I believe that dance came from the people and should always be delivered back to the people. - Alvin Ailey
photo by andrew eccles featuring jamar roberts
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I’m Dolling Up Femme Noire* Style for…
The Mouse Ward Cocktail Fundraiser
See You There! This Sunday @ Six.
*pun intended :)
Here is a two minute scene from my feature film MOUSE WARD. We’re still in production on this one. Actually, we’re still looking for money too. So if you know an equity, arts, or angel investor, send ‘em my way. In the meantime, hope you enjoy. - Malika Ali
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“Media-crity: the practice of dumbing down to satisfy the masses. Often disguised as accessibility, media-crity inhibits the artist from fulfilling her highest purpose; to uplift, inspire, make better, move higher. Media-crity is the death of pure art.”
Colored Jeans
When I was a girl of thirteen, Guess jeans were the thing. If you could afford not just one pair, but jeans in every color, then you were the shit.
I could not afford jeans in every color. And I could not afford, as I later learned, to even wear Guess jeans at all. I owned a pair, but that did me no good. For I was a skinny, black girl in the hood and Guess jeans made my little bump in the back turn completely flat.
I would walk down the street thinking I was sooooo fly cause of my designers. Then some dumb kid would yell out, “Ahhh, look it - she ain’t got no assss!”
For some other girl, in some other hood, having no ass would have been a glorious thing. But comin’ from where I’m from, wide hips and a big ass are golden. And Guess jeans, with their then droopy rear design, stripped me of my mine.
Why the reminisce over jeans and adolescent bodies?
I just watched An Education and it pissed me the fuck off. I’m tired of sitting through two hours of the same stories told through the new dumb blonde or the latest brilliant brunette.
I wanna see some wide hips, big asses, and dark skin en masse. And not gyrating to a silly rap video either. I just want them to be, as they are, in all of their glory and all of their mess. And I want brown women around the world to know that their golden experiences are worthy of the silver screen.
Why is this so hard to make happen?
Directing a movie is a very overrated job we all know it. You just have to say ‘yes’ and ‘no’. What else do you do? Nothing. Maestro should this be red? ‘Yes.’ Green? ‘No.’ More extras? ‘Yes.’ More lipstick? ‘No.’ Yes - No - Yes - No - That’s Directing! - Lilli of the movie NINE played by Judi Dench
I’d like to take a moment to give credit where credit is due. See below for the list of grand divas and boy wonders who helped to make the Mouse Ward Teaser possible. Yep, it’s true it took all these mutha-luvas to make a one minute fifty two second teaser. Filmmaking is teamwork!
Ayser Salman - Teaser Editor
Brian Ali Harding - Producer/Teaser Titles
Meena Singh - Cinematographer
Geoff Green - Audio Mixer
Claudio Sembo - Groundwork Titles
Conisha Wade - Co-Producer
Kelly Rubin - Co-Producer
Tashara McCain - Associate Producer/Indiegogo Campaign Donor
Katie Goldschmidt - Gaffer/AC
Samantha Smart - 1st AC
Che Roberts - Production Coordinator
Steven Jackson - 2nd AD/Production Coordinator
Allison Brannon - Script Supervisor/Production Coordinator
Rukmai Bachal - Starting Line Producer
Chelsea Stimple - Wardrobe Dept./Patient Chelsea
Kiyoko Wakabayashi - Wardrobe Dept.
Soraya Kabbaj - Wardrobe Dept.
A. Tad Chamberlain - Sound Recordist/Indiegogo Campaign Donor
Mark & Julie Nichols - Sound Recordists
Jill Cuarto - Make-Up Artist & Consultant
Erin Smith - Hair Stylist & Consultant
Kevin Gaumond - Casting Assistant
Ray Katz - Casting Assistant
Alisha Landers - Casting Assistant
Shilpa Sahi - Consulting Editor
Gianni Vollucci - Production Asst./Patient Gianni
Jeanine Espinoza - Production Asst.
Eric Anderson - Art Dept. Consultant
Alexander Rose - Productions Asst.
Marcus de la Fuente - DIT
Jeff Peterman - Production Asst.
Wesley Brown - Production Assistant
Lauren Hamrick - Mouse Kaminski
Jack Davis - Kyle Kaminski
Marcus Scribner - Dylan Kaminski
Bonita Brisker - Carol Kaminski
Leah Lyons - Wendy
Barnaby Barilla - Jerrell
Kyoko Okazaki - Kaz
Morgan Rosen - Nurse Lea
Debbie Hurson - Nurse Patty
Joshua Kwak - Nurse Joshua
Hykef Herndon - Security Guard
Arthur A. Richardson - Jerrell’s Dad
Chon Lee - Brother-Boyfriend
Chizuru Kurata - Patient Chizuru
Brittany Sinkler - Nurse Brittany
Alan Ehrlich - Doctor Alan
Ebony Perry - Patient Ebony
Alexander Hufschmid - Patient Alex/Camera PA
Robin Melendez - Patient Robin
Laura Meadows - Mama Laura
Diane Goss & Thair Mapp - Indiegogo Campaign Donors
Richard Harding - Indiegogo Campaign Donor
Aaron Leichter - Indiegogo Campaign Donor
Paul Santagada - Indiegogo Campaign Donor
Susan Dunaway - Indiegogo Campaign Donor
Layal Mashevu - Indiegogo Campaign Donor
Jason Dunn - Indiegogo Campaign Donor
Kongit Farrell - Indiegogo Campaign Donor
Jermaine Goss - Indiegogo Campaign Donor
Andre Shear - Indiegogo Campaign Donor
Frank Lawson - Indiegogo Campaign Donor
Kia Glover - Indiegogo Campaign Donor
Tamara Skirboll - Indiegogo Campaign Donor
Ada & Stanford Davis - Indiegogo Campaign Donors
Marilyn Davis - Indiegogo Campaign Donor
Frederick Schroeder - Indiegogo Campaign Donor
Film Independent, Marymount College, The American Film Institute - Casting Rooms & Location
“Wild Butterflies is a lyrical tale of twin sisters who aim, cock, hit, and run or dream of doing just that. Set against the backdrop of the 1980’s, where crack-cocaine, pop music, and the emergence of AIDS mix with the milieu of Midwestern America.”
Wild Butterflies/The Logline
