from July 30, 2008

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Vince Singleton used winning film as master’s thesis

When Vince Singleton’s short won the Chase Legacy Film Challenge announced in New York last Thursday, he says he wasn’t as much surprised as relieved, “because I put so much effort into making it.”

“The Porter,” Singleton’s prize-winning entry was voted the best of hundreds of films submitted by African American filmmakers in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston and New York.

Chase teamed with BlackFilm.com, Kodak and HBO in the national competition for emerging filmmakers to share their vision of African Americans who built, sustained and passed on their legacy through homeownership.

The “very suspenseful” awards ceremony, as Singleton put it, was held at HBO’s New York headquarters. The grand prize is HBO’s screening of “The Porter” at a date to be announced.

Singleton used as inspiration for his theme father-and-son relationships in his tightly crafted, superbly acted story of three generations of families and their attitudes towards the legacy of home ownership, which is what Chase is promoting to African Americans through marketing and seminars around the country.

Each of the filmmakers who made the cut were given $5,000 to make their film. Singleton, however, invested an additional $4,000 of his own money to assure the quality he wanted.

To compress the story into 9-minutes, he cut to the heart of the conflict, decided what scenes ere needed to move the story along and got the best performances from the actors. "It was pretty intense, but the film makes its point,” he says.

His entry was selected on the basis of one of his previously produced films and a treatment of “The Porter.”

Singleton directs a train scene with Idrees Degas

The filmmaker was inspired to enter the Challenge when he found a flyer in his mailbox at Columbia College, where he completed his master’s in film/video direction in May.

“The Porter” was completed in five weeks, from script to post, just days before the April 24 submission deadline. The selected shorts were posted online June 30 for voting by visitors to BlackFilm.com. By mid-July the four semi-finalists had been voted into play.

Entries were judged by a panel of seven top film industry professionals, that included producer/founder Effie Brown, Duly Noted, Inc.; Samantha Taylor Pickett, Focus Features’ development director and Gail Huggins Porter, director, Ebony Jet Entertainment group.

Cinematographer Robert Arnold shot with an HD HPX3000 camera provided as an in-kind service by Fletcher Chicago, an extended member of the Chicago Film Producers Alliance which helped Singleton with contracts, talents, script consultation and crew.

Sunnye Durham was the producer; Naz Khan the production designer; Singleton edited on a Final Cut Pro, assisted by Columbia’s Dennis Keeling “who helped me solve a lot of the postproduction issues,” and composer Mike Kramer “nailed the music with the first demo.”

Pam Staton, Hollywood casting director and Singleton film fan, cast most of the 15 actors who portray family members. The three generations of fathers were played by Sean Blakemore of L.A., Anthony Montgomery and Marvin Gentry of Indianapolis.

See the winning video at www.blackfilm.com/chasefilmchallenge/votenow.html.

Thomas Dodd (Anthony Montgomery) laments racism that prevents his home ownership

A native of Downstate Hopkins Park, Singleton, 27, received his BA from Knox College in Galesburg in 2003. “The Porter” was used as Singleton’s graduate thesis film to attain his MFA at Columbia College; Ron Falzone and Paul Hettel were his thesis advisors.

Singleton currently teaches at Columbia College, works at its Portfolio Center, and instructs two digital film courses at Chicago Filmmakers.

As for his directing career, Singleton says he would like to work as a commercial director \ and ultimately direct a feature.

Singleton can be reached at 773/412-7894, Email Email vince@filmcollectiveproductons.com. —Ruth L Ratny

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