2016 Sundance Film Festival

Park City, Utah

After a short 35 minute ride from Salt Lake City Airport we arrived in Park City for my first trip to Sundance with four friends from Chicago.  We stayed at a luxury triple level, three bedroom, three bath condominium at the base of Deer Valley Ski Resort. Our arrival was late day and even though we hired Guardian Angels to shop for food for the Condo, we opted to go out for dinner.  Based on a recommendation from our airport driver we chose Deer Valley Lodge restaurant. The restaurant featured a seafood buffet which turned out to be quite amazing. I had some of the best oysters, King Crab legs, sashimi, shrimp and a variety of other seafood on the buffet that I have ever experienced. Between the buffet, all day travel and the mountain air, I slept like a newborn.

The following day we attended the screening of Director Spike Lee's documentary about Michael Jackson http://www.sundance.org/projects/michael-jackson-s-journey-from-motown-to-off-the-wall, one of Sundance's hottest tickets. There is some great footage of Michael's time at Motown and the beginning of his solo career.  The genius of Michael is told by Spike Lee through an abundance of archival footage, interviews with peers who knew Michael, other Jackson family members and in Michael’s own words and images.  It is an in-depth look at his solo career and his collaboration with Quincy Jones.  It is an important portrait of how passionate and hard-working Michael was in his quest to become the “King of Pop.”  Michael Jackson; From Motown to Off the Wall. Speaking of quest, Questlove was in the audience and part of the Q&A with Spike Lee following the screening.
Michael Jackson; from Motown to Off the Wall

After the Spike Lee screening we headed into Main Street to attend the BET party. We didn't stay very long but I did get pictures with some of the stars in attendance, Gabrielle Union (who is currently starring in Nate Parker's Birth of a Nation), Emayatzy Corinealdi co-starring in Don Cheadle's film Miles Ahead, and Vanessa Bell Calloway (Southside and You) the story of Barack and Michelle Obama.

Birth of a Nation and Being Mary Jane star Gabrielle Union with Evelyn Wheeler at BET Party in Park City, Utah

Gabrielle Union and Angela Thompson at BET party in Sundance, Utah

Emayatzy Corinealdi (co-star with Don Cheadle in Miles Ahead)  with Evelyn Wheeler at BET Party in Sundance, Utah

Vanessa Bell Calloway and Evelyn Wheeler at the BET party in Sundance, Utah

Following an early evening dinner, we attended an industry party at the home of Entertainment Attorney Corky Kessler.  He also headed a panel on Financing Your Film that we attended the following morning. It included a pitch session for scriptwriters looking to get their projects off the ground. Pitches were only allowed to be made in front of the panel members, so we didn't get a chance to hear them.  The winner was a twenty year old who didn't even have script yet, just an idea, but it completely floored the people listening to the pitch. Can't wait to see if it makes it to the screen or will be at Sundance sometime soon.

Chi-Raq creators with Evelyn Wheeler in Park City, Utah

Producer of Chi-Raq Roger Jackson with Evelyn Wheeler

This young man took my seat when I got up to get a drink so I made him take a picture with me (didn't get his name) at the BET Party at Sundance

I attended the screening of the documentary film chronicling the life of Dr. Maya Angelou. This film is superb and left almost everyone in attendance in tears. And Still I Rise.

Screening of the documentary "And Still I Rise"

Colin Johnson grandson of Dr. Maya Angelou at the screening of the documentary "And Still I Rise" in Sundance, Utah

1936 Olympics Movie Crowdfunding Team Awards

The Olympic Price, American Prejudice Crowdfunding Team Awards were held in Atlanta on December 19, 2015 at Maggiano's Little Italy Restaurant.  Awards were handed out to Team Leaders for a number of efforts including Most Donors and $1000+ Fund. A special award from the Team went to Writer/Producer/Director Deborah Riley Draper for Best Director. The Team wanted to be the first to extend this honor to her before all the other accolades start to come. OPAP has been accepted to the Berlin Film Festival to screen on February 14, 2016 and is schedule to screen at the Dusable Museum of African American History in Chicago on February 25, 2016. OPAP Narrator, Blair Underwood is scheduled to attend the Chicago event.

