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Tempest Rising (Screen Adaptation) Based on the novel by Diane McKinney-Whetstone, optioned for the screen by award-winning actress, producer and director, Phylicia Rashad, the film, set in Philadelphia in the early sixties, tells the story of three adolescent sisters, raised in a world of financial privilege among the black upper-class whose lives unravel as their father's lucrative catering business collapses. He disappears at sea and is presumed dead, and their mother suffers an apparent breakdown. The girls are wrenched from their home and taken to live in foster care in a working-class neighborhood in the home of Mae, a politically connected card shark and her own child, Ramona, a twenty-something stunning, but mean-spirited beauty. The girls struggle to adapt, while also plotting to run away, in a tale of loss and healing, redemption and love. |
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Road to 211 (In Post-Production) (View trailer...) Now in post-production, this documentary charts the journey of Litefoot, a Native American actor, rap artist and motivational speaker, as he travels to 211 communities throughout Indian Country, driving more than 50,000 miles, to 40 states, in one year’s time, to deliver hope, empowerment and a healing of spirit to Native youth. |
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Facing the Rising Sun (In Development) While attending the 1963 March on Washington, 15-year-old Ericka Jenkins made a vow to serve humanity the rest of her life. Her path led her from a teacher’s college in Pennsylvania, to the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in California. At age 19, now the wife of student activist John Huggins and a new mother, she faced the assassination of her husband on UCLA’s campus and shortly thereafter, 2 years in prison, awaiting trial on false charges of conspiracy to commit murder along with Bobby Seale. It was in prison that she turned to yoga and meditation to maintain her sanity and her purpose. Upon her acquittal and release at age 22, she went on to become director of the Oakland Community School and a member of the Central Committee of the Black Panther Party. Ericka’s work continues today teaching university students in women’s studies, maintaining a strong spiritual practice to support her continued activism and a life now focused on mentoring young people (especially women) who feel the call to actively make change in the world. |
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TAPestry (In Development) This documentary explores the vision of choreographer, teacher and master tap dancer, Steve Zee and his nonprofit organization - LA Ironworks, which offers free classes to under-served youth in Los Angeles in its efforts to preserve and further the American art of tap dance. |
Valerie C. WoodsWriter, Publisher, Producer, Director