Thursday, March 1
9.30 Pm
US Navy Heritage Center
$10 in advance HERE or at the door
DC Premiere
Post-screening Q&A with Director Kelvin Z. Phillips
Screens with Crazy Beats Strong Every Time 2011 / 27 mins / USA / directed by Moon Molson
Homer Garçon is an unpublished and frustrated science fiction writer living off the success of his wife, Trude Garçon-Moore, a busy Hollywood producer. As a result, he finds himself “trapped” in lavish surroundings – his luxury jail – and with publisher rejection letters piling high, Homer has convinced himself of his wife’s infidelity. Phillips’ darkly-comic script follows Homer as he dives into the prickly territories of self-awareness and self pity, in his quest to find the truth about his possibly cheating wife–and himself–all at a Valentine’s Day dinner decidedly set for three. A largely dialogue-driven film, “A Swingin’ Trio” is about four things: love, music, betrayal, and one really good dinner.
The Director’s Statement: “A Swingin’ Trio” was born out of two ideas. The first was the urge, the challenge if you will, to make a film structured around the Aristotelian unities of time, place, and action. The second was to use a jazz trio as a Greek chorus of sorts to that story being told. With “A Swingin’ Trio” we attempt to replicate that magic that’s captured in a jazz club when a simple trio of three instrumentalists really start to swing. In the case of our film the musicians are three characters, the stage is the couple’s home, and the set is the story of what happens to them over the course of the evening.
Kelvin Z. Phillips (Writer/Director): Kelvin Z. Phillips is the recipient of grants from Jerome Foundation, Art Matters, Inc., Brooklyn Arts and Cultural Association, and Apparatus Productions (founded by Christine Vachon and Todd Haynes). He is also the recipient of the Laurel Productions and the Herbert Biegel Screenwriting Awards, and is an alumnus of the Guy Hanks/Marvin Miller Screenwriting Fellowship, established by Drs. Bill and Camille Cosby. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Film Directing from Howard University and Master of Fine Arts in Dramatic Writing from New York University. He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife Carla and son Justice — with occasional visits from his oldest son, Kelvin II, who is serving in the U.S. Air Force.
Carla L. Jackson (Producer). A seasoned marketing and public relations professional with over 15 years of experience, Carla L. Jackson’s expertise lies with her ability to create favorable business-to-consumer relationships for clients who have included Austin’s Pro Arts Collective, Paradigm Shift, the ACC Center for Public Policy, Nike, the California Wellness Foundation, the California African American Museum, On Your Feet: International Music and Dance Festival, and the Hip Hop International Dance Championship.
Ms. Jackson also served as Director of Marketing on award-winning Broadway and off-Broadway productions, including August Wilson’s Jitney and King Hedley. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater Summa Cum Laude from Fordham University in New York; and her Master of Fine Arts degree in Theatre Management from Yale University.
