CURRENT POSITIONS

• Principal, Karmalux Creative Inc.

EDUCATION

California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA, Department of Theatre
M.F.A. Degree in Costume Design, expected completion 2013

Temple University, Philadelphia PA, Department of Film & Media Arts
M.F.A. Degree in Film & Media Arts, January 2005

The American University, Washington DC, Department of History
B.A. Degree in History, June 1999

GRANTS & AWARDS

• Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations Human Rights Award, April 2009
• Black Lily Visionary Leader Award, May 2008
• Womens Way Local Honoree Award, May 2008
• Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship-$5000, January 2008
• Independence Media Production Grant-$2500, July 2007
• Leeway Foundation Transformation Award-$15,000, January 2007
• Leeway Foundation Art & Change Grant-$2500, April 2006
• Independence Media Production Grant-$12,000, June 2005
• Leeway Foundation Art & Change Grant-$2500, June 2005
• Temple University Future Faculty Fellowship, 2001-2004

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Documentary Facilitator, Scribe Video Center [2009-2010]
Precious Places Community History Project

Lead Instructor & Curriculum Designer, Black Lily Girls Workshop [2009]
Asian Arts Initiative

Adjunct Instructor, Temple University [2007-2008]
Department of Film & Media Arts

Adjunct Instructor, Villanova University [2007]
Department of Communications

Documentary Facilitator, Scribe Video Center [2006]
Documentary History Project for Youth

Full-time Lecturer, Temple University [2005-2006]
Department of Broadcasting, Telecommunications & Mass Media

Adjunct Instructor, Temple University [2002-2005]
Departments of Film & Media Arts, African American Studies & Women’s Studies

Documentary Facilitator, Scribe Video Center [2003-2004]
Community Visions Project

Artist in Residence, West Philadelphia High School [2003]
Media Arts Program

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• Communications Director, Leeway Foundation [2007-2010]
• Partner, Coolhunter Management [2008-2010]
  
• Producing Artistic Director, Black Lily Inc./Black Lily Film & Music Festival [2006-2010]
• Marketing & Public Relations Manager, Painted Bride Art Center [2006-2007]
• Director Community Arts Partnership, University of Pennsylvania [2004-2005]
• Program Coordinator, Philadelphia Independent Film & Video Association [2004]
• Editorial Assistant, Washington City Paper [2000-2001]
• Senior Fellow, Widmeyer Communications [2000]
• Special Events Coordinator, Atlanta Botanical Garden [1999]
• College Marketing Representative, Sony Music Mid-Atlantic Branch [1996-1999]

FILM & VIDEO DIRECTING

• Birth of the Cool: Barkley Hendricks, documentary, color/video, 3 min. [2009]
• Rah Crawford: Pop Star!, documentary, color/video, 5 min. [2008]
• “Funky Feeling”, music video, color/video, 5 min. [2006]
• The Ceremony, narrative, color/video, 11 min. [2006]
  
• Scene Not Heard: Women in Philadelphia Hip Hop, documentary, color/video, 45 min. [2005]
• Introducing Versus, documentary, color/video, 4 min. [2005]
• Mei by Mai, documentary, color/video, 15 min. [2003]
• Reasonable Doubt, narrative, color/video, 11 min. [2003]
• The Moment, narrative, color/video, 32 min. [2002]
• Twenty-Four, documentary, color/video & film, 4 min. [2002]
• My Name is Rich Medina, documentary, black & white/16 mm. film, 11 min. [2001]

FILM & VIDEO PRODUCTION EXPERIENCE

• Producer/Editor, 711, dir. Karen Warrington [2010]
• Camera Operator, Cusps, dir. Sara Zia Ebrahimi [2008]
• Pre-Production Assistant, “Stress Philly”, dir. Christian Rozier [2005]
• Pre-Production Assistant, “Stop Wasting Time”, dir. Christian Rozier [2003]
• Production Assistant, If You Call Them, dir. Tina Morton [2001]

WORKS-IN-PROGRESS

• Director/Editor – Multi-media design for Charles O. Anderson’s “World Headquarters” (to be produced Fall 2010)
• Co-author/Editor [with Yaba Ambgorale Blay] Scene Not Heard: Women in Philadelphia Hip-Hop
  (manuscript proposal in preparation for Summer 2010 submission)

THEATER & FILM PRODUCING

• “Rebel Radio” (music video), dir. Christian Rozier [2005]
• “Breathe” (music video), dir. Christian Rozier [2005]
• “Sex Acts” (play), dir. Carol Mitchell-Leon, Fringe Festival [2004]
• Risk (narrative film), dir. Melanie LaRosa [2003]
• 1720 (narrative video), dir. Narcel G. Reedus [2002]

