McKinsey & Company, a research and consultancy firm that studies diversity matters, found that less than 6% of writers, directors and producers of U.S. films are Black. For both film and television, they also found that “Black talent tends to be shut out of projects unless senior team members are Black.”
A Cincinnati group wants to change that.
Training up-and-coming Black filmmakers while also recognizing the particular realities that people of color in the industry face, like racial inequity both on- and off-screen, is the mission of the Black Cincinnati Cinema Collective (B3C).
On Saturday, Dec. 11, B3C is hosting the Cincinnati Black Cinema Awards Gala at Union Hall in Over-the-Rhine. The event will honor five Black filmmakers and production professionals who have worked locally in film and television for decades. In addition to an awards ceremony, the gala will include short film screenings, a beverage and wine bar, and live music.
B3C was co-founded in 2017 by Vernard S. Fields and Alphonzo “Zo” Wesson, who shared a desire to strengthen a network of local production professionals and celebrate Black stories. The organization helps folks navigate the industry and establish technical building blocks as storytellers and crew members. They invite veteran professionals to share stories of their careers and provide critical feedback to help newcomers hone their craft.
“I got tired of people saying, ‘If there’s Black talent out there, I don’t know where to find it.’ You find it in the same place you find white talent,” Wesson says.
Wesson is a 28-time Emmy Award-winner whose body of work spans feature-length films, documentaries, commercials and television shows. He was the first Black commercial production manager at P&G and the first Black director at P&G’s Woodlawn studios. He’s also one of the gala’s honorees.
B3C’s other co-founder, Fields, is an independent filmmaker and the producer for the Cincinnati chapter of The 48 Hour Film Project — a global film initiative in which production crews have 48 hours to write, shoot and edit their own films.
Fields says Wesson was instrumental in jump-starting his career, and he wanted to provide the same opportunity for others through B3C “to help build one another up.”
Wesson has mentored many production professionals, specifically people of color. “It gives me joy to put money in somebody else’s pocket, to show them that their talent is being recognized, that there is a place for them in this industry if they continue to apply themselves and grow,” Wesson says.
Cincinnati was recently named the No. 13 Best Place to Live & Work as a Filmmaker by MovieMaker Magazine, making it the fourth straight year the Queen City has earned the honor. The city moved up one spot from its No. 14 showing in 2020.
The magazine highlights Cincinnati’s downtown skyline, low cost of living and Ohio’s 30% motion picture tax credit as chief among the reasons for the city’s emergence as a stalwart that has lured films such as 2015’s Carol, starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara; 2017’s Killing of a Sacred Deer, starring Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell; and 2019’s Dark Waters, starring Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hathaway.
Cincinnati being a Midwestern film hub only adds to the importance of B3C’s mission.
With the Cinema Awards Gala, B3C will honor longtime local industry professionals with lifetime achievement awards.
Honoree John A. Calhoun has been working in media for more than 40 years. He’s worked in broadcast engineering, camera operating, post-production, voiceover work and sound engineering. He’s been on film sets and in commercials, taught production locally and will be acting in two upcoming films as a member of the Screen Actors Guild.
Calhoun recalls nearly switching career paths in 1996 when securing a well-paying job in post-production was a challenge. “I intended to leave the industry altogether and go back to data processing. That is, until I got a call from Zo Wesson. He was looking to diversify a post-production house that he was bringing a major account to. He helped me get my foot in the door as an assistant editor for that post house, and that’s all I needed,” Calhoun says.
Honoree Robin Fields is a costume designer and stylist who has worked on studio productions filmed in Ohio such as The Shawshank Redemption, Milk Money, Dark Waters and several others. She’s also a board member for Women in Film Cincinnati.
Honoree Nikk Hearn-Sutton is a camera and Steadicam operator. The first Black union operator as part of International Cinematographers Guild Local 600, he recently finished work on Bones & All, which was shot in Cincinnati and stars Timothée Chalamet.
Hearn-Sutton calls the network of Cincinnati production folks a close-knit family, as many of them have “come up through the ranks together.” He views his affiliation with B3C as a responsibility to provide knowledge and guidance to newcomers. That includes everything from set etiquette and craft-specific training to having the right attitude and “having a love of what you do.”
“We as a cinema collective — and being Black, as well — from my perspective has been a difficult journey. Not given the opportunity to learn and grow where my other colleagues have and having to learn my trade as camera operator and Steadicam myself,” Hearn-Sutton says. “I want to make the next generations coming up have more opportunities and be in the numbers when it comes to their craft, getting that job.”
Honoree C.M. Brown started his career in New York, working on martial arts-related films and music videos for Japanese, Korean and Chinese film or television companies and has since built a career in sports, news, network television and documentary production. When he arrived in Cincinnati in 2001, he says the industry looked different but that the “culture of production” is growing and that B3C is contributing to that growth.
“I would love to see more of our stories, told from our perspective, our point of view. The only way that’s going to happen is if the story is told by us, instead of someone else altering the characters, the stories and so forth so it fits their particular worldview,” Brown says.
B3C invites all who are interested in Cincinnati-based production to the awards gala, but Fields says they have a specific goal to elevate Black stories. “You come here, you’re going to get rich Black content, and it doesn’t matter who’s serving it to you.”
Black Cincinnati Cinema Collective hosts the Cincinnati Black Cinema Awards Gala at Union Hall in Over-the-Rhine on Dec. 11. Tickets range from $80 to $100. Part of the proceeds will go to a nonprofit organization to educate future filmmakers. Tickets are available eventbrite.com, with more info at b3conline.org.
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