SAN FRANCISCO BLACK FILM FESTIVAL COMEDY NIGHT

How To Make It In Hollywood *While Being Black | 5:00 PM - 5:05 PM
In the dazzling realm of Los Angeles, "How to make it in Hollywood, while being black" is a short animated film that humorously addresses the challenges faced by young Black Americans aspiring to conquer the movie & tv biz. While dreaming of shattering the cultural glass ceiling that often casts shadows on their journey to success.
Director Biography - Lawrence Jones
Nestled in the heart of Los Angeles for 22 years, I've been weaving tales that resonate across various platforms, igniting fan engagement with an innate understanding of ever-evolving creative trends.

i am a gotdamn comedy writer | 5:05 PM - 5:20 PM
A (new) comedy writer experiences early career heights; when the newfound success goes to his head, his wife sends him to a therapist in a last ditch effort to save their marriage.
Director Biography - Brian Lucear
Brian Lucear is a filmmaker and entertainment/media profes- sional from Lithonia, GA. He is a graduate of The University of Georgia with a B.A. in Entertainment and Media Studies and a Minor in Film Studies.
Following graduation, Brian entered the entertainment & media industry by producing and shooting digital media content under his companies 2115 Productions and Neighborhood Media Group. In addition to digital media, Brian also garnered on-set produc- tion experience, having worked on “P-Valley” for Starz and “Tyler Perry’s A Madea Homecoming” for Netflix.
As an independent filmmaker, Brian directed the live-action short film “Love Shot,” which won the “Georgia Spotlight Award” at the 2021 Up Next Film Festival. He is currently in development of his next live-action short, as well as a digital web-series.

The Flacalta Effect | 5:20 - 5:30
After a drug with anti-aging properties has apocalyptic consequences, two Black sisters fight for their lives—and looks—in this satirical take on toxic beauty culture.
Director Biography - Rochée Jeffrey
Rochée Jeffrey is a multi-hyphenate who’s been winning awards for screenwriting and directing since she was a student at Howard University. Once she discovered her superpower for using comedy to make people laugh, think and connect, she never looked back!

Rochée is a graduate of the 2022 WGA Showrunner Training Program. As a TV writer, her credits include Golden Globe-nominated comedy series SMILF (Showtime), WOKE (Hulu), and Co-EP of grown-ish (Freeform). On the film side, she has had projects screen at several festivals around the world, including Austin Film Festival, Palm Springs ShortFest and the American Black Film Festival. Her feature, NOT YOUR AVERAGE QUEEN, was selected for the 2021 WIF/Sundance Financing Intensive and is executive produced by feminist icon, Roxane Gay, Christine Vachon and Valerie Steinberg. As a Film Independent Project Involve Fellow, she wrote the Oscar-qualifying short film Suitable, which premiered on HBO. A skilled storyteller across platforms, she also co-created, co-wrote, and directed NAACP Image Award-winning narrative podcast series YES WE CANNABIS for Audible (starring Sam Richardson, Method Man and Richard Kind).

Rochée hails from Jamaica and lives in Los Angeles. As a performer, you can find her on stand-up comedy stages around town and in short films like BALDWIN BEAUTY, which premiered at Sundance in 2020. She’s represented by IAG and Tantrum Management.

THE WORD | 5:30 - 5:40
In THE WORD, billionaires decide to give African American's reparations for slavery...bit there's a catch.
Director Biography - Rob M Neilson
Rob fled his homeland of NYC upon Mike Bloomberg banning 72oz mountain dew's and landed in Houston Texas with the aim to gain employment as a sweaty southern lawyer.

Lacking any credentials to do so, he instead founded his production company Savage Henry Films. When not producing propaganda for large corporations he works as a freelance DP, enjoys writing "Who's the Boss" fan fiction, and educating his daughter in the ways of the Bene Gesserit.

Comedic Act JAY RICH! | 5:30 PM - 6:20 PM
Comedian Jay Rich hails from Oakland California. Climbing the ranks in the bay area comedy scene lead Jay Rich a position as a Host For the dream team Morning show on 102.9 KBLX. Scored a featuring position on the road with the Late great Paul Mooney and Became a finalist in the Bay Area black comedy competition and the Shaq ALL-star competition and 1st place Tommy T’s 10k comp.
over 1 million views on his Instagram reels and over 200,000 views on his stand-up comedy clips on YouTube
Jay rich comedy has a high energy story telling and observational style of comedy. A real down to earth kind of guy.

Director Biography - Britt Williams | 6:30 PM - 6:50 PM
Britt Williams is a writer/director based in Los Angeles. She is currently a Deutsche Bank Frieze Los Angeles Film Award fellow. Her work uses humor to explore black characters who are suddenly confronted with their own internal contradictions. She’s deeply interested in themes of community, femininity, and narratives of black progress. While at the AFI Conservatory, she directed five short films and crewed on over 10 films.
Prior to attending AFI, she received her bachelor's degree in Biological Chemistry at the University of Chicago.