2015 Auditorium Theater Gala

Auditorium Theatre Stage taken from Facebook Page

The Auditorium Theater Gala in Chicago was once again one of the highlights of my year.  I was delighted to spend time with my Chicago friends attending the gala and hanging out for the rest of the weekend.  This years gala was held Saturday, November 21 at the Auditorium Theatre celebrating the end of the Billy Strayhdorn Festival (a three month celebration honoring William Thomas "Billy" Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967) and what would have been his 100th birthday ) http://www.billystrayhorn.com. The evening once again began with cocktails and d'oeuvres at the Hilton Chicago Normandie Lounge, followed by dinner in the Grand Ballroom featuring a live performance of Billy Strayhorn compositions by Orbert Davis and the Rich Daniels Quintet.  Billy Strayhorn was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger, best known for his successful collaboration lasting nearly three decades with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington.  His compositions include "Take the 'A' Train", "Chelsea Bridge", and "Lush Life". The event was attended by nearly 300 guests, and $215,000 was raised to support the initiatives of the Auditorium Theatre. Billy Strayhorn Lush Life Tribute. https://www.facebook.com/auditoriumtheatre/

Following the Gala, guests boarded trolleys to the Auditorium Theatre for VIP seating at the finale performance of "The Billy Strayhorn Festival, Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn." The fully staged salute to Strayhorn was directed by Bruce Mayhall Rastrelli and starred Broadway’s Darius de Haas, local cabaret icon Joan Curto, pianist Alan Broadbent, the Auditorium’s Too Hot to Handel Orchestra, Joel Hall Dancers and a 30-voice-all-male choir under the direction of Bill Chin.

It was an amazing evening celebrating an amazing American Jazz Icon.

Billy Strayhorn

This work is from the Carl Van Vechten Photographs collection at the Library of Congress.

Grammy Awards, Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Party

Evelyn Bakon Wheeler

Music's hottest stars were out in LA on Saturday, February 17, 2015 for Clive Davis's annual Pre-Grammy Gala honoring the music industries Icons.  I watched from the sidelines as the top stars in the Industry filed into the Beverly Hilton Hotel for the party of the year.  Miley Cyrus and boyfriend Patrick Schwarzenegger were in attendance.  I was nearly run over in the lobby by Rita Ora as she made her way to the red carpet only to suffer another near miss by Jennifer Hudson a few minutes later. It was a parade of stars from Taylor Swift, John Legend (who also performed), Pharrell Williams, Ciara, Iggy Azalea, bad boy Chris Brown, Nikki Minaj, and Sam Smith (also a performer) stepped out for the fun night.

Sunday night February 8, 2015 was the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The show was broadcast live by CBS and hosted for the fourth consecutive time by LL Cool J.

Sam Smith won four awards, including Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year for "Stay with Me" and Best Pop Vocal Album for In the Lonely Hour. Beck's album Morning Phase was named Album of the Year. This prompted Kanye West, who later said he thought Beyoncé should have won, to leap onstage to interrupt Beck, but West left the stage without saying anything. Both Pharrell Williams and Beyoncé took three awards, making Beyoncé the second-most-honored female musician in Grammy history following Alison Krauss. Lifetime Achievement awards were given to the Bee Gees, George Harrison, Pierre Boulez, Buddy Guy, and Flaco Jiménez.

In all, 83 Grammy Awards were presented.

The show aired simultaneously on Fox8 in Australia, Sky TV in New Zealand, and on Channel O in South Africa.

For more on the Grammy and to see more pictures follow the link below:

http://www.popsugar.com/celebrity/Celebrities-Pre-Grammy-Awards-Parties-2015-Pictures-36808746?stream_view=1&r=1#photo-36809119

Linda O'Bannon, Miguel and Evelyn Bakon Wheeler at the Beverly Hilton

 Ariana Grande

 Beyonce

 Ciara

Gwen Stefani 

Jennifer Hudson

 Jessie J

 Kim and Kanye

Lady Gaga 

 Madonna

 Miley

Nikki Minaj

Rhianna

68th Cannes Film Festival - 2015

DAY 1 - May 13, 2015

After an overnight Air France flight to Nice on the Cote d'Azur, my meticulously laid plans hit a snag when my friend's flight from Chicago was delayed. The carefully co-ordinated plan was to meet up at Nice International Airport and take the same private car to Cannes. Our driver Daniel was waiting and greeted me when I arrived, only to discover that he was not aware that his second passenger was arriving on a separate flight.  He nevertheless agreed to wait for her to arrive.  But, Murphy's Law reared its ugly head and even though her plane landed within a reasonable time we still had to wait to retrieve her baggage. Daniel said he couldn't wait any longer as he had another customer waiting in Cannes for a return trip to Nice Airport. After I informed my friend via text of the situation she agreed that I should go on ahead and that she would take a taxi to Cannes. I arrived at our apartment nearly 30 minutes later and was almost immediately followed by my cohorts arrival. It seems her baggage arrived almost immediately after I departed the airport and she got a taxi that delivered her in Cannes post haste.  

