-FUTURE

» The Aunt Bea Memorial Benefit

Kevin Epps in association with The Hip-Hop Film Fest presents an upcoming benefit in honor of the late Julia Middleton, affectionately known as "Aunt Bea" by all whose lives were touched by her care and concern. The festival is a fund-raiser to benefit the Hunters Point Youth Park Foundation and to continue the legacy that Aunt Bea left behind. For award-winning filmmaker, Kevin Epps (Straight Outta Hunters Point) the loss of this extraordinary woman is personal. Epps was directly affected by her positive influence and empowerment. In this impoverished community the "park" served as a safe haven away from the streets and broadened Epps' childhood horizons.

"Growing up in the 'hood did not present opportunities to visit national parks, go on camping trips, attend museums, play in the snow, and other various recreational outings," said Epps. "The events thatAunt Bea and the Park made available to us were not those we could have
accessed on our own. To leave the 'hood and experience other realities was dramatically mind changing,leaving the imagination open to infinite possibilities."

Due to severe budget cuts and the absence of summer schools and youth jobs, a violent and bloody summer is in the making. In an effort to prevent what could possibly be a crisis in Hunters Point, Epps is committed to raising funds and providing outlets for youth energy and creativity.

"By any means necessary, I will attempt to preserve and continue Aunt Bea's legacy in Hunters Point. The way that Aunt Bea's life affected mine is invaluable. Her life has unquestionably affected the lives of those children whom she has come into contact with, that have lost
their fathers, my comrades, through senseless violence."

The festival is a two-part event. The first part of the festival will be held on June 23-25 at the Roxie Cinema located at 3117 16th St. in San Francisco, CA. The second part of the festival will be held on July 14-17 at the Black Box Theatre located at 1928 Telegraph Ave. in Oakland, CA.

Anyone who wishes to donate in-kind or monetary gifts may contact:

"Aunt Marion"- Executive Director of HPYPF
200 Middle Point Rd. San Francisco, CA 94124
(415) 285.1416

Kevin Epps- Co-founder- Hip-Hop Film Festival
(415) 225.1583
E-mail: info@mastamind.com
www.mastamind.com

Donations of working equipment, cameras, computers, educational materials, volunteered time etc. are greatly needed and appreciated.

» THE HIP HOP FILM FEST

» 30$ FILM SCHOOL
Kevin Epps is featured in the new book "$30 Film School" a new guidebook that lays out a methodology to produce your own indie film.
You may order this book on sale for approx $21.00 at Amazon.com and other stores.

» DISTRUBTION NEWS
Epps has entered into an agreement with Windline Films & Zealot Pictures to distribute Straight Outta Hunters Point in the European market.
A 35 mm print of the film is in production for theatrical use. They are also planning a DVD release.
Epps is also working on several new film projects simultaneously. Lately he has taken the film around whenever he gets a chance to campuses, community groups and elsewhere. Some of the most recent events, screenings, forums, Q & A's, and media appearances are documented below.

