Blacklisted Conversations

Time & Technology Series Short Films is an exploration of relationships between humans and technology and who suffers most. Dreamed up by filmmaker Adrian Scott.

Adrian is a scriptwriter/producer/director and co-owner of indie production company Mellow9 Productions. He's written 4 shorts, two of which he produced. He was also one of the writers of the feature film Victim (2011). Under Mellow 9 he directed the critically acclaimed documentary Trial By Fire: The Terry Dunnage Story.

More recently Adrian has set up an Indiegogo campaign to raise finances for Time & Technology which features short films RelaSinkShip, Phone Play, and Black Knives Matters on which he worked with award-winning filmmakers Ethosheia Hylton and Shantelle Rochester.

We caught up with Adrian to get more info on the Time & Techology series, his journey as a filmmaker and why it was important to work with black women on this latest project ...

Support the campaign - https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/time-tech-series-short-films#/

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Radha Blank has taken the indie film world by storm with her ode to grown black women!

The Forty-Year Old Version is a semi-autobiographical tale about 'Radha' a down-on-her-luck NY playwright, who is desperate for a breakthrough before 40. Reinventing herself as rapper RadhaMUSPrime, she vacillates between the worlds of Hip Hop and theatre in order to find her true voice.

With a number of accolades under her belt - Musician, writer for TV, stage and film, producer and actress Radha talk to us about what inspired her to write, direct and star in her first feature and how she got her friend Emmy-award winning Lena Waithe to support the project ...

Watch The 40 Year Old Version trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRpGNnaDzeE

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BAFTA has announced this year's BAFTA Breakthrough Brits. The initiative that identifies the most exciting new talent coming up in the film, games and television industries and gives them access to unique career development and mentoring opportunities. 

TBB's Hannah Shury-Smith and Whelan Barzey spoke to some of the Breakthrough Brits about being recognised by BAFTA at this point of their career and what they hope they will get out of it ...

We speak to -

• Bukky Bakray, Performer - breakthrough credit: Rocks (Rocks is on Netflix now) - watch Rocks trailer HERE
• Bukky had never acted before when approached to star in Sarah Gavron’s coming-of-age film Rocks. Bakray plays the title role of schoolgirl Rocks
• Tamara Lawrance, Performer - breakthrough credit: The Long Song (on BBC and you can also watch episode one HERE) - watch Long Song trailer HERE
• Tamara Lawrance graduated in 2015 and established herself on the stage in lead roles at London’s Royal Court Theatre and National Theatre. In December 2018 she starred as Miss July, a former slave on a sugar plantation in 19th-century Jamaica, in the three-part BBC adaptation of Andrea Levy's novel The Long Song. She was selected as one of the 2018 Screen Stars of Tomorrow.

• Abigail Dankwa, Multi Camera Director - breakthrough credit: Love Song (on BBC)
• Abigail Dankwa has multi-camera directed WonderBall (BBC Scotland, 2019), !mpossible (BBC 1) Tipping Point (ITV 1) , 24 Hours in A&E (C4), Big Brother & Celebrity Big Brother (C5) and Multi Camera Director VIP Arrivals Champions League Final Milan (UEFA), after working as a Studio Floor Manager, with a background in TV production and broadcast management.

• Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, Producer - breakthrough credit: Blue Story (Blue Story is on Amazon now) - watch Blue Story trailer HERE
• Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, is a producer and writer whose recent works include the highly acclaimed Blue Story, written and directed by Andrew “Rapman” Onwubolu. In 2019, she was nominated for “Breakthrough Producer” at the BIFAs. In 2020, Joi Productions was awarded a BFI Vision Award and selected as one of the Screen 2020 Stars Of Tomorrow. She currently has projects in development at BFI, BBC Films and Film4.

• Bim Ajadi, Director - breakthrough credit: Here / Not Here - watch Here / Not Here trailer HERE
• Bim Ajadi is an accomplished and award winning independent filmmaker with more than 15 years experience. He has worked for leading broadcasters and independently as a director and editor and produced high quality television documentaries, music videos and dramatic shorts.
• Here Not Here is a hip hop music drama showcasing a new visual language for story-telling by combining British Sign Language, Visual Vernacular, urban dance, music, and football. It is led by deaf artists and directed by Bim Ajadi who is also deaf.

• Ruka Johnson, Costume Designer - breakthrough credit: Blue Story 
• Ruka Johnson is a Costume Designer and stylist who worked on both Blue Story and Rocks. Additional credits include Through The Gates, Bruno, Sliced, amongst others.

• Chella Ramanan, Narrative Designer/Writer - breakthrough credit: Before I Forget - 4* review HERE
• Chella Ramanan was a games journalist. Three years ago, she started building her own game along with artist and programmer, Claire Morley, and a small team of art, music, and audio contributors. The indie, self-published game, titled Before I Forget – a narrative exploration centered on a character with dementia, is set to launch next year.
• Ramanan also co-founded POC in Play, an independent diversity organisation built to increase the visibility and representation of people of color in the videogame industry

See the full list of the 2020 BAFTA Breakthrough Brits HERE

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Steve McQueen's film 'Mangrove' tells the true story of British Caribbean activists.

