Directing
A year-long immersion into one of Chicago's most progressive and diverse public schools, located in suburban Oak Park. Both intimate and epic, exploring America's charged state of race, culture and education today with unprecedented depth and scope.
Interspersed with interviews from luminaries including Dr. J, Oscar Robertson, Bill Cosby, Jerry West, Mannie Jackson, Marques Haynes, Ernie Banks, and Dr. Jack Ramsay, the story spans decades and shows the widespread influence of Goose on prominent sports, entertainment and business figures. Mannie Jackson presents the untold story of an American icon who changed the game of basketball forever and inspired an entire generation along the way.
In 2014, Chicago’s Jackie Robinson West Little League became the first all-Black team to win the Little League U.S. Baseball Championship. Along the way, 13 twelve-year-old athletes from the South Side turned into media superstars—their faces were splashed across magazine covers and major TV networks, garnering them millions of fans around the country. They were even invited to the White House to meet President and Mrs. Obama. But it all came crashing down after a rival coach accused the team of breaking residential boundary rules.
The last living descendants of a once-thriving Black neighborhood in Athens, GA, come together to fight to preserve the memory of Linnentown. Their family homes were razed in a 1960s urban renewal project, and now they, along with civic-minded neighbors, unite to try to reclaim their forgotten history and seek redress.
The Street Stops Here is a portrait of the nation's best high school basketball coach, Bob Hurley, Sr. and his career-long struggle to inspire and motivate those around him in order to keep the doors of a poor, inner-city Catholic school open. This is a story about teenagers fighting their way out of the 'hood, armed with little more than a basketball and the hard wisdom of a fierce, demanding coach. For 35 years, Hurley has led St. Anthony his way. He's an uncompromising teacher who demands perfection from kids who've known little discipline growing up on the streets of Jersey City. His methodical, yet volatile style works miracles.
When a thriving, top-ranked African American elementary school is threatened to be replaced by a new high school favoring the community’s wealthier residents, parents, students and educators fight for the elementary school’s survival.
An excavator of American history, painter and sculptor Bernard Williams draws inspiration from seminal, but under-appreciated figures such as Black cowboys, farmers, and a unique female aviator. Taking us on a journey from Chicago to Indiana to Alabama, the film follows Williams as he debuts a public art installation and visits a 90-year-old family friend who informs his work. Part of "4x4: Contemporary Art in Chicago" - Season 1
An all-access documentary that follows Tom Izzo and the Michigan State men's basketball team when they return to the upper peninsula of Michigan to play an exhibition game against Izzo's alma mater - Northern Michigan University.
