It's an Art

When planning for my microbudget feature film this summer, my DP Cybel Martin said first and foremost "we need a strong art department." Due to this being a microbudget (under $100k in my book), we only have my imagination (whatever's there) and the students at Fairleigh Dickinson University who know intimately what treasures are hidden away in those set design storage rooms.  Was I doomed?  After a meeting last week with my student crew, an eager Sarah Blanton raised her hand and offered that if the crew of the Art Department hadn't been filled, she would love to have the position. A quick unanimous nod across the room of her classmates confirmed, she's our lead designer!  We then went for a location scout/tour (my second) with the director of the film program, Sarah, gaffer Mariam Bakashvili and one of our two AD's, Adrieliz Lopez, to make more set selections. Sarah's commentary and suggestions of dressing the various spaces put me right at ease.  She's also had experience off-campus as well and is quite passionate about studying every detail of the script's character.  I think we're in good hands. I can breathe now and get back to telling the story. Please visit some of our location photos on my Pinterest page here. More about my cast in my next post! Click here and enjoy some of the locations serving as our canvas!

By the way, we're still requesting tax-deductible donations toward our film. Currently donations are being accepted through An EPIPHANY Conversation, our fiscally sponsored education division that supports community dialogues about the film and digital media we produce through EPIPHANY Inc. This journey I am taking with the FDU students through the filming of this script, TITLE VII, is the perfect example. Want to join us with a $15 tax-deductible donation for unlimited streaming of the film, a credit and a social media shoutout? Please click here. Thanks so much! 

Gardens beyond the doors of Lenfell Hall.

Talking to Thelma

Never in my years growing up in 1970s St. Louis did I ever imagine that I would be talking to the best big sis I always wish I had--and the teenager I had wished I could be:  "Thelma" from "Good Times." I interviewed her recently because of the new venture she has taking on with her original castmates from this iconic series. And I learned so much about staying in your truth.  Please enjoy our article in the Toronto-based ByBlacks.com by clicking here.  Such a good time.  Enjoy!

Not So Personal Film Journal

One of the highlights of deciding last year to write and direct a microbudget feature (my first narrative feature film), option a novel, write the adaptation, meet with the crew, turn in drafts to the cast and crew and hop into pre-production this month has been doing all of that in a public forum.  I started a very open journal on Medium @Nicoleedits to hold me accountable for this endeavor I've called TITLE VII.  And, I invite other creatives, students and veterans of the craft to comment, critique or just give a thumbs up whenever possible.  One detail filmmakers are never told is that during the development stage you are never more alone. Sure you have a crew of at least 35 people (usually) waiting on your vision, your explanation and blueprint of your vision, your direction of their role in your vision and the release of your vision to a world saturated with what seems to be a new release every minute.  Trust me, it crosses our minds at times that when putting yourself out there you could either sink or swim or--how I usually envision it--suck or soar. But through my posts to all of you, I can admit the journal keeps me focused, responsible, and always pushing to improve upon my best. You're never alone when that is the goal. Join me on Medium by clicking here.  I'll be adding to this blog log quite frequently as we count down the months to an exciting June production.

And if you want to assist in our $30,000 bill to feed and house the crew, provide liability and loss of footage insurance for the production, dress set locations and underwrite rehearsal time to prep what we hope to be an exceptional character-driven story, please visit our fiscally sponsored donation page, An EPIPHANY Conversation.  The root of An EPIPHANY Conversation is employing EPIPHANY Inc. films and digital media as teaching tools. Your minimum $15 tax-deductible donation is most welcome. In return, you'll receive unlimited streaming of the film, a credit in the film (if donations are received by the editing deadline) and a social media shoutout.  Please click on and share our link here.  Thank you so much for your incredible support! 

Visit me at Medium.com @Nicoleedits.

Stability

Yay, my camera rig arrived today! I own the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera but it's always terrifying to use because it's so small and even the slightest move turns all your shots into earthquake cam. I borrowed a wonderful tripod from my friend Leslie when filming Little Brother: Manchild in the Promised Land (Chapter 5 - Tucson).  Wonderful 16mm look. And sometimes you just have to run and go, you now? So I needed some shoulder action.  Eager to take it out of the box, but I'm clearing off my desk this week, and doing my taxes (blah!)....Next week I'll get to play. Oh yes, it's the Ikan ES-T13 Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera Rig in case you want one for yourself. Let me know if you're working this way as well! Let's compare notes!

Ikan ES-T13 Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera Rig (Tilta)

And We're Off!

