J.V. Harvey – Man With A Camera and A Plan

My name is JV Harvey; I am a writer and aspiring filmmaker.  During certain stages of my life, I made some wrong decisions that landed me to doing some prison time.  During this transition, it was the beginning of my testament to become the driven man that I am today. This passion ignited while studying the art of film making and the desire to produce documentaries. I have presently completed 2 manuscripts, 3 screen plays and a host of short films.  The collaboration of my ideas and the power of my pen enhances my desires to successfully tell a story by the using a camera lens. It is my primary goal to meet these challenges and to look forward to inviting people to discover CART Entertainment presenting JV Harvey Films.

 

Keney Park is land that was donated to the City of Hartford in Connecticut by Henry Keney. Your goal is to make a documentary about Keney Park.  How did you come to decide to do that?  What is the purpose of it?

Keney Park was donated to the city of Hartford in the 19th Century along with a tower monument in honor of the Keney brothers’ mother.

Keney Park is such a historical landmark for the City of Hartford.  There are so many important facts that are hidden within the park that the community is unaware of. It is part of the reason why I choose this particular subject and unlike a lot of city parks that get notoriety, Keney Park’s history along with its beauty needs to be kept in the forefront of the people.

 

You said this documentary is your way of giving back.  Why is giving back so important to you?

Giving back is important to me on many levels. Two reasons off the top of my head are:

1. I grew up in the city of Hartford and there are many people who forget their communities once they feel they have no use for it anymore.

2. Getting positive energy from the universe first means putting it out there.

 

 

How do you plan to get the documentary done?  Where will you get the equipment for filming and editing?

My first step in trying to obtain equipment for this project is to contact the local Hartford Access Channel.

I plan to market my idea to city officials, private and public agencies and any other organizations that are willing to help in executing this project.

 

 

After this documentary is done, what’s next for JV Harvey?

My next project after this stays on the same beaten path. It is sheds light on some of what occurs in some city parks such as Keney Park and other parks in the city. It is the homeless people who use the park as their homes. This unfortunate situation needs light as well. So stay tuned for “BUSH CITY.”

 

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July 14th, 2011 | Category: Film | 2 comments

I for Color – Leigh Whipper

Artistic African American Voices – I for Color brings key innovators to light for the knowledge and enjoyment of us all. Keep the Light Records is proud to feature this monthly series to highlight these artistic African Americans from theatre, music, poetry and other areas of art.Artistic African American Voices – I for Color is a special 12-month feature by Dale Ricardo Shields who is also an Actor, Director and Archivist of Black Theatre African American Voices.
Leigh Whipper

Leigh Whipper as "Sparks" in the OxBow Incident, 1943

Born in (1876) Charleston, South Carolina, died (1975) New York City, New York.

The first Black member of the Actors’ Equity Association (1913).

Mr. Whipper’s first Broadway appearance was in Georgia Minstrels.

He appeared next in the classical Broadway productions of Stevedore, Of Mice and Men, Lysistrata and Porgy.

Mr. Whipper achieved national fame for his characterization of the Crabman of the Catfish Row in Porgy.

Leigh Whipper

Leigh Whipper

He made his film debut as a bit player in Oscar Micheaux’s silent race films, Symbol of the Unconquered (1920) and Within Our Gates (1920).

He later starred in the Hollywood films Of Mice and Men (1939), and The Oxbow Incident (1943).

He maintained lifelong activity as a member of the Actors Equity Association (1913), American Federation of Radio Artists (1937) and the Screen Actors Guild (1933).

He was a founding member of the Negro Actors Guild of America (1937).

Mr. Whipper retired from the screen and stage in 1972 and settled in Harlem, New York, where he died in 1975 at the age of 98.
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February 7th, 2011 | Category: Film, I for Color | One comment

African American Voices – I for Color

Artistic African American Voices – I for Color is a special 12-month feature by Dale Ricardo Shields, Archivist of Black Theatre African American Voices. The kick off for this series begins in February 2011 in celebration of Black History Month.

People of color who are accomplished receive very little, if any, recognition or media coverage in America. Artistic African American Voices will honor key innovators. Keep the Light Records is proud to feature this monthly series that highlights these artistic African Americans from theatre, music, poetry and other areas of art.

Dale Ricardo Shields, an accomplished Actor, Archivist, Director, Educator and Theatre Historian.

The vision of Dale Ricardo Shields is to document and preserve the history of artists of color on the Facebook page Black Theatre African American Voices for general public interest.




Our March Featured Artist:

Hattie McDaniel



Our February Featured Artist:

Leigh Whipper
 

Subscribe so you do not miss out on the new stories as they are posted!

 

 

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February 7th, 2011 | Category: Film, I for Color | Leave a comment

Don Vasicek and The Sand Creek Massacre

Donald L. Vasicek had lived in Colorado for 35 years and knew nothing about the brutal massacre that took place in his home state.  When he did learn about it, he made it his personal responsibility to let other people know about it.  As a filmmaker, the logical choice was to make a film.  He produced the documentary “The Sand Creek Massacre.”

There are interviews with a number of the surviving descendants of the actual massacre and historians.  They tell the incredibly horrible stories of what happened during those seven hours in Chief Kettle’s village.  The village contained mostly the elderly and women and children; there were no warriors in the village at that time.  The Indians thought they would be allowed to live peacefully on this land under the guise of the American flag, but the genocide inflicted on all Native Americans across the country by the white man continued even under their own flag.

There are recounts of how the bodies were dismembered and fetuses were cut out of dead pregnant women. It is heart wrenching to listen to the people as they speak, but we must listen because we must embrace these things that humans did to other human beings simply because they were different.

The Sand Creek Massacre was awarded a Golden Drover Award (like an Oscar, only a Drover) for Best Native American Film in the Trail Dance Film Festival in Duncan, Oklahoma on the Chisholm Trail on January 12, 2008.  The film was also awarded Best Film in The Indie Film

Festival and The American Indian Film Festival.

“We have some work to do for America’s native people. Even though we live in a troubled world, how can we be helpful to other countries when we are allowing America’s native people to suffer right here at home, as they have been ever since they were decimated in 1849 by the cholera epidemic introduced by migrant Euro-Americans.  For example, check out the Pine Ridge.  It is an example of the Third World in the United States of America. – Donald L. Vasicek.

“Ghosts of Sand Creek”will highlight the peace treaties which will show the gradual reduction of 51 million acres on which the Cheyenne people lived, before the 1825 Friendship Treaty through the 1890 Dawes Act which permanently cast them on 160 acres each in Oklahoma.  The great American west will be featured in the film juxtaposed on the Cheyenne people’s quest for peace and to live on this earth forever.  There will be a re-creation of the Sand Creek Massacre.  The Cheyenne point-of-view, as based on their oral histories, will drive the film.

For more information, go to http://SandCreekMassacre.net.

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August 25th, 2010 | Category: Film | Leave a comment