My Trip to Columbia-A photo essay

Exactly two weeks ago this time I was on my way to Columbia and I didn't even need to catch a plane. I wasn't going to the country I was going to

This is an excerpt from their invitation:

Please join Columbia University School of the Arts MFA Film Program for its annual Open House on Friday, November 12 from 5pm to 7 pm. This will be a great opportunity to learn more about the program and meet current students and faculty.

Instead of driving I decided to take a different mode of transportation.
The trip was great in less than 3 hours I was in the state of my birth NEW YORK. I was smack dab in Manhattan.

Less than 5 minutes after getting off the bus someone asked me for some money. WELCOME TO NEW YORK. My [New York] cousin asked me if I "looked lost". I guess I did and looked like an "easy mark". LOL. Yes I gave him some change.

I got to NYC early so I could see the fam before the Open House. So it was time to do something I hadn't done in over 20 years. Ride a New York subway.
The trains looked the same. I was expecting to see some graffiti and breakdancers, but no such luck :( LOL

By the way, there was TONS of graffiti back when I rode the NYC trains, but breakdancing wasn't even out like that. The trains used to look like this.



Photo courtesy of en-derin.com



I hear they still have breakdancing, but the whole trains covered in graffiti like you see above and in 'Beat Street' or something has been long gone.

In my second WELCOME TO NEW YORK statement, almost to my cousin's house, they kicked EVERYONE off the train. Something about "structual damage" to the tracks. I really felt home then.

They kicked us off here. People were on their way to JFK airport with luggage and stuff, but again WELCOME TO NEW YORK..."now do the Rockaway. Lean back, lean back". Sorry I couldn't resist. I do the same thing when I drive to Queens and I see Farmer's Blvd. (L.L. Cool J used to shout it out in like every other song.)

My cousin came to meet me and I told her before I even came to New York there was one place I had to stop.

You just can't get these burgers in Baltimore. Well you can, but they look like this.NOT the same. I got my real burger and went to my cousin's mother's house (also my cousin, but I'm trying to clarify things here.) When I got there...

SMASH TIME!

After enjoying my burgers and chilling with the fam for a sec it was time to go to the place I came to New York for in the first place COLUMBIA!

How was I going to get there? I had to go...

I'm going to admit, going to Queens to the visit the fam on the subway, I felt kinda lost. I felt like a tourist, but on the way back to Manhattan, I had it down! It was like riding a bike. I knew where I was going and how to get there! I knew the transfer point and the trains I needed to take. Just like old times.

On my way back I ran into rush hour.

I remember the packed trains too.



After a long trip from Queens to Manhattan...

I HAD ARRIVED!

I'm probably reading a whole lot of things into this, but this was the first thing I saw at the top of the subway steps.

I thought it was for the film school because the School of the Arts is like right there off the subway, but it turns out this is for the NYC tourism bureau, nycgo.com. I still think it was a sign that NY film is where I need to be!

I made my way here to Dodge Hall, home of Columbia's School of the Arts. I did not take this photo or can't you tell?

Inside was the most exhilarating part of my trip.

I got inside to a pack house. Here were a lot of prospective MFA candidates and the faculty leading a great introduction to the program. Afterwards there was a fantastic Q&A with the faculty and current students. I didn’t have to ask a question because a ton of the questions I had were already asked and answered.

It sounds like SUCH a great program full of collaborative artists. After the Q&A, was the reception where I had a chance to meet some of the MFA students and faculty one on one.

I really could have stayed there for more hours, but I had to go to catch my train to my bus. Besides having a chance to talk to some great artists I just met, I had a chance to talk to an artist I already knew, my boy the great AAA-African American animator-Mark Stansberry.

When I asked my cousin, who shall remain nameless, about which train I needed to take to her house she was a little too slow…a LOT too slow to give me an answer. You done got “bougie” on me cuz. Park that car and ride the trains once in a while. LOL.

Well, while my cuz was “slow in her role” I decided to ask my boy Mark and he gave an answer forthwith. Mark also met me at Columbia and we had a great discussion about art in Baltimore and the artistic possibilities and opportunities in New York.

Thanks Mark!


On my way back to my bus I had to get off of the subway and walk several blocks to the designated bus stop and I had to go past the most incredible...

I finally made my bus and made my way back to Baltimore. I arrived back home full of promise and a new invigoration about what I wanted to do...MAKE FILM. I had my great info and keepsakes from Columbia.



