Yolonda Ross, Benton Greene
Yolonda Ross, Benton Greene

A crowdfunding campaign for a project that I think will be of strong interest to a lot of you, from a filmmaker (and cast) whose work has been featured on this blog in the past. This will be her feature film debut. It will also be shot by a cinematographer whose “filmmaker toolkit” pieces have been popular features on S&A over the years. So check out the details below, and follow the link to the project’s Indiegogo campaign page, and make your contribution. The goal is to raise $15,500, with about 15% of it in the can and 20 days to go.


Two time Independent Spirit award nominee Yolonda Ross (“Go For Sisters,” “Stranger Inside,” “Treme”), and SAG nominee & American Movie award winner Stelio Savante (“Eisenstein In Guanajuato,” “The Making Of The Mob: New York,” “Where The Road Runs Out”) have joined Benton Greene (“Blue Bloods,” “Gossip Girl,” “Father Comes Home From The Wars”), in the lead cast of Nicole Franklin’s first narrative feature “TITLE VII.”

Franklin’s live Indiegogo campaign can be found here [or see the Indiegogo widget below].

“Title VII” tells the story of a skilled black woman who lands a technology firm position over the objection of the company’s black CEO. She challenges the corporate culture, forcing the CEO to face his personal demons; a lifelong struggle with his skin color. The screenplay was co-written by Franklin and Craig T. Williams, adapted from the novel Within the Walls by Daisy M. Jenkins. Award winning cinematographer Cybel Martin (“And…Scene, a Woman’s Journey to Walk Again,” “Flora’s Garment Bursting into Bloom,” “Sangam”) will be heading up the crew.

The film is a co-production of EPIPHANY, Inc. (Franklin’s multimedia company) and FDUFilm, the film program of Fairleigh Dickinson University. The multicultural production will include a professional crew staffed by female department leaders.

“Title VII” will be shot July 2016 on the FDU campus in Florham Park, NJ and will serve as a learning laboratory for FDU film students.