Very excited to have the pre-fundraiser/on-the-way-to-no fundraiser campaign (our #MoneyShot) started with friends making a $15 tax-deductible donation to fund my first narrative feature--a microbudget called TITLE VII.  I'm so thrilled to be well on our way to being 1% funded already! I knew our tax-deductible donation request meant 2,000 individual contributions in order to make it happen. Not impossible, but definitely a little scary.  What's been nice is having friends double that amount and for that generosity (thank you!), not only will donors have unlimited streaming capabilities of the film when it's complete, but please send me the name of a friend you wish to have a guest pass and they will receive a private link as well! All thanks to you! So grateful. We're on our second day! Fifteen weeks to go.  Please follow me on Medium @Nicoleedits where I'm blogging about the creative process. And join me on Pinterest for pre-production and production photos. Follow me here as well for news, updates and production notes of the day.  Your tax-deductible donation is possible because of An EPIPHANY Conversation, our community dialogues about the film and digital media we produce to educate and inform audiences using our films featuring communities of color. TITLE VII, our first narrative feature, is an example. This experience is a teaching tool for me and the generous students at Fairleigh Dickinson University who are joining me on this journey as well. Want to join us with a $15 tax-deductible donation for unlimited streaming of the film, a credit and a social media shoutout? Please click here.  Thanks so much! 

Money Shot

As I shared with my Instagram friends, it's now time to identify the right strategy for raising individual contributions toward the $30,000 needed to finance my microbudget feature this summer. Thanks to the generous offer from Fairleigh Dickinson University to have our location shoot on their campus with their talented student crew, we're looking at a (fingers crossed) seamless 15-day shoot of a character drama that will have audiences talking.  The film, TITLE VII, is my screenplay adaptation of the debut novel from author Daisy M. Jenkins. It explores racial and sexual politics in the workplace. This project has been a teaching tool for me and the production is intended to leave a good impression on the students as well. I have been writing about my journey with the screenplay on Medium @Nicoleedits. Location photos and updates will be on Pinterest and please continue to check in here for moral support! First comes raising the funds to feed my student crew who are faithfully staying on campus this summer for us for a career-boosting experience and take care of the professional actors and key crew who we are sure will impress us all. Yes, we are budgeting $30,000 to keep things lean and affordable. So we look to you, our friend, fam and fans for assistance.  How about this?  If for a tax-deductible $15 I offer unlimited streaming, a credit in the film and a social media shoutout, would you find that amount reasonable to join our journey? Let's give it a money shot and please click this link!

Share your tax-deductible $15 with us please?

More "Movies and Manhood" and Star Wars

We had lots to say about the latest box office sensation: Star Wars.  So have millions--possibly billions--of others, right?  It's been fun writing and reminiscing about the space opera that changed the face of movie making almost 40 years ago. That's a lifetime of knowing the force is within you.  Join our discussion at The Good Men Project here.  And please share!

Movie Notes

From the Fall through the Oscars telecast it's movie season.  And for us in the industry, it's quite an exciting time. I'm thrilled to have just submitted my selections for nominations for Best Director by The Directors Guild. We'll know soon if any of my picks made the cut! In the meantime, I'm happy to have been published as part of The Good Men Project's "13 Movies That Have Impacted The Good Men Project Writers."  Join us with your favorites as well in the comments section. We'd love to hear from too--especially with how movies reflect the changing roles of men in the 21st Century.  Click here for the article. And see you at the movies!

Join our Ambassador Program with kweliTV!

Thank you so much for your valuable support of EPIPHANY Inc.  Because of our work and finding like-minded media companies who share in our mission, we have recently been contracted as the consulting company with the new streaming interactive video platform and app, kweliTV. In this role I will be serving as the new news director for kweliTV. I look forward to telling all of you more about my position in this exciting startup very soon.  It is a startup, so we will need your excitement to help move us forward.

So here's something fun. Our #kweliTV Ambassador Program is available in most regions throughout the world.

As an Ambassador, you will receive:
--Free kweliTV subscription throughout the ambassadorship (1 year).  
--Free #ShareYourStory kweliTV T-Shirt
--Opportunity to participate as a guest interviewer on kweliTV’s “Meet the Filmmaker” Q&A series. 
--Quarterly All-Hands meeting with the kweliTV team.
--Bonus: Ambassadors who are able to recruit 10 new kweliTV members (subscribers) within 1 year will receive a special offer at the end of their ambassadorship. 

Please visit this link for more details. 

Character Chatter

This year has flown by so fast, it's reminding me that our June/July 2016 shoot of our first narrative feature--a microbudget--will be here before we know it!  Just posted location photos on our Pinterest profile here. And the process of writing the first draft of the script was something I was happy to blog about on Medium here.  Feedback is trickling from the chosen readers for the draft. I've now heard back from the director of the film program co-producing the shoot, our DP and our lead actress. It was after my notes from the lead actress today that I was thrilled to welcome a familiar sound:  The characters talking to me. They won't shut up. Anyone who writes fiction that experiences this will know that these voices are welcome inside our head. That means the script is clicking for all of us (imaginary and real) and we have successfully transported into a world we hope to bring back to audiences here on Earth to much acclaim. That's the hope.  I'm off to listen and make my edits for Draft 2.  Please follow us and cheer us on. Your energy keeps us afloat! Thanks!

