LATEST NEWS:
**Check out Angela's blog!**

**You can now watch The BIrthday Girl online.**

**Angela participated in The National Black Programming Consortium's New Media Institute. Read an article she wrote and watch some short pieces she produced.**

Summary

Conversations with Id is the story of Danaya, a twenty something, psychology student who moves in with a Daniel, a withdrawn and troubled man. As Danaya struggles to get closer to her roommate, her fascination becomes an obsession that threatens her relationship with her family, friends and herself.

Cast

DANAYA - Donetta Lavinia Grays
DANIEL - Othell Miller
TRENT - Barnaby Carpenter
AUNT MAE - Novella Nelson
REGINALD - William Jackson

Crew

DIRECTOR - Angela Tucker
PRODUCER - Danielle Beeber
WRITER - Karrie Myers
DIRECTOR OF PHOTGRAPHY - Erika Silverstein
PRODUCTION AND COSTUME DESIGN - Zairi Malcolm
EDITOR - Carlos Almonte
CASTING CONSULTANT - Mele Nagler
MOVEMENT CONSULTANT - Jessica Wallenfels
GAFFER - Hiram Soto
GRIP - Izumi Htusi
ASSISTANT CAMERA - Daniela Furman
ASSISTANT DIRECTORS - Melanie Williams Oram, Price Blythe, David Barba
SOUND - Foluseke Somulu, David Barba

Stills

Festivals

Columbia University Film Festival
May 2003
New York, NY

Women of Color Film Festival
June 2003
New York, NY

Imagenation Film Festival
August 2004
New York, NY

Postcrypt Film Festival
September 2004
New York, NY

Mia, an introverted beauty, gathers her college friends together on a night that she is sure will change her life. As cosmos flow, secrets are revealed and the true nature of friendship is tested. Surrounded by the slick "beautiful people", Mia ultimately learns that she must be careful what she wishes for as the Birthday Girl.

The Birthday Girl is about a group of friends at the beginning of their adult lives, trying to find love.

Watch the film!

Director’s Statement

The Birthday Girl began as a short play that I wrote a few years after I graduated from college. Every Friday for about a year, friends would meet at The Velvet Lounge in Soho. We never knew who would come. It was a nice way to feel connected after college.

One day, I went to the lounge and no one came. I was angry at first but then I saw it for what it was, the end of an era. That night I wrote the script.

The Birthday Girl was originally a play entitled Divine. Divine was produced in lounges in Manhattan and Williamsburg to sold-out audiences. Later, I retitled it The Birthday Girl and produced the short as my thesis short film for my MFA in Film from Columbia University.

Bios

Angela Tucker (Producer/Director)

Melanie Williams Oram (Producer)
Melanie Williams Oram earned best film of the festival and best student film awards in the inaugural Juneteenth Film Festival for SHOOK. The film premiered on Showtime as a finalist in The Black Filmmaker Competition. She is a writer/director/producer. She produced the short film A-Alike which HBO licensed in 2003 for a 2-year run and which won the gold medal-narrative category at the 2004 Student Academy Award Competition. Melanie also earned an Emmy for her Associate Producer work on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel and a Peabody while working as an AP on HBO Sports’ documentary called Dare To Compete: The Struggle of Women in Sports. Currently she is shopping a feature length version of SHOOK and developing a feature film called INDELIBLE. Melanie graduated from Harvard University cum laude and earned her film MFA from Columbia University.

More bios coming soon!

Stills

Festivals

Columbia University Film Festival
May 2005
New York, NY

Imagenation Film Festival
August 2005
New York, NY

Taste of Art Screening Series
November 2005
New York, NY

Harlem Stage on Screen
March 2007
New York, NY

Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival
September 2007
Brooklyn, NY

Credits

A Bajan Brownstone Production

A TuckerGurl Film

The Birthday Girl

Writer and Director
Angela Tucker

Producer
Melanie RW Oram

Director of Photography
John Dabrowski

Editor
Derek Mok

Production and Costume Designer
Isha Chari

Sound
Guy Mor

Music
Three Speaker High

Cast

Mia - Cherise Boothe
Jason - Derrick LeMont Saunders
Omar - Charles Anthony Burks
Chelsea - Tasha Guevara
Patrick - Al Thompson