After checking in an discarding our luggage in the apartment we headed to the Croisette and the Palais de Festival to register and get our certification badges and sign up for screenings.  Then it was off to find some much needed nourishment. We stopped in at Brasserie Le Crillon and had the most amazing Salmon Tartare.

Maneuvering Around the Festival

Several close friends and acquaintances attended this year which changed the dynamics of how I maneuver during the 11 days of the Festival. I didn't spend as much time actively seeking red carpet access or hanging with newly acquired "Festival Friends". I missed several connections with all my prior years hanging buddies. WiFi connections were at the absolute worst in recent history. My cellphone charging cable broke and texts were delayed because of some miserable glitch with my new iPhone 6 Plus. I missed a connection for Naomi Campbell's birthday party, a seat at the table of Red Carpet designer to the stars Raxann Chinn (Fameka) at the Nelson Mandela Gala, and a yacht party, all because of wifi and phone problems.

Along with friends McGhee and Linda I made several trips outside of Cannes including lunch and shopping in Monte Carlo, an overnight stay at my condo in Nice where we did quite a bit of shopping, dinner at the Eden Roc Restaurant at the Hotel du Cap in Cap d'Antibes, and lunch and a tour of Marseille. I must say I was very impressed with Marseille as it has a very strong New York City vibe with a French twist.

Since part of my Cannes adventure this year involved doing some networking for director Deborah Riley Draper (Coffee Bluff Pictures), I was able to make some great connections for her new documentary Olympic Pride, American Prejudice. Producer Justin Finney of California Pictures (based at Paramount Studios) is very interested in seeing the trailer.  I also talked to Yasiin Bey (aka, Mos Def) about the film and he was extremely interested as well.  Deborah is thinking that just maybe she will approach him to do the music or narrate the film. Yasiin was in Cannes with the documentary film Amy (the film biography of singer Amy Winehouse, who was a dear friend of his) in which he is a participant.  I also attended the screening of the film that showcased her immense talent and the tragedy that took her young life. Amy was an extremely talented singer who had a lot more to give to the world. The film left me incredibly touched by her complex life and talent and saddened by her death.

One other screening I attended was Nie Yinniang (The Assassin) that left me confused and wondering what happened at the end. I saw this film with my friend McGhee and we both left with the same impression. There were very long scenes where the camera lingered for what seemed like an eternity. The cinematography was beautiful but I didn't think the scenes warranted such a love fest. Funny thing at the end of the screening I sarcastically stated that it would probably win an award, and it did, Best Director Hou Hsiao-Hsien.  I will quote the winner of the Jury Prize here since it seems to sum up why a film like The Assassin wins prizes,  "You always try to do something different in film, which makes it hard to achieve unanimous approval. So to win an award is extraordinary."  Don't Judge!  I wasn't judging, just confused.

After 15 years of attending the Festival there were several noticeable changes including the large security presence on the Croisette and in the luxury hotels that house the movers and shakers and stars in the film industry. There is also a push to maintain the high level of red carpet protocol for dressing for the major screenings.  Rumors ran rampant that women were being turned away from the red carpet for showing up in flats rather than heels for the formal gathering.  After all it is black-tie for men and long dresses for women. According to some female guests — several of them elderly — were turned away from a screening of Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara's new film, "Carol," for wearing flats, which were deemed inappropriate. Chiming in on Twitter, other women said they have had to argue their way into screenings for wearing shoes that didn't pass muster, even if medical reasons warranted it. Screen Daily  {The Independent} 

The list of winners of the 68th Festival de Cannes

FEATURE FILMS - COMPETITION

Palme d'or

DHEEPAN by Jacques AUDIARD

http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/about/palmeHistory.html

Grand Prix

SAUL FIA (Son of Saul) by László NEMES

Best Director Award

HOU Hsiao-Hsien for NIE YINNIANG (The Assassin)

Jury Prize

THE LOBSTER by Yorgos LANTHIMOS

Best Actress Award

Rooney MARA in CAROL by Todd HAYNES

Emmanuelle BERCOT in MON ROI by MAÏWENN

Best Actor Award

Vincent LINDON in LA LOI DU MARCHÉ (The Measure of a Man) by Stéphane BRIZÉ

Best Screenplay Award

Michel FRANCO for CHRONIC

SHORT FILMS - COMPETITION

Palme d'or       

WAVES '98 by Ely DAGHER

UN CERTAIN REGARD

UN CERTAIN REGARD AWARD

HRÚTAR (Rams) by Grímur Hákonarson

JURY PRIZE

ZVIZDAN (The High Sun) by Dalibor Matanić

BEST DIRECTOR PRIZE

Kiyoshi Kurosawa for KISHIBE NO TABI (Journey to the Shore)