Looking forward to our scenes on this stairway where the confrontation will offer no escape.

Holiday Greeting from EPIPHANY Inc.

We have had a busy 2015 preparing for exciting projects that will bring everything EPIPHANY Inc. has worked for into a productive 2016.  What has been sobering are the conditions that provoked certain films we launched five years ago, now featured so prominently in national movements. We feel as if we have a front row seat to a necessary conversation. And this is a dialogue we knew was important then, and is essential to the survival of humanity now.  This is the reason EPIPHANY Inc. exists. We hear you and we look forward to bringing you more stories that enlighten and entertain--including a feature film!

Let’s continue a national dialogue through film and digital media together. We have ambassador positions (that come with gifts), freelance job opportunities and tax-deductible donation plans to benefit those who have trusted us with their stories.  Visit and bookmark the “News” section of NicoleFranklin.com to join us.

We’ll see you in 2016! Happy Holidays and many many more! What’s your news?

We got to take home a little bit of our CBS Sunday Morning program for my table top tree. Photo of my grandfather in the background. Happy Holidays, All!

Have a wonderful start to the Holiday Season!

Writing, creating and developing new material for 2016 has been fantastic this year. Even more, I'm grateful for quiet moments away with friends and family.  In this ever-changing, unpredictable world of ours, here's to all of you making the most of the reason behind the season.  And please keep checking in with us here at EPIPHANY Inc.  Exciting things to come!

Blab and Blabbing On...

The latest social media conference platform that will have my attention for a while is Blab. Still in BETA stage, Blab is a four-way conversation in open-air space. It can be downloaded, archived and shared widely. The Blab platform is rooted in Twitter. It's been fun testing it out and hosting my own #EConvo on Blab a couple of weeks ago with the new consulting firm Career Matters, founded by my friend Carol Ruiz.  You can check that out by clicking here. My friend Dr. Vibe who always reminds us we're a "magnet for miracles" first told me about the Blab platform and had me on as his guest to talk about the importance of documentaries. We had a fun chat. The audio link may be found here.  And the night of the first debate of the Democratic candidates had me on a Blab hosted by my friend Marie Roker-Jones who founded #CompassionConvos. Is there compassion in politics? We talked about all of the possibilities of what could be here.  The usual suspects from our #EConvo conversations on Google Hangout last year are quickly finding our footing on Blab--and loving it.  In fact, after only a month of testing out the platform my intern Janella Castro will host her first Blab "Ballin' and Talkin'" which you may subscribe to here. She loves the NBA. Hope you tune in to see just how much! So Blab with us and join the conversation! Let's chat! 

Microbudget here we come

Our microbudget film set to shoot next June is quickly moving from development to pre-production stage.  I met many members of our crew at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Morristown, NJ tonight.  These students will be joining me as part of their thesis course. They're looking to learn from me and my core team.  I know after meeting them tonight that we'll learn so much from them as well. Even more, I think we'll learn a lot about ourselves. Microbudgets (ours is hovering around $75,000) are designed to be semi-stressful vehicles. But I'm confident this crew, under the guise of Professor Howard Libov, are up for any challenge. These young technicians, art department, makeup and producer/AD teams seem terrific-ly excited and up for the challenge.  I'm documenting our progress--starting with the adaptation of the screenplay-- with our behind-the-scenes story @Medium.  Let's roll!     

November

My birthday month is around the corner and I'd like to talk to all the young women out there who feel birthdays suck because you may not be where you dreamed of by the calendar date you set. Trust me, when you hear things happen when they are supposed to they do. Were your dreams too big? Nah. We're supposed to dream big. Dreams are our key to surviving any man-made situation meant to destroy our spirits. There's a morality game we are put on this Earth to play--win or lose. Others are in the same position and the good and bad choices need a partner in crime.  Stay focused on the prize. Do daily maintenance on the strategy that gets you to your goal. Welcome the team members who join you. Recruit others who share your dream and nurture theirs too, which also serves as a quick background check to including them in your circle. You need a circle of friends. You do not need agendas that are meant to harm, not heal.  What does all of this mean in plain English? Success is what you make of it, young women. There are risks, traditional patriarchal obstacles and setbacks based on your relationship with your self-esteem. Dream big and go hard. Enjoy the ride, though. The road behind you should be littered with small victories of both you and your running buddies lighting up the way for who will follow. 

