The 2010 Tribeca All Access Jurors will review and select the Tribeca All Access Creative Promise Award winners from the filmmakers and their projects in development in this year's program. Learn more about the jury, which includes Anthony Anderson, Rebecca Cammisa, John Cho, Sarita Choudhury, Linda Goode Bryant, Kadeem Hardison, Hill Harper, Michael Kang, Soledad O'Brien, Anika Noni Rose, Victoria Rowell, Kelly Rutherford.
Anthony Anderson
Anthony Anderson’s performance on Law & Order earned him his second consecutive NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series in 2008. Before joining Law & Order, Anderson starred in the New Orleans-based drama K-Ville. He has displayed his bountiful talent in the DreamWorks’ Transformers as well as The Departed, alongside a stellar cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson. Anderson also appears in the feature film Back-Up Plan, starring Jennifer Lopez and Alex O'Loughlin. He first gained attention as one of Jim Carrey’s sons in Me, Myself, and Irene and has subsequently appeared in such films as Scary Movie 3, Barbershop, Kangaroo Jack, Exit Wounds, Cradle 2 the Grave, Two Can Play That Game, and Malibu’s Most Wanted. He has starred opposite Eddie Griffin and Michael Imperioli in My Baby’s Daddy and opposite Frankie Muniz in Agent Cody Banks 2. Anderson appeared in the police-drama television series, The Shield opposite Michael Chiklis and Glenn Close. Anderson brought his talent and humor to the small screen in his own WB sitcom All About the Andersons, which was loosely based on his life.
Rebecca Cammisa
Rebecca Cammisa is the Oscar nominated director and producer of the feature documentary film, Which Way Home. The film, which also received a 2010 Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Documentary Film, aired on HBO in 2009. In 2003, Cammisa founded Documentress Films and has been the recipient of many awards, nominations, and grants including two Sundance Documentary Fund Grants, and a Fulbright Fellowship to Mexico for Filmmaking. Rebecca co-directed, co-produced, and shot the feature documentary, Sister Helen, which won the 2002 Sundance Film Festival's Documentary Directing Award, and was nominated for both an Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Film Award from the Directors Guild of America, and a News and Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Programming.
John Cho
John Cho first started catching people’s attention in the 1999 breakthrough hit comedy, American Pie, in which he popularized the slang term, “MILF.” Next, he achieved near-household name status starring as ‘Harold Lee’ in the cult comedies, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle and Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. Cho was last seen starring opposite Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine in J.J. Abrams's Star Trek. He was also recently seen in ABC's hit drama series Flash Forward. His additional film credits include the Weitz Bros’ American Dreamz, starring alongside Willem Dafoe and Hugh Grant, Better Luck Tomorrow, the American Pie series, Pavilion of Women, Steven Soderbergh’s Solaris and the Best Picture Oscar winner, American Beauty. In addition to numerous guest roles on television, he was a series regular on Off Centre and had a recurring role on the last season of Kitchen Confidential. Born in Seoul, Korea, and raised in Los Angeles, California, Cho began acting while studying English literature at the University of California, Berkeley. He toured with his first show, The Woman Warrior, an adaptation of the renowned memoir by Maxine Kingston, across the country.
Sarita Choudhury
Sarita Choudhury was most recently seen in Sona Jain’s For Real, and the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival selection Entre Nos. Choudhury made her film debut as the love interest to Denzel Washington’s character in Mississippi Masala. Other films include The Accidental Husband, Lady In The Water, and the Independent Spirit Award nominee, The War Within. Choudhury’s performance as the queen in Mira Nair’s controversial film Kama Sutra captured the attention of many critics who took notice of her exotic beauty and depth of emotion. Other film credits include She Hate Me, Rhythm Of The Saints, 3 A.M., Still A Kiss, Wild West, High Art, The House of the Spirits, Gloria, and A Perfect Murder. On television, Choudhury has had recurring roles on Kings, Deadline, 100 Center Street, and Homicide. She recently filmed the pilot Possible Side Effects written and directed by Academy Award winner Tim Robbins. She has also appeared in The Good Wife, Mercy, The Philanthropist, Damages, Law & Order, Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground, and Down Came a Black Bird.
Linda Goode Bryant
Linda Goode Bryant is an award winning documentary filmmaker and experimental media artist. She co-produced and directed the Emmy nominated, Peabody Award winning feature documentary Flag Wars, which won numerous festival awards and is included in the film collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Her interest in developing new narrative structures can be seen in Time Piece, a segment she made in Can You See Me Now, an anthology of work by 12 documentary filmmakers from Turkey and America. Bryant is founder and artistic director of Active Citizen Project, which she started to explore forms of storytelling, art and media that directly change the power-balance and social conditions of urban communities. Her current project, ArtEATS uses art and media as tools for growing food in urban environments. Prior to filmmaking, Bryant was the founding director of Just Above Midtown (JAM), an interdisciplinary artists space in New York City. She is co-author of Contextures, the first historical account of African American art in the abstract continuum of American art and the author of All That She Wants: Transgressions, Appropriations and Art, an essay in Bad Girls, The New Museum of Contemporary Art.
Kadeem Hardison
Kadeem Hardison is best known for his role as the fast-talking, flip-sunglass wearing, girl-watching ‘Dwayne Wayne’ on the hit NBC Cosby Show spin-off A Different World, alongside Lisa Bonet, Jasmine Guy and Debbie Allen. The role made him an instant 90’s icon and a memorable television figure. Hardison began his acting career on the ABC After School Special, The Color of Friendship. He has appeared on the television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Living Single, Touched by an Angel and Just Shoot Me. Currently, Hardison is working on the Nickelodeon series Just For Kicks. Hardison made his motion picture debut in Stan Lathan’s Go Tell it on the Mountain and worked again with Lathan that same year in Beat Street. From there, Hardison took several comedic supporting roles in such films as Spike Lee’s School Daze, Keenen Ivory Wayans’ I'm Gonna Git You Sucka and Ron Shelton’s White Men Can’t Jump. He also co-starred alongside Eddie Murphy and Angela Bassett in Vampire in Brooklyn. Additional film credits include Cassidy Kids, Biker Boyz and Who’s Your Daddy? Hardison also appeared in Blind Faith, Renaissance Man and The Sixth Man.
Hill Harper
Hill Harper currently stars on the hit television drama CSI: NY, for which he has been recognized with three Image Awards for Best Actor in a Drama Series. He has also appeared in numerous prime-time television shows and feature films, including The Sopranos, ER, The Game, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Lackawanna Blues, He Got Game, The Skulls, In Too Deep, The Nephew, and The Visit. Harper is the author of three New York Times bestsellers: Letters to a Young Brother, Letters to a Young Sister, and The Conversation. To date his collective work has been recognized with three NAACP Image Awards: Outstanding Literary Work: Debut Author (2007) and Outstanding Literary Work: Youth/Teens (2007, 2008). He was also awarded as a National Surrogate for Obama for America in 2008. He is the founder of the Manifest Your Destiny Foundation, dedicated to empowering, encouraging, and inspiring underserved youth to succeed through mentorship and scholarship programs. Harper graduated with a B.A. from Brown University and with a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He also holds a master’s degree with honors from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Hill travels frequently as a motivational speaker and resonates with a wide range of audiences including youth, adults, and couples.
Michael Kang
Michael Kang is an independent filmmaker currently recovering from a three-year stint in L.A. His film The Motel which was produced by Miguel Arteta and Gina Kwon premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The Motel is the recipient of the Humanitas Prize. It was also nominated for Best First Feature Film by The Independent Spirit Awards. Kang was honored with a N.E.A. Artist’s Residency Grant at The MacDowell Colony. He is recipient of the Geri Ashur Award in screenwriting through the New York Foundation for the Arts. Kang also received a fellowship through the ABC / DGA New Talent Television Directing Program. His second feature film West 32nd which features John Cho and Grace Park premiered at The Tribeca Film Festival. Kang also received the Overseas Korea Filmmaker Award at the Pusan International Film Festival in 2007. Kang is currently in post-production on the film Knots written by Kimberly-Rose Wolter featuring Illeana Douglas and Sung Kang. His work on Knots also lead to him working as a guest director on the hit viral web series Easy To Assemble featuring Justine Bateman, Ed Begley Jr., Tim Meadows and David Henrie.
