Uzo (filmmaker)

Last updated
Uzo
BornAugust 1957 (age 6566)
Occupation(s) Film director, artist

Uzo (born August 1957) is a Nigerian-American filmmaker and graphic artist. He has made two feature films, Walls & Bridges (1992) and Better Than Ever (1997). After losing the option to the film rights on the novel Mendel's Dwarf, after many years of work, he is currently working on a third film, Sophie's Wish.

Contents

Early life

He is Igbo and was born in Obiaruku, Nigeria. Uzo is the son of a bookseller and a midwife. [1] His mother died during childbirth when he was twelve years old due to poor medical attention due to the expenditure of resources on the Biafran War, after which he and his two siblings were raised solely by his father. [1] He studied graphic design at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, then a master's program in graphic design, at Howard University, Washington, D.C. , and then photography at Brooks Institute of Photography, Santa Barbara, California. [1] His early interest in film was cultivated primarily by films from India, today's Bollywood, that were popular in Nigeria during his youth. [1]

Career

His production company is called Cold Grey Entertainment. [1] Initially based in Patchogue, New York, he is now based in Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York.

A professional graphic artist, he is the founder of the Devo clothing brand, which has now been phased into a shoe line. While his films deal significantly with race relations, the issue of race is never dealt with on the surface.

Uzo does not consider himself much of a writer, and each of his films has been co-written with someone else based on his initial concepts. After writing and rewriting the script, for Walls & Bridges, he hired Michael Edelson, then a film professor at SUNY Stony Brook , and Barbara Gallen as story consultants. He co-wrote the finished screenplay with Alyssa McGuinness. Uzo, Alan Fine, and co-producer Anthony Breccia co-wrote Better Than Ever based on his story, and he had another writer on Mendel's Dwarf, again after agonizing on several drafts of the scripts of his own. Most recently, he has consulted with Kimberly Britt to script his third film, titled Sophie's Wish. Uzo prefers to keep his films simple, straightforward, and unmanipulative, "in the European style." [2]

Works

Uzo's Walls & Bridges is the story of a white nun Ellen Landress Bowkett who leaves her Order to marry a black painter Mark D. Kennerly who is blinded in a random act of violence. While developing the script, Uzo spent two years painting the large size Miro-esque murals featured in the film. The film premiered October 14, 1992, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Washington, DC. It was one of two films representing the United States at the Sixth Festival of the Americas, sponsored by the Organization of American States and the American Film Institute. He is considered the first African-born person to direct an American feature film.

Uzo's second film, shot under the title Cul-de-Sac, was released by Water Bearer Films in a shortened version under the title Better Than Ever, presumably to avoid confusion with the cult classic by Roman Polanski. Described as Grumpy Old Men meets Home Alone , the film stars Academy Award Nominee William Hickey, Carl Gordon, Victor Colicchio, Frank Gorshin, Donald McDonald, Sylva Gassel, Irma St. Paule, Pee Wee Love, Neil Ruddy, and the acting debut of Joey Buttafuoco.

He optioned the film rights and struggled for years on an adaptation of Simon Mawer's 1999 novel, Mendel's Dwarf. After years of languishing in what he calls, "Hollywood's development hell", the option elapsed and was subsequently sold to Barbra Streisand's company.

Personal life

Uzo was married to a white Long Island native from Wading River in the 1980s and divorced in 1990s; he has two daughters, Tyne and Anya.[ citation needed ]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Kaufman, Marjorie. "Nigerian Emigre Makes 'Colorblind' Movie Set on the Island.", The New York Times , 3 January 1993.
  2. Kaufman, Marjorie (1993). "Nigerian Emigre Makes 'Colorblind' Movie Set on the Island". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2018-01-03.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George S. Kaufman</span> American playwright, theater director and producer (1889–1961)

George Simon Kaufman was an American playwright, theater director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. In addition to comedies and political satire, he wrote several musicals for the Marx Brothers and others. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the musical Of Thee I Sing in 1932, and won again in 1937 for the play You Can't Take It with You. He also won the Tony Award for Best Director in 1951 for the musical Guys and Dolls.