PAST

Director Kevin Epps traveled with The Hip Hop Film Fest & rolled through Honolulu Hawaii & Portland Oregon in early December 2002. Straight Outta Hunters Point received positive reviews & mentions in the Honolulu Star Advertiser, Willamette Weekly and elsewhere while screening four times, to over 500 people.
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In late November 2002 Kevin Epps screened "S.O.H.P" twice for the Community College Humanities Association Conference at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco.
As part of the program "Rewriting the City: Complex Histories-Contested Memories"
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Kevin was part of the Rap & Revolution Panel Nov 16th at UC Berkeley as part of the National Conference on Civil Liberties, Democratic Rights and the Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. He appeared along with Rashidi ( Company of Prophets) , devorah major, (poet laureate of San Francisco), and several others. Epps talked about how videogames, like Grand Theft Auto, are programming youngstas to be violent and act “mainy” later on in their lives.
Read more about this event held at UC's Dwinelle Hall here in SF Bayview
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Kevin and his film were recently part of a panel in Claremont CA's Pitzer College
on Wednesday November 20th
w/ Amde (Watts Prophets) Umar Bin Hassan (Last Poets) Fidel Rodriguez (Seditious Beats Radio) and HB (hip hop activist)
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After the Pitzer event Kevin interviewed Umar Bin Hassan for an ongoing future film project and boarded a Greyhound to return to San Francisco, CA
on Friday November 22
where his film screened twice as part of the Community College Humanities Association Conference
at the swank Westin St. Francis Hotel
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On Sat Nov 3rd, Kevin Epps brought SOHP to
Log Cabin Boys Ranch - Youth Detention Facility
La Honda , California
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San Jose Hip Hop Film Fest
screened several times Thursday Oct 24th thru Sun Oct 27th at Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana & Towne 3
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Kevin visited SF City College Friday Oct 18th for a 3:00 p.m free screening.
Conlan Rm 101 - was packed classroom w/ approx 80-100 people
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Hip Hop Film Fest Santa Cruz - Oct 12th & 13th
S.O.H.P soundtrack artist, KPFA DJ and known Victim of The Rap Game T-Kash of The Coup performed in Santa Cruz w/ Jymini, Kev Kelly, Mario and several other rappers Saturday Oct 12th after Straight Outta Hunters Point...
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Straight Outta Hunters Point opened up the Hip Hop Film Fest @ Duke University - Griffith Thrater West Campus
NC Hip Hop Film Fest Opening Night Mon Sept 16th 2002 Durham, NC, followed by screenings at The Durham Armory and NC Central University. Click the image to read a story by David Fellerath, just one of the articles that appeared that week.
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Woodstock Film Festival
SOHP screened Sat Sept 21 @ 7:15 p.m
Woodstock N.Y.
S.O.H.P editor Josh Callaghan was present woodstockfilmfestival.com
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Kevin has recently appeared on KFOG radio in SF on Aug 27th at 10:00 a.m, plus other interviews with several college and public radio stations including KPOO, KUSF, KZSU, KZSC, WXDU, KQED etc.
Recent television appearances by Kevin Epps have included a live remote from The Hip Hop Film Fest on WB 22 in Raleigh NC, an interview for the nationally syndicated program Hip Hop Nation, as well as the SF Bay Area KBHK TV show 'Black Renaissance,' with Brenda Wade and Dr. Ahimsa Sumchai that aired on Monday September 9, at 9:30 a.m
The next day on Sept. 10 he appeared at 6:30 p.m for The Commonwealth Club's "Voices of Hunters Point Forum" with Willie Ratcliff, Jamal Modica, Gaylon Logan and Dr. Sumchai and others from HP.
Commonwealth Club
Tues Sept 10th 2002
San Francisco, CA
VOICES OF HUNTERS POINT FORUM
6:30 p.m., Check-in | 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m., Screening and Panel | Club Office, 595 Market St, 2nd floor, San Francisco | free admission | Directions to the Club.
Panel Discussion & Film Screening With:
KEVIN EPPS, Filmmaker, Straight Outta Hunters Point
DR. AHIMSA SUMCHAI, Bayview Community Advocate; California State Legislature's Woman of the Year, 1990; Member, Doctors for Social Responsibility
WILLIE RATCLIFF, Editor, SF Bay View Newspaper
JAMAL MODICA, First Black Commissioner, on SF Board of Animal Care and Control Board; Founder, Tough House Pitbull Outreach Project
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The Hip Hop Film Fest & Black August Media Forum.
- A Fundraiser for The San Francisco Bay View Newspaper -
This event went down Saturday & Sunday - Aug 17th & 18th @ SomARTS Center in SF.
In addition to great indie films and impromptu performances from many rap and spoken word artists like T-Kash of The Coup, Jymini, 7th Generation, The F.U.G.I.T.I.V.E.S, and Natural Blackness, the Fest also held awareness building dialogue with local alternative media panelists. Among the speakers were Kiilu Nyasha of KPOO, Joy Moore of KPFA, Tiny of Poor Magazine, Andrew Sullivan of Green Cine, Eric K. Arnold of The Source, J.R of SF Bay View, and several others. A few hundred folx stopped by that weekend to enjoy the vibe and suck up some some Hot BBQ Chicken & Fish, as well as Homemade Louisiana Style Seafood & Sausage Gumbo in the courtyard.
