Chat w/ Molly Ryan, from Brooklyn Moving Company & 24 Hour Musical

Molly Ryan is a New York based actor. She recently co-stared in and produced Brooklyn Moving Company, a Pilot selected to headline this year’s New York Television Festival. 

We had a chat with Molly and here are the excerpts:

• What was the most difficult and most rewarding part of making Brooklyn Moving Company

• The most difficult part was really just the legwork involved, something that comes with creating anything independently and within a tight budget. However, I would say this was also the most rewarding part as well - to be a part of a project you are truly proud of that was 100% the effort of everyone involved in the small cast and crew. 

• What's next with the project?

• The Pilot premiered in July at the New York Television festival. It would be awesome to see something more come of it, but that’s really up to the writers and the vision that they have going forward. As individuals we’re all continuing to work on different projects in New York and Los Angeles but as a group we’re still performing together regularly in Tuff Boys Present: 24 Hour Musical.

• What’s next with you and 24 Hour Musical?

• We are performing two more dates this year, including a holiday themed “extravaganza”! More dates in information can be found here: http://www.tuffboys.xyz/events/

  What's your message to other aspiring actors and filmmakers, specially in NYC?

• Finding fellow artists to collaborate with that you genuinely enjoy working with may be the most important lesson I have learned. It’s certainly not the easiest or most predictable path to take, so when you’re able to enjoy and have fun with a creative experience - hold onto it. 

• What’s your most favorite and least favorite thing about NYC?

• Favorite = the people. Least favorite = ...honestly? Subway delays.

You can see Molly perform monthly at the People’s Improv Theater in the 24 hour Musical with her musical comedy group Tuff Boys and at the PIT Loft in ZIP ZAP DEAD the non-improv short play about improv gone wrong. She can also be seen in the Lloyd Kaufman and Troma Movies produced series Exorsisters as well as the feature film Present From the Past shooting this November in New York City. Molly is a graduate of Michael Howard Studios One-Year Acting Conservatory, The Actor’s Program at Freeman Studios and Bentley University where she obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Film Studies. 

Array’s “Teach Us All” by director Sonia Lowman - Bradley Poindexter: In his own words

In his own words.  The young man looking at you is Bradley Poindexter.  His story is part of the remarkable documentary by first-time director Sonia Lowman “Teach Us All” which is now available on Netflix. 

This powerful documentary was acquired by Ava Duvernay’s distribution company —  ARRAY RELEASING which is a film collective that the  “A Wrinkle In Time” director started several years ago.

“Teach Us All” is about the social justice movement on educational inequality set against the backdrop of the 1957 Little Rock school desegregation crisis. Timed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of that event, “Teach Us All” seeks to build the capacity of students and educators to take leadership in carrying forth the legacy of the Little Rock Nine while activating broader community engagement in today’s urgent movement for educational equity.

Lowman is an educated woman with a heart for service. Her background is impressive and it’s important to highlight that she’s only in her very early 30’s.  As the director of Director of Communications for the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes, she’s worked in myriad international contexts that included: managing communications for International Medical Corps, a humanitarian relief organization with operations in 30-plus countries; running an International Monetary Fund youth outreach initiative in the Middle East for Arab university students; and contributing to policy papers on international women’s rights for several NGOs, including the United Nations. Plus she holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics.

So, it’s little wonder that Ava Duvernay connected with this particular film because amongst the cold hard facts that make “Teach Us All” important viewing there are several sound solutions offered by well-versed educators that should be very seriously reviewed. 

Another exciting aspect that arose from the film was watching how the youth—in schools across the country—are educating themselves individually and as a group, and challenging the system.  There is more than hope—there is a movement.  

One of the students that left a mark was an African American youth, Bradley Poindexter, who grew up in one of the poorest sections of Little Rock, Arkansas. In painting a picture of his young life, he noted that he knew more people who “died” tragically than was in his High School class. 

At the time of posting this story Bradley Poindexter now a former student from Little Rock, Arkansas, joined the military and he is currently serving as a Security Forces Member of the U.S. Air Force.  It’s also interesting to note that prior to joining the armed forces, Bradley was an advocate for Educational Equity, working with education initiative Noble Impact in Little Rock.

