Aliyah Moulden, lands a leading role in Netflix original film ‘Anastasia: Once Upon A Time’, wants to be an EGOT!

A Vision in Yellow_ Aliyah Moulden from TV show The Voice, cast in Anastasia_ Once Upon A Time, Photo Credit Aliyah Moulden, Courtesy Photo from Instagram .jpeg

Super-vocalist powerhouse Aliyah Moulden has one big goal in mind and that is to become an EGOT.  EGOT is an acronym for those rare talents that have earned an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and a Tony award. It’s a small group of artists who hold this distinction, including icons James Earl Jones, Whoopi Goldberg and Rita Moreno. 

Afro-Latina (African American and Mexican) Aliyah who turned 16 on August 14th is walking toward the path to reach her EGOT goal. Training since the age of four, she considers “passion and discipline” as two of the vital qualities to reach her artistic goals. It’s that drive that helped Aliyah stand out while as a contestant on The Voice (2017), turning industry veteran’s heads with her voice and overall stage presence being compared to Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, and Adele. While on the top rated NBC show, The Voice, country singer Blake Shelton was her personal coach and she achieved top 3 status.

The young artist spends most of her time in training and on the road, and has already opened for Beyoncé’s protégés Chole X Hale, performed at the “BET Experience LA Live” (2016), Disney’s Channel’s Shake It Up after party opener for platinum singer Jesse McCarney, and participated in a national summer tour with Michael Deleasa with continuous collaborations with Alessia Cara, Miley Cyrus, Alicia Keys, Gwen Stefani, Zedd, Adam Levine, and Jennifer Hudson. 

On her own, she just completed her first EP which features the song “We Own the World”, written by Multi-Platinum producer Drew Lane (Hannah Montana and High School Musical). She was also a part of the National Official Stand Up Tour 2015, conducted by Peggy Lafrate, senior director of Sales at Teen Life and president at Strega Entertainment Group.

The big news for Moulden and one that move her closer to her EGOT goal is booking the leading role in the Netflix original feature film Anastasia: Once Upon A Time—retelling of the Anastasia Romanov story which marks the second production between Swen Group, the Latin American giant that recently established a U.S. distribution arm, and conglomerate—the Florida-based production company behind Walt Before Mickey and the upcoming Little Mermaid.

In Anastasia: Once Upon A Time, the story begins in 1917, as the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, flees Lenin’s troops through a time portal, emerging in 1988 when she befriends a young American girl. Aliyah Moulden will write and perform original songs and Blake Harris directs, as he did on Little Mermaid. Here is what she had to say about her career. 

Lapacazo Sandoval: You’ve been cast in the Anatasia Romanov story Anastasia: Once Upon A Time, which is set in 1917.  Can you tell us more about your role in this project?

Aliyah Moulden:  The name of the movie is “Anastasia:  Once Upon a Time”, and it’s about a girl named Anastasia, who travels from 1917 to 1988.  While she’s soaking up the eighties, she meets my character, Bliss, a pop artist of the 1980’s.  

LS: You born in 1988. You are not a child of the 80’s?  Can you identify?   

AM: Absolutely. I can definitely identify with [the character] Bliss because she and I both have a love for music.  For this character, I also get to work with the amazing music producer Jeremy Rubolino for the music for the film.  I am really excited about the opportunity and I look forward to working with such a talented cast and crew.

LS: What do you love about being a songstress?

AM: I love connecting with people through music.  I feel that music is such a personal thing and when you’re singing, it creates an indescribable feeling. 

LS: What advice would you give to young performers?  How do you keep your disciplined life matched with your professional obligations? 

AM: The advice that I would give to young performers is to stay focused, and to be ready to work very hard to achieve their dreams. I keep my disciplined life matched with my professional obligations by keeping daily, weekly, and monthly schedules.

"The Black Prince" by Kavi Raz, story of the last king of Punjab, starring Satinder Sartaaj, opens today!

Kavi Raz's "The Black Prince" is a biopic on Maharajah Duleep Singh, the last king of Punjab and son of Maharajah Ranjit Singh. As the last King of Punjab, The Black Prince chronicles Maharajah Duleep Singh's lifelong struggle and daring journey of self-discovery in order to reclaim his identity, his faith, and the Kingdom that was rightfully his. This ultimately leads him to meeting his mother, long herself in exile, after 13 years. The Black Prince spotlights Queen Victoria’s warm relationship with Maharajah Duleep Singh as he begins adjusting to and ultimately embracing the English culture into which he was drawn at the age of 15.