Bouncer - Gregory Allen Tucker
Waitresses - Kathryn Parker, Tami Jordan, Ali Sargent
Bartenders - Shannon Cornett, Matt Boethin
Kissing Couple - Kathryn Parker, Aaron Amaro
Marlboro Kids in the Cold - Danielle Beeber, Joseph Huff-Hannon
Jason's Girls At The Bar - Namakula, Zarida Teel
Guy At The Bar - Sean Braithwaite
Girl Omar Hits On - Sophia Alston
DJ - Tony Mitchell

Club Kids
Aaron Amaro
Afroz Hafeez
Alex Orban
Ali Sargent
Alice Wu
Allan Coye
Angela Tucker
Anynsley Moorhouse
Bruce Jimenez
Calvin Phillips
Corey Allen
Danielle Beeber
Douglas Anthony
Genia Morgan
Heather Clark
Isha Chari
Jenique
Jeremy Rodriguez
Josaine Espinal
Joseph Huff-Hannon
Jovis Pognon
Malinda Walford
Mariel Delghavi
Matt Boethin
Moira Herbst
Namakula
Nicole Fox
Omar Halaby
Sandra Fernandez
Sean Brathwaite
Shelia Cockburn
Tamaira Bertrand
Tara Perry
Tom Gleeson
Tom Hedlund
Tony Mitchell
Wendy Cohen
Yuan-Kwan Chan

Crew

Assistant Director - Danielle Beeber
Extras Casting - Tara Perry
Script Supervisor - Natalie Sloan
Gaffer - Derek Gross
Key Grips - Jeremy Rodriguez, Dan Sharnoff
Grips - Khary Jones, Alie Sargent, Aaron Amaro
Assistant Camera - Brian Kerley
Second Camera
Art Director - Zairi Malcolm
Art Assistant - Joseph Huff-Hannon
Boom Operator - Andrew Morgan
Production Assistants - Lisa Sbarrato, Ilda Njango, Al Davidian, Rebecca, Wendy Cohen, Tom Gleeson, Matt Tilley, Liza Alhadeff
Makeup - Jenique
Hair - Sophia Alston
Catering - Lauren Britt Elmore, Elvira Carrival, Kibra Yohannes

Thanks

Supreme Trading, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
Laura Ireland and Craig Shillote

Arts Engine, Inc

Paris Studios
Our Workshop East
The Internet Garage
The Bagel Shop

Brian Fitzhugh
Jamal Joseph
Janet Roach
Lenore DeKoven
Maureen Ryan
Miseal Sanchez
Nick Proferes
Raksa Ouk
Tom Kalin

Special Thanks

Randy Dottin
Seke Somulu
Sharon Hill

Asher Richelli
Beth Davenport
Charles Olivier
Corey Modeste
David Barba
Diego Penta
James Pellerito
Kanicka Williams
Kim Gittens
Kirsten Johnson
Lilly Scourtis
Lloyd Griffin
Louann Perez
Maggie Bowman
Naisha Walton
Nicola Kraus
Patricia Williams
Raghav Chari
Rey Pena
Robert Hoyt from The Actor’s Studio
Robert A. Oram III
Shira Golding
Susan Knox

Much Love
James Tucker
Loretta Young Tucker

Marlene Tucker
Amanda Vazquez
Armando Vazquez
Dane & Robin Goodwin

The Birthday Girl was originally a play produced by Karrie Myers and directed by Lauren Britt Elmore. Performed at The Black Star Lounge and Blu Lounge.

Supported in part by the Milos Forman Fund of the School of the Arts.

This film is in partial completion of a MFA in Film from Columbia University.

(c) 2005 TuckerGurl Productions.

This film is dedicated to my brother, Gregory Allen Tucker.

Summary

By chronicling the lives of four different African American women from different socio economic backgrounds and geographic locales in the United States, the film will show how these women refuse to let the negative stereotypes historically associated with mental illness in the African American community and the derogatory labels often assigned to African Americans as a race define their existence, but instead empower themselves by discovering solutions which allow them to lead productive, fulfilling lives.