The Mangrove 9, was a group of Black activists who clashed with London police during a protest march in 1970. Their highly publicised trial that followed was the first judicial acknowledgment of behaviour motivated by racial hatred within the Metropolitan Police.

Starring a star studded cast including Letitia Wright (Black Panther), Malachi Kirby (Curfew), Rochenda Sandall (Line Of Duty), Richie Campbell (Liar) and more. Shaun Parkes (Moses Jones) plays Frank Crichlow whose restaurant The Mangrove was the hub of the community and the focus of the police's racist targeting.

We spoke to Shaun about what it was like playing a British Black political icon ...

Small Axe premieres 15 November 2020 on BBC One in the UK and on 20 November 2020 on Amazon Prime Video - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08vxt33

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The Small Axe series feature 5 films centred on British Caribbean history. Mangrove, Lovers Rock, Red White and Blue, Education and Alex Wheatle are dramas set across the 60-80s and show a never been seen before perspective.

Created by Academy & BAFTA award-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen renowned for his epic projects including Widows, 12 Years a Slave, Drive ... this series for BBC is the first of its kind. Drawing from his own personal family stories and the Caribbean communities around him McQueen collaborated with acclaimed author and playwright Courttia Newland and TV writer Alastair Siddons to bring this projectto life.

TBB spoke to him about the importance of this project.

Small Axe begins 15 November 2020 on BBC One in the UK and on 20 November 2020 on Amazon Prime Video - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08vxt33

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Along with his business partner Fraser Ayres, Jimmy Akingbola has made UK TV history in bringing to our screens the first Black focused quiz show.

Sorry I Didn’t Know which began as an ITV2 pilot returned this Black History Month for a four-part series. Lead by team captains Judi Love and Chizzy Akudolu, and hosted by Jimmy the panel show covers a range of Black historical facts with lots of laughter, jokes and nonsense.

TBB Talks spoke to Jimmy about how the show came to life and the work he’s doing with his company TriForce to diversify the creative industry…

Sorry I Didn't Know is currently available to watch via ITV Hub

#TBBTalks #JimmyAkingbola #SorryIDidntKnow #InTheLongRun #TriForce #MonologueSlam #ITV #TVShow #BlackHistoryMonth #BritishBlackHistory #TBB #TheBritishBlacklist

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The Black British Theatre Awards were founded by Solange Urdang and Omar F Okai in 2019 to highlight, as well as champion, the recognition, and representation of Black talent in British theatre.

The awards, which are voted almost entirely by the public, feature 26 different categories that span production and performance in plays, musicals, and dance productions, with additional categories including the LGBTQ+ Champion Award, the Disability Champion Award, and Best Teacher of Performing Arts as a Subject Award.

This year’s awards ceremony took place at London’s Young Vic Theatre and will broadcast exclusively on Sky Arts Sunday 25th October at 9pm.

The awards have been produced by Kwame Kwei-Armah & Shantelle Rochester and Directed by Charlie Di Placido and Kojey Radical.

We spoke to Solange, Omar and Shantelle to find out more…

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Actor, Activist, Rapper Riz Ahmed joined forces with filmmaker Bassam Tariq to bring us the timely film Mogul Mowgli.

The film tells the story of Zed, a British Pakistani rapper, who decides to fly home to the UK to visit the family he has not seen in two years. Suddenly struck down by an autoimmune disease Zed descends into a physical and emotional crisis.

Tackling self identity, from the UK to America Riz and Bassam spoke to TBB about the importance of taking ownership of our heritage and the importance of telling our stories ... 

Mogul Mowgli had its UK premiere at this year’s BFI London Film Festival.

It comes to UK cinemas October 30th 2020.

Find out more here.

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Before becoming Artistic Director of the Unicorn Theatre, the UK’s leading professional theatre dedicated to producing inspiring and invigorating work for young audiences, Justin Audibert had established himself as a director, collaborating with organisations such as the Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre, Southwark Playhouse and Soho Theatre. 

Over lockdown, Audibert’s calendar continued to be fully-booked as he directed the short film Joseph Knight for the National Theatre of Scotland and BBC Scotland, and wrote and directed the three episodes of Anansi the Spider Re-spun for the Unicorn Theatre Online and The Guardian.

We caught up with Justin to find out what it’s been like running a theatre during a global pandemic, and to find out more about the return of Anansi the Spider Re-spun to the Unicorn Theatre as part of its Black History Month programme. 

Anansi the Spider Re-spun is now available to watch via the Unicorn Theatre's Youtube Channel. Find out more here.

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BBC One’s sitcom GHOSTS has returned for a second series with two of our faves, Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Lolly Adefope.

Ghosts is about a young couple Alison and Mike who inherit an old country home that they plan to update to a family hotel, however the house comes with a crew of ghosts.

Kiell plays Mike, and Lolly plays Kitty one of the ghosts. With the first series of Ghosts averaging 3.7million viewers making it one of the BBC's most successful shows we caught up with the two actors to find out more about the show, their roles and what it's like being a black comedy actor ...

Series 2 of Ghosts airs on Monday's at 8.30pm on BBC One, and is also available to watch via BBC iPlayer

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