UN CERTAIN TALENT PRIZE

COMOARA (Treasure) by Corneliu Porumboiu

Joint PROMISING FUTURE PRIZE

MASAAN (Fly Away Solo) by Neeraj Ghaywan

NAHID by Ida Panahandeh

CAMÉRA D’OR

LA TIERRA Y LA SOMBRA (Land and Shade) by César Augusto ACEVEDO presented during La Semaine de la Critique

CINÉFONDATION

First Prize
SHARE by Pippa Bianco
AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women, USA

Second Prize
LOCAS PERDIDAS (Lost Queens) by Ignacio Juricic Merillán
Carrera de Cine y TV Universidad de Chile, Chile

Joint Third Prize
THE RETURN OF ERKIN by Maria Guskova
High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors, Russia

Joint Third Prize
VICTOR XX by Ian Garrido López
ESCAC, Spain

The Jury of the CST has awarded the VULCAN AWARD OF THE TECHNICAL ARTIST to: 

Selma Wins Best Picture at the AAFCA Awards

AAFCA Founder and President Gil Robertson with Selma producers and cast, winner of Best Picture at the AAFCA Awards

Oprah accepts Best Picture Award at the AAFCA Awards

It was a star studded night of Celebrities from the film, television and news media at the Taglyan Complex in Hollywood Wednesday night, February 4, 2015,  for the 6th Annual African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) Awards Ceremony.  Presenting awards for the best in directing, screenwriting, acting and producing, the AAFCA Awards attendees included Ava DuVernay (Director, Selma), Oprah Winfrey, Alfre Woodard, Tyler Perry, Will Packer,  Kathryn Bigelow, Amy Pascal (Co-Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment); David Oyelowo winner of Best Actor for his critically-acclaimed performance in Selma; Chadwick Boseman, accepting the Best Ensemble award on behalf of the cast of Get On Up; producer Debra Martin Chase, receiving the Ashley Boone Award; J.K. Simmons accepted the award for Best Supporting Actor in Whiplash; Best Screenplay winner Gina Prince-Bythewood, writer Reggie Rock Bythewood and Gugu Mbatha Raw (Beyond the Lights); Tessa Thompson  Best Breakout Star in Dear White People; and Effie Brown  Best Independence Award as Producer of  Dear White People.

 Director of Selma Ava DuVernay

 Director of Selma Ava DuVernay accepting Best Director Award at AAFCA Awards

 Bill Bellamy interviews Director and Presenter Deborah Riley Draper On the Red Carpet at AAFCA Awards

Presenter Chaz Ebert On the Red Carpet at AAFCA Awards

 David Oyelowo accepting Best Actor Award at the AAFCA Awards

 Best Actor David Oyelowo On the Red Carpet at AAFCA  Awards

 Deborah Riley Draper and Alfre Woodard at AAFCA Awards

 Deborah Riley Draper and Chadwick Boseman at AAFCA Awards

 Deborah Riley Draper on the red carpet at AAFCA Awards

Directors Gina Prince-Bythewood and Stephanie Allain On the Red Carpet at AAFCA Awards 

 Chadwick Boseman and Evelyn Bakon Wheeler at the AAFCA Awards

 Evelyn Bakon Wheeler and David Oyelowo at the AAFCA Awards

 Gugu Mbatha Raw at the AAFCA Awards

 Chadwick Boseman and Lacy Barnes at the AAFCA Awards

 Linda Curtis O'Bannon and David Oyelowo at the AAFCA Awards

 Linda Curtis O'Bannon, Deborah Riley Draper and Evelyn Bakon Wheeler at AAFCA Awardes

 Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo, Gil Robertson, Ava DuVernay, Tessa Thompson

Salli Richardson performs at the AAFCA Awards

Others in attendance were AAFCA presenters and honorees including producer Stephanie Allain, who received the Legacy Award; presenter Khandi Alexander of Scandal; presenter Mike Epps of Survivor’s Remorse;  Roger Ebert award recipient Susan King;  honoree and presenter Chaz Ebert; producer/director Will Packer; actor Dondre Whitfield; presenter and 2012 best documentary winner Deborah Riley Draper (Versailles 73:American Runway Revolution); actor Andre Royo; Disney Channel’s Gary Marsh; actor/comedian Bill Bellamy;  presenter Wendy Raquel Robinson; and directors Julie Dash and Neema Barnette.