My Columbia University folder and Columbia Film Festival 2010 DVD

 

Finally, I have to make it clear I have not yet been accepted, even though I have applied.

Thank you for submitting your application to the Film - MFA Program at the School of the Arts. We look forward to reviewing the hard work that you have put into your application.

Please note that most admissions decisions will not be made until April of 2011.

Thank you for applying to the School of the Arts.

Best,

Admissions

And thus, the waiting game begins.

I am also applying to another MFA film program at another school, but this was such a great experience for me, I had to share it. I’ve been back to New York several times, but as I stated this was the first time I’ve been back on the subway and got that whole “city vibe”. It was a fun trip and I had a great time. Stay tuned, for when I do get accepted to Columbia “Start spreading the news…”

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Check out this video of my friend Mark "Loves NYC" Stansberry at work!

Happy Birthday Mark Baltimore [VIDEO]

Today is Mark's 37th birthday and to that end I have re-edited the last film. As I stated before Mark’s cousin is a childhood friend of mine. He stated that the family would perhaps like a “clean” version. The original version is raw hip hop the way I wanted it to be, but I could see how his family would like to see and hear him without all the swearing. Even Mark had his reservations later.

I asked Mark if he got my email with the film and this is what Mark wrote me via Facebook on November 10, 2008 at 11:35am.

yeah it was a good look...
it looks like i travel in time...
and back then saying [n-word] that much
wasnt that big of a deal... lol
but it looks great and thanks..

He didn't say "n-word", but everything else is him. I also included a special ending for Mark and his family in this second version that you can see below. I hope they enjoy it. Happy Birthday Mark!

Facebookers you can show love to Mark's page right here

You can see and read about the original film in the blog entry Hip Hop Rules

You can read more info about Mark right here

R.I.P. Mark Baltimore

Today Mark moved to another plane, a better plane. This is what I wrote about Mark in my blog entry Hip Hop Rules

I shot all this footage with the rapper and had to edit it down to I think 10 minutes or less. When I started editing I was like wow this stuff with Mark is good. Turns out after all the hours and days I shot with the rapper Mark’s stuff was the best. Every time I showed my piece (and it wasn’t many times) people would like what Mark had to say best. Truthfully even I did and one of Mark’s sound bites closed the piece because I thought it was so strong.

Mark was evertyhing a filmmaker would want in a subject. You can't manufacture that kind of charisma and personality. They say Baltimore is small and it's just "four corners" and that turns out to be very true. Mark is the cousin of a childhood friend of mine and we talked about him just yesterday. I only had a chance to work with Mark that one time, but as you can see he was memorable and that's what you will always be bro memorable.


Facebookers you can show love to Mark's page right here

The Baltimore Sun did an article on Mark at the link below
Party promoter Mark Baltimore dies at 36 - baltimoresun.com

You can see the one chance we had to work together, my 1999 student film featuring him below. First a WARNING, the video contains explicit language. Having said that...ladies and gentlemen Mark Baltimore

Oscar Micheaux: Going Postal

The 33rd stamp in the Black Heritage series, issued June 22, 2010 honors pioneering filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, who wrote, directed, produced and distributed more than 40 movies during the first half of the 20th century. An ambitious, larger-than-life figure, Micheaux thrived at a time when African-American filmmakers were rare, venues for their work were scarce, and support from the industry did not exist. Micheaux’s entrepreneurial spirit and independent vision continue to inspire new generations of filmmakers and artists.

This stamp features a stylized portrait of Oscar Micheaux by Gary Kelley. The artwork is based on one of the few surviving photographs of Micheaux, a portrait that appeared in his 1913 novel The Conquest.

Although only 15 of his movies are known to have survived in whole or in part, Micheaux has become a cinematic icon. In 1986, he was posthumously awarded a special Directors Guild of America award. In 1995, the Producers Guild of America established the Oscar Micheaux Award to honor “an individual or individuals whose achievements in film and television have been accomplished despite difficult odds.”

Below you can read about the official Oscar Micheaux: First-Day-of-Issue Ceremony (Click the pictures to see bigger versions)

In the program you can see of note are remarks by pioneering black filmmaker and author Melvin Van Peebles and Adjunct Faculty of Film, Columbia University School of the Arts, Geoffrey Fletcher.

Fletcher is the screenwriter of Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire and received an Oscar for Writing (Adapted Screenplay) from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on March 7, 2010. He is the first and so far only African American to receive an Academy Award for writing.