HONEST FLUFF | 6:50 PM - 7:05 PM
Inspired by True Events - A PERPETUAL PEOPLE-PLEASER MUST COME TO TERMS WITH THE FINE LINE BETWEEN TACTLESS BOSSES, FREELOADING FUCK BUDDIES AND THE HONEST TRUTH OF TAKING ACTION AND GETTING THE LIFE YOU DESERVE.
Director Biography - Sherean Jones
Sherean Jones is a self-proclaimed black, full-figured comedy writer committed to creating art that amplifies marginalized people whose stories are sometimes underserved or completely erased through negative stereotypes in filmmaking. Growing up in the city of Brotherly Love, Sherean developed her sense of humor people watching on the Philadelphia SEPTA train and 90’s black sitcoms. Raised by reruns of Living Single and hard-working women, Sherean knew she’d grow up to either be just like her strong-willed, fashion-forward Grandma Janet or Khadijah James.
Accepting she couldn’t be a fierce fictional character from a 90’s sitcom, Sherean settled on writing stories about the black women who inspire her.
Sherean continued to hone her craft, writing screenplays in Second City and Script Anatomy workshops. There, she developed her raunchy, sex-positive comedy pilot How to Have Sex, which earned her a spot in the TRIBE Writing Mentorship Program and the Black Boy Writes & Black Girl Writes Mentorship initiative. Her pilot explores the messy misadventures of dating for full- figured dark-skin women. Sherean developed a universal story so women like her could feel seen.
Sherean is in her second year studying Film, Television, and Production at the University of Southern California, developing her skill sets to become a prolific writer/director. While studying at USC, Sherean recently got staffed on season 2 of Allblk’s A La Carté, a comedy show about the sex lives and relationships of black millennials living in Studio City. Sherean is proud to be a hard- working Philadelphia “Jawn,” especially when she’s explaining what her city’s colloquial term “Jawn” actually means.

AMY AND NEIL | 7:05 PM - 7:15 PM
A 90's couple comedically battles gender roles on a date.
Director Biography - Twon Marcel Pope
Twon Marcel Pope is Director/Actor/Producer hailing from Oakland, CA. After graduating Oakland School for the Arts, Twon became an acting coach for the International Performing Arts Showcase while teaching young performers in various schools & programs around the Bay Area. Twon spent two years studying at the African American Shakespeare Co, prior to moving to LA summer of 2016. Twon is a recipient of the Scenie Theatre Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role where he played CROOKS in Of Mice and Men. While acting & teaching has filled most of his early resume Twon’s most recent directing credits include: two short plays at Towne Street Theatre, which he is a proud standing member of and “Hurtin” (r&b music video); He is the founder and creative director of “A Tribe Called Melanin”, an award winning comedy & troupe that has produced over 12 comedy shows since Oct 2021.

UNKIND CUT | 7:15 PM - 7:30 PM
A vasectomy consultation goes awry as an unsure patient faces a quirky doctor and aggressive medical staff who don't want him to remain intact.
Director Biography - Marc G Pitre
Marc Pitre is an award-winning filmmaker, professor of screenwriting and production, and experienced producer with a passion for all aspects of motion picture production.

Throughout his journey as a producer and development executive, Pitre made significant contributions to major feature films in Australia, China, Thailand, Canada, England, and Croatia and had the privilege of collaborating with renowned talents such as Michelle Yeoh, Brendan Fraser, Jamie Foxx, Jet Li, Jessica Biel, and many others.

Pitre recently wrote and directed the short film "Unkind Cut,” a hilarious and thought-provoking film revolving around a vasectomy consultation that takes an unexpected turn when an unsure patient finds himself facing a quirky doctor and an aggressive medical staff determined to fix him. "Unkind Cut" is enjoying an exciting film festival journey.

DYING LAUGHING | 7:30 PM - 7:50 PM
A raunchy comedian charged with tax fraud takes a job at her dad’s mortuary to pay off her debt and develops a supernatural gift of communicating with the dead.
Director Biography - Tyler Young
Tyler Young is a journalist turned filmmaker from Greenville, SC. She earned her B.A. in Mass Communication from Winthrop University. Tyler produces documentary and narrative content, including "Gaps," a coming-of-age 2024 NAACP Image Award-nominated short film presented by Queen Latifah’s Queen Collective program in partnership with Tribeca Studios and Procter & Gamble. Tyler is a 2023 Project Involve alum at Film Independent, where she wrote the short film "Saving All My Love."

Tyler began her career at Hearst Television and became a morning news producer in Charlotte, N.C. She took a leap of faith in 2015 by leaving the newsroom and entering the documentary space. Tyler has produced historical and social justice documentaries for VICE, Prime Video, and PBS. Her credits include the 2021 Emmy and Peabody-nominated documentary film "Downing of a Flag."

Tyler’s "Body Count" screenplay is an Academy Nicholl screenwriting quarterfinalist. She is also a former TV Series fellow at The Gotham. Tyler's directorial debut is "Dying Laughing," a proof-of-concept short film about her upbringing in the mortuary business.

Host or Publisher San Francisco Black Film Festival