with writing and direction by filmmaker Olu Gittens.

Starring:
Ivy Livingston as Olivia
Elizabeth Powers as Jane
Erik McKay as Mike
Alexander Mulzac as Keith

CHOICES was written, directed and produced by Olu Gittens and produced at Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN).

-O.G.

I got the chance to explore and share the topic of black television writers and writer-producers in an article for the Atlanta Post. Writing “African-American Television Writers: Breaking Barriers & Creating History” was a great opportunity for me, as it allowed me to share information about people I admire.

The small screen, like the big one, is a place we go, not just for entertainment, but to connect with the images and ideas that matter to us.

Find out more about blacks making huge moves in TV today, with a bit of info about the ground breakers, too.

-O.G.

LINKS:
http://atlantapost.com/2011/06/17/african-american-television-writers-breaking-barriers-creating-history/