JOURNALISM EXPERIENCE

• Arts & Entertainment Writer-freelance; various publications [2000-2006]
  • Blackamericaweb.com
  • Blu Magazine
  • Brand Jordan Magazine
    
  • Philadelphia City Paper
  • Philadelphia Weekly
  • Philadelphia Style
  • SaVoy Magazine
    
  • Washington City Paper
  • WireTap Magazine/Alternet.org
• News Writer, Editor & Broadcast Anchor-DUTV Channel 54 [2003]

CURATING & PROGRAMMING

• Planet Rock: Black Lily Presents Hip Hop on Film, International House [2009-2010]
• Kitchen Table Revisited: Women of Color Poets, Swarthmore College [2009]
• Fade II Black – Philadelphia Film Festival [2009]
• Black Lily Film & Music Festival, World Café Live & International House [2006-2008]
• Phresh: Celebration Women in Hip-Hop, Painted Bride Art Center [2006]
• Afro Pick, The Rotunda [2005]
• The Black Rock Show, The Rotunda [2004]
• For Women: Ode to Nina Simone, Union 237 Gallery [2004]
• Women and Power, Sedgwick Cultural Center [2004]
• Sisters Defining Sisters, Temple University [2004]
• Divine Women, Divine Work, Painted Bride Art Center [2003]
• Philadelphia Visions, Visions Cinema Bistro Lounge [2002]

COSTUME DESIGN

• “Funky Feeling” (music video), self-directed [2006]
• The Ceremony, self-directed [2006]
• Loving Eunice (staged reading), dir. Michelle Parkerson [2004]
• Violet Fire (multimedia opera), dir.Terry O’Reilly [2004]
• Just Old Friends (film), dir. Wan-Ching Ke [2003]
• Reasonable Doubt (film), self-directed [2003]
• His/Her Story (film), dir. Nzinga Kadalie Kemp [2003]
• The Moment (film), self-directed [2002]
• In Between (film), dir. Narcel G. Reedus [2002]
• MFA Thesis Concert, chor. Vonntanice Turner [2000]
  

STAGE & FILM PERFORMANCE

• Voiceover, The Forest for the Trees (documentary), dir. Bernadine Mellis [2004]
• Ensemble/Mrs. Norman, Loving Eunice (benefit staged reading), dir. Michelle Parkerson [2004]
• Ensemble/Waitress, The Crop Duster (narrative), dir. Sunrise Tippeconnie [2004]
• Voiceover, The United States of Automobiles (documentary), dir. Melanie LaRosa [2003]
• Voiceover, Nalini by Day, Nancy by Night (documentary), dir. Sonali Gulati [2003]
• Voiceover, If You Call Them (experimental film), dir. Tina Morton [2001]
• Ensemble, Freddie Hendricks’ Youth Ensemble of Atlanta [1991-1994]

TECHNICAL SKILLS

• Access, Excel, File Maker Pro, Numbers
  
• Word, Word Perfect, XyWrite, Pages
  
• Final Cut Pro, iMovie, iDVD
  
• Photo Shop, InDesign, Quark, Publisher, Acrobat Professional
• Outlook, Power Point, Keynote
  
• DAT & MiniDisc recording
• Mac OS, Windows, DOS

PUBLICATIONS

“Becoming the Exotic Other: Gyrating, Gazing, and Getting It All Wrong” (article) in the forthcoming Desi Rap and the Politics of Hip-Hop in South Asian America edited by Ajay Nair, Ph.D. (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers/Lexington Books)

“Media, Power, Respect… Women in Hip-Hop Film and Video” (chapter) in the forthcoming Fresh, Bold and So Def edited by Martha Diaz and Felicia Pride.

PAPER PRESENTATIONS

“From B-Boys to B-Movies: Hip Hop Meets Hollywood”
Black Filmmaking Dilemmas: Representation, Production, and Spectatorship, Quinnipiac University, Hamden CT [Feb. 2006]

“Hip Hop Speaks: Using Hip Hop in the Classroom”
Alliance for a Media Literate America’s National Media Education Conference, San Francisco CA [June 2005]

“Becoming the Exotic Other: Gyrating, Gazing and Getting It All Wrong”

• Sisters Defining Sisters, Department of African American Studies Graduate Student Association Conference, Temple University, Philadelphia PA [March 2004]
• (dis)junctions: Romancing Heteroglossia, University of California Riverside Conference in the Humanities, Riverside CA [April 2004]
• 1st National Healthy Relationships Conference, National African American Relationships Institute, Atlanta GA [April 2004]

