Exclusive Interview: Brie Eley ("Blind Date Rules")

By Monique on Friday, June 5, 2015

Brie Eley is hoping to shake things up in Hollywood with the rom-com short Blind Date Rules. The film’s trailer has already been a part of COLOR’s semi-weekly trailers/posters/promos round-up, and I’m happy to say that I’m back with the first of a round of interviews from the folks behind the short film.

In this interview, I talk with co-writer/actor Brie Eley, who discusses how the film came to be, the serendipitous way the film came together, and Hollywood’s issues with non-diverse rom-coms. You can watch the trailer within this post or at the film’s Facebook page and Marele Entertainment’s website.

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A brief history of invisibility on screen

By Monique on Thursday, March 5, 2020

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Comedy Troupe Skewers Police Brutality with Hilarious Viral Video

By Monique on Monday, October 17, 2016

Everyone’s been talking about police brutality, from Colin Kaepernick to movie stars to Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. Now, you can add a Los Angeles acting company to the list.

Black Magic Live, a production company monthly sketch show in Los Angeles, recently created a video to call out police acting outside of the law. The skit features police officer characters who are getting help with their shooting problem, thanks to Nicorette-esque gum and patches. Take a look at the skit for yourself.

The skit has already hit over 15,000 views and has been featured on the front page of Funny or Die. Black Lives Matter’s Patrisse Cullors has also called the skit funny and obvious satire.

While the skit has taken a stand on police brutality while getting in a few laughs, the skit also caused a bit of controversy after it was revealed that one of the players, the black police officer, is an actual police officer. A police captain, no less. Click here to read all about that controversy.

Brie Eley, who has been interviewed on JUST ADD COLOR before, is also a member and one of the producers of Black Magic Live. Eley’s latest short for her sketch comedy group 4Play, Password Deals, has recently been announced as one of the eight finalists in the 2016 NBCUniversal Shorts Fest.

Make sure to follow Black Magic Live on Instagram and Twitter .

What do you think about this skewering of police brutality? Give your opinions in the comments section below!

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Diverse Film Alert: “Miles Ahead,” “Race,” “Sleight” + More

By Monique on Saturday, January 23, 2016

Diverse film alert time, friends! With Sundance happening as we speak, there’s a lot of news about films right now; some I hope we get to see in the theaters very soon. There’s also a short created by a friend to the site that you have to see if you want something funny to alleviate your Snowstorm Jonas misery. Here you go:

Comedy short Password Deals, written and directed by Blind Date Rules‘ Brie Eley. Starring Eley, fellow 4Play Comedy LA members Larisa Peters and Amy Rose Schumacher, and Winston A. Marshall. Sketch about a world in which passwords to streaming content, not drugs, are the hot commodity in the streets.

Comedy short film Darby Forever, starring and created by Saturday Night Live‘s Aidy Bryant. Short released as part of Vimeo’s new initiative Share the Screen, which will give voice to female filmmakers lacking a space in Hollywood. Vimeo states of the initiative, “When diverse voices are given equal consideration and weight, more informed artistic decisions are made, better stories are told.”

“Pioneers of African American Cinema” to show rare “race films” of the 1930s and 1040s during February and March. Event is flagship of Kickstarter’s Film Preservation and Restoration Initiative (in conjunction with Kino Lorber).

Films from Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY, Ayanda and Out of My Hand come to Netflix

“Out of My Hand” Official Trailer from TELEVISION on Vimeo.

Race

Heartbeats:

Myriad Pictures, Das Films and Bowery Hills Entertainment announced today that professional dancer Krystal Ellsworth who has danced in films Fame & Iron Man 2, rising South Indian star Amitash Pradhan(Vella Illa Pattathari), Paul McGillion (TOMORROWLAND, “Stargate Atlantis”) and Daphne Zuniga (“One Tree Hill”) headline the cast of the dance film HEARTBEATS, which is written and directed by Duane Adler [creator of Step Up]. Justin Chon (“Twilight” franchise) and Indian familiars Salman Yussuf Khan (of #1 Indian dance franchise ABCD), Kishori Shahane and Mohan Kapur round out the cast. “Inside Edition’s” Megan Alexander makes a cameo appearance. The film has just commenced production in Mumbai, India.

