Rych McCain Hollyhood Notes

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Hollywood Black Film Festival (HBFF) 2013 - Festival

(C) 2013 by Rych McCain, All Rights Reserved. No part of this column may be reprinted, re-posted or duplicated without written permission from Rych McCain Media/Syndication. Violation is subject to applicable laws.

Hollywood Black Film Festival (HBFF) 2013

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment columnist

www.twitter/Rych McCain and Facebook

The Hollywood Black Film Festival

2013 Version Is The Best Yet!

Photos by HBFF & RMMM

The 2013 Hollywood Black Film Festival roared through a rousting and exciting five days of informative workshops, panels, infotainment conference sessions, project stargazer with actual NASA staff, HBFF comedy sho’down showcase, beauty lounge, pitchathons, Casting director Twinkie Byrd’s monologue slam, storyteller showcase, full length and short film screenings, the awards presentations and of course the daily happy hours and nightly after parties. The beautiful W Hotel in Hollywood was the HBFF host site while the Ricardo Montalban Theatre hosted the screenings. Attendees from across the U.S., and around the globe met and made friends, enjoyed the many activities that were made available, networked and showed off their films.

Tanya Kersey is the founder and Executive Director of the Hollywood Black Film Festival. So in her words what was it like doing the whole thing from beginning to end this year. Kersey flashes a satisfied smile, “This year I think was magical. That is the best word to describe it. We launched a lot of new initiatives and programs. We did the film diaspora which is really dear to my heart because I really wanted to expose American audiences to films from film makers from the diaspora. I always believed that we are telling the same stories but in a different way with a different backdrop. Instead of being in New York City, you’re out there in South Africa somewhere. So that was really important to me and I’m really proud that we screened 11 films from foreign countries.

The 2013 HBFF Grand Jury Winners

And then we added the beauty lounge which was huge for women. I mean, it went over so well it was amazing. But my whole idea was that normally its celebrities that go get pampered. Well they don’t need to be pampered. They have the money to go get pampered. It’s the struggling actresses and actors who are number one; going to need a make-up and hair team one day and those upcoming Hollywood stylists need clients so it was a perfect marriage and they worked their butts off for two days. They did hair and make-up and people were coming down. It was so amazing just to see every woman coming down with a smile on her face."

Kersey continues, “And then we did the partnership with NASA and we did Project Star Gazer which is a mission to develop diverse forces in sci-fi and we chose three star gazers to go through a lab next year to create a future film. And we did the comedy showcase as well which was great because actors and comedy and bringing in executives to see them so I think this year we really stepped it up just because we diversified our program. The film festival is a film festival but it has other antennas and we started reaching out that way so I’m really proud of this year.”

HBFF Founder Tanya Kersey with daughters Monique (L) and Brittany Love (R). Both ladies served as coordinators

With all of the diverse activities conducted by the best of the best, is it hard for Kersey to keep the momentum going year after year? She shrugs that off saying, “No because every year its something new in terms of the field. This year was definitely a different year because we launched so many new initiatives, next year it will be even more exciting because now we know what we are doing with those and we can expand them.”

If you are a film maker, student, actor, writer, producer, fan or just an enthusiast and would love to come and be apart of the glitter and glamour of the real Hollywood and meet the actual players, power brokers, movers and shakers, plan to participate in the 2014 HBFF. Go to www.hbff.org for details and get your films ready for submittal. Don't hee-haw and hum around about either -just do it!

Hollywood Black Film Festival

For the first time HBFF had a comedy show as part of it’s’ four day extravaganza. The comic performers were specifically chosen from countless entries. I was blessed to have been selected to perform. I appreciated the chance but still felt a little bit unworthy of the opportunity. Usually I’m not allowed to hear other comics perform, but this show was different. For the most part all the comics performing were clean and not cursing up a storm.

Then I remembered something I heard a long time ago, “… performing raunchy and explicit comedy will put a limit on where you can perform. However, performing “clean comedy” you can perform anywhere”. One comedian I performed with on the show was Ron G. He promised his grandmother that he would always do “clean comedy” and as far as I could see, he kept his promise. After the show I realize why I was probably chosen to perform along with Chris Sneed, Chinedu Unaka, Trey Elliot, DC Ervin, Tony Baker, Essau McGraw and Lydia Robinson. These comics can and often perform routines that don’t have explicit material and foul language. Now I have a deeper appreciation for comics who take the high road and can make us all laugh without throwing down a bunch of four letter words to get a laugh.

Editor's note:
To see Leroya's performance at the Beverly Hills Country Club click on www.youtube.com/watch?v=abb1bBcaDvg or go to youtube and type in "Leroya Poetry & Comedy at the Beverly Hills Country Club."

To see her on ABC-TV's "The View"click on
www.youtube. com/watch?v=wf7y9joqIJI

(You DID Hear It From Me!)

