bajan brownstone productions, llc

KEY CREW AND CAST MEMBERS

 MELANIE RW ORAM (Writer/Director)

Melanie Williams Oram earned best film of the festival and best student film awards in the inaugural Juneteenth Film Festival for SHOOK. The film premiered on Showtime as a finalist in The Black Filmmaker Competition. She is a writer/director/producer. She produced the short film A-Alike which HBO licensed in 2003 for a 2-year run and which won the gold medal-narrative category at the 2004 Student Academy Award Competition. Melanie also earned an Emmy for her Associate Producer work on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel and a Peabody while working as an AP on HBO Sports’ documentary called Dare To Compete: The Struggle of Women in Sports. Currently she is shopping a feature length version of SHOOK and developing a feature film called INDELIBLE. Melanie graduated from Harvard University cum laude and earned her film MFA from Columbia University.

 

ANGELA TUCKER (Producer)

 Angela Tucker is the Associate Producer and Outreach Director for Big
Mouth Production's film, Deadline, which premiered at The 2004 Sundance
Film Festival and was broadcast on NBC.  Her film, Conversations with Id,
premiered at The Women of Color Film Festival in New York and was shown
at The Langston Hughes Film Festival.  Currently, she is developing a feature length documentary, Lo, about African-American women with bipolar disorder that has received funding from The Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media. Angela received her B.A. with Honors from Wesleyan University in Theater and African-American Studies and recently she finished her coursework for her MFA at Columbia University’s film division.

 

 RANDALL DOTTIN (Unit Production Manager)

 Randall Dottin was born and raised in Cambridge, Mass. In 1994 he graduated from Dartmouth College with a BA in Film and in 2003 he graduated from the Columbia University School of the Arts with an MFA in Film Directing. His MFA thesis film A-ALIKE has earned several awards and distinctions including: the Director's Guild of America Award for Best African American Student Filmmaker, A National Board of Review For Motion Pictures Award for Achievement in Filmmaking, a two year licensing contract with HBO/Cinemax and in 2004 he won the Gold Medal in the Narrative Category at the Student Academy Awards. He is currently writing a pilot screenplay for an MTV animated television series entitled, BPM - The Untold Story and Randall is also a member of the Fox Searchlight Pictures Program for emerging directors, the Fox Searchlab.

 

CARLOS ALMONTE (Editor/Motion Graphic Artist)

 Carlos Almonte is a 27 yr old, bi-lingual (English-Spanish) freelance editor/motion graphic artist from NYC. A graduate of School Of Visual Arts, Carlos currently teaches editing/motion graphics/DVD authoring at The New York Film Academy, and works as an editor/motion graphic artist for Showtime Networks on a regular basis. In addition, he has done work for ESPN, Oxygen, as well as countless independent producer/directors in the US as well as Ireland.

 

LILLY SCOURTIS (Production Designer)

 A UCLA alumna, Ms. Scourits began working in music video production
her senior year. In 1999 she moved to NYC to pursue an MFA in Film
Directing at Columbia University, where she has worked on numerous
projects including producing Rapunzel Goes to the Movies—a finalist
in the Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmakers Contest.  She recently
directed her first music video--a science-fiction piece called Devil
Woman from Outer Space.  For additional information on Ms. Scourtis, visit
www.desertflowerproductions.com

 

CHRISTOPHER LIBERTINO (Composer)

 Chistopher Libertino is an award winning film-music composer, guitarist and recording artist.  A graduate of Harvard University with a degree in music, Christopher has scored over 30 films including features, documentaries, and shorts.  Jessica Sharzer’s “The Wormhole” was awarded the 2002 Student Academy Award.  “Dog Days,” a short by Ellie Lee, was named Best Short Film at the 2000 Hamptons International Film Festival and “Repetition Compulsion” was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1999.  Most recently, Christopher composed the original scores for "speak," a 2003 Sundance Feature Selection starring Kristen Stewart and Steve Zahn and "My Uncle Berns," a Documentary Feature, which will air on HBO in August, 2004.

 

ROBINNE LEE (Jill) 

Robinne Lee defies categorization.  Born and raised in New York, the multiracial actress, who is of Jamaican, Chinese, English, Scottish and Arawak Indian descent, attended Yale, where she received her bachelor’s degree in psychology and then received her law degree from Columbia University.  During her initial week of law school, Robinne’s first big screen vehicle, HAV PLENTY, was picked up by Miramax.  After successfully passing the bar, Robinne left for Los Angeles and quickly booked starring roles in two studio films: USA Films’ romantic comedy DELIVER US FROM EVA, opposite L.L. Cool J and Gabrielle Union and in Columbia Pictures’ action comedy NATIONAL SECURITY, in which she starred opposite Martin Lawrence and Steve Zahn.  Most recently, Robinne was seen in Sony Pictures’ 13 GOING ON 30.  She is currently filming Sony Pictures’ romantic comedy LAST FIRST KISS, opposite Will Smith and Eva Mendes. Robinne currently resides in Los Angeles.

 

JACQUES COWART II (Charles)

Jacques Cowart II recently graduated from SUNY Purchase Acting Conservatory.
Since graduating he as appeared in a National Tour of August Wilson's
Fences, playing the part of Cory.  He has also had guest starring roles on
Law and Order and All My Children.  Some of his commercial credits include
Panasonic and State Farm Insurance were he was directed by Spike Lee. 
Jacques is very thankful for the opportunity to be apart of this project. 
God Bless You.

 

CHRISTOPHER BURRIS (Tray)

Christopher Burris is an actor, singer, director, and writer from North Carolina. He received a BA from UNC-Chapel Hill, and an MFA from UC-San Diego. His theater credits include work at the La Jolla Playhouse, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the Public Theater in New York. Television credits include "The Guiding Light,"  "One Life to Live," and the new Denis Leary series "Rescue Me."

 

DONNETTA LAVINIA GRAYS (Claire)

 

Donnetta Lavinia Grays can currently be seen in a recurring role as Officer Ramirez on NBC's "Law and Order:Special Victims Unit". She has spent the last year as a company member of the Tony Award winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival in productions of A Raisin in the Sun and The Royal Family. Other Film/Television include guest spots on "Law and Order:Criminal Intent", The Variety Clubs Show of Hearts (Vancouver, BC)  and the Emmy Award winning documentary "Where Do We Go From Here?" Other Theater includes Twelfth Night(LA Women's Shakespeare Company), Romeo and Juliet and Much Ado About Nothing (Charleston Shakespeare Project) More info at www.donnettagrays.com