Soledad O'Brien
Soledad O’Brien is an anchor and special correspondent for CNN/U.S. Since joining the network in 2003, O’Brien has reported breaking news from around the globe and has produced award-winning and record-breaking documentaries on the most important stories facing the world today. O’Brien’s most recent project, Latino in America, was a wide-ranging look at Latinos living in this country. Earlier this year, O’Brien reported for Black in America 2, a documentary series focusing on successful leaders in the African-American community. For CNN’s Katrina coverage, O’Brien’s reports on the storm’s impact included an in-depth interview with former FEMA chief Michael Brown. She also covered the London terrorism attacks in July 2005, and in December 2004, she was among a handful of CNN anchors sent to Thailand to cover the disaster and aftermath of the tsunami. Her numerous other awards include a Gracie Allen Award in 2007 for her reporting from Cyprus on the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict as well as her reports from the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. The NAACP honored her with its President’s Award in 2007 for her humanitarian efforts and journalistic excellence. O’Brien is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. She is a graduate of Harvard University.
Victoria Rowell
An actress, advocate, and New York Times Bestselling author, Victoria Rowell is an icon in daytime television as the feisty ‘Drucilla Winters’ on CBS's highly-rated daytime series, The Young and the Restless. She has been nominated twice for a Daytime Emmy and awarded 12 NAACP Image Awards. She also co-starred in the television series Diagnosis Murder with Dick Van Dyke. Rowell has appeared in the feature films The Distinguished Gentlemen with Eddie Murphy, Dumb and Dumber with Jim Carrey and Eve’s Bayou, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Diahann Carroll. Recently, she returned to the big screen, opposite Samuel L. Jackson and rapper 50 Cent in Home of the Brave. Rowell as landed a part in Of Boys and Men, co-starring Robert Townsend and Angela Bassett. Rowell recently released of her new memoir, The Women Who Raised Me as well as her new documentary, The Mentor which has been making its rounds in the film festival circuit. Having spent much of her childhood in foster care, Rowell became a passionate voice for children like herself. In 1990, she founded the Rowell Foster Children's Positive Plan (RFCPP), which enriches foster children through artistic and athletic expression.
Anika Noni Rose
Anika Noni Rose was best known for her stage work but in 2006 she was seen opposite Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles, Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson in the critically acclaimed, big screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Dreamgirls. With the success of the movie, Rose was recognized with an Academy Award nomination for best original song, Patience. On the heels of Dreamgirls, Rose was cast in the original television adaptation of Gigi Levangie Grazer’s New York Times best-seller, The Starter Wife opposite Debra Messing. Before shooting The Starter Wife, Rose also had a part in the comedy feature One Part Sugar, directed by Hart Bochner and co-starring Danny DeVito and Justin Long. Rose made history by her casting as the first ever African-American princess in Disney’s The Princess and the Frog; she played and voiced ‘Princess Tiana’. Rose played ‘Makutsi’ in the late Anthony Minghella’s No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, a series produced by Harvey and Bob Weinstein for the BBC. In 2007, Rose starred on Broadway as ‘Maggie’ in the all-black cast of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opposite James Earl Jones, Terrence Howard, and Phylicia Rashad.
Kelly Rutherford
Kelly Rutherford stars on TV’s hottest show Gossip Girl, where she plays the role of ‘Lily van der Woodsen.’ Rutherford was last seen on television starring opposite Benjamin Bratt and Dennis Hopper in the Jerry Bruckheimer Series E-Ring for NBC. She also starred in the 1990’s hit series, Melrose Place for three seasons, in the Emmy and Golden Globe nominated 40’s drama, Homefront, and in the comedy, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. Her made for television movie, No Greater Love, has become a holiday classic. On film, Rutherford appeared in Scream 3, I Love Trouble with Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte, and the independent film Swimming Upstream. Kelly has also appeared in numerous short films including The Tag with Djimon Hounsou for director Peter Winther and Disturbance at Dinner, a black and white film about a blind girl who finds love by listening to her heart. Kelly is also a supporter of Step Up Women’s Network and an avid environmentalist.
