Ushering in a New Era in Black Cinema
- We are a film production company specializing in African-American films. We distribute our films to cable TV, DVD retailers and, increasingly, colleges/universities.
Who we are:
Clarendon Entertainment is a New York City-based film company that produces, buys and distributes African American-oriented short films, features and documentaries. Founded in 1998 by media entrepreneur Rodney Parnther and award-winning director, Roderick Giles, the Company’s mission is to expand the range of quality film content available to fans of black cinema while maintaining long-term African-American ownership of the copyrights to its properties.
What we do:
The company is best known for financing and producing well-crafted high quality 35mm short films under the Urban S.L.A.M. (Short Live Action Movies) brand. Urban S.L.A.M. is a platform that introduces audiences to the work of a new generation of urban filmmakers. Its films are generally well-crafted pieces that feature both established and emerging African American performers. The films have been official selections at prominent film festivals throughout the U.S. and have aired on cable networks owned by HBO, Showtime and BET. One of the shorts, The Tested, won the top prize at the 2006 Los Angeles International Short Film Festival, qualifying it for an Academy Award nomination.
Clarendon distributes the Urban S.L.A.M. series on DVD as well as other titles under a multi-year agreement with Alternative Distribution Alliance, a unit of Warner Music Group. The DVD is presented as a collection of 5-8 high quality short films with compelling segments in between films. The company also offers its short-form content (i) as part of Urban SLAM ClubPremiere, an online movie club that premieres new titles each month by delivering them to members via e-mail and (ii) on BlackMoviesOnline.tv, a soon to be launched premium video web portal where indie filmmakers can expose their work to black cinema enthusiasts. Recently, the Company began offering colleges and universities across the U.S. live programs built around selected documentaries for Black History Month. It first program, From Martin to Tupac: Political Assassinations completed a successful tour in February 2009, including screenings at USC, Fordham University, Carnegie Mellon, Wellesley and Ferris State. - Movie Production, African American films, African American movies, African American DVDs, Film Production, Short films, NYC Film Production, Black films, Black movies, Black DVDs, College Programming, Multicultural Programming, Urban films, Urban movies, Urban DVDs, African American Animation, African American Cinema, Black Cinema, Independent Films, Independent Cinema, Film Financing, Film Distribution
Scene from CEI's The Engagement Party
