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Cinema

Upcoming Film Screenings & Announcements!

September 22, 2017

I'M BACK!

I know it's been a while since you've heard from me, but there have been a lot of exciting things happening this year, and even more to come in the next few weeks!

In case you may have missed it, check out my interview on The Black List about my recent spec sale to 1inMM Productions of the upcoming home invasion thriller screenplay known as Hell is Where the Home Is. The film finished shooting last month and is currently in post-production for an anticipated release next year.

The next bit of news involves what was actually the very first paid writing job I was hired for here in Los Angeles, back in 2014. It was for a re-write of a little indie film called Shine about the gentrification of Spanish Harlem.

"Two brothers once East Harlem's best Salsa dancers are separated after the death of their father only to be reunited years later on opposing ends of gentrification."

Well, thanks to the perseverance of the film's director, Shine is finally complete and held it's World Premiere on September 22nd at the Urbanworld Film Festival in New York!

Read more about the project here and check it out if you're in the area!

This has also been an exciting year in the world of short films...

Next, I'm proud to announce that my award-winning 2015 short film To Police will have its International Premiere NEXT WEEK in Spain at the Madrid Art Film Festival on Saturday, September 30th!

To Police chronicles the story of a young police officer facing racially-charged fallout after the pursuit of a violent criminal ends in the shooting of an innocent teenager.

This marks the first time a film of mine will play overseas, and if this year has been any indication, it certainly won't be the last!

For those who might not be familiar with the project, check out the trailer below!

But that's not all, this year also saw the production of a brand new short!

I'm equally proud to announce that my second short film, entitled Voice, is now complete and will be premiering right here in Los Angeles at the LA Live Regal Theater for the 13th Annual LA Femme International Film Festival!

"A young Muslim woman balances her duties as a wife and mother while searching for a voice of her own."

This is a festival dedicated to bringing forward stories by and about women, so what better place to debut a collaboration with two talented female filmmakers about a woman's search for her creative outlet.

Check out the trailer below:

Tickets to the Voice premiere at 6pm on Friday, October 20th can be found online here.

To those who might be interested in getting involved in my next film project, my feature film directorial debut Standing Up, I'm currently seeking managing partners and investors. We're going big this time. Send me a message if you'd like to know more about how you can get involved!

Now, last but not least, if it doesn't seem like I've been making efficient use of my free time this year, I'm also proud to announce the Opening Night Reception of my very first gallery exhibit as an art curator, Art From The Other Side!

So if you're in the Los Angeles area on Thursday, October 26th, come downtown to Angel City Brewery and check out the showcase, because what better place to look at art than a brewery? And it just so happens that October 26th is my birthday, so come kill two birds with one stone and buy me a beer or six.

That's all for now folks, look out for some more announcements to come in the not too distant future, and if you're not already doing so, follow me on Instagram @CoreyDeshon for updates from Madrid, LA Femme, and Angel City.

Sincerely,

Corey Deshon

Voice: A Short Film

April 2, 2017

Muslim Women Have A Story To Tell

I'm proud to announce that I've partnered up with two incredibly talented #WomenInFilm to bring to life the short film VOICE, written by actress Luwam Mikael, about a young Muslim woman named A'idah who must strive to find a balance between her cultural responsibilities as a wife and mother and her journey to an outlet for her own unique, yet seldom heard voice.

I'm honored to be a part of this project, which needs your help as well if we want to succeed!

We've just launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo in order to raise the production budget, and we need your help to support and share the project! In the information age, a message is only as powerful as the audience it can reach. While every donation brings us closer to making this film a reality, we understand that not everyone will be able to leave a monetary contribution at this time. But don't worry, you can still be a significant part of helping us reach our goal by getting on social media and sharing this campaign with your friends and family, as well as encouraging others to do so as well.

We want to show the world that the way someone dresses, or whatever their religious beliefs might be, does not make them any more or less human than anyone else, and that just as much as anyone else, Muslim women have a story to tell. Help us spread the word and we will be forever grateful!

Click Here to visit the campaign to share or make a donation. We're offering everything from exclusive downloads to credited Producer roles, so have a look and thank you for supporting VOICE!

