Black Men, Black Fathers, Black Cool.

The highlight of the year so far and the coolest phenomenon is to see African-American men of all ages and their sons gathered together for a school breakfast. I consult for a few schools in Baltimore City. I love my education contracts because the schools are a direct link to the kids, our hopes, dreams and future. I did a brief stint as a neighborhood school as a Media and Technology instructor. That is a completely different discussion so I won't go too far into that here but what I can say is that I quickly identified the limitations our the public education system. I quickly resigned and returned to the private sector in order to have a more direct, creative way to reach our youth.

Back to the breakfast in honor of the father and son relationship. What a pleasure to witness and record the rare side of the African-American male. Black men are often portrayed as misogynists, angry, absentee dads on a mission to nowhere. Instead what I recorded was a gentle expressions of manhood. We are strong, We hug, support, encourage and are unified as fathers in love with our sons. A stark contrast from the violence reported in rap songs on the news or the daily talk dish.

As a black man, father and Fellini it is my personal mission to capture the real essence of who we are truly, both good and bad. Take a glimpse for yourself and you will see, we are varied in shape, color, strength, size and power but the real measure of our value is captured in the warmth of our smile which displays the size of our hearts!

July 2010 Promotion

July EDITING SVCS Coupon

I get the students to benchmark...pretty good huh?

Book Buddies

I have been teaching high school students Interactive Media. Editing, Camera, Sound, Directing, Lights, the whole 9. However it is a challenge because my kids are "kids from around the way" they could care less about media, three point lighting and especially a chimera. They are socially stratified survivors. But I may have touched a nerve or too. They are doing great! They did these two videos from concept to completion peep the collaboration:

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year for 2010!!

The Lost Symbol

Why I stepped away...

I moved, had a couple of kids and started a new full-time job teaching high school kids film/video and Interactive Media. But I am back and I promise to keep it coming.

BF Intro

It makes more sense as a Director to do more video posts than writing. Now these posts will be quippy, opinionated, nappy, happy, sad and otherwise off the cuff. So here we go...

Pattern Break

In the attached photo of Gordon Parks’, American Gothic, Parks uses the separation of pattern as social commentary. Perhaps it is Park’s intention to illustrate the fact that the African-American woman can never be homogenous with the “American Dream” a lofty, social ideal represented by the flag, which hangs above her and continues up and into infinity.

The first pattern immediately recognizable is a pattern of stars due to stark contrast. The white stars on a black square are the brightest part of the picture. The stars bleed out the top left of the frame and feel as if they continue beyond the boarder and elevate beyond women in the foreground and up to infinity.

A second pattern is the pattern of gray and white stripes. The stripes also bleed through the top of the frame and into infinity. The straightness of the stripes combined with Park’s composition make the stripes appear as a window of bars in the background. The woman is imprisoned by the American Flag. The box of stars and a third pattern of tools disrupt the pattern of bars.

Although the woman in the photograph is strong, upright and centered in the photograph, she is grouped with the tools. Her expression is flat, her gaze is in no particular direction not out to the viewer nor at the other objects in the photo. She is inanimate. She does not hold a tool to imply use; in fact the shadow cast over her left arm makes her appear armless. To Parks the woman is just one of several tools used to clean up a “mess.” The woman, broom, and mop break the pattern created by the stripes of the flag.

Parks further separates the woman from the background by depth of field and light. The background is soft and a very dark shadow on the right side of the woman makes her appear to only have half of a face. She is very androgynous, although she is in a dress her lack of feminine physicality and narrow masculine, sharp facial features allow that she can be easily confused for a man in a dress. Parks uses pattern break to make a compelling social-political statement.

Director Changa

“The Black Fellini”

Guinness Stout Tips Out at the Top

"General" marketing gets all the fun! However, The Black Fellini plans to change all of that ;)
"Tipping Point" in addition to utilizing bold vision and making bold moves for this big picture, TP is flat balls out! I mean this is everything the TBF stands for!

AMV BBDO produced Tipping for approx. $15M USD, for this single spot! Aside from the amazing visuals provided by director Nicolai Fuglsig, the back story is equally as compelling. This is sustainable production at its finest. The production company built roads, created an entire village and hired locals from a neighboring village to work in the spot ...I wonder if they got paid scale? Ok, I'll reserve that for another blog, but my point here is think big or go home! If you never tried Guinness Stout you will certainly buy some company schwag, or be open to try one now. And for certain Gunniess has purchased a sizeable, valueable piece of cerebral realestate in the frontal lobe of your brain! This spot ranks up there with the first time you see Tron, Star Wars, or Micheal Jordan dunk! I mean the impact is undeniable. The result is totally cool!

I will use this spot to create the TBF rating system. 5 Cellini (Rolex) watches = great, 4 Cellinis from The Black Fellini = good. 4 1/2 means there is a lil room for improvement somewhere. We won't bother with 3, 2, or 1 in the TBF rating system, because that stuff won't even be reviewed on this site, which celebrates greatness overall, ya dig?

Three Kings ...a Holiday Wish.

Merry Holidays everyone! I am not doing anything out of the norm this holiday season. I will be here in LA missing daughter #1, who remains back east with her mom, but thankful to be with my wife and youngest, daughter #2, in the sunshine city of Los Angeles.

Not likening my self to the one, true King, but as I lay on my straw matress this winter I hope that the north star hovers high above my apartment this Christmas, shininng bright for all to see. I can see the three kings now, driving sepatately of course, across the desert in their Hummer or Aston Vantage, chins skyward with hope to find the new visionary leader that lay beneath the star to bring change to storytelling in the kingdom of Hollywood.

Jamie Foxx, Wayne Brady and Byron Allen have gained their riches and done crazy work before me. These Three Kings of Hollywood, regardless if one married a snow queen or not :) all paid theire dues and have laid a blueprint for success for babes in the game like me.

I mean Foxx has been in Hollywood for 22 years! Wayne Brady, host, comedian and now singer has a hit record on his hands and now thanks to Jamie will have a legitimate chance to be a R&B superstar too. Perhaps the biggest king is big Byron A.! Byron's global entertainment company, Entertainers produces content worldwide for network, cable and internet programming. Most recent, as reported by TargetMarketNews.com, Allen inked a deal to become the single largest provider of video content for MySpace. ...Bold Move. Bold Vison. Big $$

Pray for me family. Like the babe before me, I hide from my enemies to safeguard my birth. I changed my address so I could change the game.

Star light, star bright, let the kings see my light one starless night!

written by: The Black Fellini

The Blagojevich Fellini

Man, I am think I need to rename the blog from the Black Fellini to the to the Blagojevich Fellini, that's right, Blagojevich, Blagojevich, Blagojevich, because for a blog dedicated to bold vision, bold moves and big pictures, its all in the name!

But your man, Blagojevich mixed the discriptors around a bit he is more like bold moves, big vision and big movies, as in, 'I wanna play in real life like they do in da movies.' (say it with a James Cagney or Tony Soprano accent and you get the picture.)

Blagojevich proves that power is more addictive than crack or powder, but you've got to chuckle at the audacity of it all. The man talks like a Martin Scorsese character, he uses the 'F-word' more than Joe Pesci in Good Fellas. Suffice it to say, Blagojevich in not a funny guy, we are talking about an Illinois elected Governor. Either Blagojevich is a master of two faces in politics, or the good people of Illinois got hoodwinked.

One does wonder why Blagojevich displays such a cavalier, almost flippant attitude about selling the President Elect's Senate chair. How often do moves like this really go down? I mean he calls the President Elect a "motherf$@#er! Big, bad and bold; dare I say this dude is Shaft-like.

Republicans and anti-Obama pundits will have a field day with Blagojevich as the most recent blemish on the Democratic party. They will try to link the mob to Obama, now along with Al-Queda and the rogue special task force of the Amish armed forces. But I think we as a nation should probably bare the shame together because Blagojevich represents our level of involvement in the democratic process. But what do I know, I am just a storyteller, a director trying to make a movie out of .15 cents!

written by: The Black Fellini

Photo from AP Photo by SETH PERLMAN