ENGLEWOOD — A movie created by 26-year-old Tiara Epps has been nominated for awards and now she’s working on earning other honors.
The Englewood native’s film “Chicago Boyz” was nominated for the Black Excellence award by the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago. It also was nominated for best short documentary at the Peace on Earth film festival. People attended the screening at both the Black Harvest Film Festival and Collected Voices film festival.
The young filmmaker said her day-to-day interactions in her community inspired her to create a movie targeted at young black men.
"Just from being in Englewood I’m able to see different stuff happen in my community," she said. "One day I just started making short documentaries."
Epps has created a GoFundMe page to raise money to help shoot and produce her film “Sunday.” She has raised $765 of her $5,500 goal. She said she would like to start filming before the end of the year. Money raised will cover the costs for recording music professionally, pre-production, equipment, props, permit, marketing and more.
“I really wanted to make this film just about the issues going on around the world with black people,” she said.
Growing up in Englewood, she said she has seen firsthand the difficult choices people, particularly young black men, have had to make to survive. The film hits on the importance of making the right choices. Epps promised that there’s a message for everyone.
“Sunday” focuses on the main character, an 18-year-old who attends church faithfully with his grandmother. He discovers his grandmother is struggling financially when he sees an eviction notice, and he then makes a choice to work for the neighborhood’s gang leader.
She also wrote a song for the film. She found her singers through social media. Epps said she hopes to release a trailer soon.
She plans to shoot in Englewood. Most of the cast has been selected, but she said she’s still searching for someone to play the pastor. Potential cast members can contact her directly via email at eppsproduction@gmail.com.
Before Epps' love for film and production was sparked, she said she was a “basketball fanatic.”
After a minor injury that required surgery, she quit the sport. She was introduced to her new love her sophomore year at Chicago Vocational Career Academy. She credits her parents for motivating her to pursue the TV/radio classes at her high school.
“I had this instructor who was amazing,” she said.
Epps said she worked hard and was invited to participate in a paid summer program for two years.
“That’s when I knew that documentaries and film-making was something I wanted to do,” she said.
Her plan is to finish shooting “Sunday” by the end of the year so she can submit it to independent film festivals.
Stay connected with her on Twitter @TiaraEppsFilms and Facebook at Tiara Epps the Filmmaker.
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