Kavi is an Indian-born British actor, writer, director and producer. Born in Punjab, Raz left India at a young age for the United Kingdom, where he grew up. He became the first ever South Asian actor to be signed on as a regular in a major TV series, St Elsewhere. He was a cast member for the first two seasons of the medical drama, and after being let go continued to appear on a recurring basis. Raz has appeared in over 200 plays, TV shows and films, including guest appearances on The A-Team, M*A*S*H and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Raz began his career as a filmmaker with The Gold Bracelet, a movie about a Sikh man faced with the realities of post-9/11. Produced by Hollywood's elite Brillstein Entertainment Partners, The Black Prince is his second film as director. We talked to Kavi exclusively. Here it is:

Kavi Raz, writer & director of "The Black Prince" talks to Art Shrian, about Diversity & Inclusion in Hollywood today, being Indian in America, his film "The Black Prince", and more. The Black Prince releases July 21, 2017

Acclaimed singer-poet Satinder Sartaaj marks his acting debut in The Black Prince, playing the role of Maharajah Duleep Singh with eloquence. We also chatted with Satinder. Here's the video:

Satinder Sartaaj, Indian singer, poet & star of "The Black Prince" talks to Art Shrian about his film, acting debut, music, NYC & more The Black Prince releases July 21, 2017

He is joined by an esteemed cast of acting stalwarts including Jason Flemyng (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch) as Dr. Login, the foster parent for theMaharajah; English stage, screen actress Amanda Root (The Iron Lady), who boldly portrays the role of Queen Victoria; and veteran actress Shabana Azmi as Rani Jindan, the exiled King’s mother. The film also features Keith Duffy, David Essex OBE, Canadian actor Rup Magon and Sophie Stevens in supporting roles. 

'The Black Prince' film premiered at the Manchester Film Festival on 3 March 2017 with worldwide release 21 July 2017. The film is going to release in two dubbed editions of Punjabi and Hindi language also. Here's the trailer:

The true story of Queen Victoria and the Last King of Punjab, Maharajah Duleep Singh and his lifelong struggle to regain his Kingdom Website: www.theblackprince.com Facebook: Facebook.com/TheBlackPrinceFilm Instagram: Instagram.com/TheBlackPrinceFilm Twitter: @TheBlackPr1nce Hashtag: #TheBlackPrince Cast: Satinder Sartaaj, Jason Flemyng, Shabana Azmi, Amanda Root, Keith Duffy, David Essex, Rup Magon,Sophie Stevens Directed by: Kavi Raz Written by: Kavi Raz Produced by: Brillstein Entertainment Partners Distributed by: Crossover Pictures India Distribution by : Unisys Infosolutions Private Limited Australia/New Zealand & Fiji Distribution by: Seven Colors Entertainment PTY Ltd.

Checkout more at www.theblackprince.com

Tupac’s legacy, the Hip Hop Culture, & how it shaped the society today - "All Eyez On Me" panel discussion in Harlem NYC

Somewhere on the spiritual plane prolific rapper, actor, poet and activist Tupac Shakur was looking down and smiling at the assembled guests at Harlem’s Maysles Documentary Center last week.

The drinks flowed and the assorted guests of media influencers — African American, Latino and South Asian representing Indian brown — chowed down on delicious fried chicken and macaroni and cheese (as good as your Grandmother’s grandmother made). The tone was set.  We were amongst our tribe and feeling nostalgic marking the years using Tupac’s music as the measuring stick.

Tupac was born on June 16, 1971. He died on September 13, 1996. He was 25 years old.  

The panel discussion was moderated, Harlem style, by Hip Hop cultural experts Tuma and AJ from Spotify the topic of discussion was on Tupac’s legacy, the Hip Hop Culture, and how it shaped society today.   

On June 16th the bio pic about his life and legacy opens wide in the U.S..  Directed by Benny Boom and produced by the visionary LT Hutton, the film introduces Demetrius Shipp, Jr. in the role of Tupac and Dominic Santana as Suge Knight. The cast also includes Kat Graham, Lauren Cohan, Hill Harper, Jamal Woolard, and Danai Gurira.

L.T. Hutton, who worked with Tupac when he was living, made it crystal clear that as the producer of “All Eyez On Me” the film was going to do much more than just entertain—it’s true mission is to educate and illuminate the story of a man and his legacy.  

