Straight, No Chaser Productions

StraighT, No Chaser ProducTions

WELCOME

PRESS

ABOUT SNC

MOVIES

DOCUMENTARIES

WORKSHOPS

STAGE

CONTACT

WELCOME

Straight, No Chaser Productions (SNC) is a community-minded filmmaking ensemble and creative media solutions firm that seeks to challenge ignorance, inspire thought, and open dialogue through a kaleidoscope of stimulating and entertaining film projects and workshops.

"MLK Streets" on CNN

Mr. Belafonte with Students
Danny Glover interview for MLK
New Orleans Street Sign
DMC with Crew
Dr. Dyson with Students
Charneice Teaching
Raheem interview for AWWW
Safe Sex PSA set up
Metamorphosis Project
Nigel Greaves
Charneice Fox Richardson

Whether it's shooting a documentary, writing screenplays, staging a play, or teaching a media empowerment class, Straight, No Chaser Productions'collective of artists and educators brings fresh perspectives to audiences everywhere.

Contact us today for a private screening of one of our films!

PRESS

Straight, No Chaser's work has been featured on CNN, The BBC , ABC, NBC, CBS, BET, DCTV, The Washington Post, A & U Magazine , The Washington Blade, and The District Chronicles. Click the pictures to watch, read or listen.

ABOUT SNC

Jarin Bakare

Jarin Bakare Director of Operations Curriculum Specialist

Everett Richardson

Everett Richardson Chief Operating Officer Photographer

Nigel Greaves

Nigel Greaves Chief Financial Officer, Writer, Producer

SNC

Drew Anderson

Drew Anderson Director of Educational Programming Writer, Producer

Michelle Sewell

Michelle Sewell Post Production Supervisor Writer, Producer

Charneice Fox

Charneice Fox Richardson Chief Creative Director Writer, Producer

Page 8

Lisa Pegram Co-producer The MLK Streets Project

Our Mission:Straight, No Chaser Productions (SNC) is a community-minded filmmaking ensemble and creative media solutions firm that seeks to challenge ignorance, inspire thought, and open dialogue through a kaleidoscope of stimulating and entertaining film projects and workshops.Our Story:The avant garde guerrillas of Straight, No Chaser first said "action" in the hectic atmosphere of the 48 Hour Film Project, yielding the critically-acclaimed detective short Paper Trail, which was accepted to the Martha's Vineyard African-American Film Festival. Thus "hitting the ground running", they went on shortly thereafter to win Black Entertainment Television's Rap-It-Up Black AIDS Institute Short Subject Film Competition and the 2006 Cable Positive Outstanding Programming Award for their HIV-based short Multitude of Mercies. Multitude of Mercies has screened at the 2006 International World AIDS Conference in Toronto, and the 2006 Pan African Film Festival. SNC was also a finalist in the Washington DC Mayor's Arts Awards under the category of Outstanding Emerging Artist, held at the Kennedy Center.In 2007 SNC's Chief Creative Director, Charneice Fox began outlining a plan for youth media workshops. She presented this documentary program to the DC based non-profit organization One Common Unity, and A NU VIEW was born. The first documentary produced by the students of A NU VIEW, A Weigh With Words, examines how the words we use everyday can create conflict or extend compassion. The students were able to interview hip hop legend Daryl "DMC" McDaniels, Rev. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, Raheem DeVaughn, and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton. A Weigh With Words was screened at the National Museum of Women in the Arts as part of their youth media series. The second film produced through A NU VIEW is the highly anticipated The MLK Streets Project which examines the merit of Chris Rock's joke about the streets named after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This film featured interviews civil rights legend Mr. Harry Belafonte, actor and activist Danny Glover, Judge Joe Brown and Author Walter Mosley. SNC's youth media workshops have been presented to conferences and various audiences across the country. Their work has been featured on CNN, NBC, BBC, ABC, CBS, BET, The Washington Post, and The Washington Blade.

Artists. Activists. Educators. The SNC team's collective resume boasts an MBA from University of Maryland, a Masters in Special Education from The George Washington University, a Masters in Academic Administration from Trinity University, and an undergraduate degree from Howard University in Communications with a specialization in film. Members of this collective have worked for The United Way of the National Capital Area, Americans for the Arts, and The Black AIDS Insititute.

EST. 2004

Original members of SNC: Charneice Fox, Drew Anderson, Justin Follin and Michelle Sewell

SNC's founding members: Charneice Fox, Drew Anderson, Justin Follin and Michelle Sewell

MOVIES

Multitude of Mercies

Multitude of Mercies stars W. Ellington Felton, Duane C. Rawlings, and Marlon Russ, with special appearances from Malcolm Jamal Warner and Grammy nominee Raheem DeVaughn. For information on screenings and the workshop series offered around Multitude of Mercies please click here and fill out our workshop form. Synopsis: Facing resistance from the conservative Mt. Zion AME congregation and an escalating conflict with head pastor Robert Bernard, who is distracted by an upcoming city election, young assistant pastor Timothy Ross struggles to increase the church community's AIDS education effort. This struggle is complicated when Jabari Allen, a young parishioner, confides in Tim about his own struggle with AIDS. When Pastor Bernard's wife Simone discovers the young boy's secret, tragedy strikes, and Tim makes a startling decision to mend a broken community.

