Picking up where I last left off in this effort… first, a quick recap…

In an effort to ensure that we are covering black cinema (black filmmakers, black performers, etc) as broadly as we can, about 1 1/2 months ago, I made several requests on the S&A Twitter and Facebook pages, asking our fans and followers to contact me directly if they are filmmakers with projects in the works, regardless of what stage.

It took a few notices, but eventually, the replies started trickling in. And I started going through all the emails I received just a couple of weeks ago, replying to those who responded, encouraging them to keep me informed of their progress, so that we can cover them on the site. If you haven’t received an email reply from me yet, it’s either in your junk mail folder, or I haven’t sent you one, but will soon!

I’ve been gradually featuring those who do have projects to feature, so that the rest of you can get to know these folks who we’ve never written about before, check out samples of their work, and maybe you will, or you won’t care for what you see. Either way, I’m just glad that some folks actually were courageous enough to reply to my initial query, especially given the perceived reputation our beloved site (and its readers) has 🙂

Today’s filmmaker profile is Garry Bowden, a young director originally from Atlanta, who currently splits time between the ATL and San Francisco, working on projects.

His most recent effort is a short film titled Saturn Rising, which centers on a young lady who faces life changes when she finds out she’s unexpectedly pregnant. Gary was able to fund the $10,000 project via a successful 25-day Kickstarter campaign!

Garry tells me that he’s currently working on a documentary about the Atlanta Arts scene.

In the meantime, check out a recent video interview with Garry below, in which he talks about Saturn Rising, as well as his approach to cinema, and then, underneath that, watch the 11-minute short film:

And here’s the 11-minute Saturn Rising: