BFF on the news…

My mother recorded a recent newscast on her DVR and made sure to save it until I could see it. Not giving anything away, she told me she had something she wanted me to see and asked, “Do you have time now?”

“Sure,” I said, as she loaded the program and hit the play button.

On the local news, they were talking about a Black Film Festival being held at Alabama State University, and there in the background was a scene from Best Friends Forever (The Love and Crimes of Tiye Ra and Corey) by my friend, writer/director C. DeWayne Cunningham of Carolyn Jean’s Son Visions. Specifically, it was the scene of me in the role of “Daniel Andre Wilson” standing over a handrail talking to the main two characters.

I said, “Woah… hey… I’m on TV.” It was quite surprising. And then the next part showed a portion of the scene of Ebony Jones as “Tiye Ra” dragging a body on the ground.

Nice surprise. Thanks to my mom for catching that for us.

Oh, and speaking of Ebony, she made the news again. There is a scene in the film with her boxing in a ring, but what you may not know is that she’s really a boxer. Another news agency ran a story about her. See it here.

Hey @ibetheshooter, we made the news. #BFFcjsv

A post shared by Josh Carples (@joshcarples) on Aug 27, 2016 at 10:34pm PDT

Audience connection

Four Thousand Wings

On Saturday, my friend and fellow filmmaker C. DeWayne Cunningham and I got to screen three short films at the Cloverdale Playhouse in Montgomery. (Many thanks to them for allowing us to hold this event!)

First up was Animus by Ce Anderson, followed by my short Four Thousand Wings and then DeWayne’s Best Friends Forever (The Love and Crimes of Tiye Ra and Corey.)

We did Q&A sessions after each film to answer any questions about the story, filmmaking process, or anything else one wanted to ask.

I’ve described my film as a “surreal drama” and there are some things left ambiguous in it, so I was not sure how people might react to it. Love it? Hate it? Meh? So I must say that I was very pleasantly surprised during the Q&A that people seemed to really like it. The feedback was very positive, and as an artist – whether the medium is film, music, painting, theater, etc. – having others connect and appreciate your art is a great feeling.

This Tuesday – Aug. 16, 2016

 

Normally, I’m the photographer at the monthly Guitar Pull at the Cloverdale Playhouse. But this Tuesday, I’ll be one of the three artists on stage.

This will be my third time performing at this event, which, if you still haven’t been to one of these, I’ll say it again: you’re really missing out.

I’m joining my friend Bobby Lee from Dothan and a duo consisting of Will O’Rear and Al Alysworth.

This coming Tuesday, starting at 7, come out and enjoy some music.

And for some history, read Bubba Hall’s take on the Pull and its founder, Joe Thomas, Jr.

AL film projects to screen in NY

Still from Mercy and Plea.

I’ve got to give a big ‘Congrats!’ to my friend and fellow filmmaker Sylvester Folks, who has two projects in another film festival.

After screening his web series The Ghost and the Negro at the LA Film Festival a couple of months ago, he’s now taking that one, along with his series pilot Mercy and Plea, to the state of New York for the Hudson Valley International Film Festival.

Both of those projects will screen on Saturday, August 27.