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After receiving
submissions from all across the country,
the BHERC selected Wayne A. Hazle as winner
which garnered him a staged reading at the
festival, a writing mentor, 2 confirmed
meetings with industry executives to discuss
his script, festival passes, and a one year
membership to the Organization of Black
Screenwriters (OBS).
The reading will be
apart of the African American Film Marketplace
and S. E. Manly Short Film Showcase Saturday
Nov. 6, 2004 7:30pm - 9:00pm at Raleigh
Studios - 5300 Melrose Ave.
Free staged
reading
Vagabond is the story of Jordan Hopewell,
a callous real estate executive going through
an emotional and spiritual crisis. Out with
friends one night, Jordan spots a young
homeless drug addict. Their eyes meet for
a split second. Later that night the young
woman is found dead on the streets. Months
later, the police are unable to find the
young woman’s identity. Jordan obtains
her ashes then goes on a quest to discover
her identity and return her to her family.
Wayne Hazel
(writer) – Mr. Hazle was
named the Grand Prizewinner of the First
Annual BHERC Screenwriting Competition after
receiving an almost perfect score in judging.
He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania
in 1989 with a B.S.E. in Computer Science
Engineering and a minor in Film Study through
the Annenberg School of Communications.
Hazle spent several years in the corporate
world, while continuing to nurture his love
for film by taking screenwriting, acting
and production classes.
In 1998, Hazle founded
Jaguar Films with one of his primary goals
being to create compelling, mainstream African-American
characters. His guidance over Jaguar Films'
production of a contemporary version of
Edgar Allen Poe's, "The Tell-Tale Heart"
garnered him recognition as one of five
African American filmmakers honored on Showtime's
1999 Black Filmmaker Showcase.
After taking the "The
Tell-Tale Heart" on the film festival
circuit from New York to Santa Monica, Hazle
took a year "sabbatical" from
film production. During this time he has
made exotic treks across the globe. These
include mushing sled dogs on the Iditarod
trail, walking through the Killing Fields
of Cambodia, standing with monks in Angkor
Wat, observing the faithful prostrate themselves
before the sacred Emerald Buddha in Thailand,
watching Hindu pilgrims bathe in the Ganges,
spotting tigers in the jungles of India,
and basking in the glory of the Taj Mahal.
During these the emotional
and pious sojourns, Hazle found himself
open to the complexity of the human condition
like never before. Towards the end of 2002,
he began working on an ambitious project
that has always been near to his heart.
"The Pen" is an anthology series
that chronicles the life of an ornate fountain
pen as it travels through the lives of various
people. In 2003 Jaguar Films will begin
production on "The Pen", with
the first story lensing in early February.
Carol Mays (reading director) - Writer/Director
Carol Mayes is currently a Disney/ABC Writing
Fellow. Her The Shield spec script, entitled
“Karma”, was selected from over
2,000 entries to win her one of the twelve
prestigious Disney Fellowships for 2004.
Mayes completed her
first feature film Commitments, starring
Allen Payne, Victoria Dillard, Joe Torry,
Fredro Starr and Virginia Capers, for Black
Entertainment Television. A heartwarming
romance about a workaholic New York City
woman who finds love and new life in a small
southern town, Mayes adapted the screenplay
from the novel, “Commitments”
by Carmen Green. The film premiered on BET
in spring of 2001.
A native of Harlem,
New York, Mayes wrote and directed the film
Rituals for Lifetime Television as part
of their annual Women’s Film Festival.
Rituals, starring Regina King, Isaiah Washington
and Jenifer Lewis, is a romantic comedy
about love and voodoo magic. The film has
aired on Lifetime, screened at festivals
worldwide, and has received numerous awards,
including from the Toronto International
Film Festival, Urbanworld Film Festival
in New York City and the Black Filmmakers
Hall of Fame.
Mayes’ fourth
screenplay, Voice, was a semi-finalist for
the Chesterfield Film Writer’s Project.
Other screenplay awards include: A Spell
On Me, which was a finalist for the Urbanworld
Film Festival’s script competition
and One Love, which was a finalist for the
Chesterfield and Urbanworld competitions.
Mayes graduated from
the American Film Institute with a Master
of Fine Arts in Directing. Her thesis film,
Tendrils, starring Phyllis Yvonne Stickney
and Charnele Brown, was honored with several
awards including a DGA Student Film Award,
the CINE Gold Eagle and was a finalist for
the Student Academy Awards. The screenplay
for Tendrils won AFI’s Martin Ritt
award, which included a $10,000 production
grant.
In theatre, Mayes directed
the staged reading of “Prelude to
a Revolution” by Tonya Wright at the
Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles for the
Sixth Annual Juneteenth Reading Series.
Before attending AFI,
Mayes worked for several years in television
production, including as a producer for
the children’s show, Sesame Street.
During that time, she wrote and directed
several short films, including Visiting
Ieshia, which is currently airing on that
show. Also a published writer, Mayes’
screenplay of Rituals was adapted from her
short story, “Just Insurance”.
That story was printed in Essence Magazine
when it won Essence Magazine’s National
Short Story contest.
We would like
to recognize the runner-ups:
Winston
Barber - "Next"
Jeffrey C. Benson, Jr.
- "Pharaoh's Reign"
Rodney Charles - "Reclaimed"
Magaly Colimon - "Living
Life"
Shari Himes - "Then
Came You"
Rene Rawls - "Get
to the Back of the Line"
Rachel Skerritt - "If
You Only Knew"
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