After going to film festivals for more than a decade, Memphis-based filmmaker Chassidy Jade Woods has now created one of her own, and her goal is to bolster the number of Black and brown creatives in the entertainment ranks.
Enter Woods’ Crown Me Royal Film Festival, which takes place Friday, July 29, through Sunday, July 30, at three venues: the Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Collage Dance Collective, and Exit 221, a production studio on E.H. Crump Boulevard.
The 33-year-old Woods, who is known as Chassidy Jade professionally, said she wanted to create a festival that was Black, education-based and that shed light on entertainment roles that might not be in the limelight as much.
“I love film festivals but felt like there was no learning built into this. Film festivals have been very celebrity-based, very high-end, and they’re expensive,” she said. “And it was about pitching your project, pitching your story, which is fine, right? (But) I felt like it never paid attention to the behind the scenes. … I wanted you to see people you don’t normally see (spotlighted) in Hollywood: I don’t just want directors and actors. I have gaffers; I have voice actors, editors, directors of photography.”
Woods, creator of independent production company Crown Me Royal Labs, has worked in the film industry for 12 years, working on projects such as TV shows, commercials, promos and trailers.
