Pics from ABFF 2012 – Day 3by Wilson Morales
June 23, 2012
After folks were out the night before celebrating the Miami Heat’s championship win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA as well as success of ‘Think Like A Man,’ Day 3 started off with more screenings, master classes, panels and celebrity conversations featuring acclaimed industry experts and talent.
The day began with a packed house in Salon Room in the Ritz-Carlton where folks caught “A Conversation with Salim and Mara Brock-Akil,” where Trina Robinson of NBC South Florida Today Show conducted an in-depth interview with husband-wife team Salim and Mara Brock-Akil, whose joint credits include: hit TV shows “Girlfriends,” “The Game” and films “Jumping the Broom” and the upcoming “Sparkle.”
Following that there was the “gmc Television Network Screenplay Competition Table Reading.” Sponsored by gmc Television Network, three finalists have been selected and a scene from each of their screenplays was read before the audience. Among those in the audience were ABFF 2012 Star Project winners, Robert Hunter and Sherial McKinney (pictured on the right).
The festivities continued with the introduction of ABFF’s first ever Webisode Challenge, where winner Donnie Leapheart, was awarded with a plaque and a check for $2,500 for his outstanding work on “Osiris: The Series”. Attendee’s also had the opportunity to view a sneak peak of Film Life TV’s first ever webseries, the “Q and A Show” starring creators Quin Walters and Addison Henderson, the event was hosted by funny man, Chris Spencer.
While the panels were taking place, among the films being shown at the Colony Theater were the French film, ‘Elza,’ the Datari Turner produced film ‘LUV,’ which stars Common and Michael Rainey J., and Bill Duke’s documentary ‘Dark Girls.’
Actor Boris Kodjoe stopped by the festival to do some promotion for the Gold Peak Tea contest (where you could win $100, 000 and a year off work).
The evening ended with a packed, standing room only crowd in the Salon Room where radio host Malikha Malette conducted an onstage interview with Will Packer, producer and Rob Hardy (executive producer), Tim Story (director) and Terrence J (cast member) of the hit film, “Think Like A Man,” which has grossed over 90 million dollars at the box office.
After the discussion, ABFF Founder, Jeff Friday, awarded filmmakers Will Packer and Rob Hardy with the ABFF Hall of Fame award for their outstanding achievements in the film industry, which has undoubtedly helped rewrite the future of black cinema. The cast and creators led a shoes off panel offering anecdotes about the film and thanking ABFF creators and supporters for being the bookend to their success story; Packer and Rob Hardy began their careers at ABFF with the premiere of their first feature film “Trois” in 2000 and have since been a pivotal part of the ABFF journey. The event was sponsored by Crown Royal.
Drinks were provided by Crown Royal Black, who also sponsored the panel discussion.
