Chicago is known for its stunning architecture, delicious food, unforgivable winters, and the best summers of any metropolitan city. When you visit the Windy City, you're guaranteed to have a great time and want to come back for more. Other than the sights and activities that Chicago has to offer; It's also home to many industry luminaries who continue to represent Chi City's neighbourhoods, extraordinarily well. Celebrities like Common, Jason Weaver, Shonda Rhimes, Robert Townsend, Larenz Tate, and the legendary Oscar Devereaux-Micheaux have made great careers starting in the city. Similar to cities like Los Angeles and New York, Chicago has proven that it has the potential to be a place filled with creativity, originality, and entertainment.
Trending
Despite the negative narrative portrayed of the city that has taken the country by storm, such as in Spike Lee's film Chi Rak, this Midwestern gem has a lot to offer about the black experience. While so many great movies and TV shows are filmed in Chicago, there is an opportunity to showcase new-age talent and reshape the story of Chicago into a lucrative film hub.
Troy Pryor, film producer and founder of Creative Cypher, is creating a movement to highlight more creatives from the city and prove to the country that Black creatives can still be found here with amazing work to showcase. Creative Cypher is an entertainment ecosystem for creators to produce content and connect with different partners without feeling the need to ask permission from audiences. With Creative Cypher, Pryor created the XL Film Festival and Summit. XL Film Fest is an annual event where industry professionals, aspiring creatives and local talent can participate in an immersive experience around the art of storytelling. Pryor believes this event will fill the void of lack of recognition Chicago has by birthing great talent and making it a place the entertainment industry should keep an eye on.
“One of the things I really appreciate is that a lot of the people on steroids come from Chicago. Some have moved away for one reason or another, and this (XL Film Fest) provides a way for them to come back. When I thought about the idea, I realized there had to be some opportunity.” There had to be a real experience for the creators that we were supporting in our ecosystem. We were actually helping them bring their projects to life, and then helping them get into other festivals.” But it's like outside of the project being shown in the movie theater, it's the rest of the experience It didn’t have the kind of programming that we thought was compatible with what we were all doing,” Pryor said.
He continued: “We said, if we're going to support these creatives, and support their journey and their process, we want to be a part of it on the festival side as well, helping them showcase their work. Instead of just putting something in the theater, what about things like mixers and round tables and all that stuff?” Which we knew was dope, we didn't see that in these other places, so, the only way to do it was to launch our own festival versus asking permission from someone else.
The XL Film Festival is a three-day event hosted in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood on the South Side with the goal of accelerating excellence in storytelling. Attendees can watch exclusive film screenings, participate in panel discussions, attend workshops, and support participating local Black-owned restaurants with delicious discounted meals. During the event, festival-goers can hear from directors like Quincy Lehner and Deondre Gusfield from the TV series “The Chi” and Kundra Magee from the TV game show “The Receipts,” actors like Lamorne Morris and Jason Weaver, and producers like Brenda. Gilbert, and much more.
“The first year, we started it with Robert Townsend and Lewis Carr. We were so grateful that they were a part of it, and we had two venues. In our second year, we have 10 venues and brands like Disney reaching out to sign us. We'll be producing a double feature for the Hulu series 'Reasonable Doubt' And Kerry Washington's series “Unprisoned.”
Not only does Pryor plan to grow XL Film Fest into something bigger, he's doing so with others as well. The headliners for the second annual XL Film Fest were none other than Chicago greats, the Tate Brothers. Larenz Tate, Laron Tate and Lahmard Tate are working to make Chicago a global destination and the next capital of the Hollywood film and community.
People know Larenz for his breakout roles in Theodore Witcher's film Love Jones and the STARZ drama series “Power,” and Lahmard for his comedic talents in the 1996 comedy Don't Be A Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood and starring in Barbershop. Ice cube. However, all of the Tate brothers launched TateMen Entertainment. TateMen Entertainment is a multimedia company providing high-quality content for film, television and digital platforms. With over 25 years of experience in the industry, the Tate brothers understand the importance of events like XL Film Fest and hope to be part of the revolution.
“Troy Pryor has done an amazing and extraordinary job of bringing people together to connect where there are so many creatives, storytellers and entrepreneurs. We are here to amplify what is already happening in the great city of Chicago. We want to encourage people that it is okay to go to Atlanta, or Los Angeles. Angeles, or New York; there is nothing wrong with those cities, but Chicago is the destination for everything related to entertainment and business.
He continued: “It is important for us to tell our own stories. We have to do it. We have to be accountable and accountable, and we don't need to ask anyone for permission, especially those outside our community. We have to trust each other and know that we can see greatness in ourselves. We see a lot of our stories being capitalized in Hollywood. So, we have to make sure that we (black people) have a stake in it. So, having these amazing festivals where we can connect and work together will help us create roadmaps to achieve those creative goals.
“The bottom line is: We are the culture, we are the creators, and they always want to emulate what we do,” Lamarde added.
According to a research study conducted by McKinsey & Company, less than six percent of writers, directors, and producers of films produced in the United States are of Black/African American descent. It also states that when black talent is involved in US-produced cinema, a black director or producer is more likely to be involved. This alone shows that when we are placed in senior decision-making positions, we ensure that others in our community are supported and championed in creating a high-quality project. Since this is an unfortunate reality in Hollywood, events like XL Film Fest are more important than people may realize. Knowing this, Pryor believes this is just the beginning of what XL Film Fest could become for Chicagoans and others in the future.
“I would say XL Fest is moving into the SXSW space more than Sundance. We built it as a film festival because that's the world I come from, but it's always been about being a storytelling experience more than just a film festival. There will be more activities, and there will continue to be outreach With talent, music performances, artwork on display, and things like that, “It will be a powerful place for black voices and all kinds of storytelling,” Pryor explained.
He concluded, “We can bring everyone here in one place and give more of a lens to the talent on Chicago overall. When you see people and find out they're from Chicago, their brand is much bigger than Chicago. The Chicago connection has given me and many others the opportunity to attract the right people to support What we're doing probably wouldn't have worked if I were doing it somewhere else.
You may also like