The film portrays one woman, Lo, the filmmaker’s mother, who struggled with bipolar disorder, while exploring the stories of three additional African American women currently living with bipolar disorder. In a manner reminiscent of, Personal Velocity, each woman’s story will have its own visual style, creating a more full portrait of the struggle that African-American women encounter when dealing with bipolar disorder.

The film uses the lessons learned from a personal experience with bipolar disorder as a way to platform into an exploration of the phenomenon of bipolar disorder in African American women as a whole. The filmmaker yearns to create a documentary that will spark discussion about how the stigma of mental illness in the African American community often leads to silence, isolation, and ultimately to a refusal by African American women to seek proper treatment.

Director’s Statement

Traditionally, images that pigeon hole African-American women as unbreakable or as superwomen make dealing with mental illness increasingly more difficult. As mental illness comes more to the forefront in this country, the African American community still views it as something that doesn’t happen to us but more importantly as something that should not be discussed. African Americans account for 25% of the mental health needs in this country though they only make-up 11-12% of the national population.

My goal is to create a film about a social issue that means a great deal to me and get it to the communities that need to see it. I want to create a documentary that will clarify the nature of bipolar disorder specifically as it pertains to African American women and that will begin a dialogue that will continue in the community long after the distribution life of the film is complete.

Stills

Coming Soon

Bios

Angela Tucker (Producer/Director)

Melanie Williams Oram (Producer)
Melanie Williams Oram earned best film of the festival and best student film awards in the inaugural Juneteenth Film Festival for SHOOK. The film premiered on Showtime as a finalist in The Black Filmmaker Competition. She is a writer/director/producer. She produced the short film A-Alike which HBO licensed in 2003 for a 2-year run and which won the gold medal-narrative category at the 2004 Student Academy Award Competition. Melanie also earned an Emmy for her Associate Producer work on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel and a Peabody while working as an AP on HBO Sports’ documentary called Dare To Compete: The Struggle of Women in Sports. Currently she is shopping a feature length version of SHOOK and developing a feature film called INDELIBLE. Melanie graduated from Harvard University cum laude and earned her film MFA from Columbia University.

Donate

Lo is fiscally sponsored by Arts Engine, Inc., a non-profit production organization formed to further support the work of emerging social-issue documentary filmmakers and media makers.

If you would like to make a donation to the project, please write a check out to "Arts Engine, Inc" and mail it to:

Kibra Yohannes
Arts Engine, Inc
104 West 14th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10011

Thank you so much!

Trailer

Coming Soon!

Shook

Find out more about Shook here.

The Birthday Girl

Find out more about The Birthday Girl here.

Beyond the Steps follows Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater during a pivotal time in its history as the company ventures abroad while establishing new roots at home in New York City. It was broadcast on PBS' Great Performances and has been shown at festivals.

Line Producer Angela Tucker

Deadline

Deadline screened at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, Katy Chevigny and Kirsten Johnson's award-winning documentary takes a disturbing look at capital punishment by focusing on Governor George H. Ryan's decision to commute the sentences of all 167 inmates on Illinois's death row after he became aware of the flaws in the American judicial system. In a film that is "calm, factual and unsensational" (Chicago Sun-Times) Deadline makes the case that racial and class disparities, tainted evidence, law enforcement abuses and poorly conducted trials can cause the innocent to be sentenced to death.

Associate Producer & Outreach Director Angela Tucker

Festivals

The 2004 Sundance Film Festival
The Nashville Film Festival
The Atlanta Film Festival

**Broadcast on The Sundance Channel, January 2006
**Broadcast on NBC Dateline, July 2004
**2005 Emmy Nominee

Shook

Shook is a narrative short film. When Jill starts to suspect that Charles, her husband, has been living on the “down low” as a bi-sexual man for the entire duration of their marriage, she must decide whether she will abandon her marriage or fight to protect this relationship that she has worked so hard to build. Her decision is complicated by her own self-doubt, criticism from her community about the realities of a bi-sexual existence, and the underlying threat of HIV/AIDS to herself and her unborn child.