“Teach Us All” is more than just a documentary to entertain you on Netflix— it’s a window into what can be done; must be done to make a positive change in the United States Public Educational system. In short, it’s movement.

"Teach Us All" an Array Releasing film. Now playing on Netflix.

'GIRLS TRIP' & 'THE BEST MAN' DIRECTOR, MALCOLM D. LEE AND HIS BLACKMALED PRODUCTIONS LOCK A FIRST-LOOK PRODUCTION PACT WITH UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Right before the release of their upcoming production “Girl’s Trip” directed by Malcolm D. Lee, Universal Pictures has locked a first-look production agreement with writer, director and producer Malcolm D. Lee and his Blackmaled Productions. The word-of-mouth on his newest comedy (“Girl’s Trip” ) is strong, and the “raunchy comedy with something for everyone” is set to open, in North America on July 21.  

The news has hit all of the trader papers and African-American twitter is buzzing.  The announcement was made by Peter Cramer, President of Production, Universal Pictures.

“Starting with The Best Man, Malcolm has an incredible track record telling resonant stories that make audiences laugh and cry, which he has done brilliantly once again with Girls Trip,” said Cramer.  “We are thrilled to formalize our long-standing relationship with Malcolm by welcoming his company to the lot, and we are excited about making many more films with him, starting with his next film, Night School.” 

“I am extremely gratified to officially be a part of the Universal family,” said Lee.  “This is a place I’ve always considered my home.  They have respected and been supportive of my vision as a filmmaker, and I hope to continue the great success that I’ve had at Universal as we continue this fruitful partnership.”

Malcom Lee is related to Spike Lee and with his strong family roots deeply embedded in the arts, entertainment and education, he has  been making films since the age of 12, and has been working professionally in the entertainment industry since age 17 as a production assistant, apprentice film editor, casting associate and director’s assistant to his cousin, the aforementioned legendary filmmaker Spike Lee. 

To his credit, Lee has directed five of his nine films to date with Universal beginning with his directorial debut, the critically acclaimed audience favorite “The Best Man,” which debuted in October of 1999, and scored a No. 1 ranking at the box office. The film’s ensemble cast starred Morris Chestnut, Nia Long, Regina Hall, Harold Perrineau, Terrence Howard, Taye Diggs, Sanaa Lathan and Monica Calhoun.  He went on to direct the action-comedy “Undercover Brother,” which starred Eddie Griffin, Dave Chappelle and Neil Patrick Harris in May 2002 and again earned stellar reviews.  His third feature, “Roll Bounce,” starring “Bow Wow”, Mike Epps, Nick Cannon, and Meagan Good debuted in September 2005.

Producer Will Packer (Ride Along and Think Like a Man franchises, Almost Christmas) presents Girls Trip, a new comedy from director/producer Malcolm D. Lee (The Best Man franchise, Barbershop: The Next Cut).

With his next two films, Lee continued to use his voice to tell the heartfelt and nuanced stories of lives not often seen in mainstream studio films with the comedies “Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins,” starring Martin Lawrence, Mo’Nique, and Cedric The Entertainer, and “Soul Men” starring Samuel L. Jackson and the late Bernie Mac.  Both films opened in 2008.  However it was the sequel to his first film where Lee scored his biggest box-office hit.  In November of 2013, with the original cast reunited, “The Best Man Holiday,” grossed $30.5 million in its opening weekend alone, pleasing audiences and shocking the industry with a game-changing debut.  April of 2016 saw the release of the critically acclaimed, “Barbershop, The Next Cut” starring Ice Cube, Regina Hall, Cedric the Entertainer, and Anthony Anderson, and this week will see his latest film “Girls Trip,” starring Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith and Tiffany Haddish.

Among his upcoming feature projects, Lee is in pre-production to direct his sixth directorial outing with Universal, “Night School,” starring Kevin Hart, and produced by Hart and Will Packer, as well as the next installment of the popular Best Man franchise, “The Best Man Wedding,” which he will write and direct. 

