UWM: Iverson White casting new film

MILWAUKEE—Iverson White, UWM associate professor of film, is casting for a new film that begins shooting this spring. The film is funded through White’s Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowship for Individual Artists. White received a $15,000 fellowship in the “Established Artist” category.

“I’ll be shooting this new short film during the last week in May or the first week in June 2009,” says White. The shoot is expected to take five days and the actors will be compensated.

The lead characters are an African-American woman and man who age from 23 and 25 to 29 and 31 respectively during the course of the story. “I also need featured extras, including a newborn African-American baby, a 6-year-old African-American girl and twin male African-American toddlers. I also need African-American seniors 50-60, and several actors for atmosphere,” says White.

To schedule an interview, actors should send resumes and current photos to: Assoc. Prof. Iverson White, UWM Film Dept., Mitchell Hall, 3203 N. Downer Ave., Room B70, Milwaukee, WI, 53211.

Funded by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Mary L. Nohl Fund and administered by the UWM Peck School of the Arts in collaboration with Visual Arts Milwaukee! (VAM!), the Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowships for Individual Artists provide unrestricted funds for artists to create new work or complete work in progress. The program is open to practicing artists residing in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties. The Mary L. Nohl Fund also supports a Suitcase Fund for exporting work by local artists beyond the four-county metro area.

White’s latest film, “Self-Determination,” was completed in 2008. It has screened at the Pan-African Film Festival, the San Diego Black Film Festival and at UWM. White received a National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1987 to make “Magic Love,” and a Rockefeller Fellowship in 1992 to make “The Johnson Girls.” He has been on the faculty at UWM since 1987.

White is a native of Detroit, Mich. While attending Cass Technical High School’s Performing Arts program, he joined playwright Ron Milner’s Spirit of Shango Theater Co. White attended Wayne State University, where he acted in local productions, was a delegate to the Second World Festival of Black and African Arts and Culture in Lagos, Nigeria (1977), published several volumes of poetry and produced “Oracy,” an LP album of poetry and music with longtime collaborator Kamau Kenyatta. “Oracy” was re-released as a CD in 2005.

After graduating from WSU with a degree in mass communications, White joined the Graduate Repertory Company at the University of New Orleans (1980-81) before transferring to UCLA’s film school. At UCLA he received the Donald Davis and Jack Nicholson awards for screenwriting in 1982 and 1983. In 1985 he produced “Dark Exodus,” a short film that has been screened on PBS, the Southern Circuit Film Tour, and in national and international film festivals. “Dark Exodus” has received several major awards, including the Dore Schary Award from B’nai B’rith, the Paul Robeson Award from the Newark Museum, the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame Award and the Prized Pieces Award.