Kev's mom held down the food offering table, Mike Dingle & Renee' Yanez of Somarts helped with facility, and Kevin helped host and registered the emotional and political impact. Among those spotted in da house were Bay Guardian publisher Bruce Brugmann, Democratic Assembly candidate Mark Leno, SF Public Defender Jeff Adachi, Local Activist James Tracy, plus reps from KPFA, Hip Hop Network, Solidarity Records, San Francisco Reader, The SF Late Night Coalition, Commonwealth Club, and many more.
The proceeds were directed to helping out the venerable, yet financially troubled SF Bay View newspaper, one of the last remaining black owned
newspapers in San Francisco.
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In Late July 2002, the film toured the southwestern hubs of El Paso TX and Albuquerque NM as part of the Hip Hop Film Fest. Assisted through the efforts of regional contacts like Maggie Herrera of El Paso's Bridge Center for Contemporary Art, Keith of Basement Films, and filmmaker Josiah O'Neil of The Glass Pool Incident, a crew of filmmakers traveled to present over a week of screenings split between the two cities. The Guild Cinema in Albuquerque hosted the event there, and Transmission magazine, Gecko's gallery & Grill, Bow Wow records and KRQE morning news anchor Bill Wood were among those who gave the event some much appreciated support.
Among the many films screened included Bob Bryan's "Graffiti Verite' ", Dave Greboe's "The Homeboy" , Adam Hollander's Rap Crimes as well as Kevin Fitzgerald's Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme . A complete schedule of these past events is still available posted online at hiphopfilmfest.com
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On July 7th 2002 , Straight Outta Hunters Point was in the urban heart of Oakland after a few semi-vacation screenings in Santa Cruz and the Sonoma Wine Country. Oakland's Parkway Theater sold out within 15 minutes of tickets going onsale as the inaugural version of The Hip Hop Film Fest was held. This initial event of the Hip Hop Film Fest, was well received and an indicator that bodes well for the collective of filmmakers involved. Created as a touring event to showcase unique and powerful films from da underground, look for it to evolve as it travels around.
Other films that screened that day included Street Legends about the Mystik Journeymen/ Living Legends Crew and Voice of The Voiceless, featuring Hip Hop artists and others discussing the impact of the movement to support Mumia Abu Jamal's pursuit of a new trial.
The next day at The Rafael Film Center, a post-film Q& A turned tearful as Epps' emotionally resonant film sank in. Following this screening at the state of the art Rafael, Epps kept it real as he appeared on a panel speaking before Marin youths the next day with reps from Pixar and Universal.
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The documentary, now seen by multiple thousands of people, has recently completed several indie theatrical runs in Northern California. These varied from small rural communities to lively seaside college towns, and densely populated urban areas. Screenings have been well attended no matter the size of the community, with many sell outs along the way.
The Raven Cinema in Healdsburg (pop 9,800) screened the flick for three days in June, building word of mouth momentum each day until it was SRO on the last night.
One day screenings in San Rafael and Santa Cruz occurred as well as weeklong Bay Area runs May 10th - 17th at the Fine Arts Cinema in Berkeley Ca, followed by 5 consecutive days of multiple sold out screenings at San Francisco's Red Vic. These were back by popular demand events after selling out several shows back in February at both theaters.
In early June, Straight Outta Hunters Point also showed in Philadelphia as part of the 2002 Lost Film Fest. and is scheduled to screen as a special feature during several other film festivals in the coming months.
The Santa Cruz debut of the film June 23rd was a successful grassroots effort, featuring a flurry of last minute face to face promotional flyering By Kevin Epps with T-Kash of The Coup and Lil' Mike helping out. They arrived on the day of the screening and chatted up the populace at busy downtown intersections, bringing about 150 folks out on a Sunday evening with little advance notice. The operators of the 600+ seat Rio Theater in Santa Cruz have indicated they will definitely have the film back this fall as part of The Hip Hop Film Fest. (Santa Cruz dates Oct 13 & 14) . The Sentinel and Alarm newspapers, as ell as other local media are already interested in covering the event.
The summer is heating up, with more screenings to be announced for July and August. One exciting development at Mastamind.com is the debut of the new touring Hip Hop Film Fest, of which Straight Outta Hunters Point will be one of the featured films.
This touring festival started it's run in Albuquerque on July 26th...and after screenings there for a week or possibly more, it moves on, coming for 3 days in the SF Bay Area this August ...see the official website for more info go to hiphopfilmfest.com

