FILMS

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THE BLACK EMPEROR OF BROADWAY

“The Black Emperor of Broadway” is a film Judith Richland co-produced in 2020 about the actor Charles Gilpin, who starred in Eugene O’Neill’s play “The Emperor Jones” in 1920. Based on a true story, Charles S. Gilpin was the first Black actor to star in a leading role on Broadway during a time where roles of color were previously played by white men in blackface. Gilpin was one of our nation’s premiere Black actors yet few people know who he is. Set in 1920, the entire film was filmed in Provincetown, MA. The screenplay is based on the play “N” by Adrienne Earle Pender, playwright and descendent of Charles S. Gilpin.and directed by Arthur Egeli.

In addition to co-producing this film, Judith Richland interviewed, filmed and edited actors for the "Behind the Scenes" video on the DVD, where creator of the story Adrienne Pender, director Arthur Egeli, and actors Shaun Parkes, Nija Okoro and Alexandra Foucard discuss their impressions of working on this rich historical drama about the unknown Charles Gilpin, who O'Neill replaced on Broadway with Paul Robeson. The Black Emperor has won multiple awards and appeared at several festivals in 2020.

Some of the awards were: Official Selection Boston International Film Festival, Brooklyn Film Festival, Kansas City Film Festival and others.

The film is streaming on Amazon Prime: https://www.theblackemperor.com

MURDER ON THE CAPE

“Murder on the Cape” is a film Judith Richland co-produced in 2017. The entire production was filmed in Provincetown, MA. Although fictionalized, it was inspired by the actual murder in Truro, MA in 2002, of the fashion writer Christa Worthington. The plot involves an out of work fisherman (cast by Richland) who has an affair with a fashion writer wintering on the Cape. She returns two years later with his child when she is murdered, and the fisherman is the prime suspect.

The film streams on Netflix: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5326520/

MISCONCEPTION

Misconception is a short film co-produced by Judith Richland in 2016, Written by director Arthur Egeli and actress Heather Egeli, it is an original comedy about the adventures of a gay woman who yearns to have a baby. She entraps an unsuspecting fellow into her home specifically for this purpose, but when her wife comes home and finds a strange man’s body on their living room floor, the comic drama ensues.

BECOMING TENNESSEE

“Becoming Tennessee” in development, is a screenplay written by Judith Richland inspired by true events when Tennessee Williams summered in Provincetown in 1940. It was during that summer that the playwright found himself in amorous relationships with a young female singer and a male dancer. The turbulent and emotional experiences during these six weeks in Provincetown became the inspiration for several of his future characters and themes for his plays during the remaining four decades of his life. Tennessee’s story unfolds in 1940 Provincetown, which even then was a Mecca for sexually tolerant young writers, musicians, dancers and artists, living together in a protected community where they freely exchanged ideas about life and work