Produced by Angela Tucker

Festivals

Martha Vineyard’s African American Film Festival, Martha’s Vineyard, MA
Palm Springs Film Festival, Palm Springs, CA
Urbanworld Film Festival, New York, NY
Oakland Film Festival, Oakland, CA
**HONORARY MENTION: BEST SHORT NARRATIVE
Juneteenth Film Festival, Dallas, TX
**BEST STUDENT FILM AWARD
**BEST FILM OF THE FESTIVAL
Women in the Director’s Chair, Chicago, IL

**Broadcast on Showtime’s Black Filmmaker Showcase, February 2005

This year’s Sundance Film Festival hosted a record number of attendees. 40,000 people, double the number from last year, came to watch or show films, participate in panel discussions, and network. Apart from the invariable increase in ticket sales and overall profit and general notability, the upsurge in festival-goers this year also yielded to an increase in the people of color who attended, and 25 percent of the films in the festival were directed by filmmakers of color, another remarkable boost from last year.

Among the panels at this year’s festival, several addressed issues surrounding diversity within American film. One in particular, “The New ‘New’ Black Film,” focused specifically on the state of black filmmaking in American today. A virtual Who’s Who of black cinema appeared on the panel, including Mario Van Peebles, Kasi Lemmons, and Effie Brown, many who spoke of different paths that filmmakers are taking, can or should take, in order to find success. A recurring theme on the panel was the concept and development of diversity initiatives launched by various profit and nonprofit organizations within the film industry.

While several such initiatives exist for the sole purpose of showcasing the work of filmmakers and artists of color, there still seems to be something of a disconnect between that work and what exists in the public conscience. So what, in effect, are these diversity initiatives doing? For this piece, I looked at four diversity initiatives in the independent film and public television arena—three established, and one newly launched—to see what it is they do, how successful they have been, and whether or not they are truly making an impact on the number of projects by people of color that see the light of day.

The National Black Programming Consortium

In 1979, eight independent black producers created The National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC) in response to the lack of black programming on PBS. Nine years later, NBPC is one of the biggest funding supporters of media by and about African Americans, giving six million dollars to media projects in the last thirteen years. NBPC funds 80 percent documentaries and 20 percent narrative films. In recent years, NBPC-funded projects have included such critically acclaimed documentaries as ***The Murder of Emmett Till and ***Two Towns of Jasper.

NBPC is financed by The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), and falls under an umbrella organization called the Minority Consortia—a group comprised of five additional grant-giving organizations for artists of various races, and which includes The Native American Public Telecommunications, Latino Public Broadcasting, and Pacific Islanders in Communications. The mission of NBPC, according to its founding president Mabel Haddock, is “to become a major provider of black programming worldwide,” and to work with PBS and independent producers to achieve that mission.

NPBC-funded three films that screened at Sundance this year—***Chisholm 72, a one-hour documentary about Brooklyn Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm and her campaign for the Democratic party presidential nomination in 1972, and ***Brother to Brother, a feature-length drama that follows the journey of an 18 year-old gay black artist as he discovers the hidden legacies of the Harlem Renaissance. Veteran diversity initiative program (perhaps even before the now popular notion of “diversity initiatives” even existed), ITVS, further funded the projects of Lynch and Evans after the filmmakers received their initial funding from NBPC. Because the NBPC application process is so selective, receiving additional funding from PBS on projects after being granted funds from NBPC is not uncommon.

Funding by CPB requires that all NBPC films find a life on PBS. And because PBS has such a limited venue for narrative works, finding a matching home for these projects can prove difficult. Still, Haddock believes, “PBS is one of the major venues that is open to change.” ***Independent Lens, a PBS program in its second season, features narrative and documentary films, both short and long, and serves as a forum for work by independent filmmakers taking creative risks. ***Brother to Brother, which was honored with the Special Jury Prize at Sundance this year, will be featured on the program next season.

NBPC feels a strong allegiance to documentary films, something that many grants giving programs cannot claim. With the rapidly growing interest in documentary films, the program is focused on getting more and more documentaries on the air.