Twitter@rychmccain and Facebook

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Leroya Sanford - Stage

Leroya Sanford

(The Crown Princess Of Comedy TM)

Live At The Hollywood Black Film Festival's Comedy Sho' Down!

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

KeKe Palmer - TV

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

www.twitter.com/rychmccain and Facebook

KeKe Palmer

Plays Chilli In The TLC Story

Photos Direct TV/VH1/RMMS

KeKe Palmer

She has been gracing the big and little screens since the age of ten and quite convincingly at that. Almost fresh out of the gate KeKe Palmer was turning in performances that saw her nominated for many major awards and snagging a couple like four NAACP Image Awards. In a short career (Palmer is only 20), she has starred in over 14 films and many TV show guest roles including having her own Nickelodeon Television Series “True Jackson VP” for three seasons and is currently on The TV Series “Winx Club” playing Aisha. As if acting is not enough on her plate, Palmer is also a recording artist with a boat load of fun and saucy videos out and a new album in the works. The month of October will see her on screen with two new major projects.

Chan'dra (Palmer) in restaurant "Full Circle."

The first offering is a show is titled “FULL CIRCLE” and is a new type of combination drama/soap opera that is shot like a movie with 10 episodes that come to an ending. This format has never been done before and Direct TV being somewhat new to TV programming hopes this project will get them in the door and off to a good start to catch up with HBO, Netflex and the other distributors who entered the content production side of the market. On the show, Palmer plays Chan’dra Stevens whose gay high school age younger brother took his life after a joke that over-the-top and outlandish comic Jace (played by David Boreanaz) told which brought bullying and shame to him.

Jace (David Boreanaz) in restaurant "Full Circle."

Their scene takes place in a restaurant where Jace invited Chan’dra to meet him to try and make amends. Palmer showcased an awesome display of mature, veteran acting chops in her scene with Boreanaz, flawlessly spiting out tons of lengthy dialogue that the scene required. But this is the high caliber of a script you expect from the series’ creator, co-producer and award winning screenwriter and playwright Neil LaBute.

Palmer’s appreciation for her “Full Circle” role is expressed when she explains, “I felt like this is something I’ve never done before. These are the types of things I need to be doing. I just felt like there’s growth and I can continue to grow as an actor and it is only going to challenge me that much further. This was challenging in the perfect way.” So does this mean the young Palmer is looking to do more adult roles? Her eyes twinkle, “I really do and I look for things that I’ve never done before.” “Full Circle” premieres Wednesday, October 9 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Direct TV.

L-R: Drew Sidora (T-Boz), KeKe Palmer (Chilli) & Lil Mama (Left Eye.)

Second on the menu is “Crazy, Sexy, Cool, The TLC Story.” Palmer plays TLC member Rozanda “Chilli” Thomas. The made for TV movie makes its premiere on Monday, October 21, 2013 on VH1.

KeKe Palmer as "Chilli"

Palmer was excited about this one. She is all smiles when she says “Again, I felt challenged because like “Full Circle,” I had never done something like that before. I’ve never had a romantic relationship on screen. They talk a lot about women’s issues, pressures and the choices that women have to make in their lifetime, not knowing if they are making the right ones. And there is that other thing about being a superstar before an audience. A lot of people don’t believe or realize that a lot of the stuff they were singing about, they went through and knew about it, they had experienced these things. I think the movie is going to make a lot of people’s eyes open and they are going to have a lot more appreciation for the group."

The real TLC: L-R; Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, the late Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and Rozanda "Chilli" Thomas

KeKe Palmer

Hollywood seems to promote the negative stuff when it comes to child actors and entertainers when they grow up. As an aspiring entertainer myself, I remember so many negative things that was and still is being told to me by my own family members. To keep my sanity I seek out for role models that I can look up to that may not fit the typical TMZ report. Because of that, one of my favorite role models is Keke Palmer. She’s done so much in the industry and somehow stays out of the “Bad/Naughty Girl” Mix-Up with drugs and other Hollywood Shenanigans. Since her film debut in “Akeelah and the Bee”, in 2006, I knew she was destined for stardom.

This may sound strange since I was about four years old at the time. However, this was the same time that I performed one of my first comedy performances on stage. I don’t remember much from that time in my life but I know that seeing her on the Big Screen, doing that Spelling Bee, is one of the reason’s I can stand in front of an audience and do comedy today. I’m looking forward to its debut film to be aired in a few weeks. I think Keke Palmer will be a perfect fit for playing Chilli in the group TLC. For those critics, here’s a thought… wait to criticize before commenting about Keke playing the role. Keke Palmer in my opinion can and will do an incredible job.

Editor's note:
To see Leroya's performance at the Beverly Hills Country Club click on www.youtube.com/watch?v=abb1bBcaDvg or go to youtube and type in "Leroya Poetry & Comedy at the Beverly Hills Country Club."
To see her on ABC-TV's "The View"click on
www.youtube. com/watch?v=wf7y9joqIJI