<i>Red Dwarf</i> British comedy science fiction programme

Red Dwarf is a British science fiction comedy franchise created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, which primarily consists of a television sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, and on Dave since 2009, gaining a cult following. The series follows low-ranking technician Dave Lister, who awakens after being in suspended animation for three million years to find that he is the last living human, and that he is alone on the mining spacecraft Red Dwarf—save for a hologram of his deceased bunkmate Arnold Rimmer and "Cat", a life form which evolved from Lister's pregnant cat.

<i>Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs</i> (1937 film) 1937 animated Disney film

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Based on the 1812 German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, it is the first full-length traditionally animated feature film and the first Disney animated feature film. The production was supervised by David Hand, and the film's sequences were directed by Perce Pearce, William Cottrell, Larry Morey, Wilfred Jackson, and Ben Sharpsteen.

<i>Adaptation</i> (film) 2002 American film

Adaptation is a 2002 American meta comedy-drama film directed by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman. It features an ensemble cast including Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, and Chris Cooper, with Cara Seymour, Brian Cox, Tilda Swinton, Ron Livingston, and Maggie Gyllenhaal in supporting roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Kaufman</span> American filmmaker and novelist

Charles Stuart Kaufman is an American filmmaker and novelist. He wrote the films Being John Malkovich (1999), Adaptation (2002), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). He both wrote and directed the films Synecdoche, New York (2008), Anomalisa (2015), and I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020). In 2020, Kaufman made his literary debut with the release of his first novel, Antkind.

<i>Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind</i> 2004 American film by Michel Gondry

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a 2004 American romantic science fiction drama film directed by Michel Gondry and written by Charlie Kaufman, based on a story by Gondry, Kaufman and Pierre Bismuth. It stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, with Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, and Tom Wilkinson in supporting roles. The film follows two individuals who undergo a procedure to erase each other from their memories following the dissolution of their relationship. The film became a cult classic in the years since its release and is considered by many critics as one of the best films of the 2000s, and one of the greatest films of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Kaufman</span> American film director, screenwriter

Philip Kaufman is an American film director and screenwriter who has directed fifteen films over a career spanning more than six decades. He has received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award along with nominations for an Academy Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. He has been described as a "maverick" and an "iconoclast," notable for his versatility and independence often directing eclectic and controversial films. He is considered an "auteur" whose films have always expressed his personal vision. Kaufman's works have included genres such as realism, horror, fantasy, erotica, western, and crime.

<i>Love at First Bite</i> 1979 American comedy horror film by Stan Dragoti

Love at First Bite is a 1979 American comedy horror film directed by Stan Dragoti and written by Robert Kaufman, using characters originally created by Bram Stoker. It stars George Hamilton, Susan Saint James, Richard Benjamin, and Arte Johnson. Against a chorus of howling wolves, the first line of the film is: “Children of the Night, shut up!” When the Communist regime ejects the Count from his ancestral home, he and Renfield go in search of the current incarnation of Dracula's true love, a fashion model living in New York City. Comedy ensues when the incurably romantic Count finds it difficult to adjust to life in the Big Apple in the late 1970s, but true love triumphs in the end. The original music score was composed by Charles Bernstein. The film's tagline is: "Your favorite pain in the neck is about to bite your funny bone!" An earlier version of the script by director Richard Rush was titled Dracula Sucks Again.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert McKee</span> American academic specialized in seminars for screenwriters

Robert McKee is an author, lecturer and story consultant who is known for his "Story Seminar", which he developed when he was a professor at the University of Southern California. McKee is the author of Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting, Dialogue: the Art of Verbal Action for Stage, Page and Screen, Storynomics: Story-Driven Marketing in the Post-Advertising World and Character: The Art of Role and Cast Design for Page, Stage, and Screen. McKee also has the blog and online writers' resource "Storylogue".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morrie Ryskind</span> American dramatist and conservative activist

Morris "Morrie" Ryskind was an American dramatist, lyricist and writer of theatrical productions and movies, who became a conservative political activist later in life.