SELECTED PANELS

“Opportunities for Artists in the Community” – Center for Emerging Visual Artists, Philadelphia PA [February 2010]

“Re-imagining America: Dialogues on Change” – Greenfield Intercultural Center’s 25th Anniversary Symposium
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA [November 2009] – Moderator

“Hip Hop & Gender in the 21st Century”
Tidewater Community College, Virginia Beach VA [October 2009]

“The Art of Change” – 2009 NAMAC (National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture) Conference
Boston MA [August 2009], Moderator

“Women Minding Their Biz!” – 2009 Ladies of Hip Hop Festival
Temple University, Philadelphia PA [August 2009], Moderator

“Handling Your Entertainment Business” – 25th Annual Celebration of Black Writing Festival
Art Sanctuary, Philadelphia PA [May 2009]

“Making It Work, Strategies for Success” – Sunstar Women in Music Festival
Kelly-Strayhorn Theater, Pittsburgh PA [March 2009]

“Film Distribution” – Greater Philadelphia Student Film Festival
University of the Arts, Philadelphia PA [February 2009]

“Entrepreneurship and Practice” – Selam African Festival
Stockholm, Sweden [November 2008]

Bassfestival ‘08/MCs for Life, various panels on International MC Culture
Birmingham UK & Manchester UK [June 2008]

“Women and Hip Hop” – Ladies of Hip Hop Festival
Philadelphia PA [June 2008]

5th Annual NYC Grassroots Media Conference
New York NY [Mar. 2008]

“Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop! Hip Hop and Social Change” conference, Women and Hip Hop Panel
Marywood University, Scranton PA [Mar. 2008]

“I Used to Love Her: Hip Hop, Black Women and the Politics of Representation”
(Re) PRESENT: Race, Gender and Popular Culture, Lehigh University, Bethlehem PA [Mar. 2008]

“Media Justice,” Intercultural Center Forum on Social Justice and Activism
Swarthmore College, Swarthmore PA [Feb. 2007]

“And Ya Don’t Stop: Filmmakers Building Bridges”
African American Women in Cinema Festival, New York NY [Oct. 2006]

“Girls’ Journeys From the Margins”
The Loft Cinema, Tucson AZ [Sep. 2006]

“Women in Hip-Hop”
Trinity College, Hartford CT [Apr. 2006]

“Hip Hop 4 Reel”
FilmFest DC, Busboys & Poets, Washington DC [Apr. 2006]

“Grammy In the Schools: Career Day”
University of the Arts, Philadelphia PA [Mar. 2006]

“MLK Symposium: Tools for Creating Change”
University of Pennsylvania, The Carriage House, Philadelphia PA [Jan. 2006]

“Reel Changes: Women in Hip-Hop Making Moves”
H2O: Hip-Hop Odyssey International Film Festival, ImaginAsian Theatre, New York NY
[Nov. 2005]

“Hip-Hop: The Scene Not Heard”
Pittsburgh Hip-Hop Film Festival, Kelly-Strayhorn Theatre, Pittsburgh PA [Nov. 2005]

“Women in Hip Hop Media”
Be Girl Be, Intermedia Arts Center, Minneapolis MN [June 2005]

INTERNSHIPS & ASSISTANTSHIPS

• Research Assistant–MayaTech [1999]
• Program in African American Culture–National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution [1998]
• Diversity and Recruiting Outreach–American Advertising Federation Foundation [1998]
• Research Assistant–Aguirre International [1997]
• Summer Undergraduate Fellow–Sony Music Distribution/Southeast Branch [1996]
• A&R/Marketing—Rowdy Records, Dallas Austin Recording Projects/Arista/BMG [1994]
• The Arts Exchange–Southeast Community Center for the Arts [1992-1993]

CURRENT PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

• National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture
• National Alliance for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications
• Philadelphia Women in Film and Television

SELECT VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES

• Asian Arts Initiative Film Advisory Board – Member
• Black Lily Inc. Board of Directors – President
• Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra – Advisory Board
• Bread & Roses Community Fund – 2010 Tribute to Change Planning Committee
  
• Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance Five County Arts Fund – Review Panelist
• Philadelphia 360 Advisory Committee
• Philadelphia Cultural Fund – Peer Review Panelist
• Philadelphia Independent Film Festival
• Scribe Video Center 25th Anniversary Planning Committee
• WPHA-TV – Advisory Board