Narrative drama short also stars CRYSTAL FOX (Tyler Perry’s The Haves and Have Nots), DICK GREGORY (activist/comedian), BRANDON J. DIRDEN (The Big C and Tony Award Winning All The Way), and ENOCH KING (The Watsons Go to Birmingham and “Let’s Stay Together”)
Atlanta bred Gabrielle Fulton’s Ir/Reconcilable was selected out of hundreds as a finalist along with 4 other shorts in the HBO Short Film Competition at the American Black Film Festival (ABFF) in New York City Friday, June 20th.
Karen Marie Mason, one of the producers on the film, is Caribbean! Hailing from Jamaica, Mason is no stranger to the film and music industry. Mason’s music career includes stints at Epic, Colombia Records and Elektra. While at Elektra, Mason was instrumental in promoting Super Cat’s ‘Don Dada’ album. She has since become a successful film producer, location scout/manager and music supervisor for countless films and television series — of course she has several jobs, she’s Caribbean!
“Ir/Reconcilable”, Mason’s most recent project, is an emotional family drama starring multi-talented actor, dancer, choreographer, director and star of Broadway and television, Jasmine Guy as Robye Porter, a repeat offender of emotional injury, who has to embrace the biggest challenge of her life: mustering the courage to face her family on Thanksgiving Day after years of living chained to her addiction.
Lead by a team largely comprised of Southern women and mothers, the film thematically contemplates forgiveness, shame, regret, and redemption. The film is written, produced &directed by Gabrielle Fulton, a dramatist who has worked in numerous capacities for entertainment outlets such as Warner Bros., 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, MTV Networks, BET, and Nickelodeon. The first time director obtained her MFA in Writing for the Screen & Stage at Northwestern University and her BA from Columbia University. Ir/Reconcilable is part of a vision, says Gabrielle “to create content for the stage & screen that inspires and enlightens
while more accurately reflecting the Black Community both historically and in contemporary society.”
Ir/Reconcilable reunites Guy with co-star Crystal Fox and actor/producer, Danielle Deadwyler (Creative Loafing’s Critic’s Choice for “Best Actress”, A Cross to Bear and Being Mary Jane), who worked together on Guy’s stage production of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf at Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company.
ABFF is the preeminent pipeline to new Black talent in front of and behind the camera. The HBO Short Film Competition, which has been an integral part of the festival for 15 years, is one of the most prestigious platforms for emerging filmmakers. Five finalists’ films are screened before the festival audience and each vie for a grand prize of $10,000. In addition, the films in competition will also be considered for broadcast on one of HBO’s programming services.
Written, Produced & Directed: Gabrielle Fulton
Producers: Danielle Deadwyler, Karen Marie Mason, and William Gregory Ponder
Associate Producers: Shalondra E. Henry & Sheena D. Hamer
Executive Producers: Marilyn & Myers Howard, Keishan & Dr. Tova Davis, and Dr. William & Dr. Mayola Boykin
