[an error occurred while processing the directive] [an error occurred while processing the directive]
[an error occurred while processing the directive]

Photo of the OFTB banner, 53rd Street, Manhattan
News Archives

Mayor's Film Office and Apollo Theater Host Free Panel for Students on Careers in Entertainment Production


Pictured from Left: Jamal Joseph, Warrington Hudlin, Monty Ross, Winsome Sinclair, Bill Toles, Shari Carpenter, and Jono Oliver.

October 28, 2006 - On Saturday, October 28, the New York City Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting, in conjunction with the Center for Communication and the Apollo Theater Foundation, presented a panel discussion titled “Careers in Entertainment Production: Paths to Opportunity” at the World Famous Apollo Theater in Harlem. The panel is the first in a series of events designed to educate New Yorkers with diverse backgrounds about careers in entertainment production. Industry insiders spoke to students and aspiring filmmakers about breaking into and working in New York City’s entertainment production industry. The panel was free and featured speakers with extensive backgrounds in the entertainment community.

The panelists included Shari Carpenter, script supervisor of films including Clockers and Inside Man, and writer, producer, and director of Kali’s Vibe and Building Girl; Warrington Hudlin, producer of films including House Party and Boomerang and President of the Black Filmmaker Foundation; Jono Oliver, First Assistant Director of films and television shows including "Love Monkey" and Brown Sugar; Monty Ross, producer of films including Clockers and Mo’ Better Blues; Winsome Sinclair, casting director of films including Inside Man and She Hate Me; and Bill Toles, Composer of the "American Masters" series. Prior to the panel, Commissioner Katherine Oliver interviewed "Law & Order" star Jesse L. Martin, touching on Martin’s beginnings in theatre and his experience working in the New York City entertainment industry. The panel was moderated by professor Jamal Joseph, Acting Chair of Columbia University’s Graduate Film Division.

“Our local entertainment production industry employs 100,000 New Yorkers and contributes $5 billion to our economy on an annual basis,” Commissioner Oliver said. “As we attract new production business to the City and create new jobs through the ‘Made in NY’ incentive program, we are working to ensure that a diverse group of New Yorkers have access to these positions, through programs such as this panel, the City’s diversity task force and our Production Assistant Training Program: a series of free, full-time, month-long training programs developed with Brooklyn Workforce Innovations.”

Special thanks to the Apollo Theater for hosting the event. Stay tuned to www.nyc.gov/film for information on upcoming career events, and www.apollotheater.com for information about future career seminars at that venue.
[an error occurred while processing the directive]
[an error occurred while processing the directive]