Michael J. Dennis (b. Philadelphia, PA) is an American filmmaker and
film promoter. A graduate of both New York University and The American
Film Institute, his short films and documentaries have won numerous
awards and have screened worldwide. In 1999, Dennis founded Reelblack,
a full-service production company based in Philadelphia, PA. In
addition to producing work-for-hire, it is responsible for Reelblack
TV, an entertainment/newsmagazine originally broadcast on
PhillyCAM/DUTV. Partnered with YouTube, it has over 5 million views.
Reelblack Presents and Soul Food Cinema are monthly film screenings
designed to showcase classic films and work by up-and-coming
filmmakers that relate to the Black experience. Since 2002, Reelblack
has screened and/or promoted over 900 films.As a filmmaker, Dennis
specializes in music-related work, having documented the burgeoning
Philly Neo-Soul scene in his films Jazzyfatnastees: In Process (2002),
A Taste Of Lady Alma (2004), Kindred: In This Life Together (2006) and
the upcoming Last Night At The Five Spot (2011). His documentary
feature, Philly Boy: A Movie About M.C. Breeze, made its debut at the
first annual H2O Hip Hop Film Festival in 2002. His narrative short,
Next Tuesday, produced for WYBE-TV in Philadelphia (and later aired on
BET) is noted for its early soundtrack appearances by John Legend and
Jazmine Sullivan.In 2008, Dennis won the first ever CNN IReport Film
Festival's Jury Prize for The 13th Amendment, a short film about his
90-year-old grandmother getting the opportunity to vote for Barack
Obama. It premiered at the 2008 Urbanworld Film Festival and went on
to screen at festivals worldwide as well as on BET’s Real Stories
and YouTube’s Screening Room, where it racked up 300,000 views in
its first three days. 2008 also brought the premiere of the half-hour
documentary Ursula Rucker:Poet, which also premiered at Urbanworld. In
February 2010, he was selected as one of 5 “Artists To Watch, by
Philadelphia Weekly. Also that year, an early NYU video project, Who
Is Chris Rock? (1989), was posted on YouTube, where it quickly gained
notice by The Huffington Post, The Comic’s Comic and New Yorker
Magazine blogs.
film promoter. A graduate of both New York University and The American
Film Institute, his short films and documentaries have won numerous
awards and have screened worldwide. In 1999, Dennis founded Reelblack,
a full-service production company based in Philadelphia, PA. In
addition to producing work-for-hire, it is responsible for Reelblack
TV, an entertainment/newsmagazine originally broadcast on
PhillyCAM/DUTV. Partnered with YouTube, it has over 5 million views.
Reelblack Presents and Soul Food Cinema are monthly film screenings
designed to showcase classic films and work by up-and-coming
filmmakers that relate to the Black experience. Since 2002, Reelblack
has screened and/or promoted over 900 films.As a filmmaker, Dennis
specializes in music-related work, having documented the burgeoning
Philly Neo-Soul scene in his films Jazzyfatnastees: In Process (2002),
A Taste Of Lady Alma (2004), Kindred: In This Life Together (2006) and
the upcoming Last Night At The Five Spot (2011). His documentary
feature, Philly Boy: A Movie About M.C. Breeze, made its debut at the
first annual H2O Hip Hop Film Festival in 2002. His narrative short,
Next Tuesday, produced for WYBE-TV in Philadelphia (and later aired on
BET) is noted for its early soundtrack appearances by John Legend and
Jazmine Sullivan.In 2008, Dennis won the first ever CNN IReport Film
Festival's Jury Prize for The 13th Amendment, a short film about his
90-year-old grandmother getting the opportunity to vote for Barack
Obama. It premiered at the 2008 Urbanworld Film Festival and went on
to screen at festivals worldwide as well as on BET’s Real Stories
and YouTube’s Screening Room, where it racked up 300,000 views in
its first three days. 2008 also brought the premiere of the half-hour
documentary Ursula Rucker:Poet, which also premiered at Urbanworld. In
February 2010, he was selected as one of 5 “Artists To Watch, by
Philadelphia Weekly. Also that year, an early NYU video project, Who
Is Chris Rock? (1989), was posted on YouTube, where it quickly gained
notice by The Huffington Post, The Comic’s Comic and New Yorker
Magazine blogs.
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