ATOM

Paper Trail

DOCUMENTARIES

THE MLK STREETS PROJECT

EPK_MLK Final.pdf
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' (Matthew 25:40)In his life, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was known for serving "the least of these", and rightfully so. In his "afterlife", streets, avenues and boulevards brandishing his name often serve as the addresses (or at least hangouts) of the new millennium edition of "the least of these". Rightfully so?Birthed out of a well-known Chris Rock joke making fun of the violence and poverty often found on the streets named for the non-violent activist, this revealing documentary follows 13 high-school students from 5 Washington, DC high schools as they travel cross-country to observe and record, first-hand, the condition of America's MLK streets. Narrated by Rain Pryor, the film keeps the comedy-to-cultural-commentary connection alive as it looks critically at the street-naming phenomenon, King's legacy, and the effects of gentrification on the streets he once marched through. For a generation which has heard the "I Have A Dream" speech like a broken record, the film serves as a radical remix.

A Weigh With Words

The Story: A Weigh With Words is a documentary film project which calls upon the community to reflect on how language has been and could be used as a tool for conflict or compassion. Featured in the film is a diverse collection of locally and internationally known activists, artists, academics and politicians. The list of contributors includes civil rights icon Dorothy Height, DC Rep. Eleanor Holmes-Norton, Grammy Award nominee Raheem DeVaughn, author and rhetorician Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, scholar and poet E. Ethelbert Miller, and hip-hop legend Darryl "DMC" McDaniels. A chief component of the production crew for A Weigh With Words was a team of six DC high school students who were selected to participate in the pilot project of "A Nu View." The youth shadowed the filmmakers during the production process and were active in every aspect of the film's production, including conducting all of the interviews. Each student was required to complete an essay detailing memorable production experiences, as well as reflections on the power of words.

thiese film was created thourgh a workshop initiative with SNC and One Common Unity.

WORKSHOPS

Safe Sex PSA

Youth Public Service Announcement

Workshop Series

In the summer of 2009, SNC developed a media empowerment program (dubbed "Students Networking Creative Community [SNCC]"), program as part of CentroNia's Summer Youth Program. As artists, activists, and educators, the SNC team recognizes that the students we work with are easily influenced by popular culture and will often imitate what they see and hear on television, on radio, on the internet and in film. Access to media in the 21st century is growing at a pace where young people can not only consume, but also create media at an unprecedented rate. This program encouraged the students to "Be The Media." Each of the students picked a social issue that was important to them. They were then guided in research about the subject to develop their script, create the storyboards and finally direct and shoot their footage creating their own public service announcement. Two commercials were produced that summer including this one entitled Safe Sex, written and directed by Christian Luna (age 17).SNC's workshop series can be customized from a 1 day program to 6 weeks. Our workshops have been presented around the country at museums, conferences and schools. Email us for more information.

Multiculturalism PSA Featured on NBC

We offer many workshops from youth media empowerment through PSA creations, to a conversation series centered around our documentaries "The MLK Streets Project" and "A Weigh with Words." Each of our films come with a discussion guide and a curriculum developed by seasoned educations. Contact us today to find out more.

STAGE

Ntozake Shange's classic "for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf"

Rose Bushes and Machetes, written and directed by Charneice Fox
Influenced by Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, Rose Bushes and Machetes is a representation of eerily similar romantic relationships during different time periods in African American history. The play focuses on four women and their shared experience of one man, placing into view the character's best intentions in the absence of significant action - a dichotomy that ultimately stunts one's growth and limits true change. Each woman displays strength, wisdom and endurance, shaped in the form of love, but the relationships are ultimately doomed due to the painful scars that have been inflicted on, and by, their man. Written and directed by Charneice Fox, the play won the 2010 Sandy Spring Theater One Act Tournament and won for Best Ensemble at the 2010 Maryland State American Academy of Community Theater One Act Tournament.

3668631.jpg

2838002_orig.jpg

866587_orig.jpg

In 2010, the SNC team produced Ntzoake Shange's classic for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf as part of the inaugural DC Black Theatre Festival, and received encouraging reviews. Directed by Charneice Fox, this play sold out three shows.

CONTACT

"If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well."

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Contact us today for a private screening of our films or a workshop series
Email|Facebook|Twitter|Video

©2011 Straight No Chaser Productions

site designed by crichfox
Master Page 2