Five by Five: A Movie Podcast

Today, the Cinnamon Cinephile talks to author Denise Crittendon, whose novel Where It Rains in Color was so breathtaking believes it is a film begging for a screenwriter.

Ms. Crittenden's book has been described as "a technicolor Afrofuturist fever dream of a book. Set on the planet of Swazembi, a color-rich utopia and famous vacation center of the galaxy, it is also the home of the Rare Indigo - a beauty among beauties - treasured for the perfection of her glorious midnight skin. When the Rare Indigo becomes infected with a debilitating skin disease, a new power awakens in her as they search for a cure. You had the Cinnamon Cinephile at midnight skin!

The Cinnamon Cinephile sat down with producer, director, screenwriter and editor, Tia Cherie Polite-Jones, owner of Black Rose Dagger Films as she and her cast and crew prepare for the 48 Hour Film Project - the Baltimore version. Tia and her team have just 48 hours to write, shoot, edit and submit their four to seven minute short film. But here's the kicker...they won't know anything and they can't start writing until everyone gets their prompt, genre, and a single line of dialogue. Then they have 48 hours to make the film.

The 48 Hour Film Project started in 2001 and has turned into a global phenomenon. Selected final films will be screened August 9th at 7:00 pm at the Charles Theater in Baltimore. Come on and cheer on Team Black Rose Dagger Films

For more information on Tia Polite-Jones click here https://www.tiacheriepolite.com

For more information on the 48 HR Film Project click here https://www.48hoursfilm.com

This is an episode of the SyFy Sistas

Subrina and Henry talk about crypto currencies.

2 minute reel for the Black Podcast Award

This week Subrina, the Cinnamon Cinephile, sits down with the ultra-cool Michael Haynes-Pitts to discuss the films that inspired his trilogy The Surge Series, about the adventures of Afia Osuwu as she navigates the world of a cyberpunk Africa.

Michael is a high-school educator who runs the BrainyBlerd podcast. His writings venture into Afrocentric, LGBTQ, and cyberpunk genres. Mike and Subrina deep dive into a surprising 12 science gems, from the 50s to the present day. They also discover a common love of classic 80s sci-fi, the acting skills of Louis Gossett, Jr., while Africa is the setting of the Surge Series, and how Japanese anime and mango influence his world. 

His second book of the Surge Series, The Harvesters'Diaspora, is now available. 

Subrina, The Cinnamon Cinephile, sits down with a favorite Five By Five guest expert, Angelyn Frazer-Giles, this time to discuss her work as a certified End of Life Doula during this stressful time. We start with The Bucket List (2007) with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman and wind our way through how to really make your final wishes actual happen, then to Steel Magnolias (1989) for the medical directives you need, organ donation with Seven Pounds (2008) with Will Smith and Rosario Dawson, the battle for rights of a same-sex couple as depicted in Freeheld (2015) with Julianne Moore and Elliot Page, and more. So, what movie got it right? It's Angelyn's #1 on this list. This is an informative and eye-opening topic. 

Angelyn Frazer-Giles is a Delaware certified End of Life Doula. You can contact her at legacypreservation.life  On Facebook @Heirloom: Estate &LegacyPreservation 

For Women's History Month Subrina Wood, 'The Cinnamon Cinephile' sits down with the legendary Judy Richardson, civil rights activist, political organizer, teacher, scholar, author and one of the producers of the Emmy winning PBS series "Eyes On the Prize". This 14 episode groundbreaking series was create by Henry Hampton and his Blackside Productions in Boston, MA and broadcast from 1987 - 1990. The production was the start for many up and coming filmmakers and writers including Llewellyn Smith (The Jubilee Singers: Sacrifice and Glory, 2016),  Orlando Bagwell (Chisholm '72: Unbought and Unbossed, 2016) and Oscar and Emmy winner Sam Pollard (Sammy David, Jr. I've Gotta Be Me, 2017;  4 Little Girls, 1997; and Mr. Soul, 2018). Eyes on the Prize's singular style of featuring only the actual participants rather than historians and other pundit bringing many of the the women of the movement to our attention for possibly to first time.

Judy Richardson was on the staff of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the South, from 1963 to 1966: in SNCC’s national office in Atlanta; in Mississippi during “Freedom Summer”; in Southwest Georgia; and in Lowndes County, Alabama. In 1965she left SNCC’s Lowndes County project to become the office manager for the successful, first campaign of Julian Bond (then SNCC’s Press Director, later Chair of the NAACP) for the Georgia House of Representatives. She also organized a residential “freedom school” that brought together young people from civil rights struggles in both the North and South to talk about common concerns and strategies.

In 1978 she began her first stint with Blackside, Inc., and entered the world of film. She worked on all 14 hours of Backside’s seminal PBS series, Eyes on the Prize (winner of an Academy Award nomination, six Emmys, the top broadcast journalism awards, and many other honors). She was Series Associate Producer for the second series, content advisor and researcher for the first series, and Education Director for the full series.

Judy Richardson Five Episodes:

Season 1, Episode 1  Awakenings

Season 1, Episode 5 Mississippi: Is This America?: 1962-1964

Season 2, Episode 4 The Promised Land 1967 -1968

Season 2, Episode 5 Ain't Gonna Shuffle No More: 1964-1972

Season 2, Episode 6 A Nation of Law?: 1968 - 1971

For more on Henry Hampton visit the Henry Hampton Archives at Washington University Henry Hampton Collection - University Libraries | Washington University in St. Louis (wustl.edu)

Ok, I said there were THREE episodes, but there are actually TWO. This is a double bonus covering both Episodes 2 Whitey's on the Moon and Episode 3 Holy Ghost. I continue discussing our initial impressions of Lovecraft Country with Angelyn Frazer-Giles, Executive Director of National Network for Justice, Nkechi Taifa, Esq., Founder of the Taifa Group, a social enterprise firm with a mission to advance justice, Michelle Meggs, Ph.D., Executive Director of Women & Girls Research Alliance, and Nachelle White, founder of S.W.A.G.G., LLC (Sisters Walking Abundantly in God's Grace). These sisters know of what they speak.  

Subrina   https://cinnamoncinephile.com/

Angelyn  https://nationalnetworkforjustice.org/

Nkechi    https://www.thetaifagroup.com/about-founder

Michelle  https://womengirlsalliance.uncc.edu/

Nachelle  https://www.facebook.com/SistersWalkingAbundantlyInGodsGraceSwagg/

I want to thank my sound engineer, DoS, the Anonymous One. 

The Cinnamon Cinephile and her trusty crew, Michelle Meggs, Angelyn Frazer-Giles, Nkecki Taifa, and Nachelle White, go deep into the meaning behind the Golden Globe-nominated HBO series. This was tape after the first run of the series. I'm posting it up now for Black History Month and so you have a primer for the show as we go into the TV awards season.