In that determination Shakur is telling his own story and Hutton drew on his personal relationship with the rapper as the foundation for a massive database he calls “The Tupac Bible.” “I created this system where you could ask any question about Tupac and you could find the answers directly from what Tupac said in multiple interviews,” Hutton explains. “Why was Tupac mad at Notorious B.I.G.? How did Tupac feel about his natural father? Anything you wanted to know, we were going to stick with what Tupac said and put his own words into the movie. That’s why it took such a long time to make. I needed people to understand the vision.”

It’s no secret that finding the right director required an extensive search and one that producer LT Hutton took very seriously.  A few weeks before filming was scheduled to start, in Atlanta, Hutton reached out to Benny Boom, a two-time winner of B.E.T.’s Video Director of the Year Award who had helmed videos for hip-hop superstars including Nicki Minaj, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, Keyshia Cole, Akon and 50 Cent. 

Boom remembers getting the call on the Wednesday before the holiday.  “L.T. said, ‘Man, I’m at my wits’ end.’ At the end of the call he asked me if I wanted to direct the movie. I had not read the full draft of the script, so he sent it over. I printed it out, read it and told him, ‘I’m in.’ By Sunday I was in Atlanta.”

Here is a brief excerpt of the nights’ evening which begun and ended with the feeling—truly—that we were all a part of a cinematic history making moment.

On Casting:

In Hutton’s Los Angeles office in 2011. The producer recalls, “My assistant came into my office and said, ‘I don’t know how to tell you this but, Tupac is in the lobby.’ I said, ‘I don’t have time for your games today.’ She goes ‘I’m telling you, Tupac is in the lobby.’ I decide to see what this girl is talking about, so I walk out and see Demetrius Shipp sitting in the lobby. I’m like, ‘Lo and behold, this is crazy. It is Tupac!’ He was so shy, just like Pac was shy sometimes. I saw the innocence in his eyes; I saw the charm and personality that made all the women love Tupac. And when Demetrius smiled, I thought, ‘This guy even has the same dental work. Demetrius and Tupac have the same teeth!”

Actor Dominic Santana who plays Death Row Records mogul Suge Knight went through the casting process. “It never dawned on me that I could play Suge Knight,” Santana says. “Suge did things in the ’90s as a label owner that weren’t being done by anyone else. He had an ear for talent. He brought us iconic music legends. You can’t amass that kind of an empire and make that kind of impact on the music business if you’re just some Neanderthal. I felt the mediaprobably left out things about Suge Knight just to paint a certain picture. I came into All Eyez on Me with the attitude, ‘I want to know the other side of Suge Knight.’”

“All Eyez On Me” opens Friday, June 16th

Director Salome Mulugeta’s Favorite DP, Pedro Gomez Millan - One To Watch For!

Director of Photography (DP) Pedro Gomez Millan is one of the most favorite DP of Director Salome Mulugeta. Pedro's creative eye and passion for visual storytelling has made him one of the most sought after, new DP’s in the industry.  His role as DP is essentially, a creative force which helps shape what’s on screen and is just as influential as the film director. Together the director and DP create a unique visual language.

As DP of the indie film “Woven” directed by Salome Mulugeta and Nagwa Ibrahim, his powerful imagery—about an Ethiopian New York immigrant family facing lifes’ toughest challenges—has been bringing cheering audiences to their feet around the film festival circles. “Woven,” which took 15 years to finance and complete, has catapulted filmmaker, Salome Mulugeta’s creative career to an all time high and helped him, as a DP, bring his own look into the issues that immigrants face.

Mulugeta has also worked with DP Gomez on several high profile commercials including work for Ethiopian Airlinesand Coca-Cola Africa.  It was the experience of working for Coca-Cola, for the director, that helped her solidify their continued collaborative working relationship, shares Salome: 

“There are many attributes, as a creative, that make working with him [Pedro Gomez Millan] so enjoyable. To begin, he is a a very focused man and once you begin trying to explain, your vision, he researches anything that he might not immediately understand. He is such a gentle soul which makes working with him such a fun and productive experience. He understands how to help me, as a director, get my vision from the page to the screen. He is utterly collaborative and he is brilliant with color. 

For example, while working on the Coca-Cola commercial, their team allowed us to come up with our own creative ideas. It was exciting! The client wanted us to be creative and as a DP [Pedro] was totally game. In the commercial when you see me dancing with the group of brightly dressed kids, again, this was the result of us (being given creative freedom by the client) collaborating in a very spontaneous way.   And that very commercial for Coke (Coca-Cola Africa) was a hit and well received all over Africa. That’s just one example of why working with DP Pedro Gomez Millan is a joy which ends with exceptional product, project-after-project.”