Read more about Oscar Micheaux on Wikipedia here

"The Part" Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

‘Nother Brother Entertainment presents “The Part”
Baltimore, Maryland-November 23, 2009 - The Part, a Dankwa Brooks film, is a short film shot in Randallstown, Maryland.

Aisha is apprehensive, not ashamed, of revealing her new acting part to her family. Her father doesn’t make matters better by putting her on the spot to reveal it at a family cookout at their house.

Written in December 2007, The Part has its World Premiere December 15, 2009 at the Rotunda Cinematheque in Baltimore, Maryland.

With the majority of the story set at a cookout, The Part was shot in August 2008 with additional shooting (called pick up shots) during the spring and summer 2009. The cast and crew had a chance to see the film last October at a Private Screening and now the general public gets its chance.

The World Premiere will feature our film The Part as well as outtakes and bloopers. We will also be showing our film Making History with a bonus Special Secret Screening of one of our films.

The Part is listed on IMDb, the Internet Movie Database and we also created a blog Part Blog, Part News detailing much of the process it took to make the film.

‘Nother Brother Entertainment, LLC is an independent film production company in Baltimore, Maryland formed by multi-award winning writer and filmmaker Dankwa Brooks.

For screeners or to arrange an interview with Dankwa Brooks please contact:
Dankwa Brooks
Phone: 443-817-0757
Email: Dankwa@NotherBrother.com

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Keeping It 100

Last year this time I COULD NOT WAIT to get up to go vote. This WAS the most important election of my lifetime and I was excited. I must also say that it was something I still did not think would happen.

I’m optimistic about most things, but when it came to America electing a black president I felt like a Public Enemy song “Can’t Truss It”. I thought “they” would find him in bed with a dead hooker and a live boy or something. The history of this country just couldn’t be ignored and I just didn’t want to get my “hopes up”.

I got up early, voted and went to work. After work I had somewhere to go and when I got home the election results were too early to clarify a winner. I went to sleep with the election results on. When I woke up I decided to record it. My DVR says I started recording November 4, 2008 9:57 PM (NBC coverage). It wasn’t until 11pm that they announced the news that Barack Obama was elected 44th President of the United States :-D. After that it was no sleep until THE MAN came on to give his acceptance speech. In the meantime John McCain gave one of the most eloquent concession speeches I ever heard. Major props to him for that.

By my DVR “the next first family of the United States” came out in Grant Park in Chicago (pictured above) at 11:56 PM. Even though I wasn’t there I could feel the energy! Riveted to the screen would be a major understatement. I stayed up and recorded more coverage about an hour after his speech and then I finally got a few hours of sleep before work. I also received several text messages that night and the next morning.

November 5th 2008 was no walk in the park at work because I was so sleepy (what I called a “non alcoholic election night hangover”), but so proud. “Proud” too is an understatement. One word cannot capture what I felt that night and to this day.

And now, a word from the man himself.

*You can read more about what I did last year on November 4, 2008 in 100 Minutes

Our Newest Film-"Making History"

After casting Kesha Afrika Oliver in The Part and having a chance to talk to her I decided to film an “interview” with her to maybe put on The Part DVD. I found her experiences at Colonial Williamsburg to use her words “interesting”.

Kesha Afrika Oliver in Making History

I really had no intention of committing to another film when I hadn’t even completed the first film. I had to film her interviews after rehearsals and shooting of The Part. The footage was so engrossing I decided to make a short documentary from the interviews. Making a documentary (if done right) is a long process. It’s not just an “interview”. You have to add additional footage (video and photos) and possibly even more interviews. So I decided to undertake this task because I just couldn’t pass up this opportunity.

So now a documentary that started as an interview, that was only for “special features” for a DVD, is now being shown as a film by itself. Somehow a copy of Making History got out and now it will be shown at the end of October. Ok I know how it got out, but it isn’t really relevant to this story LOL. It seems as though the people at Docs in Progress found Making History equally interesting.

I, Writer & Director Dankwa Brooks, will be there and I’m trying to get Kesha Afrika Oliver to attend as well to answer questions. You can read our Press Release about Making History here and stay tuned to this blog for future information.

Making History will screen Thursday, October 29, 2009 at the Creative Alliance at The Patterson.

You can read more about The Part at our blog devoted to the making of the film Part Blog Part News