HEARTBEATS tells the story of Kelli (Ellsworth), a feisty female American hip hop dancer who travels to India with her parents (McGillion and Zuniga) for a week long Indian wedding and falls in love — both with a new style of dance and with a determined young man who introduces it to her (Pradhan).

The theme of the film is about two worlds colliding and will be Adler’s second movie with a bi-racial romance since SAVE THE LAST DANCE which starred Julia Stiles. Adler also wrote and created the worldwide box office smash hit dance movies STEP UP, STEP UP 2, and most recently wrote and directed the dance movie MAKE YOUR MOVE for Lionsgate.

HEARTBEATS is being produced by Sriram Das (NOVEMBER MAN), Andrea Chung (SEOUL SEARCHING), and Karine Martin (MAINA). Myriad Pictures is selling international rights to the project in Berlin, with Myriad’s Kirk D’Amico executive producing.

The film is being co-financed by Dance Network, whose founder Julie Stadler and CEO Brian Williams will serve as Executive Producers. Recently, Dance Network acquired and launched Skyway Studios in Nashville.

Jay-Z’s Roc Nation is producing the original songs alongside composer Gingger Shankar (Academy Award® nominee for THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST); the soundtrack will feature traditional and current Indian music and American hip-hop and R&B. 2015 Emmy Winning choreographer for “Dancing With the Stars,” Tessandra Chavez, is the supervising choreographer and two-time Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa winner Shampa Gopikrishna is the choreographer for the Indian dancing.

Want to read more about diverse entertainment? Read the inaugural issue of COLOR BLOCK Magazine!

Miles Ahead

.@IamDonCheadle's @MilesAheadFilm plays tonite at @sundancefest. Watch previous pics & clips https://t.co/Hnvjj35kn7 pic.twitter.com/56wuiny6Xq

— Wilson Morales (@blackfilm) January 22, 2016

Sleight

Seychelle and @jacoblatimore as Bo and Holly once again ruining a perfect picture of a tree. https://t.co/9InDPKuloW pic.twitter.com/u6xbcCZg1w

— SleightTheMovie (@SleightTheMovie) July 26, 2015

Sleight! 6:30 Monday thru Friday on TBS: Vaguely Funny. Like this post. https://t.co/5sgdTorKij pic.twitter.com/tGu1WTXWUL

— SleightTheMovie (@SleightTheMovie) July 26, 2015

Here’s @jacoblatimore as Bo. Hired for his acting skills/because he’s a for real warlock. https://t.co/lAD22PUX9a pic.twitter.com/cJaMNCBqFr

— SleightTheMovie (@SleightTheMovie) July 26, 2015

Morris From America

Morris From America is an understated, generous film. @BilgeEbiri reviews from #Sundance: https://t.co/Izj3PHAOcF pic.twitter.com/etofqKSsbl

— Vulture (@vulture) January 23, 2016

Embrace the Serpent

‘Embrace the Serpent’ Is a Violent, Psychedelic Film about the Colonization of the Amazon

Are you going to give any of these films a shot? Write your thoughts below!

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“Blind Date Rules” Ruling Austin Comedy Short Film Festival

By Monique on Thursday, October 29, 2015

Remember when COLOR interviewed Brie Eley, the co-writer and star of indie interracial dating comedy Blind Date Rules, as well as the all-woman crew behind the film? At the time of the interviews, Blind Date Rules was getting ready for the indie festivals. But I’m glad to report that Eley has given COLOR an update on Blind Date Rules!

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Exclusive Interview: Angela Bennett (Co-writer, "Blind Date Rules")

By Monique on Monday, June 15, 2015

The culmination of the Blind Date Rules interviews is here! Over the past week, I’ve posted conversations I’ve had with director Christine Chen and co-writer and star Brie Eley. Today, I’m posting an interview I conducted with co-writer Angela Bennett. In this conversation, Bennett and I spoke about the writing process, issues with rom-coms and shaking up the rom-com game.

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Exclusive Interview: Christine Chen (Director, "Blind Date Rules")

By Monique on Wednesday, June 10, 2015

The second in the Blind Date Rules interview series is here! As you might recall, I’ve spoken to co-writer and star Brie Eley, and today, I’m sharing my interview with the director of the short film and founder of Austin, TX-based Moth to Flame Films, Christine Chen.

In this interview, Chen talked about working with the cast, what she’d like to change about rom-coms and the importance indie filmmaking has when it comes to changing Hollywood’s status quo.

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