Millan is now in pre-production on a two projects: an untitled action Netflix series to be shot in Mexico City with director Manolo Caro and “ADDIS ABEKA” to be directed by Salome Mulugeta, who also serves as executive producer and produced by Stephanie Allain and Mel Jones to be shot, in Ethiopia, this fall. 

Here is excerpt from chat with Pedro Gomez Millan

Q: What do you love about being a D.P.?

Pedro Gomez Millan: When I was in High School and had to make a decision on what to study in college, I was completely overwhelmed because I was interested in every single subject, from physics to literature to genetics to political science. I had the hardest time choosing what to do. I ended up studying philosophy and communication and later on did an MFA in Film. I realized that working in film gives me the chance of studying all those other topics I couldn't do before. I'm fascinated about life and filmmaking gives me the chance of learning something new about it in every project I do. 

Q: A DP’s life requires travel and keeping up with everything that’s happening fast in the tech side of making movies. Yes?

PGM: Being a DP is a very particular lifestyle and personally I think is the best job in the world. I'm mesmerized by images and love to watch beauty in all it's manifestations. Whenever I'm making a film I think about one word: epiphany. I work towards creating a mood and an environment for an epiphany to happen to a character or somewhere in the story. I love being able to create images and tell stories that eventually could help my community to make a better life. Basically my work is to create imaginary able to generate epiphanies in people that watches it. I know, pretty ambitious!

Q: Describe the D.P. and Director relationship? 

PGM: It's the most intense and closest relationship I've experienced in my working life. It feels a lot like dating, you meet, you decide to like each other and give it a shot, you get to know each other under pressure and stressful times and then you finally break up. Maybe you liked each other so much that you decide to come back and do it again.

Q: Do you work closely with directors or do you act like “church” and “state?”

PGM: I've really had very close relationships with most of my directors and we've became good friends. I've directed before and I'm very aware of all the trust the director puts on a DP's shoulder when they decide to work together. And I can say that the feeling is mutual. I also think on Director and DP relationship like two blind people crossing together 5th Avenue right when it becomes green light. It's all about trust and knowing that the other person is gonna be there for you and that he or she won't throw you under the bus. Director and script are the most important things for me when I choose a new project.

Q I first saw your incredible work in “Woven” at the LAFF (2016) where I met Salome Mulugeta.  What an incredible person and what a journey to get the film from an idea to the big screen: 15 years is no joke!

PGM: I got connected to the script because it's a story about immigrants. I was born and raised in Mexico City and at the time I just finished film school and had been living in the U.S. for 4 years. So I'm an immigrant living in New York and felt like this script was made for me to shoot it. I didn't know a lot of Ethiopian culture but I could personally relate to the soul and core of the story. I felt like it was a story that people in New York would appreciate and I was very excited to visually contribute to tell the story as a DP. 

Q: Describe your choices in making “Woven” look so good. Why did you use what you used? 

PGM: I decided to shoot the movie mostly on the Angenieux Optimo 15-40mm. We shot on locations on tight apartments in New York and I wanted to feel the space as much as possible so I tried to use wide lenses whenever I could to avoid shooting faces against walls all the time. 

I shot [the character] Elenie with her family mostly handheld, we wanted to give a sense of urgency to Elenie's motivation in the story. It was very important to the directors to point out the rich culture of Elenie's family who comes from Ethiopia. We decided to visually tell that part of the story with warmer tones, opposite to Logan's which has a cooler vibe. Also we wanted both worlds (Elenie's home vs Logan's home) to feel very different. Whenever we shot at Logan's house the camera stayed locked off on the tripod more like a witness and definitely less active than the camera at Elenie's who's restless after the loss of her brother.     

I was very lucky to shoot this film on the Alexa which was my first choice. We had no money and I had to pull many favors to get a decent camera and G&E package (and anything I could get my hands on) to make this movie. Guy Jaconelli from Video Evolution gave us an unbeatable deal on a Alexa package.

Q: What’s next from your lips?

PGM: I am working with Salome, again, with the next feature film in Ethiopia. Really hope our schedules work out! I'm about to shoot the first season of a new series for Netflix. It's a 5 months commitment and is my first experience shooting television. I'm pretty excited!

More About Pedro Gomez Millan
www.pedrogomezmillan.com