Lee and his Blackmaled Productions were represented in the deal by Paradigm and Del, Shaw, Moonves, Tanaka, Finkelstein & Lezcano.

You deserve this. Watch the new #GirlsTrip trailer. -- Facebook - http://unvrs.al/GTFB Twitter - http://unvrs.al/GTTW Instagram - http://unvrs.al/GTIN Official site: http://unvrs.al/GTSite -- Producer Will Packer (Ride Along and Think Like a Man franchises, Almost Christmas) presents Girls Trip, a new comedy from director/producer Malcolm D. Lee (The Best Man franchise, Barbershop: The Next Cut).

When four lifelong friends—Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith and Tiffany Haddish—travel to New Orleans for the annual Essence Festival, sisterhoods are rekindled, wild sides are rediscovered, and there’s enough dancing, drinking, brawling and romancing to make the Big Easy blush.  Producer Will Packer (Ride Along and Think Like a Man franchises, upcoming Almost Christmas) presents Girls Trip, a new comedy from director/producer Malcolm D. Lee (The Best Man franchise, Barbershop: The Next Cut). James Lopez, head of motion pictures for Will Packer Productions, and Preston Holmes, executive produce.

Genre: Comedy      
Cast: Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, Tiffany Haddish, Larenz Tate, Kate Walsh, Mike Colter, Kofi Siriboe
Directed by: Malcolm D. Lee
Screenplay by: Kenya Barris & Tracy Oliver
Story by: Erica Rivinoja and Kenya Barris & Tracy Oliver
Produced by: Will Packer, Malcolm D. Lee
Executive Producers: Preston Holmes, James Lopez

Girls Trip directed by Malcom Lee, is set to open in North America on July 21.  

About Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures is a division of Universal Studios (www.universalstudios.com).  UniversalStudios is part of NBCUniversal.  NBCUniversal is one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience.  NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group and world-renowned theme parks.  NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation

RESERVOIR DOGS Reunion at #Tribeca2017, with 25th anniversary screening and panel talk.

Tribeca Film Festival 2017 saw the reunion of the team of cult classic RESERVOIR DOGS. Twenty-five years ago, auteur filmmaker Quentin Tarantino reinvigorated cinema with his singular voice in his canonical feature Reservoir Dogs. He generously provided a 35mm print from his archive for this special 25th anniversary screening.

Uploaded by MyNewYorkEye on 2017-04-29.

Uploaded by MyNewYorkEye on 2017-04-29.

The screening was followed by a panel discussion with Quentin himself, joined by Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel and Michael Madsen. They talked about the colossal failure of first screening at Sundance; Quentin counting the walkouts from early screenings during the torture scene; casting of Michael and rest of the cast; making of the movie and a lot more. Watch the videos below to get the word directly from the horse's mouth.

Uploaded by MyNewYorkEye on 2017-04-29.

Uploaded by MyNewYorkEye on 2017-04-29.

Uploaded by MyNewYorkEye on 2017-04-29.

RESERVOIR DOGS panel talk, (part-4) at 25th anniversary screening at Tribeca2017. Harvey Keitel talks about Michael Madsen in Reservoir Dogs.

RESERVOIR DOGS panel talk, (part-5) at 25th anniversary screening at Tribeca2017

Uploaded by MyNewYorkEye on 2017-04-29.

Uploaded by MyNewYorkEye on 2017-04-29.

Reservoir Dogs, directed and written by Quentin Tarantino. (USA). They were perfect strangers, assembled to pull off the perfect crime. Then their simple robbery explodes into a bloody ambush and the ruthless killers realize one of them is a police informant. But which one? With Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Edward Bunker, Quentin Tarantino.

Subscribe to TRAILERS: http://bit.ly/sxaw6h Subscribe to COMING SOON: http://bit.ly/H2vZUn Subscribe to CLASSIC TRAILERS: http://bit.ly/1u43jDe Like us on FACEBOOK: http://goo.gl/dHs73 Follow us on TWITTER: http://bit.ly/1ghOWmt Reservoir Dogs (1992) Official Trailer #1 - Quentin Tarantino Movie After a simple jewelery heist goes terribly wrong, the surviving criminals begin to suspect that one of them is a police informant.