Contact: Katherine VanHenley FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tel. 323-337.9055
Email: kvanhenley@yahoo.com
OAKLAND FILMMAKER: PLACES AS FINALIST IN ON THE LOT
Spielberg/Burnett reality show a
vehicle for success
Out of 12,000 applicants worldwide, Oakland’s Mateen Kemet was chosen to compete against 49 other filmmakers for a $1M development deal with Dreamworks Studios. Not only did Kemet place 7th in this internationally aired reality show, he was the only African American contestant, repeatedly earning America’s votes throughout his eight weeks of competition. Due to outstanding finish, he leaves the show with a 2 year First Look deal with Dream Works Studios.
Following his success on the show, the Oakland Cultural Funding Program has
made him an honoree and keynote speaker for their First Annual Oakland Arts Day
Ceremony on October 5th, 2007. Portions of his work will screen
continuously throughout the day and he will address issues within his work as
well as his experience, On and Off the Lot, as a Bay Area Filmmaker. Later that everning a montage of his work
will be featured as part of the Great Wall of Oakland, screening at 20th and
West Grand. He also will be a featured
panalist at the Oakland International Film Festival on October 20th. Additionally, Kemet’s short film Oakland b Mine, which was commissioned
by the Port of Oakland, will be screened on a new media display housed in the
Southwest Airlines terminal of the Oakland airport later this year. And On
November 13th, 2007, the Oakland film Commission will screen his
award winning film silence as part of
their bi-monthly Local Focus Screening Series at the Oakland Metro.
Since graduating from film school in 2003, Kemet has made quick strides
towards international acclaim, including an invitation to FESPACO in Burkina
Faso, West Africa – the world’s largest Arts Festival of the African diasporas,
where he won the Special Director’s prize .
Locally, the San Francisco Arts Council awarded him with a Cultural
Equity Grant for his latest script, The Fillmore Flower which is scheduled
to go into production early 2008.
His rapid progress propelled by On
the Lot, Mateen Kemet is on his way to becoming a major player within the
film industry.
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If
you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with
Mateen Kemet, please call him at 323.646.4118 or email him at info@runawayfilmworx.com