"The Visit" Wins 'Best Short' Award After World Premiere at 2022 North Carolina Black Film Festival
Our short film "The Visit" earned top prize in the short film category at the 17th Annual North Carolina Black Film Festival (NCBFF) on Sunday, March 27th. The film had it's world premiere at the Hannah Block Historic USO Building/Community Arts Center in downtown Wilmington, NC. Director Paul Grant and Producer Tracey Grant were present at the screening and convened a post screening Q&A with the standing room only crowd. The juried film festival was sponsored by the Black Arts Alliance of Wilmington. Their mission is 'to serve as a multidisciplinary vehicle for the advancement of African-American arts and culture, the Black Arts Alliance serves as an advocate for arts and artists, nurtures emerging and veteran artistic talent, and develops new works in the performing, visual, and literary arts.' The NCBFF screened dozens of films by African American filmmakers over three days and closed with an Award ceremony at the Cameron Art Museum. Mroe screenings and festival dates to come!
Ascender Creates Main Title and Motion Design Sequences for 'The Breakdown' Digital Series on BET+
'THE BREAKDOWN ON BET+'
(Main Title Design, Editing, Motion Graphics)
Ascender Films is proud to have supported main title design, animation and motion graphics for the new BET+ digtal series 'The Breakdown', released in April 2021. Each episiode of the four episodes takes a deeper dive into lesser known aspects of African American history and culture from an African-centered viewpoint. The show was created by executive producers Len Burnett and Darnley Hodge and it was hosted by comedian Klarity.
We also produced the fourth and final epidsode of the first season about the Maroons--enslaved Africans in the U.S. who fought for and won their freedom. The episode features rich commentary from celebrated historian and professor, Gerald Horne.
The Breakdown: Episode 4 (THE MAROONS)
Main Title Design, Motion Graphics & Animation
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Ascender's Founder, Creative Director Receives '2020 Special Recognition' Award from The Balm In Gilead, Inc.
We are Grateful to have received this 'Special Recognition Award' last week from The Balm In Gilead, Inc. during their annual 'Healthy Churches' Conference. I'm equally proud that content we produced almost ten years ago has remained a source of education, inspiration and fundraising for their critical work to help communities of faith to improve health outcomes among African/ African-Africans throughout the United States and across the Diaspora.
Ascender Earns two TELLY AWARDS for "Making Gumbo Jubilee" and "Shaka's Story"
MAY 21, 2019
Ascender picked up two bronze TELLY AWARDS this year. Our short-film "Making Gumbo Jubilee: Triumph of Howard Conyers" brought home the first bronze award in the "Social Media, Food & Beverage category." The second bronze statute was earned in the "Social Media-Public Health & Wellness" categories was earned for 'Shaka's Story", a 3-min segment from an ongoing digital series of testimonials from TB survivors. The series was produced in 2018 for the US Department of Health & Human Services/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
"We are thrilled for both projects!", says Senior Producer, Paul Grant,"Making Gumbo Jubilee as our first film highlighting black foodways. We believe this is true testament that more of great stories exploring African/African American diaspora cooking can be told with premium production value and will be well received. While our win for "Shaka's Story" again proves that we are truly mastering how we tell public health stories that resonate and make a difference."
Take a look at both projects here.
Animated 'Lift Every Voice and Sing!' (2009) video raises over $1 Million in Donations
Pernessa C. Seele, Founder and CEO of The Balm In Gilead, Inc., announced last month at the start of the 2015 Healthy Churches Conference that they have distributed over 75,000 copies of ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing” a video that we produced and donated to them in 2009. The Balm In Gilead, Inc., is an international nonprofit that assists faith-based organizations with addressing chronic diseases like HIV/AIDS, Cervical Cancer and even Dementia. The Balm In Gilead offers a free copy of the DVD for every donation above $15.00, since early 2009.
We are thrilled to have played a small part in helping them build the capacity of faith communities around the globe to address these life threatening illness.
Here’s yet another example of how successful, quality content marketing pays and makes a difference!
Ascender Wins 2012 TELLY AWARD for 'Enlisted: Conversations with Five Generations of African Americans in the U.S. Armed Services (2012)'
MUSEUM & CULTURE | ORAL HISTORY | DOCUMENTARY
ENLISTED: CONVERSATIONS WITH FIVE GENERATIONS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE U.S. ARMED FORCES (2012)
Our first museum video installation opened as a part of the Prince George’s County African American Museum and Cultural Center’s (PGAAMCC) ‘Coming Home’ World War II exhibition in North Brentwood, Maryland in, May 2011. ‘Enlisted’, is our 16-minute documentary featurette produced from oral histories of six African Americans who lived in the Washington, DC metropolitan areas that served in World War II, Korean War, and two Vietnam War veterans– and their collective experiences in service to their country.
The exhibition, ‘Coming Home: How the African American Experience in World War II Shaped the Culture of Prince George’s County’ explains how the full integration of the U.S. armed services during the second world war actually opened the a new widnow of opportunity for many African Americans to seek and pay for, higher education and gain new professional skillsets. This was eventualy contribute to making P.G. County, Maryland the most affuent, predominately black county in the nation.
Tagline
ORAL HISTORY & DOCUMENTARY
‘Coming Home: How the African American Experience in World War II Shaped the Culture of Prince George’s County’ explains how the full integration of the U.S. armed services during the second world war actually opened the a new widnow of opportunity for many African Americans to seek and pay for, higher education and gain new professional skillsets. This was eventualy contribute to making P.G. County, Maryland the most affuent, predominately black county in the nation.