David Freedman was a Romanian-born American playwright and biographer who became known as the "King of the Gag-writers" in the early days of radio.

<i>While the City Sleeps</i> (1956 film) 1956 film by Fritz Lang

While the City Sleeps is a 1956 American film noir directed by Fritz Lang and starring Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders, Howard Duff, Thomas Mitchell, Vincent Price, John Drew Barrymore and Ida Lupino. Written by Casey Robinson, the newspaper drama was based on The Bloody Spur by Charles Einstein, which was inspired by the case of Chicago serial killer William Heirens. Five decades after the film's release, critic Dennis Schwartz wrote, "Fritz Lang ('M') directs his most under-appreciated great film, more a social commentary than a straight crime drama."

<i>The Wanderers</i> (1979 film) 1979 film directed by Philip Kaufman

The Wanderers is a 1979 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Philip Kaufman and starring Ken Wahl, John Friedrich, Karen Allen, Toni Kalem, Tony Ganios and Jim Youngs. Set in the Bronx in 1963, the film follows a gang of Italian-American teenagers known as the Wanderers and their ongoing power struggles with rival gangs such as the Baldies and the Wongs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Mawer</span> British author (born 1948)

Simon Mawer is a British author who lives in Italy.

In Treatment is an American drama television series for HBO, produced and developed by Rodrigo Garcia, based on the Israeli series BeTipul, created by Hagai Levi, Ori Sivan and Nir Bergman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vince Gilligan</span> American writer and producer (born 1967)

George Vincent Gilligan Jr. is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. He is known for his television work, specifically as creator, head writer, executive producer, and director of AMC's Breaking Bad (2008–2013) and its spin-off prequel series Better Call Saul (2015–2022). He was a writer and producer for The X-Files and was the co-creator of its spin-off, The Lone Gunmen (2001).

<i>It Started with Eve</i> 1941 film by Norman Krasna, Henry Koster, Joe Pasternak

It Started with Eve is a 1941 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring Deanna Durbin, Robert Cummings, and Charles Laughton. The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Music Score. The film is considered by some critics to be Durbin's best film, and the last in which she worked with the producer and director who groomed her for stardom. It Started with Eve was remade in 1964 as I'd Rather Be Rich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uzo Aduba</span> American actress

Uzoamaka Nwanneka "Uzo" Aduba is an American actress. She gained wide recognition for her role as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren on the Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019), for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2014, an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2015, and two SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series in 2014 and 2015. She is one of only two actors to win an Emmy Award in both the comedy and drama categories for the same role.

Uzo Egonu was a Nigerian-born artist who settled in Britain in the 1940s, only once returning to his homeland for two days in the 1970s, although he remained concerned with African political struggles. According to Rasheed Araeen, Egonu was "perhaps the first person from Africa, Asia or the Caribbean to come to Britain after the War with the sole intention of becoming an artist." According to critic Molara Wood, "Egonu's work merged European and Igbo traditions but more significantly, placed Africa as the touchstone of modernism. In combining the visual languages of Western and African art, he helped redefine the boundaries of modernism, thereby challenging the European myth of the naïve, primitive African artist."

<i>Love Is War</i> (2019 film) 2019 Nigerian comedy drama film

Love Is War is a 2019 Nigerian political drama film directed by Omoni Oboli and written by Chinaza Onuzo. It stars Oboli, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Jide Kosoko, Akin Lewis, Bimbo Manuel, Toke Makinwa, Shaffy Bello, Femi Branch, Uzo Osimkpa, Yemi Blaq, Damilare Kuku and William Benson. Produced by Inkblot Productions and Dioni Visions, Love Is War is the second collaboration between the two production companies following 2018's Moms at War. The film is centered around a married couple who run against each other for governor in the same state.