Mr. Soul
We hosted a screening of Oscar nominated "MR. SOUL!" and had director, Melissa Haizlip and music supervisor, Ed Gerrard join us for a chat about the film afterwards.
From 1968 to 1973, the public television variety show SOUL!, guided by the enigmatic producer and host Ellis Haizlip, offered an unfiltered, uncompromising celebration of Black literature, poetry, music, and politics—voices that had few other options for national exposure, and, as a result, found the program an improbable place to call home.
The series was among the first to provide expanded images of African Americans on television, shifting the gaze from inner-city poverty and violence to the vibrancy of the Black Arts Movement. With participants’ recollections and illuminating archival clips, Mr. SOUL! captures a critical moment in culture whose impact continues to resonate, and an unsung hero whose voice we need now more than ever to restore the SOUL of a nation.
Stream MR. SOUL! on PBS today.
Melissa Haizlip - director/producer
Born in Boston and raised in the US Virgin Islands, Connecticut and New York, director, Melissa Haizlip attended Yale University. After a 25-year career as a professional Broadway stage performer and film and television actor, Haizlip moved to Los Angeles to work in development at the American Film Institute and began casting for independent features. Her film 40, a multi-storyline, international thriller set in Turkey and Africa, premiered at Toronto International Film Festival 2010. Currently a fellow in Stanley Nelson’s Firelight Media Producers’ Lab, Haizlip participated in the Producers Guild of America Diversity Workshop 2011.
She founded Shoes In The Bed Productions, an independent film production company producing cinematic works of non-fiction with an emphasis on diverse new voices and filmmakers of color. Haizlip has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Black Programming Consortium, and ITVS’ Diversity Development Fund. Currently, Haizlip is in production with Mr. SOUL! and has several other projects in development.
Ed Gerard - Music Supervisor
Ed Gerrard is a Grammy winning Music Supervisor and current Board member for the Guild of Music Supervisors. The Guild consists of Music Supervisors in the world of Film, TV, Games, Commercials, and Brand Marketing. Ed has also managed artists such as Jon Cleary, Dr. John, Eliane Elias, Gogol Bordello, Hugh Masekela, Ike Turner, Angelique Kidjo, Cassandra Wilson, Deee-Lite, Lisa Fischer, Teddy Pendergrass, Bang Tango, Marcus Roberts, Cheb Khaled, Michelle Shocked, Simi Stone, and Thomas Dolby.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Melissa Haizlip
Executive Producer | Director | Writer
Executive Producer | Director | Writer working in film and television production. Documentary Film Production, Television, Journalism, Social Media, Screenwriting, Grant Writing and Entertainment. Strong media and communication professional, member of the Director's Guild of America, educated at Yale University. Melissa is an award-winning filmmaker based in New York. Her work responds to pressing social issues at the intersection of racial justice, social justice, activism, and representation. Female transformation and empowerment are at the core of all of her ideas, with the goal being to advocate and amplify the voices of women and people of color. Her commitment to the effort to dismantle the systems that disadvantage so many of our fellow human beings is in every ounce of her work.
Ed Gerrard
Music Supervisor
Grammy Award-Winning music industry executive specializing in music supervision, soundtrack production and artist management. Winner of the 2017 Grammy Awards for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for Don Cheadle’s Miles Ahead, Ed Gerrard has Music Supervised over 25 feature films that have grossed over $500 Million. Producer of thousands of live shows, and numerous award-winning record production collaborations, including "Locked Down" with Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach for which Auerbach won the Grammy for Producer of the Year.
Ed Gerrard is a co-founder of Impact Artist Management and Woodstock Artist Management. Gerrard began his entertainment career some 20 years ago working as an apprentice to the legendary music manager and film producer Shep Gordon. Ed became the first in-house music supervisor at Gordon's Alive Pictures finding key music for Gordon’s films and forming the beginnings of longstanding relationships with a slew of Hollywood directors including Wes Craven. Gerrard has helped manage the careers of artists including Dr. John, Luther Vandross, Teddy Pendergrass, Alice Cooper, Cassandra Wilson, and Michelle Shocked. His current roster includes Gipsy Kings, Jon Cleary, Eef Barzelay, and Amy Helm.
Ed’s music supervision credits include films such as Wes Craven's "Scream” trilogy as well as "Blair Witch II, “Cursed," “The Last House On The Left,” “New York, I Love You,” and the critically acclaimed directorial debut of Don Cheadle in the 2016 Miles Davis release for Sony Pictures Classic, &…
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