*BEFORE PASTBack (Pictures at http://www.mastamind.com/newsarc1.htm)
During the spring of 2002, Kevin Epps was featured in interviews for print publications and broadcast media ranging from KUSF, KPFA & KZSC radio to The Berkeley Daily Planet, and The-Alarm in Santa Cruz. Local television news media jumped on the story and aired features on KNTV NBC 3 & KPIX CBS 5. Later in June Kev was featured in an interview with Fox TV 2.
stay tuned for some streaming video files encoded & posted soon...
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S.O.H.P made it's Los Angeles debut Thursday May 9th @ UCLA as part of the World Fest. The invitation came at the behest of UCLA's Cultural Affairs Commission. Hunters Point was in the house... Graduating senior Yenny Yi, a determined and resourceful organizer of events and activities on campus, helped through travails and tribulations and proved to be one student that the hallowed halls of UCLA will sorely miss. Shout out to the UCLA students that picked up soundtrack CD's and another to those from L.A's Excelsior High School that came down to the Ackerman Union Grand Ballroom for the screening and Q&A. Outside the building, Seditious Beat Junkie turntablist D.J Icy welcomed folks to the diversity festival with his funky Filipino beats. Just prior to the screening Kevin and young H.P rapper Mario took a moment with da bling bling coated Mr. T, who was also making the scene.
Mario, Mr. T, Y2K @ UCLA May 9th 2002
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Confessions of a Burning Man
A 10 min. trailer of this new movie produced by Jonathan Miller & Paul Barnett is currently playing in selected locations. The film is still being financed but features Kevin Epps, as well as Anna Getty, and a couple other neophytes who are dropped into the heat and heart of the 2001 Burning Man Festival.
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Kevin Epps appeared on a panel discussing Media and Business at The Hip Hop & Beyond Conference at U.C Berkeley on April 26th. Among the members of the panel Kevin was on were Source Magazine editor P. Frank Williams, and notable elder, author & teacher Ishmael Reed, who got upset at the direction of the discussion and left early. The Conference was put on by the U.C Berkeley African American Studies Department and featured other special guests including Umar Bin Hassan of the Last Poets, Paris, Bakari Kitwana, Professor Griff, Pam the Funktress of The Coup, and Ricky Vincent. On Saturday Epps had a special screening along with the debut of a new documentary film called Black Picket Fence out of N.Y.C, as well as Scratch. For a review of the event see: Pop Matters article by Mark Anthony Neal.
Straight Outta Hunters Point director Kevin Epps was featured on the front page of the SF Examiner on Friday March 6th. He was interviewed for the weekend Q & A feature...read it by clicking here
Epps appeared along with several others at a community forum aired by KPFA on March 2nd. It concerned outrage in Hunter's Point over police racism, brutality, and abuses of power observed in a recent youth beating and arrest incident in late January. Poor News Network wrote up the event as did The SF Bayview newspaper.
Among the horror stories circulated is that while police bloodied an unarmed 14 year old, they told a parent asking why the were doing so," As long as you people are here, we'll act this way."
Since these accusations of violence perpetrated by the police over the MLK holiday are being ignored by the S.F.P.D, the community is seeking support from the outside world... Wille Ratcliff of the SF Bayview newspaper said "The Martin Luther King Day incident demonstrates an official policy of terrorism. What else can you call it when police beat children in front of their parents and threaten to shoot any of the family and neighbors who question their right to do so."
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In March 2002 The Straight Outta Hunters Point Soundtrack CD Vol. 1 entered it's 2nd pressing. With positive reviews in mags like Showcase, The SF Bay Guardian and a Best of 2001 mention in Murder Dog, the disc is building momentum at retail and through airplay. You can listen to MP3 samples or order a copy through this link.
