Students and alumni of historically Black institutions including Spelman College, Morehouse College, Atlanta University or Morris Brown College were invited to submit pitches for their passion film projects to top Hollywood bosses at the MACRO HBCU Summit thanks to a partnership between Macro and Beats.
Three teams of finalists received constructive feedback on their pitches and two of the three teams were from Spelman. Junior documentary film major Kennedy Dunning, C'2023, was a team of one, pitching her feature film, "The Hallway" which follows four Black girls coming of age in their predominantly white high school. Through sisterhood and unapologetic expression, these girls learn what it means to be young, Black and free.
Dunning tied for first place with Morehouse's Arion Kidd-Weeks and both scholars have been afforded an opportunity to attend the inaugural Beats Black Creators Summit later this year and the fifth annual Macro Lodge at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
Group Picture: Spelman represents with Kennedy in the middle (in white) surrounded by Spelman documentary film majors and other Spelmanites with alumna/professor Julia Davis and documentary film program director, Anjanette Levert
"The Macro HBCU Competition will always mean the world to me. To be given the opportunity to share my ideas amongst such trailblazing, creative, kind individuals is something I will never forget. The space was so welcoming, and the atmosphere was vibrant with possibility. The competition has given me astonishing comfort in my ideas and my career that I didn’t know I needed," said Dunning.
View Dunning's Trailer for "The Hallway"
Check Out Dunning's Portfolio
Spelman College Team 2's submission by Audra Davision, Dariae Willis, Ciara Franklin and Stephanie Crawford was “Imani’s Joy.” Their pitch was pre-recorded as they were not able attend in person.