The Return of EConvo

After a one-year hiatus (feeling like an HBO original series) our #EConvo online social media conference events are returning. Thanks to #EConvo community member Dr. Vibe, we are true believers in the new online platform Blab. Have you tried it? If not, please check it out here. So far I've been a guest on a couple including one that served as a lead-in to the first Democratic Presidential Election Debate as part of the #CompassionConvos with Marie Roker-Jones. After a few trial runs we're now ready to host our own, bringing #EConvo back on a monthly basis. We talk global issues with the interesting people behind the stories. This Friday at 5pm please join our chat with career counselor Carol Ruiz. Are you beginning your career? Are you mid-career and interested in something new?  Let's talk #Internship to #Mentorship.  Ruiz is terrific and you'll soon see why. Subscribe here:  https://blab.im/nicole-franklin-an-econvo-internship-to-mentorship.

Broadcast Schedule for This Week

Thanks to publicist Robert C. Walker (please contact him here) I have two radio appearances this week and a Blab conversation with my friend Marie Roker-Jones, producer of the #CompassionConvos.  I'm hosting an #EConvo Blab chat of my own on Friday to wrap up this busy calendar of chatting. More on that later. Here is the schedule for the first three appearances. Will you join us?

• Nicole on "Reel Talk" hosted by DaDirector via Blog Talk Radio. Monday October 12, 2015 at 9pm EST Hotline #: 646-595-4038.  

• Nicole and Marie Roker-Jones in a Blab #CompassionConvo. Tuesday, October 13, 2015 at 9pmEST. The topic:  Compassion and Politics.  #CompassionConvos challenge bias through compassionate action. Subscribe to the event here:  https://blab.im/RaisingGreatMen.

• Thursday at 12:15amEST (right after midnight) join host Keke LiBron and guest Nicole Franklin on the Green Zone Radio Experience. The call-in number: 914.636.9847. WVIP FM 93.5 FM. On-line, www.wvipfm.com.

Looking forward to changing the world through our chats--a little bit at a time.

Photo by Francesca Andre.

It Takes a Medium

I'm having a great time on @Medium. Are you on it? It's a great place for storytellers. And since I am writing a screenplay at the moment, as part-procrastination/part-education, I'm sharing my story behind the telling of the story on @Medium. Really, it's not so complicated. It's actually quite fun. And yes, you heard that correctly. I'm writing a screenplay--my third adaption. I kind of dig those. When I can base the story on previous material--this being the first time as solely fictional characters in a novel vs. real people in a documentary I've had the luxury of filming--the structure is there as well as the enticing characters (hopefully) that drew you to the story in the first place. At least that's what I hope. It'll all unfold on @Medium. Will you follow me?  Click here. And let me know if you're on as well so I can follow back!

We're on in the South!

The Southern States of these United States are now the broadcast region hosting Little Brother Chapters 1 through 4 on FUBU TV! Do you have Comcast VOD/Xfinity? Here is how to watch us ON DEMAND. 

Instructions for finding FUBU TV on COMCAST (Big South Local - TN, GA, SC, AL, MS, LA)
Comcast VOD (Xfinity)
-Tabs to the left
-Scroll down to GET LOCAL
-Select MOVIE & ENTERTAINMENT SCENE
-Then scroll down to FUBU TV

I bounce from New York and New Jersey to Missouri from time to time. So I'll miss it. But if you're watching, can you let us know by leaving us a comment here?  We'd really appreciate it! And our Little Brothers love your notes too. Thanks so much for watching! Please tell friends!

Watch us on Comcast/Xfinity in these States:  TN, GA, SC, AL, MS, LA.

A Family Photo - Little Brother:  The Fire Next Time (Chapter 4 - Muskogee, OK)

Nicole's Diary - Page 21

An amazing week has just ended. I can only call it the blessing of being In Good Company. First, his Holiness came to the East Coast and New York City where I live and work kept its cool through traffic tie-ups, large crowds and tight security measures. Everyone was on the same page. I also became an official member of a Manhattan co-working space for women this past week. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity for a desk outside of my home office, networking and conference room availability for the occasional meeting that must impress.  Please email me here for details if you are interested. Women-only, please. Third, I had an amazing meeting about my first narrative microbudget feature in production for next summer. This is only possible because an angel came on board an offered the following: "I'd like to help you on your next film. Here's what I can do." What he is doing is making it happen and I could not be more grateful.  When you spend your entire life committed to your craft--and all of the sacrifices that are involved--you hope someone notices.  It feels like God always has. And for this and the people with whom he has me surrounded, I am truly grateful.

Pope Francis in NYC.  Courtesy NBCNews.com.