Charles Curtis Blackwell: the Oakland poet, painter, playwright and teacher — takes us on an intimate journey into his past and present. From his challenging upbringing in both California and Mississippi, to his current creative life, we follow as he discusses loss, love, pain, and redemption — all through the prism of his artistic endeavors.
Runtime : 01:10:00
Directed by. Jeff M. Giordano
Knead
When an alien landing mysteriously drives people around the world to achieve their deepest dreams, an aspiring baker in an unhappy marriage wonders why she hasn’t been affected at all—forcing her to take matters into her own hands.
Directed by
Timothy Michael Cooper
Timothy Michael Cooper is a writer-director who’s been based in Brooklyn for two decades.
He wrote and directed CONCIERGE: THE SERIES, starring SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE’s Kate McKinnon, which was nominated for the first-ever short-form Writers Guild Award.
His short comedy LEMON, starring Jennifer Westfeldt, Noah Bean, and Jenn Lyon, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival, played at dozens of international festivals, was purchased by United Airlines and Amazon Prime, and landed an option for TV development.
As a longtime member of the writers’ room for the Writers Guild Awards, he’s written jokes and sketches for Jimmy Fallon, Amy Schumer, Bowen Yang, Amber Ruffin, Kenan Thompson, Michelle Buteau, Rachel Brosnahan, Ava DuVernay, Paul Reiser, and many more.
Timothy is a proud member of the WGAE, the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective, and the Hollywood Radio & Television Society, as well as a mentor for first-generation college students via 1stGenYale. He’s currently writing pilots and features for multiple production companies.
For a long time, I’ve wondered, “What might it take to unite humanity? To make us see that we all share one earth, that we all have the same common goals—survival, shelter, nourishment, companionship, love?”
Then the pandemic hit. Right away, we saw that even a global tragedy wouldn’t get people to unite under the same ideological roof.
Which made me think: “Okay, so NOW what might get us motivated? Perhaps something even bigger?”
That got me thinking about UFOs, and blob-like, utterly unthreatening aliens. What would we make of them? Would we still use them to pursue our own ends? Do we really need outside events to kick us into action—or does true motivation come from within?
This was the genesis of KNEAD, a short comedy with a big sci-fi twist. The film explores what it’s like to pursue your most heartfelt goals when the very idea of doing something for yourself, let alone following your dreams, feels in peril.
It was just weeks before shooting when I realized that setting this film in the 1960s was the perfect context to understand Olive’s feeling of being stuck, even imprisoned. She fervently hopes that these invading creatures from beyond can save her from her traditional, stifling role. Like Olive, we all have to find courage to pursue our own dreams, even when no one else believes in them—or in us.
KNEAD is my most ambitious movie to date. It required the collaboration of dozens of brilliant, dedicated cast and crew members across multiple countries. Putting it together during a pandemic and a double strike (SAG and the WGA) was a true challenge…but it was absolutely worth it to tell this uplifting story of realization, liberation, and baking.
I invite you to join us in rooting for Olive to follow her passion. After all, her dilemma—choosing either her security or her dreams—is an impossible choice that we all must face.