The soundtrack CD featuring exclusive appearances from RBL Posse, Feddy, Herm Lewis, Baby Finsta and more has entered into a distribution arrangement with the Bay Area's esteemed indie distributor Revolver / MidHeaven. For wholesale inquiries, interested distributors and retailers can contact Revolver Distribution by email or via Fax @ 415 241 2421.
The first video from the soundtrack, directed by Kevin Epps for the title track featuring Baby Finsta, Alias, Toe Tagger, Hitman and Black C of RBL Posse is called "Straight Outta Hunters Point" and is expected to drop anyday now...so stay tuned...
we'll have a streaming preview up soon...
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During late 2001 and early 2002 S.O.H.P continued to garner attention at showcases around the U.S including screenings in Santa Fe NM at The Santa Fe Film Fest and in Park City UT during Sundance.
In February director Kevin Epps had several high profile sold out shows around the San Francisco Bay Area. The film had lines down the block on Haight Street for four consecutive sold out showcases at The Red Vic on Feb 6 & 7. The shows benefited the Hunters Point Youth Park Foundation and the Helping Hands Foundation, as well as the Red Vic , the Bay Area's only collectively run cinema. Before the Red Vic screenings a 10 minute trailer was shown for the new film Confessions of A Burning Man directed by Unsu Lee of Hotbed Media. The film is a documentary featuring Kevin Epps, Anna Getty and other artists shot at Burning Man 2001. We'll have more details on that projects it emerges.
At The Fine Arts Cinema in Berkeley Epps rented the house for two sold out shows Feb 23rd & 24th. Both days "American Exile" opened the program, a film edited by U.C film students in Berkeley that Epps had first seen in Santa Fe. It featured the story of former 60's Black Panther leader/fugitive Pete O'Neal now 60 & running a community center for Tanzanian youth.
Before Saturday's showcase the SOHP crew aired a 4 minute trailer for fellow indie filmmaker Michael Dean's upcoming indie documentary D.I.Y or Die that seemed win the crowd over. SOHP editor Josh Callaghan is seen here advising Dean during Sundance in Utah. Catch D.I.Y or Die SAT. 4/13 at A.T.A
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Continuing in Educational Outreach mode, Epps has taken his film into various environments including several schools. February saw the film screened for students under the auspices of Professor Judith Thorn @ Santa Rosa Jr. College. Thorn has delivered papers and seminar speeches on subjects such as Hip Hop America: The Truly Intercultural Phenomena and brought in Epps to speak with over a hundred interested students.
An event on Feb 20th at The Naropa Institute's University of Creation Spirituality in Oakland saw Epps participate in a screening co-sponsored by The Black Dot Collective. The next day @ the Prescott-Joseph Center for Community Enhancement in Oakland a community meeting was held to address the many issues brought up by the film.
Epps gave a private screening at his former high school McAteer attended by a few dozen teachers and administrators in late February. Although the student body is 75% African American students from HP, the teachers were mostly white and many left before the end of the hour long film. Those who stayed were touched by the film and some apologized for the attention span of their colleagues. The McAteer high school is scheduled to be closed by the inefficient and internally corrupt SFUSD which will further disrupt the lives of HP youth. Hearings were held on the matter, the student population of over 750 kids will be split up amidst an uncertain educational future.
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Straight Outta Hunters Point, made an initially strong debut as part of the San Francisco Black Film Festival and won the audience choice award in June 2001. It was also well received at an August 2001 screening at the Bayview Opera House in Hunter's Point. Media coverage of the film included the SF Chronicle newspaper and other news outlets.
In November of 2001, Epps won an SF Bay Guardian "Goldie Award"as an outstanding local artist. Also in November, at San Francisco's historic Castro Theater, SOHP Played to a sold out crowd with the debut of Q-Bert's "Wavetwisters" all part of the Film Arts Foundation's Independent Cinema Festival.