Fisburne, Kain & Kennedy ACT UP! At The Hip Hop Film Festival
This year ACT UP! takes place August 1- August 4th at the Hip Hop Film Festival. Each night, actors and actresses from all over will descend upon the festival to connect and network with over 25 directors who are finalists in the Hip Hop Film Festival’s screenwriters competition powered by Final Draft. The directors can invite the actors & actresses to help them perform their competitive live read for a panel of Hollywood executive producers and film investors.
3 NIGHTS — ONE PASS TO RULE THEM ALL
The event is open for all actors and actresses to participate. Passes are available now and covers all 3 ACT UP! events during the Hip Hop Film Festival. Get passes here >>> ACT UP FESTIVAL PASSES
One writer/director will win the grand prize : an acquisition meeting with Theo Rossi’s DOSDUDES Pictures, an agency offer with The Movement 360 and fast track entry to FINAL DRAFT’s Big Break.
To help create the best live reads ever, are 3 celebrity narrators and a panel of judges who live to forward stories from the culture.
Celebrity Narrators include: Khalil Kain (Juice), Rotimi Paul (“Skeletor”, The Purge) and David Roberts (Orange Is The New Black).
The judges also represent folks who are behind the scenes and putting stories from the culture into the hands of the biggest distributors and funders:
Langston Fishburne : Langston Fishburne, (son of Lawrence Fishburne) is an accomplished actor and producer in his own right. His recent credits include Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), Romeo and Juliet in Harlem (2017), Assassin Behind the Glass (2018) and Claws (Series) to name a few.
Marisa Kennedy : A member of both SAG and Actor’s Equity, Marisa has performed on Broadway (MATILDA at the Shubert Theatre) and in dozens of plays around the country (including the national tour of BILLY ELLIOT). She has been seen on television with appearances in MR. ROBOT (USA), GOD FRIENDED ME (CBS), and the scripted sketch comedy FRIENDS OF THE PEOPLE (TruTV). She consults as a script editor for industry professionals and has worked with Emmy and Tony Award winning writers, composers and actors for the past decade.
Courtney Taylor : Courtney began as a executive at Columbia Records, servicing iconic artists Aerosmith, Bruce Springsteen, Train, John Mayer, Marc Anthony, Tony Bennett, Destiny’s Child, Maxwell & Barbra Streisand. She has consulted for several top-level companies and world class events including: the fashion brand Roots®, The Grammys®, MTV Awards, FASHION ROCKS, &The Sundance Film Festival. She is currently developing an original screenplay with Oscar®-winning screenwriter, Geoffrey Fletcher. Taylor executive produces under her 20th Street Productions shingle.
Kristina Leath-Malin : Kristina Leath-Malin is a filmmaker, scholar, screenwriter, and digital artist from Detroit, MI currently living in Brooklyn NY. On the film front, her short feminist films: “One for the Road” a Stephen King “Dollar Baby” contract (Official Selection at: Female Eye and Ax Wound feminist film Fests) and “My Final Girl: Black Women in American Horror” short doc (Official Selection at Final Girls Berlin Film Festival and Web Series Global Fest) featured a 90% women crew and cast. Her film reviews of films written by, directed by and/or featuring females driving the narrative can be found on her blog KLM Brooklyn. In addition to her writing, she mentors graduate students through Raindance Film Fest’s MA program and podcasts with “The Script” (NY Screenwriters Collective).
The Schedule
August 1st & August 2nd
5pm — 7:00pm : Actor’s Den — HHFF Screenwriters meet with actors and actresses on site to prepare for the live read portion of the evening. Writers can pull from the event actor pool or bring their own team to present the live read to the audience.
7:30 pm — 9 pm : Live Reads — The writer, using the actors from the Actor’s Den, presents 5 pages of their script to an audience of fellow writers, producers, directors and film investors. After each reading, Quala leads a 5 minute Q&A discussion with the writer and audience.
9 pm — 12pm : ART AFTER DARK after party- Have some drinks and meet everyone in the room while jamming to golden age Hip Hop with our LIVE band PLATES and CRATES. The person next to you could lead to your next gig, be a film investor or be a new resource.
August 4th
1pm — 2pm : Actor’s Den — HHFF TOP 5 Screenwriters meet with actors and actresses on site to prepare for FINAL live read portion of the evening. Writers can pull from the event actor pool or bring their own team to present the live read to the audience.
2 pm — 4 pm : Live Reads — The writer, using the actors from the Actor’s Den, presents 5 pages of their script to our celebrity panel of producers, directors and film investors. After each reading, Khalil Kain leads a 5 minute Q&A discussion with the writer and audience.
7 pm — 12pm : ART AFTER DARK after party- Have some drinks and meet everyone in the room while jamming to golden age Hip Hop with our LIVE band PLATES and CRATES. The person next to you could lead to your next gig, be a film investor or be a new resource.
ABOUT ACT UP!
Act Up! Powered by Final Draft is a one of a kind screenwriting competition where the best screenwriters, directors, producers and the hottest actors and actresses come together for a live screenwriter’s competition that cumulates in a live pitch and reading before a panel of Hollywood producers and directors.
3 NIGHTS — ONE PASS TO RULE THEM ALL
Passes are available now and cover all 3 ACT UP events during the Hip Hop Film Festival. Get passes here >>> ACT UP FESTIVAL PASSES