Harry Mack x DJ Alizay for Arsenic Magazine

March 16, 2017

Freestyle on the LA Metro

Those of you in the viral video sphere may have seen a dope freestyle artist by the name of Harry Mack making waves on social media recently with his Venice Beach Freestyle video. Well, the folks over at Arsenic Magazine decided to link him up with one of DC's finest DJ Alizay for a spur of the moment pop-up session on the LA Metro on the way to Santa Monica. They asked yours truly to shoot the collaboration, and what ensued can only be described as living proof that real Hip Hop ain't dead yet. Check it out:

To Police: A Year Later

May 30, 2016

Time certainly flies. As Memorial Day Weekend has once again come and gone, I've just realized that it's also been exactly one year since the production of To Police, the short film I wrote and directed that went on to win awards at three different film festivals.

In honor of the one year anniversary, I'm going to be allowing online viewing of the film for the first time ever, and only to subscribers of CoreyDeshon.com! (Signup here if you are not yet a subscriber!)

Given the subject matter of the film, and the current trend of discourse among online videos, I decided at the time of premiere that I would never publicly release To Police in full online. I didn't want something that I'd created to be an introspective discussion piece on modern society to just become more fuel for the fire of racial prejudice in this country. I decided the public was better off without it, and only those within the environment of a film festival would have the opportunity to view it, as an in-depth discussion of the film and its message would always follow.

However, since I am no longer entering the film into festivals, I thought it would be nice to share it with those of you who have truly supported my creative endeavors from day one, yet have not had the opportunity to view the film yourselves. So at the end of this week, I will be sending all subscribers a private link and password to view the film in the comfort of your own homes. I hope you all truly enjoy it, and would love to hear your feedback either way.

For those who may not be familiar with the film, check out the preview below and remember to Subscribe before Sunday, June 5th in order to get the link. Thank you all for your support, and happy Memorial Day!

Brianna: A Dreamscape (Prologue)

April 11, 2016

Blending Realities

The subjects of my screenplays and the subjects of my photography don't often intersect as much as I thought they would, considering that it was screenwriting that reignited my love for photography to begin with. I suppose going into photography with no real goal other than to photograph whatever I wanted at the time might have something to do with that, yet one medium will still often act as a catalyst for the other in some way. This time however, I found a rare crossroads between the two, which came in the form of interaction with one's own subconscious explored thematically throughout the narrative.

This came about after reflecting on many of the scripts I'd written in the past, trying to find unintentional common themes between them as a way of better understanding my own narrative voice. What I found was that just about everything I'd written was some form of introspective personal drama, with elements of the inner-consciousness of characters manifesting as physical elements of the story in some way. In To Police, we watch the aftermath of a police shooting unfold by exploring the lead character's own memory. In the upcoming Shine, the lead character has a conversation with his own subconscious which has manifested in the form of his father. This idea kept appearing in my work, so the next logical phase was to embrace it and find a way to bring it into my photography as well. "How?" you might ask. Well, with lingerie of course.

In my second collaboration with the lovely Brianna, we decided to try something new and come up with a way to blend a traditional lingerie shoot with this concept of personal introspection. So what did we come up with? Two distinct narratives being explored via two distinct types of film. The first narrative is told in Colour, and follows the story of a young woman who returns to her hotel room and enters into a hyper-realistic lucid dream. The second narrative is told in Black & White, and is the dream itself, where the character's thoughts and emotions begin to take on a physical form as she explores the depths of her fantasy.

This was such a fun concept to shoot, and has given me a lot to think about in exploring similar themes with my photography in the future. As always, Brianna was wonderful to work with and did an excellent job as the lead character in this play of pictures.

For the full series, see below...

THE DREAMSCAPE

On Set for "To Police"

June 1, 2015

It's Been A Long Time Coming

Two and a half years ago I left everything I knew in Florida to come start a career as a filmmaker in Los Angeles. "Difficult takes a day, impossible takes a week." I knew I'd be betting against the odds, and the only way that I'd ever be successful here was to be patient. You've got to play the long game here, and so I did.

Now, after two and a half years of working entry level jobs for next to no money, networking every chance I got, and putting myself and my work out there for others to judge and critique as they saw fit, the time as finally come. This weekend I made my Los Angeles directorial debut, undertaking an ambitious shoot of my first short film since leaving Florida, To Police. And what an undertaking it was...