The Team
CRYSTAL KELLEY, Director
Crystal Kelley grew up in the rich arts and culturally diverse city of Cleveland, Ohio. While studying at Otterbein University's Department of Theatre & Dance, she learned how to write and direct narrative content. Crystal also earned a master’s degree in Fine Arts at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts with an emphasis in cinematography. Crystal currently resides in Los Angeles, California, working as a Director of Photography for television, live events, documentaries, short and feature-length films.
Crystal’s most notable accomplishments include shooting a feature film titled The Workout Room, and the documentary Mobilizing Mozambique. Crystal worked as a camera operator for the BET Soul Train Music Awards and House Hunters Renovation TV show. Many of her films have been screened at film festivals around the country including the live capture film Some Like it Bot, which screened at Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival. She is a member of the International Cinematographers Guild Local 600 and was recently honored by her Alma Mater, Otterbein University for the Professional Achievement Award. Crystal is an FAA-licensed remote pilot and flies drones for aerial cinematography.
MORRIS FREEMAN, Executive Producer
Morris Freeman is a sales veteran with over 30 years of experience selling linear television, streaming, branded entertainment, digital, social media, radio, and print. He is highly skilled in new business development and product positioning. Freeman enjoyed success in developing and implementing sales strategies and sales goals for several marquee media companies including The CW Network, Warner Bros., NBC, ABC, CBS, and TEGNA. He is experienced in program development, concept, and marketing by contributing to network program development meetings with senior management, advertisers, and advertising agencies.
Freeman has a successful track record of monetizing and making programs profitable that target the multicultural market. He has sold advertising time and branded entertainment in All American, All American: Homecoming, Black Lighting, Girlfriend’s, All of Us, The Game, Everybody Hates Chris, America’s Next Top Model, The Steve Harvey Show, The Jamie Foxx Show, For Your Love, The PJs in prime time, TMZ, EXTRA, The Real, Showtime at the Apollo, T.D. Jakes Show, Tyra Banks Show, Judge Mathis, George Lopez, The Jamie Foxx Show and The Wayans Bros., The Hughleys, Roc, Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, Martin, Living Single, The Wayans Bros., In The House Parenthood, Judge Mathis, Queen Latifah, Motown Live, and Russell Simmons's OneWorld Music Beat in syndication.
ROMELL FOSTER-OWENS, Producer
Romell Foster-Owens is an Emmy Award-winning producer and award-winning filmmaker. For more than 25 years, she has been in the business of writing, producing, and directing television series, commercials, documentaries, short films, and independent feature films. Her credentials include being a proud graduate of the prestigious American Film Institute (directing) and San Diego State University (theatre). She is an alumna of the Producers Guild of America’s Diversity Workshop and Robert De Niro’s, Tribeca All Access Program.
As a producer, Romell has the rare distinction of having three films chosen as “Official Selections” of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Her numerous awards include an Emmy Award; NAACP Image Award; the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame Award for Best Independent Film; the National Council of Christians and Jews Humanitarian Award; and the Platinum Aurora Award for Best in Show. She has won three Gold Aurora Awards, four Telly Awards, and four Addy Awards.
The most recent accolade Romell received is the Women In Film Spotlight Award for Outstanding Achievement as a producer. She has produced over 200 hours of television, which includes the Emmy Award-winning series, Teen Scene.
ISAAC BOLDEN, Producer
Isaac Bolden, a producer with a distinguished array of works, is noted for his ability to produce challenging series through aggressive deadlines and demanding financial constraints. He has extensive experience across genres from premium documentaries to tentpole alternative reality covering: crime, competition, extremely dangerous, fashion, and investigative journalism to heavily scripted content. Isaac is a highly effective individual who simultaneously manages multiple projects and crews throughout the world.
He has the business acumen to manage revenues of over $100M. Isaac is an organized team player with extensive experience supervising all aspects of production from development through delivery, including acquiring talent, negotiating with managers and agents, scheduling, creating budgets, managing edits, cost reporting, actualization process, interfacing with network executives (EPs, PMs), marketing, negotiating contracts, and guaranteeing compliance with business affairs.
DOMINIQUE ULLOA, Editor
Dominique Ulloa is a Concordia Fellow that helped her translate her editing experience from television and reality programming to editing documentary features and limited series. She studied cinema verité editing traditions under the tutelage of Joshua Altman, and archive-driven documentaries under the tutelage of Pedro Kos and with practicum on his film Rebel Hearts. Previously, Ulloa worked on the six-part docu-series Surviving R. Kelly, which aired on Lifetime and was nominated for a Peabody Award. She also edited the television documentary In God We Trust: 9/11 Triumph from Tragedy, as well as the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. She is an ACE Fellow, A Karen Schmeer Diversity in the Edit Fellow, and chair of the Ujima Entertainment Coalition, a nationwide collective of African American post-production professionals with 700 members. She began her career in post-production operations at the Oprah Winfrey Network and continues to open doors for others who want to have a place in the film industry.
SAM POLLARD, Project Consultant
Sam Pollard is an accomplished feature film and television video editor, and documentary producer/director whose work spans almost thirty years. He recently served as Producer and Supervising Editor on the Spike Lee directed HBO documentary If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise, a five-year follow-up to the Emmy and Peabody award-winning When The Levees Broke. His first assignment as a documentary producer came in 1989 for Henry Hampton’s Blackside production Eyes On The Prize II: America at the Racial Crossroads. For one of his episodes in this series, he received an Emmy. Eight years later, he returned to Blackside as Co-Executive Producer/Producer of Hampton’s last documentary series I’ll Make Me A World: Stories of African American Artists and Community. For the series, Mr. Pollard received The George Peabody Award.
Between 1990 and 2010, Mr. Pollard edited a number of Spike Lee’s films: Mo’ Better Blues, Jungle Fever, Girl 6, Clockers, and Bamboozled. As well, Mr. Pollard and Mr. Lee co-produced a number of documentary productions for the small and big screen: Spike Lee Presents Mike Tyson, a biographical sketch for HBO for which Mr. Pollard received an Emmy, Four Little Girls, a feature-length documentary about the 1963 Birmingham church bombings which was nominated for an Academy Award and When The Levees Broke, a four-part documentary that won numerous awards, including a Peabody and three Emmy Awards. Mr. Pollard completed as producer/director Slavery By Another Name a 90-minute documentary for PBS that was in competition at the Sundance Festival in 2012 and also just completed editing the feature-length documentary, Venus and Serena.