When asked what people criticize about the program, Haddock mentions that some people believe the program funds are awarded to primarily experienced producers. Although ***Chisholm’s Shola Lynch was a first-time filmmaker, she had the cache of having worked for several years with Ken Burns. Haddock insists, however, that NBPC does and is very much willing to take chances on emerging filmmakers. “Experience is just one of the criteria we look at out. We also look for a good distribution plan, what other money is in place, the approach to the work.”

The Sundance Institute’s Native American Initiative

The Sundance Institute, launched 21 years ago by Robert Redford, is a hallmark of the independent filmmaking community. And since the program’s inception, the Institute has forged a strong and lasting commitment to supporting Native American film. The Institute’s Native American Initiative is a multi-tiered program that invites four-six Native fellows each year to attend the Sundance Independent Producers Conference, which features panel discussions and small group sessions, and the opportunity to network with independent film industry leaders and explore the issues of independent producing. The program also provides funding for two-four projects annually, and hosts the Native Forum program at the festival.

The Native American Initiative was introduced to help counter inaccurate portrayals of Native Americans in contemporary film, and to encourage creative control for Native and Indigenous filmmakers. “Through the molding and teachings of craft to Indigenous filmmakers,” says Kamira Kipp, Native American Program Associate, “[We hope to] get a message out to Indigenous filmmakers to think outside the box as far as content, [and] to move more into a modern and contemporary way of telling stories.”

Among the most successful projects to emerge from the program is ***Smoke Signals, written by Sherman Alexie and directed by Chris Eyre. Developed through both the Screenwriting Lab and the Director’s Lab, ***Smoke Signals took home the 1998 Sundance Film Festival’s Audience Award, Filmmaker’s Trophy, and the Grand Jury Award. “All included filmmakers have had their films shown at the festival for many years and keep returning with new works,” says Kipp. The initiative was recently honored at The Producer’s Guild of America’s 2nd Annual Celebration of Diversity for their commitment to cultivating Native producers in the film industry.

N. Bird Runningwater, director of the Native Initiative, who was unavailable for comment, travels all over the world to spread the word about the program and to seek out works by Native filmmakers. Still, says Kipp, it is difficult to find a caliber work that meets the standard of other Sundance projects. “The hope for the future of the program is to bridge the gap that exists in the quality of craft in the works that are being submitted to the program,” Kipp says. “Native and Indigenous film still stands at one of the lowest rates of craft and quality. Through nurturing and helping prepare writers, directors and producers to apply to our various selection of filmmaking labs here at the Institute. That is where the first step begins.”

Kipp believes that a lack of resources prevents many Native and Indigenous artists from learning the craft of filmmaking. To that end, this year the Native Institute sponsored a private screenwriters lab at the festival, with three Native writing fellows and one producer fellow, during which industry professionals gave feedback on scripts and projects written and presented by the fellows.

The Tribeca Access Program

In December 2003, the Tribeca Film Institute announced a new program called “Tribeca All Access.” Set to debut at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival, the objective of “All Access” is to create networking opportunities and visibility to filmmakers of color, and to act as a bridge between US based filmmakers of color and the film industry at large, with the intention of acquiring representation and/or financial backing that will assist their projects from development to production.
Nancy Schaffer and David Kwok, programmers for last year’s 2nd annual Tribeca Film Festival, launched the program after noticing a shortage of films submitted to the festival by American filmmakers of color.

The program will select 20 projects—10 documentaries and 10 narratives—culled from an open call to filmmakers of color. Each selected project and its filmmaking team (which can consist of writers/producers/directors) will be given meetings with representatives and development executives from production companies including Focus Features, Sony Pictures Classics, and Think Films, US and International sales agents, literary agents, and equity financiers. At the end of the program, one narrative and one documentary project will be selected to win an award for an undisclosed amount.
Beth Jason, manager and co-director of the program, says that the initiative is “not from the big white man who wants to be benevolent to people of color.” Indeed, one of the founders, David Kwok, is Asian American, and the submissions evaluation committee is made up largely of people of color from the industry—Warrington Hudlin, Founder and President of the Black Filmmaker; David Henry Hwang, writer and playwright; and Carlos Sandoval, producer of recent Sundance award-winner, ***Farmingville.

