Interview With Zeke Director, Actor and Screenwriter
"Zeke" is a monologue in one scene. It is a coming-of-age story told from the perspective of a man in the sunset of his life. At the beginning of the film, Zeke (his older self), is asked the question, "Have you ever been in love?" For Zeke, responding to the question is not as simple or straightforward as "Yes" or "No", so Zeke recounts the story of a childhood friend he once had. During the course of the monologue, Zeke almost surprises himself. Unfortunately, while Zeke learns about himself and maybe even his true sexual identity, his epiphany comes too late in his life to really matter to anyone but himself.
Exploring the Art of Steel Drum Music Associate Producer
SteelPan Now. will explore and highlight the development of this unique instrument from its cutting, shaping, tuning, and orchestrating of the magical sounds it creates whether found on the streets during the Carnival parades, in concert halls, or jazz ensembles.
Along the way we highlight organizations that are developing new talent and working with youth from various backgrounds and cultures. We will learn about the e-pan, an incredible innovation that can be described as the electronic sister to the steelpan and which has the capability to create the sounds of many pans from one, and of the work of one of its long standing pioneers currently spreading steelpan's gospel in the university setting.
—Ryan Saunders
Lyrical Associate Producer
A coming of age drama, LYRICAL depicts the collision of two worlds: that of the Black elite and the dispossessed. Clashing values across generations and socio-economic status drive this story of failure and redemption. Joe, a Black and privileged Harvard Law School student, bristles at the pressure his dad puts on him to pursue a high-paying job and elite lifestyle - Joe's lack of direction is obvious under his father's scrutiny.
Terrence, is a brilliant, young, Black spoken-word artist, raised in poverty, who's gone in and out of the criminal justice system, resisting authority at every turn. Their worlds collide during a law school fundraiser which Joe's dad hosts and where Terrence works on the wait staff as part of a second-chance program designed so the formerly incarcerated can reenter the workforce. When Joe's dad kicks Terrence and others out of the fundraiser, they find themselves engaging with Harvard students who think they know how to freestyle rap.
To escape his dad's suffocating party, Joe joins the pop-up freestyle sessions only to find himself subjected to the same law enforcement forces that control Terrence's daily existence. In a series of increasingly tense scenarios, Joe and Terrence find themselves leaning on each other to survive. At its core, LYRICAL poses the question: is success determined by accomplishment or character?
By the end, both Joe and Terrence must confront this question as if their lives depend on it.