By spreading the word through various listserves, community based media programs, colleges and universities, “All Access” hopes to reach filmmakers of color who might otherwise not read about festival competitions, or pick up the latest issue of ***Variety. “All Access” also offers a reduced submission fee for applicants who are members of various media organizations such as AIVF, Cinevision, and DVRepublic, among others.

In creating the program, according to Hanson, by looking at other diversity initiatives, it became clear that many diversity programs try to do too much. By focusing on filmmakers who are in pre-production, “All Access” hopes to give filmmakers the help they need to make their projects come to fruition.

IFP/Los Angeles Project:Involve

Created in 1993, the IFP/Los Angeles Project Involve is a mentorship, training, screening, and job placement program designed to promote cultural diversity in the film industry. Through one-on-one mentorships and filmmaking workshops, aspiring filmmakers gain practical experience, the opportunity to hone their craft, and the chance to make valuable contacts. Candidates can apply to either the spring or fall cycle—each run four months long, and accept twenty participants of color—and in several categories that range from directing and writing to costume design and film programming.

The main goal for the program, says Pamela Tom, Project Involve Director, is for the participants to “create a community amongst themselves,” in an effort to encourage a cross-discipline, cross-cultural buddy system. The program, Tom emphasizes, is as good as its mentorships. And although “it is hard to guarantee 20 great relationships,” she says, Project Involve continues to attract great talent and directors to serve as mentors, including John Singleton and Alexander Payne, and actor/director Forest Whitaker. Last year, 2003 mentee Beanie Barnes was paired with ***Thirteen director Catherine Hardwicke. They hit it off so well that Hardwicke hired Barnes to be her assistant on her next film. Tom maintains that stories like this are not uncommon and are, in fact, what the program is all about.
After leaving the program, mentees are provided with career training workshops, individual career counseling, and access to quality job listings and referrals. While it may always be difficult to find work in the field, Project Involve has its fair share of success stories. Effie Brown, a producer of ***Real Women Have Curves and Jim McKay’s latest feature, ***Everyday People, and an alumnus of Project Involve, praised the program and other similar diversity initiatives during this year’s Sundance panel on “New Black Film.”

“IFP, Sundance, all these organizations are supportive. Many people of every color fail because they want to be artists without trying to learn the building blocks to get the job done,” Brown said.

*****

While all four of these initiatives stand out in their efforts to help filmmakers of color, it will be a long time before we will be able to see the impact of these and other diversity initiatives. Though because each program was started by organizations respected in the film industry, participants will already benefit by association.

A large part of getting anywhere in the film industry is knowing the right people who can help you get your projects made. While IFP and Tribeca are perhaps especially helpful in breaking down doors and allowing access to the must-know people, NBPC provides one crucial thing that all filmmakers need to get their projects done: Cash. And Sundance, both its Native Program and its overall foundation, provides a little bit of everything, but especially aiding in the improvement of filmmakers’ art.

Finally, these programs and the funding they provide cannot guarantee audiences for the work of filmmakers of color, nor can they convince executives to take chances and spend money. But they are steps in the right direction, and combined with personal perseverance, drive, and flat out luck, diversity initiatives may produce some extraordinary work in the future.

Angela Tucker is a Brooklyn based filmmaker and producer. She works at Big Mouth Productions, a social issue documentary production company.

Angela's entries for The Huffington Post

Angela's entries for Engine Feed

Angela's personal blog, Tuckergurl

Articles

What Is New Media? (MediaRights)

Docs Are Funny! SXSW and Documentary Films (MediaRights)

Filmmaking In A War Zone (MediaRights)

Report from Sundance 2006: The Trials of Darryl Hunt and the Legacy of Criminal Justice Docs (MediaRights)

Independent Filmmakers Respond To Katrina (MediaRights)

Outreach Journal II: Deadline Audience Initiative (MediaRights)

Diversity Initiatives: Are They Making A Difference? (The Independent Film and Video Monthly)

Outreach Journal: Outside Looking In (MediaRights)

An Article about The Innocents, a photo and documentary exhibit (MediaRights)

Reviews

Save The Last Forrester – A Campy Review of Save The Last Dance and Finding Forrester (dilateworld Online)

Gray Horizon: The Art of Felix Gonzalez-Torres Lands in Chelsea (dilateworld Online)

Movies with Dad: The Score (dilateworld Online)

Interviews

Taj Washington: You Ain’t A Star - An Interview with Photographer, Taj Washington (dilateworld Online)

An Interview with Emily Abt about her film, Take It From Me (dilateworld Online)

Miscellaneous

Distribution Toolkit (Youth Media Distribution)
I was one of seven writers of a toolkit for youth to distribute their own media. I wrote section #3 on money.

The Birthday Girl
Lo
Conversations with Id

Screenplays

The Newby by Isha Chari & Angela Tucker
The Newbie is a little Mean Girls, a little more The Karate Kid, and a whole lot of magic. It is the story of a family's journey to something stronger and greater than they have ever been as seen through the eyes of a sixteen year old girl.

Peer Pressure by Angela Tucker
Peer Pressure is the story of an African-American girl growing up in the shadow of her Republican father's election for Mayor.

Trees of Noblest Kind by Isha Chari
Trees of Noblest Kind is the tale of a young woman who finds that it is no easy task to let the love that bonded two little girls help the healing process of two broken best friends. Can their spirited and quirky hometown of Noblest restore their faith in what matters the most before it is too late?

Writings

Coming Soon

TuckerGurl exists as a destination for creative expression, creative journeys, and creative connections. As a women of color owned and operated company, we hope to expand on the opportunities that exist in mainstream media by giving a voice to diverse platforms of artistic communication in an informed and positive manner.

TuckerGurl is an LLC in New Jersey formed in 2006.

ANGELA TUCKER

Angela Tucker is a Writer/Director/Producer. Born and raised in New York, she received her B.A. with Honors from Wesleyan University in Theater and African-American Studies. Angela earned a M.F.A. in Film from Columbia University where she received a Dean's Fellowship, a grant from the Academy of Arts and Sciences and two Milos Forman Finishing Funds awards.

Angela is the Director of Production at Big Mouth Films, a project of Arts Engine, Inc for over five years. She was the Associate Producer and Outreach Director for the Emmy nominated film, Deadline, which premiered at The 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Deadline played in over 30 festivals and broadcast on NBC's Dateline and The Sundance Channel. She is also the Line Producer for Phil Bertelsen's latest documentary about The Alvin Ailey Dance Company for PBS' Great Performances and a Consulting Producer for the upcoming documentary film, Election Day. She directs and produces educational videos for non-profit organizations such as John Hopkins Medical Center’s Project Restore and ACORN Housing, in addition to producing spots for broadcasters such as Nickelodeon.

Angela produced the short film, Shook, which was broadcast as part of The Showtime Black Filmmaker Showcase and won awards at The Oakland Film Festival and The Juneteenth Film Festival. She has written articles for The Independent Film and Video Monthly and Media Rights and was a juror for The 2005 & 2006 Tribeca Underground Film Festival and NYC Shorts.

For TuckerGurl, she wrote and directed the short film, The Birthday Girl, which is just beginning its festival life and Conversations with Id which is streaming online. She is collaborating with Ms. Chari on several projects as well as working on a memoir. She writes for The Huffington Post.

Hear an interview she did on WBAI here.

Blog
Published Writings
Collaborations

ISHA CHARI

Isha Chari is a Writer, a budding photographer, and a proud born and raised New Yorker. An avid and lifetime student of visual arts and language, Isha pursues her interest in creative communication through her writing and her constant study of languages such as Tamil and Hindi.

In 2004 she worked as still photographer for Melanie Oram’s provocative short film Shook. In 2005 she added Production Designer and Costume Designer to her credit for her work on Angela Tucker’s engaging short film, The Birthday Girl.

Isha holds a BA from Harvard University in English Literature and an additional degree in Fashion Merchandise Management from the Fashion Institute of Technology. In addition to her collaborative writing projects, she is currently developing a feature script.

Stills